Arshavin doesn’t need a psychologist: a conference on sports psychology was held at the Zenit coaches’ advanced training center

How often do you hear from athletes who lost the main start in their careers: “I didn’t cope with the psychological pressure.” Winners, on the other hand, are willing to talk about the victorious mental attitude. In modern sports, where nuances separate victory from defeat, many resort to the help of psychologists. Personalities are mysterious and not in a hurry to reveal professional secrets.

Sports Psychology Stars

It is even more difficult to understand the specifics of the work of psychologists cooperating with team sports. In the early 1990s, the first president of FC Zenit, Vladislav Gusev, tried to recruit the well-known sports psychologist Rudolf Zagainov. He was called the Black Magician because of the specific methods of work. Black Mage failed to ensure victories for Zenith in those years.

It is even more difficult to understand the specifics of the work of child psychologists. The sphere is thin and delicate. A full-time psychologist has been working at the Zenith Academy for a long time. This position is held by Irina Ryukhina. A certified psychologist knows professional sports firsthand. She is a master of sports in basketball, played for Spartak St. Petersburg for many years.

Last week, within the framework of the XV International Youth Tournament in memory of Yuri Morozov, a conference on the topic “The relevance of psychological support at various stages of sports training” was held at the advanced training center of FC Zenit. Candidates of psychological sciences Irina Stanislavskaya and Olga Korshunova, as well as a guest from Serbia, Vladimir Kitanovich, spoke to the audience, among whom there were many active coaches and active athletes. He works in the Ministry of Sports of Serbia, and he came to St. Petersburg as part of the Red Star delegation. With this club, which is sponsored by Gazprom, Zenit has close ties.

Does everyone need help?

The reports of the experts aroused great interest among the audience, as evidenced by questions from the audience. Of course, it is impossible to give universal recommendations on psychological support in team sports. Especially when it comes to support throughout the entire sports path. At the age of 6, when they come to the first selection to the football academy, the attitudes of life are the same, at 17–18, when the first contracts are offered, they are different. In addition, the work of a psychologist can be effective only when it is possible to find a common language with the athletes, and with the coach, and with the parents.

It was at this most important moment that the main messages of the experts’ reports were addressed. The conference culminated in a discussion in which Zenit youth team coach Konstantin Konoplev, head coach of the Russian U-18 youth team Ivan Shabarov (his team won the Yury Morozov Memorial Tournament) and RFU sports director Andrey Leksakov participated together with experts.

They highly appreciated the contribution of sports psychologists to the success of football teams. Although, as Konoplev noted, a coach with an authoritarian leadership style can do without a psychologist. Those who are reputed to be democrats listen to the opinion of a specialist who draws up the passport of each football player. The ability to build communication with wards is the most important part of the coach’s job.

As Ryukhina emphasized, at Zenit she changed her views on the work of a psychologist. If earlier the emphasis was on the psychological support of the athlete, now it is on the education of the individual. A psychologist today is an assistant coach who must psychologically set up the players.

Advice versus personal experience

A rather dimensional course of the conference was blown up by Andrey Arshavin, who now holds the post of Deputy General Director of FC Zenit for sports development. He oversees all youth teams. In the recent past, the brightest star of Russian football said that he never needed a psychologist. As an example of the negative impact of specialists on the results of a football team, he cited Yuri Morozov’s Zenit and Arsene Wenger’s Arsenal. In the St. Petersburg team, the head coach refused the services of a psychologist after two training camps, at which the players preferred to cry in the waistcoat after his loads, and in the London long-term head coach of the Gunners fired the French psychologist invited by him after he did not ensure the team’s entry into the play -off Champions League.

Arshavin also revealed the origins of his dislike for the people of this profession. It all started in elementary school. According to Andrei, he wrote a math test with an A, and the teacher gave it a B because of blots and other negligence in the design. Well, she did not know who Arshavin would become! The obstinate student, meanwhile, tore up the class magazine, and the mother was advised to take the boy to a psychologist.

The visit ended badly. For a psychologist. Arshavin had to change the secondary school. It’s good that it’s not a sports specialization. Only a wary attitude towards psychologists remained. Even acquaintance with Zagainov’s books did not help to change him. It is possible that participation in the conference organized by Zenit will affect the outlook of the Deputy General Director. Indeed, today it seems impossible to achieve success without the coordinated work of all club structures, including a full-time psychologist.