How do elite athletes handle the pressure associated with winning?

Lin Shu-ping, an assistant professor at the TKU Graduate Institute of Educational Psychology and Counseling, has the answer. As part of the Sport Affairs Council’s medium to long term athlete training program, Assistant Professor Lin, along with two TKU master’s students – Chen Yen-yu and Chang Ya-chi – each week travels to Taichung and Kaohsiung to mentor a group of 15 national fencing and cycling hopefuls. Two of the 15 – cyclist Hsiao Mei-yu and fencer Hsu Ruo-ting – have already successfully qualified for this year’s Olympic Games.

Associate Professor Lin noted that Ms. Hsu possesses immense natural talent, but in major events can get nervous, which affects her overall performance. We taught her a form of self-hypnotism, which she has been using pre-competition to relax her nerves. After much practice, she was finally able to apply these methods to achieve great results.