mental

Mental Moment-watching it live

Written by on July 23, 2012

tennis match

There are a lot benefits to working with Elite Performers over Skype. Its convenient and I get to work with anyone anywhere. 50% of my clients are remote and it works. However there are some added benefits to seeing a client in action; live. Last night I got to see my professional tennis player in action. What a great experience! We’ve done a lot of work together since January and she’s gone from being ranked in the 600′s to the 200′s and is on her way to the US Open. Last night tho I got to see the other things that … Continued

Mental Moment-sensory checklist

Written by on March 27, 2012

imagery senses

Imagery Sensory Checklist This is an exercise designed to help you begin to integrate your senses into your imagery. As you create each of the following images in your mind, rate your ability to do so based on this scale: 0 = No Image 1 = Some Image 2 = Clear Image ___ 1. The room you are currently in ___ 2. The clothing you will wear to workout or practice in ___ 3. Tasting a juicy lemon ___ 4. The sound of your alarm clock ___ 5. The place you last competed in ___ 6. The feel at the … Continued

In golf, practice makes perfect, physically & mentally

Written by on October 7, 2011

Sanity

Physical practice is an easy one right? Hit a few large buckets at the driving range and 100 short shots on the practice green four days a week and play a round or two. Throw in a lesson, continue hitting a few large buckets at the driving range and 100 short shots on the practice green but increase to five days a week and play three or four rounds. You are not at two lessons, continue hitting a few large buckets at the driving range and 100 short shots on the practice green but increase to seven days a week and play a … Continued

Practice the ‘process’ of golf!

Written by on October 3, 2011

broken chain

In my work with golfers I find that they are very outcome oriented. I think in my last blog I made a statement something like ‘golfers are all or nothing people’. In my experience with golfers they feel that they either suck are they are playing great (for many of them the latter is fewer than the former). There is  not a lot of middle ground. It seems that this  holds true in another form: golfers are very outcome driven. When they play golf they either want a great score or why bother playing. Outcome versus process This all or nothing … Continued

How do you approach golf?

Written by on September 30, 2011

Approaching golf

One of my golf clients is also a manager for a large company. Being a manager he works at the macro level. He doesn’t deal with a lot of minutia, he’s very good at what he’s done so he’s been successful and he is not emotionally attached to his work at all. During our conversation this past week we realized that he’s been attacking his personal life and his golf like he does his work. Do you and if so what challenges do you see in that? What are some of the differences There are distinct differences between how one operates at … Continued

Golf challenges all of the mental & emotional things

Written by on September 28, 2011

golfer

Golf is intense and seems to attract an intensity does it? If you take an average, normal person (whatever that means) and you teach them to play golf. It’ll bring out seemingly all of the mental & emotional challenges that one has or that one has left to deal with. There is something inherent about golf that attracts a certain personality and challenges them to their deepest core. When golf starts to spiral down Although there are a variety of ‘situations’ many golfers tend to be very extreme. They are either playing really well or not playing well at all. There is … Continued

Professional athletes deal with mental struggles too

Written by on September 10, 2011

You struggle with mental performance!I am working with some Olympic athletes right now who are struggling with their mental performance. Just because you are a professional athlete does not mean it’s too late to add a mental game plan to your physical training. What things do you struggle with on and off the court, field or course? What skills do you feel you can improve on? You’ve come a long way in your professional sports career otherwise you wouldn’t be a professional but what gets in the way of you getting even better particularly in the most challenging moments: when … Continued

How people view psychology

Written by on September 9, 2011

It doesn't have to be Freudian

One of my clients who has been coming to see me for almost year came in this week and at the end of our session we were talking about how far my client has come since he’s been coming to see me. This led into a brief conversation about this term psychology. My client was saying that he never thought he’d be seeing someone in psychology because of the connotations associated with it. He didn’t specifically mention what connotations he associated with psychology or psychologist but I think we can all assume what he meant. It goes something like this: … Continued

Add mental training to your physical training program

Written by on September 7, 2011

Obesity in 2008

I am writing another book and although it’s gear towards fitness professionals some of the principles could be used by coaches. It’s a step by step education & process for adding mental skills into a physical skills training program. What could be better than having a more well rounded arsenal of knowledge and skills to better help your clients and athletes? It’s not as difficult as it sounds! One of the biggest things I hope to get across in this book is that what you do as a personal trainer and coach can have a huge impact on people’s lives … Continued

Know the signs to prevent burnout

Written by on August 19, 2011

SONY DSC

Have you ever felt like this? Do you ever feel like everyone else seems to be looking and feeling great in training and competition and you just can’t seem to get going? There are reasons for that! Why push yourself mentally, emotionally and physically to a place that’s counter-intuitive to your goals. It’s totally opposite of what you want and once it hits, you are out of commission for a long time depending on the effects. Some athletes perceive that in order to be a great athlete you must push yourself to the brink…of what? There really is no fine line between being a … Continued