Jamie Astle, the father of the late racer Bryce Astle, recently described the qualities that he believed would have made Bryce a ski racing champion. His list is formidable and very consistent with my own ideas on the topic. Here's the list: He embraced a positive attitude and was always able see the good [...]
Peak performance is a phrase that is used widely by athletes, coaches, and sport psychologists to describe the level of performance to which athletes should aspire. It is considered to be the best performance an athlete can achieve. When I came out of graduate school that is the goal to which I wanted my athletes [...]
Performance slumps are one of the most common, yet mysterious, phenomena in sports. Typically viewed as unexplained drops in performances, slumps are a source of concern for athletes and coaches. Despite its visible place in the collective psyche of the athletic community, little is known about the causes or cures for performance slumps. As a [...]
A difficulty with dealing with mental preparation is that it is not tangible or easily measured. Unlike assessing your physical strength with weight lifting or your speed with a stopwatch, mental skills can not be directly assessed. Mental Edge Profiling helps you identify your psychological attributes to assist you in achieving your best performances. Think [...]
Aspen is full of highly motivated athletes who participate in many summer sports, particularly endurance sports such as cycling and running. These athletes have a variety of aspirations that may range from running in Boogie=s five-miler on July 4th to riding in the Leadville 100. But being motivated is not enough if you want to [...]
Whenever I ask athletes how important mental preparation is, compared to physical and technical preparation, to achieving their competitive goals, everyone says either as or more important. But when I ask them how much time they devote to their mental preparation, they say, “little or not time.” Athletes in all sports spend many hours each [...]
It’s late October and you’re heading into the holiday season with feelings of dread rather than cheer. You may have been pretty good about eating healthily and working out regularly, but you know that November and December are different. You’ll be busy with holiday parties which means eating more. To make matters worse, it’ll be [...]