Many a time, all in the mind

In the just completed tour of New Zealand Virat Kohli went through a horrible batting slump and lost his ICC ranking as the worlds best batsman to Steve Smith the brilliant Australian player Since then Virat has been under harsh and unfair criticism from supporters former players and cricket reporters Famous allrounder and former India captain Kapil Dev suggested that Virat should practise harder because his reflexes might be slowing down and his eyesight might be deterioratingA cricket reporter went technical and claimed that Kohlis failure was the result of a head problem not an internal head problem but an external one namely incorrect positioning of the head when playing certain strokes I am often reminded of the old African saying When a man falls look at where he slips not where he falls Was Kohlis slipping inside or outside his headAnother writer recalled Kohlis inability to cope with the well planned bowling strategies of Englands fast bowlers in 2014 and suggested that the New Zealand fast bowlers had taken a leaf out of Englands playbook Hence the reason for Kohlis run of failures That might be true but lets remember what happened on Kohlis next tour of England 593 runs in five TestsIt didnt take legendary India opener Virender Sehwag long to come to the defence of Indias best player He said that every good player goes through a lean patch and Kohli is no different He claimed that Tendulkar Lara Richards and he himself have all experienced performance slumps To push back on Kapils suggestion he said that Kohli certainly doesnt have handeye coordination errors Handeye issues deteriorate over a period of time Not overnightSo what do we mean when we say that someone is in a performance slump If we look at it from a slightly different perspective we could say that a slump is a dramatic loss of confidence that is always accompanied by anxiety poor concentration and poor performanceSir Garfield Sobers the worlds greatest allround cricketer once told me In most cases of slumps players believe that the cause of their problem is mechanical or technical in nature and spend a lot of time fiddling with their technique But that often makes matters worse The slump may be started by a mechanical or technical fault but in the end it is always due to poor mental functioning The cause of the problem is often trivial and a slight change in thinking or concentration can be responsible for major slumpsPersonal problems off the field can also be a cause Believe me you dont usually find the cause or solution in the body You must look to your mind in particular your thinking and concentration Only after you have done this should you look in other areasIan Chappell the great former Australian cricket captain reiterates Sir Garfields comments Your confidence and concentration are messed up when you are in a slump In this state players examine their technique carefully and pick it apart bit by bit The people around them then offer all sorts of advice and often suggest that they change important aspects of their game that worked well for them in the past The players must learn to protect themselves from that type of advice In players who have a reasonable history of success a slump is usually due to poor mental functioning rather than to any great technical problemsGolf is an extremely demanding game and it is not unusual for the best golfers in the world to experience occasional performance slumps Greg Norman the worlds No 1 golfer before Tiger Woods came on the scene did not escape that fate In one of his worst ever slumps he sought my help Here is Normans account of that interaction in his book My StoryHe wrote It was in a mood of desperation that I phoned Dr Rudi Webster in Australia For over half an hour I told him of my plight and my real fears about the way my game was crumbling and while I poured out my problems across 12000 miles Dr Webster listened carefully I told him about my lack of confidence and how I believed I could not continue to play at the top level and do myself justice unless I regained confidence quicklyWhen I finished explaining my problems Dr Webster calmly set about reassuring me emphasising that my mind and the way I controlled it on the golf course was as important as any shot I might hit during the tournamentI followed his advice with devastatingly successful results in the weeks ahead Dr Webster had given me a completely new outlook a new philosophy to take to the heat of battle and I wanted to test it I was ready After four days at Chepstow Wales I walked off the last green not only with the Dunlop Masters title beside my name but with it achieved in a manner that restored all my confidence and convinced me that the money I had spent calling Dr Webster in Melbourne was probably the best investment I had made I won the title with a 17 under par total of 267 the biggest winning margin in British golf in 17 yearsIf Kohli was indeed in a slump it was not a major slump He will soon bounce back and will take it out on bowlers around the world In the meantime he should follow Ian Chappells recommendation and respectfully guard against the advice of critics and wellwishers alike and trust his own instincts and his powerful inner resources to resolve his current setback and get back to winning ways He did so in 2014 following the tour of England and will do so again following the New Zealand setbackGrenadabased Dr Rudi Webster is a renowned sports psychologistClayton Murzellos column Pavilion End will be back next week Send your feedback to mailbagmiddaycomThe views expressed in this column are the individuals and dont represent those of the paperCatch up on all the latest Crime National International and Hatke news here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates