Sport Psychology Consultanting
Determination in the face of adversity
Jul 15th
I had an unfortunate experience a couple of days ago. The funny thing is I just blogged not long ago about how high performing individuals seem to focus their energy on what they can do and don’t appear to waste energy on what they can’t do or on judging others. They are busy working hard on creating; skills, providing a service, etc that they are too busy to whine and complain.
I have spent years studying high performance in the attempt to understand how to help people become happier and healthier. It is disappointing to me to come across individuals that only see what they want to see. That are so threaten for some reason they have to pull others down.
I am guessing we all come across individuals like this from time to time in our lives. What I have noticed from these infrequent encounters is that it always seems to only strengthen what I am doing. Although in this most recent situation, I found myself at times feeling emotionally charged. It just makes me more determined to keep my head down and work harder then ever. To control what I have control over.
Misery loves company what else can I say.
Young Phenom stays Calm amid Hype
Jul 14th
In the modern era, sports have become a lot more then a recreational past-time. The pressure to perform can be very intense. The stakes have gotten so high in specific arena’s that individuals will do almost anything to get an edge. A side effect that often comes from individuals dealing with large amounts of stress is high anxiety. Yet, it is not hard to find young phenom’s, as we like to call them, dealing with this stress with aplomb.
How do these “phenom’s” manage to keep there attention where it needs to be in order to perform at such high levels. Lets take a look at major league baseballs Jason Heyward. Jason has soared through the minor league system to make the major leagues at a very young age. Here are some comments made by Jason and some of his teammates.
“I think he’s always going to be like this,” “He’s got that head on his shoulders and he’s very mature. He knows what he has to do on the field, and he’s always going to stay calm. He doesn’t want to get out of his zone.”
Further when asked if he shared some of the assumptions being drawn by the many who expect great things from him, he calmly said, “My only assumption is that I’m hitting seventh and playing right field today.”
“The fact that he doesn’t want to think about it just shows his maturity,” outfielder Matt Diaz said. “He just wants to think about today. I think that’s one of the reasons he is able to walk around so calmly, because he’s really only worried about things he can control.”
I have seen this pattern in numerous high performing individuals. They refuse to worry about variables outside of their immediate control, namely the future or more specifically outcomes (winning or losing). Because they maintain a focus on taking life one day at a time it enables them to stay more attuned to the reality of what is really happening. Hence, they are able to channel their energy more effectively to do what they need, what they can do.
Jason’s last comment was “it’s just fun, that’ really all it’s ever been.”
Conclusion to the Barry Zito article (Part 3)
Jul 10th
After talking about the root of his problem which is summarized best as he was setting himself up for failure with the goals and expectations he was putting on himself. He talked about hitting rock bottom. He said “I almost took it too seriously instead of just playing baseball.” When we are in an interference cycle, focusing on what not to do, playing not to lose. Doubts are building, second guessing is getting more prevalent, hesitation is becoming more pronounced, muscle tension is becoming tighter, and ultimately fun has gone out the window and been replaced with misery.
Barry then says, “the nature of players is to make mechanical adjustments. But a lot of times success comes when you relax and just have fun.” Focusing attention on the mechanics, is often a great way to re-channel energy out of interference cycles and back on the CAN DO path. However, if the depth of the interference cycle is too deep focusing on mechanics way not be enough, which is why sometimes this works and other times does not. The most significant part of Barry’s statement is relaxing and having fun part.
When we are having fun, we unavoidably focus our energy on what we CAN DO. Hence, we are more likely to performance, or pitch in Barry case with confidence. Barry states, “If you pitch with confidence, your pitches are better. If you pitch with doubt, your pitches aren’t as good. I can’t explain why or how, but sometimes they just break better.” Obsolutely!!!
To close out the article Barry says the turnaround came when he, “learned to trust myself and my instincts and stop worrying about what everyone thinks of me. Ultimately, it’s none of my business; it’s just their projection on to me.
This year has been a lot more fun, but I can’t ever say I’m back. I would never have the audacity to say that. The nature of this game is that the next game will put you right back on your butt.”
Differences between practice and match play (Part 1)
Jul 5th
The difference between practice and match play for so many is a matter of time management. For example I had a tennis player a while back that was very talented and played extremely well in practice. She was close to the best player on our team in practice. But under pressure during match play—a different player would turn up.
This individual was taking the usual approach to try and control her mind better in pressure situations. She was seeing a counseling psychologist, doing visualization etc, but it wasn’t working. Finally, during a match were she had lost the first set 6-4 after playing very well to get to 4-4 and then choking the last two games because of nerves. I told her to step up one big step into the court to cut down the amount of time between each shot. I was hoping with less time she won’t have the time to worry so much and would be able to get out of her head and just play. I was shocked at the result.
Unbelievably, she started playing just like she did in practice. She was explosive, quick to the ball, and was making efficient good decisions without any hesitation. She was playing her game, dictating the play, and most importantly she was having fun. She won the second set easily which was great, but I wanted to see what would happen if the score was close. Would this approach stand up under pressure? I know, I know, I’m crazy, but understanding how the mind works, especially under pressure I thought would lead to more wins later. In the third set the score got to 4-4 again, her usual choking point. At this point she played several great points, intermixed with some points where her mind was racing and doubts were starting to creep into her mindset.
Though it wasn’t pretty at times, and we me hounding her to stay up in the court (she kept moving back when she got scared). In the end she got through it and had the biggest win of her career to this point. From this time on she played this way until she forgot about the advantages of cutting out time. Once she regressed back to old habits the anxiety came back just as fast as it had left. Unfortunately, I wasn’t coaching her at this point in time.
Carrie Underwood
Jul 4th
Last night I went with my family to The Stadium of Fire. The performance overall was very good, well organized, upbeat, positive, and fun. Carrie Underwood in particular was impressive. She first came out to sing the National Anthem well before it was her time to sing, I thought this showed a lack of ego and created a feeling that she wanted to be there. Later when she came out to perform she talked about how her last 5 years had been amazing. She had been a journalism major when she decided to “go for it” in reference to her entering American Idol. She mentioned that she simply turned her life over to the Lord and just followed her heart. 5 years later she is the top performing artist in the country. She came across as sincere, relaxed, confident (not arrogant), sweet, and fun. Her performance was long, but not too long. She consistently waved to the fans, danced a little, talked a little, and sung for about an hour. A balanced performance—nothing extreme.
Mental Skills Training: Avoid choking under pressure.
Apr 14th
I read an interesting study that was done by James Dimmock, psychologists at the University of Western Australia. He took 20 golfers and had them play a round focusing on cue words. Some focused on outcome cues, some focused on irrelevant cues and some focused on positive adjectives cues. There was not much difference between the players focusing on the words, but what they did find is that those golfers who were able to reduce anxiety with their words performed the best. Reducing anxiety during practice or a competition can set you up for the best results.
I spoke with a pole vaulter the other day who has graduated. Just some background here, this athlete was a very good jumper, top 5 in the NCAA, and two years in a row he no height-ed in the first round of the NCAA championships, (no height means, he did not make the height) He was ranked so high and was so talented that all he had to do in the first round was make one height and he would advance. I asked him what was going through his mind during both of these competitions. He told me that he was fixating on “all I have to do is make one bar, I have to make one height.” When he focused on these words his anxiety went through the roof and he said that he did not make good decisions. There is a direct relationship between anxiety, confidence, focus, and decision making, as anxiety rises, confidence, focus and decision making all decline. The same happens in reverse, as anxiety declines, confidence, focus and decision making all rise, which results in a great performance. This particular athlete was focused so much on the outcome of the event, that he almost forgot how to jump, he stopped executing specific skills that help him make the height.
The way that you can avoid choking in pressure situations is to reduce anxiety, by focusing on specific skills that will allow you to be successful, for pole vaulting it could be have a tall take off or run relaxed. Focusing on skills takes your mind away from focusing on the outcome. In tennis if you focus on playing the entire match hitting the ball out front, and executing that skill on every shot will give you the best chance for success. So again just to reaffirm what will help you avoid choking under pressure is, focusing on specific skills will and not the outcome will lower anxiety, thus raising confidence, focus, and decision making, allowing for a great performance.
There is one more key component here, it helps a great deal to ad a reassuring phrase to your game. One that is popular is “I can do this!” or “I got this!” I have also heard “Today is my day!” These phrase when said just before performing really help to build confidence, concentration, and decision making.
I recommend that when you are doing mental skills training you use a performance journal, or a mental skills journal, to log the skills you will focus on and to write down your reassuring phrase. When you write it down it becomes more powerful and real.
Mental Skills: Confidence, it changes the game.
Apr 1st
Confidence is a mjor part of sports, in fact it is the number component that leads to high performance, and at its simplest form, if you don’t believe you can do something you wont. If you believe you can do something then you will. A large component to developing confidence is having a previous successful experience.
Let me share a story about the building/development of confidence and how it can change the game. I have worked with an athlete his who is a pole vaulter, we will call him Chris. Chris has a lot of natural ability, he is pretty fast on the open track and he is pretty strong in the weight room, but the one thing that he lacked was belief in himself, or a little confidence. He would often times tell himself and tell other people that he had confidence and he believed that he could jump high, but where his lack of confidence became evidence was when he actually got on the runway to jump. He did not believe he was fast enough, to get on big poles and jump as high as he wanted, until something interesting happened. Chris decided he wanted to run the 100 meter dash as part of his training for one particular meet. Chris went and ran 11.02, which for a pole vaulter is pretty quick. Once Chris discovered that he was actually pretty fast, he began to improve dramatically. In practice he began running faster down the runway, and as a result of that he began to get on bigger poles. In his first outdoor competition he tied his lifetime best. That week in practice we moved him to a longer pole. The second competition he Improved on his lifetime best by 4 inches, and nearly 3 more inches on top of that. In the sport of pole vaulting inches make a big difference. Now Chris has the second highest mark in the nation.
The interesting point here is that Chris had it in him to jump this high all along, he just had to believe it. Once he had the successful previous experience that suggested that he was pretty fast, he began running faster, because he had confidence that he could run faster, and the result is that his performance when up dramatically. Physical ability is a large part of being a good athlete, but the mental skill of confidence or the mental ability is what allows for the physical ability to be effective. You never know what you maximum ability may be if you don’t learn the Mental Skills that allow you to reach your maximum ability.
Learn more about these skills in the book The Fearless Mind, begin learning these skills with a Performance Journal, this will set you up for success.
Fearless Mind: Components that make up a Fearless Mind.
Mar 29th
There are several components that make up a fearless mind, in fact as outlined in the book The Fearless Mind, written by Dr. Manning, there are 5 essential steps to high performance, ie. a Fearless Mind. I am going to out line the first concept which is confidence.
Confidence is a feeling or a thought process in one’s powers or ability to succeed. For example, I would exhibit confidence by saying “I am good at what I do.” or feeling a certain way, “I am confident in my ability to succeed.” It is easy to define confidence, but it becomes tricky when we try to define how confidence is developed.
Research shows that the number factor in the development of confidence is previous successful experiences, and the reason for this, is because we have a knowledge that a certain achievement is possible. Confidence starts with a belief in one’s ability to succeed, then is usually driven by certain motivation to achieve and then a commitment to finish out the objective. The key to successfully develop confidence is having the right objective, I talked about this in another post, the Performance Journal. (click here to recap) Having the right objective can accelerate the growth of confidence or completely destroy confidence. For example setting an objective just slightly beyond a persons capability but not out of reach is the right kind of objective. Sometimes we set goals or objectives that are way out of our reach and so when we fall short we begin to doubt our ability and lose our confidence in our selves. Just to recap, confidence is developed by previous successes, belief leads to motivation which leads to commitment which leads to action to accomplish a certain objective, once we have accomplished that objective it becomes a previous success, therefore building confidence.
Research shows that confidence is the number one aspect in the success of high performing individuals. And it all starts with believing that I can achieve anything. Once we have learned how to develop confidence we can repeat the cycle over and over until we have reached our final objective, no matter what it is.
Every athlete needs confidence to be successful, some athletes are really good at faking confidence and other have it, but the most successful know how to develop confidence and keep on developing it while at the same time removing doubt. I mentioned at the top of this post that this skill is outlined in detail how to develop confidence in the book The Fearless Mind.
Performance Journal
Mar 27th
A performance journal is a tremendous way to develop any kind of skill, a performance journal is also known as a mental skills journal. Mental Skills Journal allows individuals to channel their spiritual, emotional, mental, and physical energy towards their objective. Mental Skills Journal also helps individuals become accountable for their objective, and stay focused when interference or distractions come into our view.
Buy a Mental Skills Journal Here
Let me Just give an example of how the performance journals works. At the Beginning of every year people make New Years Resolutions, one of the most famous resolution made every year is to lose weight, Golds Gym and personal trainers make all or their money in the first month of the year because of resolutions. Lets take for example I want to lose 30 pounds. So I set my goal and I get motivated and the first week I work out every day and start eating a better diet, but I only lose 2 pounds. 2 pounds is pretty good for a none athlete, but 2 pounds is not 30 pounds so right away, people begin to think that 30 pounds is going to be harder then they originally thought. So the next week they may not be quit as diligent in the eating area or may not work out every day. Week two they may only lose 1 pound, but you can see here how their confidence begins to decrease and then motivation, belief and commitment then begin to decrease and finally they quit. By late February and early March, the folks at gold gym are just the regulars.
Now if we simple just adjust our objective a little or how we perceive our objective our results will be dramatically different. Let me explain, we will take the 30 pound weight loss example again, instead of setting our objective at 30 pounds we should set it at 2 or 3 pounds per week, then when we are super motivated and committed in week one, and we work out really hard and eat right and we lose 3 pounds in one week, we are very excited. We have succeeded in achieving our objective for week one. Now 30 pounds looks doable, our belief levels go up, our motivation goes up, and the next week work even harder and eat even better, again losing 3 or even 4 pounds. The Performance Journal helps you channel that energy the right way.
Buy a Mental Skills Journal Here
Research suggests that we should be doing mental skills training 2 to 3 times a week. The Performance Journal allows for you to do this without having to consult with someone, the performance journal is designed to help you be accountable and help you achieve what ever you desire.
Dr. Craig Manning a sports psychology consultant has developed a performance journal that is easy to use at an affordable price you can check it out here. www.visualizeone.com