16 02, 2020

5 “Must Dos” for Game-day Success

By | February 16th, 2020|Categories: Sports|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , |0 Comments

In my previous article, I shared with you My 5 Biggest Pet Peeves on Game Day. In that article, I shared what you shouldn’t do on game day. This article is about what you should do to perform your best and achieve your goals on game day. A fundamental question you need to ask is: [...]

4 01, 2016

Take Risks for Ski Racing Success

By | January 4th, 2016|Categories: Ski Racing|Tags: , , , , , , , |0 Comments

Mitchell Gunn by permission In the last article in my series on the gifts that Mikaela Shiffrin gave to ski racers for the holidays, I described how I have seen her evolve from consistent and rock-solid racer (and, of course, incredibly fast) into a risk taker on skis (who is now freakishly fast) [...]

29 11, 2015

Ski Racing Just Doesn’t Make Sense

By | November 29th, 2015|Categories: Ski Racing|Tags: , , , , , |0 Comments

Mitchell Gunn with permission Ski racing just doesn’t make sense. It doesn’t always go the way we want it to. Our sport can be so frustrating. To the point where it’s easy to wonder why we devote so much time and energy to it. Let’s look at why ski racing doesn’t make sense. [...]

17 11, 2015

Letting Go of Fear of Failure-Part IV

By | November 17th, 2015|Categories: Sports|Tags: , , , , , , , , |5 Comments

To close out my 2015 Prime Sport Alert! e-newsletters, I'm giving you a bonus of an in-depth four-part series on fear of failure among athletes. I recommend that you read them starting with Part 1 and progressing through to this final Part 4. As I noted at the end of Part III, a recent email from a reader asked the obvious question, “I now understand why my child keeps getting in his own way in his racing. He has a fear of failure! So, what can I do about it?” This question led to extending my Fear of Failure series and discussing ways in which athletes can let go of their fear of failure. Let me preface my thoughts by saying that there are entire books devoted to fear of failure and how to overcome it. Also, in severe cases, months of psychotherapy are required. My point is that, as with most things in life, there are no magic pills or quick fixes. At the same time, if you (as an athlete) or one of your children (as a parent) has a fear of failure, there are some things you and they can do to relieve the burden of fear of failure and begin to pursue success rather than avoid failure.

26 10, 2015

Fear of Failure – Part I

By | October 26th, 2015|Categories: Parenting, Sports|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , |4 Comments

Fear of failure is the single most common cause of performance difficulties for the young athletes who come to me for help. Whether they experience low confidence and extreme negativity, pre-competitive anxiety, a preoccupation with results, or severe self-criticism, in most cases, when we dig deep enough, we discover a profound fear of failure at [...]

28 04, 2015

5 Reasons Athletes Don’t Do Mental Training

By | April 28th, 2015|Categories: Sports|Tags: , , , , , , , , , |0 Comments

Over the many years that I've been working in the field of sport psychology, I have championed the benefits of mental training for sports to thousands of athletes. This work has ranged from talks to junior programs to ongoing consulting with individual athletes and teams. As many of you know from my dozens of articles [...]

19 03, 2015

Sports are Like Sleep

By | March 19th, 2015|Categories: Sports|Tags: , , , , |0 Comments

Having just read the title of my new article, You may be thinking: “Has Dr. Jim finally lost it? What does sleep have to do with sports?” Let me explain. Have you ever tried to sleep? You lie in bed and tell yourself that you have to sleep and you try, try, try to sleep. [...]

24 11, 2014

3 Goals for Skiing Your Best on Race Day

By | November 24th, 2014|Categories: Ski Racing|Tags: , , , , , , , , |0 Comments

Defining success in ski racing is a difficult task. When I ask most racers and coaches how they define success, it is usually in terms of results, whether place, points, rankings, or qualifying quotas. Though, admittedly, results are the ultimate determinant of success, I have found that a preoccupation with them can both interfere with achieving those results and can produce feelings of disappointment and frustration (or worse). One problem is that focusing on results can actually prevent you from getting the results you want for two reasons. First, if you’re focusing on results before a race, you’re not focusing on what you need to do to get those results. Second, focusing on results, specifically, the possibility of bad results, is what causes you to get nervous before races which will only hurt your skiing. Another problem with ski racing is that your efforts don’t always lead directly to the results you want because you can’t control everything in a race. In other words, “S&%# Happens” in ski racing that can derail your best efforts. To help demonstrate this point, let’s compare success and failure in our sport to success and failure in school. Let’s say you have an exam coming up. If you study hard and are well prepared, assuming the test is fair, the chances of your doing well are very high, say, over 95%. Why? Because there are few external variables that can prevent you from doing well.

13 06, 2014

Understanding the Psychology of Ski Racing

By | June 13th, 2014|Categories: Ski Racing|Tags: , , , , , , , , , |0 Comments

Skiracing.com just published the ski racing version of my Unified Model of Performance Psychology.

13 05, 2014

Final Words to a Team in Pursuit of a National Championship

By | May 13th, 2014|Categories: Sports|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , |0 Comments

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. [...]