With a gold medal performance last week at the Nation’s Cup in Hong Kong, team members either head to Europe to rejoin their road team or continue their build up at the Cambridge Velodrome. Either way, the importance of balancing team with individual needs is a high priority for the women and for their HPSNZ Performance Psychologist, Rod Corban.
We spoke with two team riders, Bryony Botha and Ally Wollaston, and with Rod who is heading to his fourth Olympics as a member of the NZOC team.
As the most experienced rider in the team and the only one with Olympic experience, Bryony says she has started to take up a leadership role in the group over the last few years. “Where I’m at now could not be more different from Tokyo three years ago. Then I was the youngest and a follower and now I’m the oldest and a leader.
“Working with the wider cycling HPSNZ APS (Athlete Performance Support) team is a mix of one on one, in which we constantly work on our Individual Performance Plans and bring in support people such as our physio and S&C as required, and teamwork, especially with team coach Paul Manning and psychologist Rod. Coming together as a team provides a clear picture of all our work-ons in a very collaborative and encouraging environment.”
Fellow team member Ally says she has really only just started to use her APS resources to help her with her campaign. “When you want to be the best you use everything available to help mentally and physically – physio, nutrition, psychologist. At the moment a really important support resource for me is Rod, our psychologist, who is helping me manage some issues with injuries and to keep me focused on a performance oriented mindset.”
Rod, who works with a broad range of sports, says cycling really is different culturally and even within different parts of the cycling programme. “When I look at the men’s and women’s pursuit teams there are some real differences that need a bespoke psychology approach. For example, the men’s team is much older and more experienced whereas the women are younger with only Bryony having Olympic experience.
“I work really closely with the team coach who supports and understands where psychology sits within the programme.”
Broaching the subject of the needs of team versus the individual, Rod says it is extremely important for the team to work together in situations where things get difficult. “Women are probably guilty of not wanting to offend each other so often avoid discussions which could cause conflict.”
Ally reinforces Rod’s comments, saying team sessions can be confronting. “We’re so close to Paris but there is real stress about the final makeup of the pursuit team. We started with eight riders, that went down to six and now, for the Nations Cup, is five. During our sessions with Rod we have to talk about the team’s strengths and weaknesses and how it operates. This is really powerful and his role is instrumental to facilitate and drive tough conversations but in a safe environment and with a clear end goal.”
Similarly Bryony says she works with Rod as an individual and as part of the team. “Before we went to Hong Kong Rod had us all in the same room talking about what we want to achieve. He asked the big questions – were we confident, if not why not, what do we need to do to be more confident, what strengths do we each bring to the team, what do we need to improve. If we’re going to perform successfully as a team we need to have these open and honest conversations with our team mates.”
Rod draws on his years of experience but also on recent performances such as the team’s gold medal at the Nations Cup in Adelaide. “My approach is to push them to failure. They need to have the mindset to win it, not try to win it. In Adelaide there was the chance the team went too hard too fast. One of the things I talk with them about is what are they willing to risk and learning the need to go to the edge. My constant refrain is the time to fail is now – not in four months.”
