“I don’t count my sit-ups; I only start counting when it starts hurting because they’re the only ones that count.”
- MUHAMMAD ALI

DRIVING along listening to a podcast of Aidan O’Mahony’s post-retirement interview was insightful. Free from the media managed cocoon of top level sport – the Kerry defender had more scope to open up.

Not surprisingly, the Rathmore man sat down at the start of every year with one goal in mind – winning an All-Ireland. It’s the Kerry way, it’s how you are judged. Spillane and the top dogs have eight, O’Mahony has five, a decent innings but it was time to cash in his chips.

In retirement he won’t be idle, the 36-year-old will continue to play with his club. With a view of his beach body six pack doing the rounds on the interweb, it doesn’t come as a surprise that O’Mahony is pursuing a pathway as a strength and conditioning coach.

Most people cringe at the thought of pushing the body to the limit. O’Mahony was different. During the block between the final league games and the Munster championship, he revelled in the slog. The lure of bright lights and September in Croker helps sharpen the enthusiasm but O’Mahony loved training and ‘the harder the better’.

When Jack O’Connor, Pat O’Shea and Éamonn Fitzmaurice handed him a marking brief he needed to be ready. To shadow the likes of Kieran McDonald and Michael Murphy in the white heat demanded the peak of physical powers. But there was more than that.

MIND GAMES
Championship Saturday in many circles is a no-go zone. Players are often like crabbit cats or grumpy old men – the mind is an awful affliction. The constant fight with self-doubt. Managers will try and pour water on it – ‘if you’re not nervous, there’d be something wrong’, we’ve all said it. It doesn’t matter, players need to be at ease with themselves.

O’Mahony had a checklist in the build up to championship encounters. Was he picked on merit? Did he train every single night? Did he go to the gym every day? Did he follow the right diet?

Next up came the mental preparation, planning the eventualities and knowing the opponent inside out. It paid dividends with a sterling performance in the 2014 final on Murphy and despite looking after McDonald in 2006, he still managed to bomb forward, kick two points and pick up the man of the match award.

That’s the Kerry story and from my sporting involvement, mind over matter is very important. Negativity can ravage through a dressing room at a devastating rate.

What do the Derry sporting public think? I conducted a straw poll of sporting personnel across the county. How important was mental preparation?

It was unanimous. Ballinascreen MMA fighter Gavin Kelly placed a huge emphasis, training the mind daily. Hawthorn’s Conor Glass has the same outlook: “It’s very important, if your mind-set isn’t right, your performance will follow.

“We talk about the ‘third space’, this could be the time between a drill, half-time in a game or between training and the gym,” explained Glass. It was all about positive talk.

One camogie player spoke about writing down eventualities and actions of what could happen. It was no different to Aidan O’Mahony.

Some players spoke of breathing techniques. There is the routine before the game and availing of video evidence for self-analysis, looking for blemishes in their game that need airbrushed out. All geared towards perfection.

From Joe Gray’s experience as a player/manager last season, he is well-placed to comment: “I have a set match day routine so no matter the game or the occasion, things remain constant – it helps with the nerves. I use visualisation techniques from games I played well.”

There are the scenarios with free takers and goal-keepers drilling their kicking technique, all alone on a pitch, equipped with a bag of balls. Henry Shefflin alone in a handball alley, with the thud of ash, perfecting the swing off both sides. Or the budding golfer spending hours at the driving range.

I’m probably showing my age but Dublin’s Charlie Redmond stands out for me – even before Johnny Wilkinson’s famous clasping of the hands and the stare at an imaginary target in the crowd. Redmond’s was seven steps back, three to the left, followed by a lick of the fingers before thumping over the bar. We are all creatures of habit.

DARK SIDE
The sporting mind isn’t all a bed of roses. Growing up watching Cork and Meath do battle for supremacy was a display of powerful men you’d shudder at meeting in daylight, never mind a dark alley. Legends like Liam Harnan and Mick Lyons, savage brutes of men, hewn out of rock and winners to boot.

Going to watch the Derry club championship in the 1990s in places like Ballinascreen and Glenullin. It was pre twitter, pre foldup seats, the grassy banks packed to the straps, with Lavey and Dungiven going toe to toe at the pinnacle of local rivalry.

In recent times a new breed of mind games has risen. Beneath all the fire and brimstone, below the surface of super unflappable confidence there can be a bag of nerves, that of a troubled individual. Struggling with their inner thoughts, thoughts that men aren’t supposed to express.

I am thinking of Alan O’Mara, the goalkeeper on Cavan’s U21 winning team – a man with inter-county stardom at his fingertips. The buzz he gained from playing as the last line of defence, in high stakes action soon gave way to depression.

O’Mara would often find himself in games, biting back the tears. Standing behind his full back line, the ball at the other end of the pitch, with only his thoughts for company. ‘What the hell am I doing here’ racing around his head.

The mind has that power but it is unseen. A cruciate injury will be diagnosed and the supervised recovery schedule will commence. The scars are there, they are physical, you can reach out and touch them. The mind is different, it’s an unknown stigma.

Thankfully as I leafed through O’Mara’s book, ‘The best is yet to come,’ the story that tracked him through the darkest of days had a happy ending. Penning the book was a brave move but it lifted the lid on sportspeople who are on a pedestal - somewhat invincible.

O’Mara’s tears were a worrying sign, indicating his lowest ebb. Aidan O’Mahony’s tears last summer were different, a realisation that his days in the Kerry jersey were behind him, it was his farewell to Croke Park.

Emotion is powerful, it can make or break you. The sporting public need to be aware. The player you are hollering obscenities at is a human, could have a mortgage and a family to support. He or she could have the worries of the world on their shoulders. Sport could be their release.

If you have a story or want to send a photo or video to us please contact the Derry Now editorial team on 028 7129 6600 for Derry City stories Or 028 7774 3970 for County Derry stories. Or you can email gareth@derrynews.net at any time.