As I mentioned in yesterday's post, I was in the UK doing some work with Global Cycling Network and Global Triathlon Network. Part of my time there was spent shooting segments on the mental side of triathlon for the GTN show with one of its excellent presenters, Mark Threlfall. To view this segment, click here. [...]
The fifth episode of my Train Your Mind for Athletic Success podcast explores the importance of having a long-term attitude on your athletic development. With this perspective, you aren't focused on quick improvement or short-term results. Instead, you know that the path toward your sports goals is long and filled with setbacks, plateaus, and failures. [...]
The fourth episode of my Train Your Mind for Athletic Success podcast focuses on how a threat attitude ensures failure and a challenge attitude sets you up for success. A threat attitude involves a cascade of psychological, emotional, and physiological changes that causes you to want to flee the sports situation and makes failure an [...]
I was recently interviewed by the Toronto Sun about a remarkable statistic: 26% of parents believe their children will be professional athletes. Remarkable because, as the article notes, the chances are actually infinitesimal.
Katie Ledecky made history when she won the four freestyle swimming event between 200 and 1500 meters at the recently concluded 2015 World Swimming Championships in Kazan, Russia. Her athletic feat was singularly remarkable to be sure. However, I'm more interested in what led her to this place, particularly the role that her parents played [...]
A fundamental question I have been exploring in the 30 years that I have been working in the field of performance psychology is: What does it take to succeed? My life’s work has been devoted to answering this question so that anyone who is willing to pursue their dreams can find success. Yet, in recent years, I have [...]
No, this article is not a lame attempt at self-promotion. Rather, it is a challenge for you to take an essential, yet often neglected, piece of the ski racing success puzzle and make it a priority during the off-season. Let me elaborate in three ways. First, I speak to racers, coaches, and parents around North [...]
Most sport psychologists work with athletes on the mental side of their sport in an office setting (usually one hour per week), providing them with mental tools that they can use during training and competitions. This approach makes about as much sense as a coach offering their athletes technical instruction and then telling them to go out onto the field, course, court, or what-have-you and work on it in practice. In either case, the transfer from inside to outside isn’t very good. I have found the most productive work I do with athletes is during their actual practice sessions. I’m able to go to training with athletes and show them how to incorporate mental skills, such as intensity, focus, imagery, and routines, while they’re actually practicing. But, over the last few years, I have discovered an even better setting in which athletes can begin to develop their mental skills: the gym. Yes, using mental skills as a part of your physical conditioning program is a great way to begin to ingrain those skills that will be of such benefit in the quality of your training and when you compete.
A few months ago, I gave a lecture on the Psychology of Cycling as part of The Medicine of Cycling -- Mini Medical School for the Public series sponsored by the Osher Center for Integrative Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco. You can view the 45-minute presentation here.
I'm leaving on Saturday for Doha, Qatar for two speaking events at the ASPIRE4SPORT international conference next week. I will be giving a keynote address on Prime Sport: The Psychology of Athletic Performance and participating in a panel discussion on the role of technology in sport psychology training for athletes.
