Seeking Stillness in Sport
Imagine. You have just had an outstanding competition performance.
Did you think of why and how that performance occurred? Athletes often focus on mistakes and challenges more naturally than on their positives. Mental training equips athletes and teams to explore their inner strengths and capitalize on them to feel calm, confident and focused to play their natural game in competitions. To perform to the fullest, athletes require dedicated skill practice and a regimented fitness program. The mental self also benefits from proactive training and support in tandem with developing the physical self.
Sport psychology, through the implementation of diverse mental strategies and resources, living and thinking perspectives, and the creation of an effective and sustained professional relationship with the Mental Performance Coach, guides athletes and teams to achieve mastery of mental skills such as awareness, confidence, concentration, motivation, managing competitive pressures, and cohesion.
Purpose of Sport Psychology
Mental training guides you to achieve stillness in your sport – unwavering calmness and focus to play your natural game. The best performances emerge from a state of being, not thinking. Absolutely being in the present, spontaneity, supreme confidence and enjoyment converge to create great wins. The ‘I’ dissolves and what remains is the performance. Sport is as much about unlearning as it is about learning mental skills. Adaptability comes with realizing you are much more than your mind. Becoming a confident, composed, and determined sportsperson takes practice, patience, and perseverance – mental training guides you on this journey.
The eventual purpose of sport psychology is to enhance performance through addressing mental well-being, increasing enjoyment and participation, and nurturing the psychological development of athletes.
Reactive Pathway
Thoughts and feelings can weigh you down – especially before and during competitions:
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"What if I lose in the first round?" "In the upcoming competition, what if I am unable to play my natural game like I do in practice?" "What will others say if I don't win?" "I definitely shouldn't lose to this player / We definitely shouldn't lose to this team" "I feel my body and mind acting differently -- strong sensations in my stomach and muscles, my movement feels restricted, there are too many thoughts circling in my mind"
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Integrating mental training when facing psychological barriers will boost your confidence by reducing the burden experienced during competitions and equip you to play to your potential.
Proactive Pathway
When you are performing positively, making mental training a habit will support you to capitalize on the momentum by identifying the psychological strengths that contributed to your past success and to work on vital psychological areas for improvement for personal growth and achieving excellence.
Key Psychological Areas
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Building Awareness
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Nurturing Confidence
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Improving Concentration and Focus
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Managing Pressure and Stress
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Coping with Anxiety
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Increasing Motivation and Enjoyment
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Setting goals
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Managing Emotions
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Addressing Perfectionism
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Coping with Sport Post Injury or Illness
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Creating Cohesion
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Building Collective Confidence
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Developing Team Values and Culture
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Promoting Shared Role Clarity
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Encouraging a Sense of 'Us'
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Developing Mindfulness
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Building Pre-Performance Routines
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Identities – Person First, Athlete Next
Guiding Vision
Develop an effective professional relationship with athletes and teams.
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Work across the spectrum of Mental Training:
Awareness – Learning the purpose and benefits of mental training
Acceptance – Realizing and accepting the value of mental training
Action – Beginning proactive mental training application
Habit – Integrating mental training in a routine
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Prepare a strength-based personalized mental training framework to teach skills such as breathing and relaxation, self-talk, visualization, journaling and more.
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Support athletes to identify and create an open-minded performance mindset to develop a deeper understanding of themselves and their sport.
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Encourage athletes to transfer mental training skills and knowledge beyond sport contexts – education, work, and life.
The pursuit of excellence is a collective endeavour
I would love to be a part of your sporting journey. Let’s connect to discuss how I can best support you/your team towards meeting your goals.
Schedule a Free 30-minute Initial Consultation.