Excellence in performance of an athlete comes from the optimal combination between proper training, proper periodization and balanced diet. All these factors involve the achievement of maximum efficiency at the physiological level, yet within all this race may not be enough, the performance may not achieve the expected peaks and not necessarily for physical reasons.

Very often, in sport we focus on increasing functional or technical capacity of its athlete, forgetting that the context of the race is actually different than the training and also requires adequate preparation. The time of race is a social comparison, now institutionalized, where you have a direct confrontation with an audience, it is no wonder that an athlete is subject to anxiety.

Here’s what thus comes into play the sport psychology that is concerned with studying and optimizing those mechanisms to ensure adequate efficiency between motor and mind gesture during the competition.
Anxiety is the primary mood that characterizes the athlete under race; This is a subjective experience that causes fear and insecurity. Often overlooked, causes an overactive nervous system and an increase in activity of the endocrine system. This edit attitude so athlete status: greater muscle activation or a higher production of hormones may not always be positive effects if fine motor or with a view to energy savings.
The ideal state of the athlete could be summarised as follows:
-no fear, no fear of failure: often the desire to control one’s own ego, say lead to have more fear of losing that desire to win;
-limited attention exclusively to specific activity, as said the race is a condition, where the contact with the public can drain the athlete;
-maximum reduction of effort (very often the perception of effort does not coincide with our real physiological condition);
-feeling of control over oneself and external dynamics (especially in areas considered prestigious, the possibility of being “at the mercy of events” is not to be well valuated).
These attitudes are those that the sports psychology seeks to promote: the athlete must be free from negative thoughts, idea, but above all the fear of failure must be away, so as not to create constraints.
An important aspect for achieving that level of control is still closely linked to physiological component, in fact, the correct combination of mental and physical work brings the athlete to the attainment of self-consciousness. An athlete aware you know, know what to expect and how to manage to push to the maximum.
Motivation is another aspect to keep in close consideration, which can be divided into 2 types:
-INTRINSIC MOTIVATION: is the ability to set alone, which brings the athlete to motivate, to set, how to approach the technical indications independently and productively with awareness, without the need to be constantly motivated or encouraged.
-Success: MOTIVATION is the desire to take part in a race. It is that factor which determines equal success, because the best approach to competition.

“Success comes when opportunity meets preparation” (cit)