By Shirin Kamshad
Recently, I attended a brilliant workshop at the Kuwait Psychological Association. It was presented by Dr Sadoun Al-Hendal, a local expert specialized in sports psychology. He spoke deeply about how our minds control our physical bodies during sports. As I listened to him, it became completely clear to me: Champions are not just made in the gym. They are built in the mind.
Sports psychology is the science of preparing an athlete’s brain to handle extreme pressure. When a player steps onto a big field, fear and stress can cause their muscles to tighten up. This is what sports scientists call “choking under pressure”. Physical talent is highly important to get you to the starting line, but as Dr Al-Hendal emphasized, mental toughness is what actually takes you across the finish line.
During the workshop, one specific mental strategy stood out to me above all else: Visualization.
Visualization means closing your eyes and vividly practicing a movement, a challenge, or a victory inside your mind before it happens. Neuroscience shows us something truly amazing: When you imagine doing an action, your brain fires the exact same neural pathways as it does when you actually perform it physically. The brain cannot tell the difference between a deeply imagined experience and reality. It acts like a perfect mental rehearsal, building muscle memory in the brain.
As a mountaineer, visualization is my personal magic trick. It is a vital part of how I prepare myself mentally and physically for every expedition. Before I ever step onto a mountain, I climb it a thousand times in my mind. I close my eyes and imagine the freezing wind on my face, the thin air and the heavy fatigue in my legs. I mentally practice exactly how I will react if a sudden problem happens on the ice. Because of this deep mental training, when my physical body faces the real, brutal challenge on the mountain, my brain does not panic. It recognizes the situation and simply executes the plan. It works like magic every single time.
This is a vital lesson for the sports culture right here in Kuwait. Today, our local sports clubs invest heavily in beautiful stadiums, professional coaches and physical recovery tools. However, we often leave the athlete’s mental strength completely to chance. If we want to see the Kuwaiti flag raised high at international championships and the Olympics, we must update our approach.
We need to officially bring sports psychology into our national clubs, academies and schools. By teaching young Kuwaiti athletes these scientific tools of mental rehearsal and visualization, we can build a new generation of unstoppable competitors. True victory is designed from the inside out. It begins in the quiet theater of the mind long before the game starts. Because at the end of the day, when we train the mind, we control it, and when we control it, we become unstoppable.
NOTE: Shirin Kamshad is a life coach and podcaster specializing in wellbeing, with an academic degree in engineering, psychology and neuroscience
