Posts Tagged "sport psychology"
Jan26

Quick Tips – Building Confidence

Posted at 6:10 PM • No Comments
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Be Confidence Using The 3 Rs

Be Confidence Using The 3 Rs

Building confidence is difficult, it takes work and effort but by simplifying the process you can be successful.  Using the 3 Rs you can simply start building up and/or improving your confidence right away.  Try to keep a weekly log of these thoughts, situations, etc. so you can see your progress.

Repeat (strengths)- You want to repeat your strengths over and over again.  Include your sport specific, physical and mental strengths.  The preferred method is write them down but you can also repeat them to yourself.

Rationalize (thoughts)- Any thoughts you have positive or negative should be rationalized.  “Why am I good at _______?”  “Why can’t I do _______?” Basically, keep working on asking and answering “why” to all of your thoughts.

Replace (negative w/ positive)- When negative situations or thoughts occur you want to replace them with something positive.  Maybe a tough situation isn’t negative but instead a challenge that you can overcome.

For more information about mental performance as well as overall athletic performance enhancement check out our websites. The links are on the right of the page.

Jan21

Be A Leader

Posted at 6:14 AM • No Comments

Some quick thoughts about leadership…

To be a leader you must learn to accept responsibility. To do this there are some key components.
1. You must be in control of your actions
2. You must learn from your mistakes and continue to grow.
3. You must feel in charge.
4. You must feel enthusiastic and comfortable in your decisions and actions
5. Finally, you must feel that you caused your success and that is not an accident

For more information about mental performance as well as overall athletic performance enhancement check out our websites. The links are on the left of the page.

Jan13

Quick Tips – Try To Achieve “Flow”

Posted at 6:18 PM • No Comments

Flow is easiest to achieve when:

  • You perceive that your skills are good enough to match the perceived difficulty of the contest.
  • The competition is not so easy that you become bored and do not concentrate.
  • You have distraction under control
  • You are paying full attention to the performance, with no analysis of errors or technique
  • You are relaxed and alert
  • You are thinking positively, and have eliminated all negative thoughts
  • It is allowed to develop, and not forced
  • You have practiced and trained attention

 The following things in particular are avoided:

  • Wanting to win
  • Show off
  • Wanting to frighten or terrify the opponent
  • The desire to be reactive and not take the initiative
  • Trying so hard to achieve the correct state of mind that you distract yourself. 

For more information about mental performance as well as overall athletic performance enhancement check out our websites. The links are on the right of the page.

Jan11

Burnout – Is it happening to you? Or is it too late?

Posted at 9:54 AM • No Comments

Do you feel like you’re losing motivation? You might be approaching burnout. Burnout happens when you have previously been highly committed to a sport or activity and then lose all interest and motivation. Burnout mostly happens to highly-committed, passionate, hard working and successful athletes. Keeping this in mind, being aware of burnout is something all athletes should consider.

Two important parts of burnout are: exhaustion and disillusionment.

As an athlete you may have worked so hard at something, for so long, that the easy things become difficult and maybe the sport loses its excitement. These are times when rest helps us to approach the situation with a new focus and enthusiasm. The real issue of burnout comes from the sense of deep disappointment based on our own expectations.

Many athletes get our sense of identity and meaning from our performance.

EVALUATING & PLANNING FOR BURNOUT

List the things that give real meaning to what sport you play.

1. Write down what attracted you to your sport in the first place.

  • List the things about it that you find fulfilling now.
  • Include what excites you about it.
  • Think about what you want to achieve within it, and what you think is important to doing the job well.
  • This will give you a long list of things that are good about what you do.

2. From this list, identify the five things that give the greatest meaning to your sport.

3. Next, write down the things that frustrate you most about your sport.

4. Now work through the list of things that give you meaning item-by-item.

  • For each item, look at the list of frustrations.
  • Think these through carefully, and plan in advance how you will handle build-ups of stress in these areas.

For more information about mental performance as well as overall athletic performance enhancement check out our websites. The links are on the left of the page.

Dec16

Goals for the Holidays

Posted at 9:46 AM • No Comments

With the holiday season firmly upon us it can be difficult for an athlete to stay motivated in their training. With family distractions and all of the delicious food available it can be hard to make it to the gym as often and many times one can find extra weight on themselves. Not only can this set back your training but if you are in season you may lose a step. This time of year I often see athletes with lower confidence and/or higher frustration levels. The biggest reason this occurs is because our normal routines get disrupted. These routines that change include, eating habits, training, and even sleep patterns.

There are ways to combat these issues. Using goal setting you can ensure that you do not slip.

  • Rework your schedule to fit in your routines.
  • Choose healthy eating options when you can; if nothing else portion control!
  • If you’re traveling find out ahead of time where you can train.
  • Make sure to rest and be prepared to make sacrifices when choosing between preparation for a game or family commitments
  • Have modified training programs and routines for shortened time situations that may occur
  • Lastly, set some personal goals for each few days that can keep you on task.

For more information about mental performance as well as overall athletic performance enhancement check out our websites. The links are on the left of the page.

Nov18

Youth Sports & Coaches

Posted at 2:49 AM • No Comments

Youth sports can serve as a behavior training. Youth sports are a constant hot topic and youth sports can help an athlete be groomed for later in life as well as after their days of playing sports are over. Using sport psychology interventions for youths can enhance their well-being and psychosocial development. Training that integrates life skills can be value to kids in both sports and everyday development. Skills such as, relaxation, mental rehearsal, and goal setting have many implications for development.

Besides parents (which bring about many other issues) coaches play a huge role in a child’s development on and off the field. Although it is important to recognize that the position does not guarantee respect and devotion from their athletes, proper communication can aid in this process. When a coach first meets with new players, or a new team, there are many items that should be explicitly discussed. These include: the philosophy of the coach, expectations and goals the coach has for the individual athlete as well as for the team/season, locations and times of all practices and contests, team requirements, special equipment, strength and conditioning programs, procedure if the athlete is injured during participation, as well as team rules, guidelines, and consequences for infractions. These philosophies and values do have an effect on each athlete either negatively or positively and is something that should be always looked at and reevaluated by the players, parents, and coaches themselves.

For more information about mental performance as well as overall athletic performance enhancement check out our websites. The links are on the left of the page.