Train Your Mind for Athletic Success Podcast: Episode #3-Process Attitude
The third episode of my Train Your Mind for Athletic Success podcast focuses on the costs of having an outcome attitude and the benefits of a process attitude. An outcome attitude involves a preoccupation with results, competitive success and failure, rankings, and comparing yourself to others. Contrary to what most athletes, coaches, and parents think, an […]
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What Kind of Sport Parent are You?: Rate Yourself
In addition to working with young athletes in many sports, I also consult with sport parents to help them to provide to their young athletes the most positive support they can. Being a great sport parent is no small feat or easy task these days for several reasons. First, we live in a youth-sport culture […]
Read MoreCompete Like You Practice or Practice Like You Compete?
One of the first questions that I ask athletes and coaches I work with is: Should you compete like you practice or practice like you compete? By far, the most frequent response is: You should compete like you practice. This answer seems perfectly reasonable if you think about it. When you practice, you’re relaxed, feel […]
Read MoreThree Steps to Athletic Success
I have been thinking a great deal about what it takes for athletes to achieve what I consider to be an essential goal in all of your efforts, namely, when your game, match, round, race, or other type of competition concludes, you are make two statements: “I was as prepared as I could be to […]
Read MoreLatest News: Excellent Article Argues Against Over-Praise and Trophies
If you have kids, I think you’ll enjoy this commentary by Ashley Merryman that, in support of my own view, argues that praising innate ability and giving so-called participation awards actually hurts children. To read my perspective on praise, read my blog post, Don’t Praise Your Children, which, interestingly, is the most-read post I’ve ever […]
Read MoreIn Sports, Think Now, So You Don’t Have to Think Later
I just returned from Europe where I spent a week working with a group of highly ranked U.S. athletes during their off-season prep period. After a few days, the feedback I was getting from them was that I was really getting into their heads and causing them to think a lot, in fact, to a few of them, think a bit too much.
This wasn’t a surprise to me as I hear this frequently. Between my mental skills work with athletes during practices, one-on-one sessions, team talks (in which we discussed a relevant sport topic each evening), and daily imagery sessions, the athletes were getting their minds stuffed with the mental side of their sport. I was definitely making them think more than they were accustomed. But that is, in fact, my job: to get the athletes I work with uncomfortable, push them outside of what they are used to, and think about things that will take them to the next level. Yes, admittedly, it can feel a bit overwhelming at first, but after a few days, they got used to it and figured out how to incorporate my approach into their usual training regimen.
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