coaches

Mental Moment-percieved bad rap

Written by on March 12, 2013

Mastery

Over the years I’ve heard numerous stories of how sports psychology has not had the impact that athletes, coaches and administrators thought it would. Several of my elite athletes have said they’ve had a sports psychologist come talk to them but that it wasn’t very helpful and it was never suggested that they work with someone on an individual basis. Another colleague had brought someone from the field of sports psychology in to talk to the entire school and was not pleased at the results. These are just a couple of the many stories I’ve heard. Don’t let your perception … Continued

Mental Moment-should athletes and coaches communicate

Written by on March 9, 2013

Coach & athlete

I’ve worked with numerous athletes and teams who have struggled terribly with communication. Athletes feel like they aren’t heard and coaches feel like athletes are not listening. The problem is neither really ‘talks’ to the other. Athletes feel like they can’t communicate their thoughts and feelings for fear of retribution and coaches don’t always know or understand how important it is to be honest with and really talk to their athletes. This leaves everyone feeling frustrated, disrespected and angry. In this environment no one gets what they want or need. In my work with athletes I empower them to have … Continued

Mental Moment-athletes are impacted by their thoughts and those of coaches

Written by on March 5, 2013

Nothing happens without the brains involvement. The brain fires to the muscles telling them how to respond. Flow There are moments as an athlete that you are in a state of flow. In that state performance is effortless. This is really the state you want to be in as much and as often as you can. For most athletes those moments are few. What is more common is that athletes have a lot of unconscious and subconscious thinking that effects their performance; usually in a negative way. Athletes You move in the direction your brain tells you to. For example, … Continued

Mental Moment-support for children in sports

Written by on January 7, 2013

kids playing soccer

[download id="7"] I am posting this article today because I feel like it’s important information for parents and coaches to have an understanding of how to support kids throughout their lifespan of sports. It’s also important to know the research on the developmental stages of transitions kids need to go through.

Mental Moment-let them play

Written by on October 23, 2012

kids-baseball

I had lunch with a colleague yesterday who also does mental training. Right now she is passionate about supporting youth sports so we spent some time talking about that.Although this is written in the context of sports it’s also applicable to school, art, writing, music, singing, etc. Mothers coaching One of the things my colleague (C.) talked about yesterday was figuring out how to get Moms into coaching particularly for young kids up to the age of 8 – 10. C. works with coaches and we was talking about the differences between the way men and women coach. Men are … Continued

Mental Moment-Concussions

Written by on October 11, 2012

concussion

It didn’t seem that youth sports used to be so complicated or at least there weren’t so many children experiencing concussions. I work with kids and work with interns who work with kids and concussion are serious business. Positives of youth playing sports There are many! They include kids getting some pretty serious exercise, hanging out with old friends and making new ones, and unplugging from technology. The positives also include learning new skills, acquiring social skills, sportsmanship, teamwork, increasing confidence and self esteem for sport and life and the list goes on. Sports can help prepare kids for the rest … Continued

Transference of expectations can negatively affect performance

Written by on July 7, 2012

Its hard to view people in a way that is different than how you think you should view them or in a way that is different than how they want you to see them; perspective. For your purposes I am talking about agents, boards, managers, coaches, etc. Most of you probably see people similarly and don’t differentiate between them but does that always work? I was working with a top ranked college swimmer who had the same coach from the age of 5 through the age of 21. My client loved her coach and had grown as a swimmer and … Continued

You either have it or you don’t

Written by on May 19, 2012

confidence

As an athlete do you view confidence as something you either have or you don’t? Most of the athletes I work with do. What do you think? Defining confidence Confidence is a state of being. A state is the condition of a person under curtain circumstances. For example, you might be really confidence on a 6.2 mile, easy training run but in a 6.2 mile race not so confident. If  you are running the same distance, what’s the problem? In the first scenario you are running 6.2 miles, alone and at an easy pace. In a 6.2 mile race you … Continued

The necessary coaching skills

Written by on May 14, 2012

Cooperative coaching

Lately I have been spending quite a bit of time talking with clients about their coaches and the impact of those coaches on performance. Hiring coaches Coaches have never really been chosen for their love of people. Just like every other job where people are hired to do a job, coaches are chosen for their technical skill and ability and their experience in the sport (as a coach and/or athlete). That is not to say that some coaches do not have the ability to be personable, caring, and supportive but that it’s more than likely not the case particularly for … Continued

A tennis coaches guide to motivation

Written by on April 9, 2012

motivation athletes

Motivation can be defined as the direction and intensity of one’s efforts. Direction refers to why a person is involved in certain situations and why a person avoids other situations. Intensity is concerned with how much effort a person gives toward reaching a certain goal. Questions around motivation include: why people participate; why do people discontinue participation; what intrinsic and extrinsic factors influence participation; and what goals influence participation.   Many times when someone decides to participate in tennis, they may appear to be motivated. Initially they hire as a coach and they sign up for the club but then … Continued