I work with athletes at many levels of sport, from juniors to collegians to pros and Olympians, and a major goal that I help them to achieve is consistency in their competitive performances. I see so many athletes who have big swings in their performances from great one week to mediocre to even lousy the [...]
I came across this funny, yet all too familiar, satirical video about sport parents in a recovery support group similar to Alcoholics Anonymous. I'm sure you'll get a good chuckle from it while, at the same time, feeling a bit uncomfortable because it may hit a little too close to home.
The start of a new sports season is the time to improve your fitness and further develop your technique, tactics, and over-all performances for the upcoming competitive season. How you use your training time may very well determine how well you perform and whether you achieve your sports goals for the season. Training is hugely [...]
These days, children seem to be given every opportunity by their parents to experience success in sports and every other performance activity (e.g., school, the performing arts). Many young athletes receive extra help from personal fitness trainers, private coaching, and training camps. They are given the opportunity to develop every possible sports skill necessary to [...]
Setting expectations for your children is an essential responsibility of being a sport parent. Expectations communicate messages to your children about what’s important to you and establish a standard toward which they can strive. But expectations can be double-edged swords. They can be a tremendous benefit to your children’s athletic and personal development or they [...]
Apologies for tooting my own horn, but the reviews and survey results are in from my first two online mental training courses, Prime Ski Racing 101 and Prime Sport 101, and they were very gratifying (while also providing great feedback on how I can continue to improve them). Though they are a work in progress, [...]
Your goal as a coach is to have as great a positive impact as you can on your athletes. This influence starts with your specific coaching of them to make them better athletes and to help them achieve their competitive goals. To that end, you motivate them, build their confidence, try to relieve any pressure [...]
It is a widely held belief in the sports world that team culture can have a big impact on how a team functions and performs. How team members, think, feel, behave, and perform are all influenced by the environment in which they practice and compete. For example, have you ever been on a “downer” team? I’m [...]
Let me preface this article with a few observations about sport coaching and mental training. First, I believe that great sport coaches are also great intuitive psychologists. They may not have the fancy degrees, but through experience and self-education (and sometimes formal education), capable coaches develop a deep understanding of the importance of the mind [...]
Michael Phelps has had a remarkable series of performances at the Rio Olympics. He is obviously a tremendously gifted athlete who trains incredibly hard. At the same time, as this video describes, Phelps commits a ton of time and energy to his mental preparation. And here's another video that describes how Michael Phelps the athlete [...]