"Mindset is the be-all and end-all"

In conversation with Ole Springer, professional footballer at Rot-Weiss Essen

Ole is a smart, likeable guy, full of passion for soccer. He lives for this sport, which "gives him a lot but also demands a lot from him sometimes". Daily training, always being fit - both mentally and physically - and a life determined by the match calendar. The goalkeeper is happy to accept all of this in order to live his dream as a professional athlete. We met him to talk about his lifestyle, the right mindset and the decisive moments on and off the pitch.

I have definitely turned my hobby into a profession and am living my dream

Dom: Please tell us briefly: Who are you and what do you do?

Ole: I'm Ole, 32 years young and a professional footballer - a goalkeeper to be precise, currently with Rot-Weiss Essen. But I also have a master's degree in business administration. I'm really happy to be able to go out on the soccer pitch every day and to have turned my hobby into a career. 

Dom: How did you get into (professional) soccer?

Ole : Yes, I got into sport like most children. My father is absolutely crazy about soccer and influenced meearly on. I played football with friends at a low level. I simply enjoyed exercise and soccer. Later on, I didn't actually start in goal, but played in defence, until at some point I had a coach who thought he had recognized a certain talent in goal. I don't think he was that wrong and then one thing led to another and then it just went up a few rungs before you suddenly started playing competitive sport

Dome: Now you also have a special career with your business studies. Can you remember this moment of decision between a "normal" career or a professional athlete? Was there one?

Ole: I think that I actually have a lot of luck there tooück that I never came to this decision point. I don't know what I would have decided then. Studying and soccer were never mutually exclusive for me. They went well together. When I finished my studies, I came to the point where many people probably have to make that decision.üssen. And then I just really had the luckück that Werder Bremen came to the corner again and said: "Hey, we think you're really exciting as a guy, as an overall constellation, but also as an athlete." And so I had the luckück to be able to say: That's a six in the lottery. I can contribute both skills.

But at some point, I think you have to say: if professional sport doesn't take you to the top, you have to do something else. But I haven't reached that point yet and I don't feel like I have at the moment. That's why I hope that I can continue to do this for as long as my body can handle it. And at the moment, I'd say that's quite a long time (winks).

Dom: What does your everyday life as an athlete look like?

Ole: I get up at 8 in the morning, get ready and go to work. When I arrive at the stadium, I usually have a coffee and then usually have one to two hours before training. I warm up, go to the gym, do a few mobilityexercises to get my body up to operating temperature and prevent injuries. Then it's out onto the pitch. I'm usually active on the pitch for an hour and a half, with the goalkeeping coach and then later with the team. And then you're done with the sporting part at one or half past one. On some days, you add a strength session on top of that, so you're usuallyback home by 2 or 3 pm. 

Dom: Would you say you are living your dream?

Ole: I've definitely turned my hobby into a career and I'm living my dream. So I think if you see professional footballers on TV as a child and want to experience that, then you do a lotfor it. Then you're prepared to train a lot and work hard. Nevertheless, it also takes a lot ofluck- being in the right place at the right time. I had that for the most part, but I don't think I always did. Which is perhaps why, if you're honest, you're currently only in the third division. But the bottleneck to the top is so tight. Being in the right place at the right time, being lucky or unlucky, all that often makes the difference between one or two leagues.
And yes, on the whole I really have to say that I'm very satisfied with what was in my hands and what I was able to do and how I was able to work on myself.

Dom: How important is absolute focus for you?

Ole: I don't think you're any different as a goalkeeper than any other athlete. You always try to get into that flow. You always try to reach that peak of performance. You can't do that at the push of a button. You simply have to be on point, especially during preparation. As a footballer, you have to work towards it for a whole week, both athletically and mentally, as well as health-wise. Lots of sleep, good nutrition. These are actually points that play a role in being there at the decisive moment. And even that doesn't give you a guarantee. However, I usually find that if Itakeall these thingsinto accountand really prepare myself professionally for the moment, I'll be there. I thenfeelaccordingly and that simply gives me thefeelingfrom deep inside that I am up to the task ahead of me.

Dom: How do you get into that focus and flow before the game?

Ole: That goes hand in hand with the preparation again. When I'm really prepared to the point, Ifeelgood, Ifeelgreat. Then I look forward to the game. If I'm not well prepared, which actually only happens if I'm forced to do so by external factors, for example if I've had to cutback a bit on training or perhaps had an English week with little recovery time, then I'm definitely a bit more tense. You realize that you might not be at 100 percent. As a rule, though,Ireally enjoy playing soccer and that's why I can say that I actually look forward to the games.

As a professional athlete, you are of course familiar with pressure. Pressure to perform, pressure from outside expectations. But to be honest, there is also pressure from within, from yourself.

Dom: How do you personally deal with pressure and how do you feel it?

Ole: As a professional athlete, younaturallyknow pressure. Pressure to perform, pressure from outside expectations. But to be honest, there's also pressure from within, from yourself. And that was and is actually always the bigger one in my career. The expectations I have of myself are usually greater and also more stressful than what comes at you from the outside. But you learn to deal with it. I think that's also an experience that you build up overthe years. I've been in competitive soccer for a total of 22 years now and there's always been some form of pressure on you. Sometimes you want to get promoted, sometimes you can't get relegated. And you get used to it, you learn to deal with it. And I've developed the routines and processesformyself, just really saying to myself that if I'm fully prepared and then things go wrong, then that's the way it is.

Dom: How important are routines for you?

Ole: Routinesnaturallyhelp you to get into the flow you mentioned. If you have fixed routines leading up to a kick-off, then at some point your body also realizes: Okay, I know this situation, I know what is required of me. For example, I always have the same warm-up routine. From the moment I step onto the pitch until I go back into the dressing room and take off my jersey, it's always the same routine. Simply because I realize that my body then gets into competition mode and my mind also knows what's important now. And if you do get a little nervous or feel a little more pressure,this routine helps you to ground yourself and calm down again.

Dom: What role does the right mindset play in all of this?

Ole : In my opinion, mindset is the be-all and end-all in competitive sport. Especially at a certain level. We're really talking abouttop-class sport now, where you can really say: everyone who gets there can do something. Everyone there has a certain talent, has the physical prerequisitesfor itand it's the little things that make the difference. And in my opinion, they are very much defined bythe mindset. How much do I want it and what sacrifices am I prepared to makefor it? In my career,I've met many, many incredibly talented footballers who didn't have this mindset and who generally didn't make it. I can only think of one or two exceptions where I'd say they were just so incredibly good that they still made it. And on the other hand, there are also athletes where you say they're not exceptionally talented, but they know what's important. They are there to the point, live like full professionals and that's why they make their way.

Dom: And where do you see yourself?

Ole: Personally, I would also put myself in the second category. I don't think I was blessed with too much talent. But it was already clear to me at the age of ten that I wanted to go to the St. Pauli performance center, I wanted to run 100 kilometers every day and I wanted to work towards a goal. And that's why I've constantly developed over the years to where I am today, also in terms of performance. As I said, I wouldn't really say I'm overly talented at this point.

I believe that resilience is the basic prerequisite for being successful in life.

Dom: Let's talk about resilience. Also very important in sport, right?

Ole: I believe that resilience is the basic prerequisite for being successful in life. Iwouldn't limit that to sport. It's utopian to think that things will always go uphill in life and that everything will always go according to plan. You lose important games, sometimes you have a bad phase, sometimes you don't play. If you then immediately throw in the towel, logic tells you that you can no longer be successful, because then you've stopped. And then tackling resistance, being resilient, always bringing yourself back to the point when it comes to mindset and saying, I still want to develop, I still want to progress, that's the be-all and end-all to be successful in competitive sport, but also in life. I am convincedof that. And I think I've been living that for 22 years. 

Dom: How do you deal with defeat? Is it a learning process for you?

Ole: I'm an incredibly bad loser. Anyone who has ever played "Mensch ärgere dich nicht" or anything else with me can confirm that. I hate losing, but I've also been able to draw an incredible amount of strengthfromdefeats because I question almost every defeat or actually every time something goes wrong. Sometimes it actually justleadsto you saying it was bad luck. But it often alsoleadsto development and learning processes that you can then drive forward yourself. And then drawing strength for the future from defeats has also become a bit of a motto in my life.

Dom: In one of our earlier conversations, you once said that the goalkeeper position is something special in football. Can you explain that?

Ole : As a goalkeeper, you're generally not physically challenged over90 minutes, but mentally. So the fact that you really have actions in the game depends on the opponent, but maybe that adds up to one or two minutes in the game in which you really have to actively intervene physically. For the other 88 minutes, you don't seem to be involved at first glance. And that makes it all the more important to stay focused and stay in the game during this time. Because you can't just say: now the ball is in front, I'm already thinking about dinner. You really have to push your mind to the limit almost the entire time. And that's why I, for example, am someone who is more than exhausted after 90 minutes. This may sound funny at first, but I sometimes sit on the team bus and get cramps because my mind has simply used up a lot of energy. After all, the brain is the body's biggest energy consumer. And maintaining this tension throughout the game is honestly more strenuous for me than any 10 or 15 kilometer run that I do as a hobby. 

Dom: You are currently the second goalkeeper for Rot-Weiss Essen. Does that make a difference to you and how do you deal with it?

Ole : Well, if you think about it: As an athlete, you want to go out at the weekend, you want to prove yourself, you want to show yourself and then you're not allowed to, and honestly you have no chance of changing that on your own. There's a number one to start with and that's who plays. Unless they have a dip in performance, an injury or a suspension. And that's why you have to accept this position and this situation, be at peace with yourself and really be at 100 percent for eleven months of the year despite everything, because when that one moment comes, you have to be there. And you can't just say I'm only going to do 70 percent and then when I'm needed, I'll be there. No, you really always have to be ready to perform, you always have to be at 100 percent, because you never know when the day will come when you're needed.

Dom: Okay Ole, last question and it's completely self-serving. You know portance and you know what I do. Hand on heart: As a professional athlete, what do you think about sportswear that eliminates the smell of sweat?

Ole: (Laughs). I don't think anyone likes the smell of sweat, especially old sweat. That's why it'sof coursecool to have clothing that doesn't start to smell despite exertion and sweat, despite hot temperatures. That's why Iwouldsay it's also important in private. To be honest, on the sports field, it's not so important to me whether my opponent thinks for a moment: "His clothes are really sweaty". But if you do sport privately, for example if you go for a long run, let's be honest, sometimes you don't wash your sports clothes straight away, you just airthem. And when you're out and about again the next day, it's great to have products that don't smell of sweat.I also believe that it makes a huge difference whether you have cheap products that absorb sweat and then stick to your clothes or high-quality products that repel or eliminate sweat so that you can actuallyfeelfresh every day.

Dom: Great, thank you for the open conversation Ole .

Ole: Thanks to you and you, Dome!

Photos by @mihalea.nompleggio
Campaign Video by @freiluftfilm
Follow Ole on social media: @ole_springer31