Why Isn’t Mental Training Treated the Same as Physical and Technical Training?
Not long ago, I completed what has turned out to be a three-week international tour of sport psychology. During my trips, I have worked with athletes and coaches from the U.S., Australia, Sweden, Switzerland, and Russia in Argentina, California, Oregon, and Switzerland. One question that has emerged during my travels involves the role of mental preparation in athletic development. But before I get to that question, let me provide some back story.
Whenever I speak to athletes and coaches, I ask them how important the mind is to sport success. With few exceptions, the response is that the mind is as or more important than the physical and technical side of sports. I am obviously biased given my work in sport psychology, so I won’t take a position on which I believe is more important. But I will say that the mind is an essential piece of the sport performance puzzle.
Consider the top-10 athletes, male or female, in any sport. Are they all gifted? Yes. Are they all in exceptional physical condition? Yes. Are they all technically sound? Yes. Do they all have the best equipment? Yes. So, on game day, what separates the best from those who are close, but can’t quite get to the top? All of these other factors being equal, it must be what goes on in their minds.
Read MoreThe Power of Self-talk (“You” is Better Than “I”)
An interesting article discussing research that demonstrates the benefits of self-talk and the difference between using second person (“You can do it”) and first person (“I can do it”). Hint: second person is better.
Read MoreFinal Words to a Team in Pursuit of a National Championship
I have been working for the past year with a collegiate team with realistic aspirations of winning an NCAA championship. They have been an amazing group of athletes who struggled through challenges, stayed committed to their goals, and came together as a team. It has been a privilege to be a part of the team. […]
Read MoreMake Mental Training a Priority in the Off-season
No, this article is not a lame attempt at self-promotion. Rather, it is a challenge for you to take an essential, yet often neglected, piece of the ski racing success puzzle and make it a priority during the off-season. Let me elaborate in three ways. First, I speak to racers, coaches, and parents around North […]
Read MoreGreat Article about the Power of Mental Imagery in Sports
Here’s a great article about how Winter Olympians use mental imagery. It supports my belief that mental imagery is a powerful and essential tool in an athlete’s toolbox.
Read MoreGreat Video on Positive Self-talk and Imagery for Ski Racers
Here’s a link to a great video in which three of Canada’s top female ski racers demonstrate and discuss how they use positive self-talk and mental imagery to prepare them for success.
Read MoreThree Steps to Athletic Success
I have been thinking a great deal about what it takes for athletes to achieve what I consider to be an essential goal in all of your efforts, namely, when your game, match, round, race, or other type of competition concludes, you are make two statements: “I was as prepared as I could be to […]
Read MoreSkiing Your Fastest Starts with Respect
In my many years in ski racing, first as a racer, then as a sport psych consultant, I have studied and tested what I believe are the most important mental contributors to ski racing success including motivation, confidence, focus, and emotions. But there is one that I have recognized quite recently as being really important, […]
Read MoreSki Racing: Think Now, So You Don’t Have to Think Later
I just returned from Zermatt where I spent a week working with a group of highly ranked U.S. tech skiers. After a few days, the feedback I was getting from them was that I was really getting into their heads and causing them to think a lot, in fact, to a few of them, a […]
Read MoreThreat vs. Challenge in Sports
I have found that a simple distinction appears to lie at the heart of whether athletes are able to rise to the occasion and perform their best when it really counts or crumble under the weight of expectations and tough conditions on the day of a competition: Do they view the competition as a threat or a challenge.
What happens when you are threatened by something (think mountain lion). First, what direction do you want to go? Of course, you want to run away from the threat as fast as you can. Physiologically, your muscles tighten up, you hold your breath, your balance goes back, and your center of gravity rises. Psychologically, your motivation is to flee from the threat. Your confidence plummets because you don’t feel capable of confronting the situation (that’s one reason it’s a threat to you). You are focused only on protecting yourself from the threat. And, naturally, you feel fear, helplessness, and despair (because the mountain lion will eat you!). In sum, everything both physically and mentally goes against you, making it virtually impossible for you to overcome the threat and success in your sport.
Where does threat come from?
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