Life behind the whistle – maintaining clarity under pressure

Refereeing is one of the toughest jobs out there – maintaining clarity and staying calm in tough, pressure filled, situations are skills that need to be mastered over time.

This year there have been a number of challenging on pitch decisions for the referees and all have been handled with a cool head and clear decision making.

The referees appear unflappable, but how they respond is by no means an accident – it’s a skill developed, with support of expert mindset coaches, and years of practice.

Along with our partners at ACME whistles, we have spoken to several top referees this year about how to make quick decisions under pressure all while commanding respect from the players.

Both Ben O’Keeffe (NZ) and Luke Pearce (UK) have openly discussed the work they have done on their mindset. How they respond on the field takes self-discipline and experience to master.

“There are a lot of mindset skills that we use and each national rugby union has someone from the sports psychology space to teach them how to use these skills most effectively,” O’Keefe said.

“We also work on using mental cues around trust in order to feel confident that our decisions are accurate which helps us to enjoy the games we referee.

"But essentially, over time you develop and build on these skills through experience and being self-critical.

“The more you are on pitch, the more you keep adding experiences; being forced to referee moments that are quite different.

“We’re constantly reconnecting and reevaluating based on all our experiences and interactions.”

Adding to that, Luke Pearce said: “You might look like you’re nice and calm and like everything's fine, but as in any other walk of life and in any other job, you've got days where you’re thinking ‘my God, this is really difficult and everything I do seems to be causing another problem’.

“How we keep that emotion under a lid is through a lot of work in terms of sports psych to try and keep myself in a ‘blue’ minded thought rather than ‘red’.

“It’s all based around a mindset system created by Gazing Red2Blue that helps you think more clearly and feel in control to perform under pressure.

“It has massively helped me to frame my mindset and make clear, rational decisions in those pressure moments.”

Gazing Red2Blue mindset frameworks were developed over 25 years ago and used by the All Blacks when they won back-to-back World Cups. Dan Carter has regularly talked about the benefits of the mindset training he received.

The mindset framework was brought in for referees at World Rugby level ahead of the Six Nations last year and has had real benefits for match officials using the Red2Blue model to enable them to adapt their mindset from a reactive mindset to a calm, focused one - harnessing pressure rather than fighting it.

Martin Fairn, CEO at Gazing Performance said: “Put simply, Red2Blue is a mindset development programme that helps you control how you react to stressful situations, allowing you to make better decisions, concentrate, and regain control of your emotions.

“A 'red' mindset means you are out of control, stressed, and thinking unclearly. The transition to 'blue' means you're calm, thinking logically and in control.

“It may sound simple, and it is. That’s the point. Mindset is a skill to be developed, not a problem to be solved.”

With all referee minds working differently, the Gazing model is based on straightforward language, not filled with complicated jargon. This way, it can be understood and implemented by anyone.”

“Sharing ideas and talking about stuff that could enable us in those pressure cooker moments to remain calm has been really helpful,” said Pearce.

“A large part of our role as referees is physical, but it goes beyond that to the psychological and we do need to train that part of us just as much, if not more, to be the best referees we can be.

“By adopting Gazing Red2Blue, World Rugby is showing its adaptability and supporting everyone to improve their mindset.”

“In our game it takes one incident, one moment that gets the crowd involved and gets the TV replaying and all of a sudden all eyes are on us as the judge, jury and executioner - having to make the decision on it.

“It’s not an easy skill, having that clarity of mind in a tough situation but it is one that as a team of elite referees we work hard to develop.”

Those skills are also transferable to other areas of the referees lives, especially when faced with a pressurised environment and need to manage stress levels.

“All the stress and anxiety are emotions that you feel on the pitch before a game are the same as those before a big meeting or a deadline at work,” adds O’Keefe.

“In those moments you need a good plan going into that pressurised environment, and you need to be clear and accurate - just like refereeing.

“There's a lot of transferable skills that we use and that's why I've always encouraged young referees to get into refereeing whilst playing the sport because you learn how to control your emotions and you put yourself in situations when you're under pressure from decision making or from captains, coaches, players.

“It's quite unique and all those skills can be used in anyone's professional life, anyone's family life at home as well, so there's definitely lots of skills that we use out there constantly throughout the day.”

To find out more about our partners at ACME whistles, visit www.acmewhistles.co.uk