sports

Mental Moment-core values and other stuff through sports

Written by on April 30, 2013

kids golf

Sports has so many positive impacts on a child’s life  sports helps develop movement, emotions, socialization, intelligence, coping skills and the list goes on. I am particularly interested in supporting girls in sport. I feel that inherently boys are more apt to be involved in sports and its still acceptable for them to participate. Although access can still be challenging for both sexes. Part of my support for girls in sports comes from being in the board of The Playing for Power Project. There are board members are all across the USA. We hold teleconferencing board meetings once a quarter. Part … Continued

Mental Moment-athletes can learn to turn resistance to feedback into something positive

Written by on March 28, 2013

coach

Many athletes tell me that the relationship with their coach is a challenge. The coach doesn’t communicate, they send mixed messages or the feedback is harsh and negative. I am going to talk a bit about the latter. Feedback can be difficult to hear. No one wants to hear that they are doing something ‘wrong’ particularly when we live in society where everyone is trying so hard to do everything ‘right’. We are all striving for perfection. Even though we know we need and should expect to get feedback there are times when we don’t like to hear it. The … Continued

Mental Moment-what you don’t know can hurt you

Written by on February 19, 2013

Emotions-in-Sports

I am putting a piece of  information together for athletics who are physically at their peak but who doubt (and lack) the benefits of mental training. If you are already a great athlete why bother with mental training. You don’t need it. Right? Wrong! Transitions The transition from junior high to high school is challenging because everything changes. However for a lot of athletes their natural ability (and lack of emotional awareness) will carry them through high school and even into college. The transition from high school to college is difficult but in some ways is not so different than … 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-female Olympic testing

Written by on July 26, 2012

caster semenya

OK I got some feedback about my blog on the IOC’s new policy for testing female athletes hormone level. This person was looking for me to say something solid about it and take a stand; versus reciting the article and asking what you thought about it. So here goes! If this were a ‘man’s’ issue would it be an issue? We would not be having this conversation. Lets look at this from the psychological perspective. Women started off marginalized in sports. Lets look at some research. For centuries women didn’t participate in sports due to medical fears of sterility. Boys … Continued

Lacking confidence

Written by on June 9, 2012

confidence

In a broad sense confidence is the ability to believe that you can reach your goal. Do you have what it takes to get from where you are to where you want to be regardless of the external parameters (environment, competition, coaches, teachers, instructors, judges, critics, spectators, etc)? Do you trust and feel in control of your internal environment? Goals This is a great place to start the conversation because if  your goal is too huge and lofty then it’s out of your reach. And if it’s out of your reach it’s out of your control and you have set … Continued

Mental Moment-negative to positive

Written by on June 7, 2012

neutral thinking

I absolutely believe that positive thoughts breed positive outcomes. As of late, I’ve taken a little bit of a different stand on positive thinking. For years I’ve worked with clients to change negative thoughts into positive thoughts because I know how detrimental the negative thoughts can be and how incredibly powerful the positive thoughts are. However for some clients moving from a negative thought orientation to a positive thought orientation is a far reach. Think about it. I am asking them to go from one end of the continuum to the other. What ends up happening is that they end … Continued

Mental Moment-good ways to start your day

Written by on June 5, 2012

I'm possible

Do you generally rush out of bed in the morning hurrying through your morning without any real conscious thought except for what you have to do to get ready for your day? Do you wake up with anxiety? Upon awakening, is your brain flooded with negativity or a rush of negative adrenaline thinking about all that you have to do that day? Whether you need to be energized or calm/relaxing energy, start your day off in a positive way. Positively energizing Positive, energizing word written on a sticky note placed on your bedside table or bathroom mirror. An affirmation that you’ve … Continued

At any cost

Written by on June 4, 2012

burnout3

Many of my elite clients whether it’s athletes, musicians, artists or researchers don’t understand that getting what they want doesn’t mean they do it ‘at any cost’. Getting something ‘at any cost’ usually means that for an infinite amount of time you have to give up 3/4 of your life to get the 1/4 that seems 100% important. The first question would be, is it that important? The second question would be, do you really have to go at it ‘at any cost’ and give up everything? I help people sort through these questions to come up with a different … Continued

Winning or losing

Written by on June 2, 2012

winner

For most athletes there is only winning and losing. It is very black and white and there really is nothing in between those two things. Given this, athletes don’t have many moments of feeling truly successful and end up spending a lot of their time feeling the angst and pressure of not winning. Define winning and losing Dictionary.com has defined winning in the follow ways: The act of a person or thing that wins. And has defined losing in the following ways: To suffer defeat or fail to win, as in a contest, race, orgame: We played well, but we lost. There are other elements to both of these definitions but for the purpose of this blog I wanted to siphon out these two because they are pretty … Continued