“The mental game is such a critical part of professional sports” – Faf du Plessis on emphasis of soft-skills in the modern era
Former South African skipper Faf du Plessis recently shed light on the ever-growing importance of mental health among athletes in this day and age. The development of soft skills has been encouraged to be given as much importance as raw, hard skills to extract the most out of a player in the long run.
Du Plessis has been a huge advocate for developing a healthy team atmosphere and environment during his tenure as captain of the national team as well as in franchise cricket. With the sporting world encompassing a highly competitive habitat, recurrent failures and a gruelling schedule, it is easy for the mind to wander and slip away from the optimum zone.
Stating how negative experiences impacts an athlete deeply, Faf du Plessis wrote in his autobiography, Faf Through Fire:
“The mental game is such a critical part of professional sports and, when you have a series of negative experiences outside of cricket, they tend to work their tentacles into every fibre of your being when you're not intentional about preventing that from happening.”
A plethora of cricketers have opened up about their struggles with mental health in the recent past. England Test captain Ben Stokes along with Australia women’s skipper Meg Lanning are some of the notable cricketers who took a step away from the sport to focus on their mental health.
“It became important to me to spend my time away from the game with people who truly added value to my life” – Faf du Plessis
The global lockdown induced by COVID-19 acted as a catalyst in the mental health movement. Confined in a limited space, the athletes were forced to deal with a lot of uncertainty regardless of their stature in the sport.
Revealing his experience during the lockdown period in 2020, where he emerged as an individual with even more clarity, Faf du Plessis wrote:
“As my public profile grew, I became increasingly introverted. I didn’t want to deal with public chirps and criticism anymore, and I became less outgoing. It became important to me to spend my time away from the game with people who truly added value to my life.”
“That circle of friends was small, but their impact on my life was immense, especially during lockdown," he continued. "They didn’t care who I was, and they never did something for me in the hope of receiving a signed shirt or cap in return. Our relationships were built on unconditional love and acceptance, which didn’t have any of the underpinnings that sometimes motivate people to get closer to me.”
A number of teams have introduced a mental conditioning coach among their support staff to help the players with their mental health amid the relentless cricketing schedule.
Faf du Plessis’s memoir, Faf Through Fire, was released on Monday, May 15, in India. It is available in bookstores across the country and on major e-commerce platforms.