Mindfulness expert to Oscar Piastri and Dustin Martin is hockey’s secret weapon at Paris Olympics

Australia’s hockey heroes have turned to the mindfulness expert who helped F1 star Oscar Piastri and triple Norm Smith Medallist Dustin Martin as they hone their mental craft to achieve Paris gold.

Australia’s hockey heroes have turned to the mindfulness expert who helped F1 star Oscar Piastri, IndyCars driver Scott McLaughlin and triple Norm Smith Medallist Dustin Martin as they hone their mental craft to achieve Paris gold.

Melbourne mindfulness expert Emma Murray and her pupil David Astbury, a triple premiership Richmond defender, are the secret weapons teaching mental strength for the Hockeyroos and Kookaburras in Paris.

Murray has worked across an array of sports with clients including Hungarian Grand Prix winner Piastri, Indycars star Scott McLaughlin and AFL ladder leaders Sydney as part of her High Performance Mindfulness portfolio.

The Kookaburras went desperately close to Tokyo gold after losing a nail-biting penalty shootout but the Hockeyroos went unbeaten in five pool games then suffered a shock quarter finals loss.

Murray and Astbury are in Paris alongside the hockey squads, having already had successful results in recent major tournaments for their respective national sides.

It is part of the continued investment in the program from Hockey Australia under chief executive David Pryles as it seeks to give its players every chance to succeed with an elite high performance culture.

Oscar Piastri has used the expertise of Emma Murray. Picture: James Sutton/Getty Images

Hockeyroos coach Colin Batch said of Murray and Astbury: “Emma is working with us and David Astbury is working with the Hockeyroos. They provide the mental skills program for both teams. Compared to the athletes of 20 or 30 years ago, the mental part of the game is so important with the demands young people have on them”.

Hockeyroos captain Jane Claxton said that at its simplest the mindfulness exercises were about stripping back feelings of negativity and doubt to stay in the moment during moments of onfield drama.

“In Tokyo we went in a bit scrambled after we changed our coach two months out. (Trinny Powell) galvanised the group so well. I don’t know how she did it,” she said.

Captain Jane Claxton said mindfulness was helping the Hockeyroos focus on success. Picture: Luis Veniegra/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

“We did well in the round games and got to the quarter final and then we kind of capitulated. The mental game and the development of the high performance mindset under Emma and David that we have brought into our group since the World Cup in 2022 has definitely improved our game. You can prepare physically but in an elite sport 90 per cent of what you deliver is your mental and cognitive approach to it. You can be the fittest out there but if your mindset is off suddenly you aren’t performing to full capacity.”

“In many respects it’s quite simplistic. It’s based on understanding your strengths and how you deliver them. You need to re-write the narrative in your head. It’s not around focusing on mistakes or negatives. It’s about harnessing your strengths. I was flabbergasted how many negative narratives I had. It has really enlightened us, we are getting to know each other a lot.”

Dustin Martin has also called on the expertise of Murray. Picture: Michael Klein

“There was so much anticipation at the World Cup (in the quarter finals) We thought this is really going to make or break us. Dave and Emma had come on board three months before that. We were going up against Spain, the home country, and we were just so prepared.”

Australia on that quarterfinal then after losing to the Netherlands 1-0 in their semi-final rebounded from a goal down to win bronze.

Defender Claire Colwill said Murray and Astbury’s teachings equipped her with the tools to be able to cope during moments of high stress.

“I think what they have enabled us to do is have a mental tool kit. When something goes wrong you can pull something out to fix it. It’s a bonus in high pressure situations and big games,” she said.

“It’s about drawing your focus back to one single thing. Drawing it back to its simplest role. Working with them has enabled us to go further than we thought we could go.”

Originally published as Mindfulness expert to Oscar Piastri and Dustin Martin is hockey’s secret weapon at Paris Olympics