The Athletic Mind

My fandom of sports comes in waves. Being from the UK, football was dominant in my childhood. I could still name the most obscure players from Reading or Fulham who played in the early 2000s – though still waiting for these in the local pub quiz. I was obsessed by professional tennis in my teens too, but that obsession wanes before peaking at Wimbledon-time. Basketball has taken centre stage in the last few years too as I discover the intricacies of a sport, its tactics, personalities and quirks.

But in 2025, it is the turn of athletics. I’ve come to anticipate the Diamond League meetings, and recognise the same names competiting week-in-week-out. I think the high pressure situations in athletics gives it great relevance to sport psychology, which is one of the reasons I’m so drawn to it.

Watching the meets this year, the women’s high jump stood out to me. Not least because of Australian high jumper Nicola Olyslagers’ use of a journal after each jump. Following each jump – whether successful or not – Olyslagers rushes to a humble notebook, where the commentators like to remind us that she rates her jumps through seven categories.

While competitors pace, stretch, or stare down the bar, Olyslagers sits quietly, jotting notes and scores in a small journal. It’s a ritual she’s seemingly made her own (along with her shouts of ‘come on!’ before each run-up): after each attempt, she rates seven personal performance criteria and scribbles a couple of quick observations. It might seem simple, but this practice draws directly from evidence-based sport psychology strategies — and it appears to be working.

“Writing down those scores lets me check in with myself, see where I’m at, and adjust,” Olyslagers shared in interviews. “It stops me carrying tension from one jump to the next.”

From a scientific standpoint, this kind of in-competition journaling aids something we call self-regulation, the cornerstone of mental performance. Studies have shown that athletes who can actively monitor and adjust their emotional and cognitive states perform better under pressure. Research by Terry and Lane (2000) demonstrated the impact of mood awareness on athletic outcomes, while MacIntyre et al. (2014) highlighted the value of cognitive strategies like self-talk and attentional control — precisely what Olyslagers cultivates with each pen stroke.

By scoring key performance areas and jotting brief notes, she externalises her mental processes, reducing cognitive clutter and sharpening focus. It’s a technique rooted in attentional control theory, which emphasizes the importance of managing focus in high-stakes environments (Moran, 2016). In high jump, where athletes have limited attempts and long waiting periods, controlling attention and emotional state between jumps is critical.

Could more athletes benefit from this? Absolutely. While Olyslagers’ method is tailored to her needs, the broader concept of quick, structured self-reflection during competition is highly adaptable. Whether in field events, golf, or archery, brief journaling offers a scientifically grounded, low-cost tool to boost consistency and composure when it matters most.

In a sport where centimeters decide champions, it turns out one of Olyslagers’ best tools isn’t a spike or a starting mark — it’s a notebook.