A Practical Guide to Mental Training presented by Dr. Frank Sassetti, PsyD, CPT coachfrank@precisionmultisport.com

Today’s Goals Learn the ultimate aim of Mental Training/Sport Psychology Develop a better understanding of the depth and scope of Mental Training/Sport Psychology’s application Walk away with practical skills and techniques you can actually use today! 2

Sport Psychology is ... Clinical v Educational (Mental Training) Performance Enhancement Techniques Post-competition Analysis Recovery from Injury Career Transition Aiding Parents and Coaches 3

A 100 Year Old Story Germany, Early 1900’s 1st Clinic in United States at the University of Illinois The Chicago Cubs? Resurgence in the U.S. in early ’70’s 4

Only the most practical, effective and reliable methods from 100 years of research 5

What Mental Training can do for You... Confidence Building Goal Setting Emotion Regulation Distraction Management Motivation Coping with Failure HAVING FUN! 6

maximize success

minimize failure 8

Failure WILL happen! It is essential to understand this and learn how to cope with the inevitable, i.e., failure. That is the crux of Mental Training - how to overcome failure and achieve one’s dream, achieve greatness. We must teach athletes to expect and embrace failure - to understand that it is natural and the only path to success. How do we learn if we do not fail? It’s what we do with the failure that really counts. 9

How do we cope with the inevitable? Do we see it as an opportunity to improve on weaknesses? Do we internalize it and define ourselves by the failure? Do we use it to keep ourselves paralyzed and dig ourselves into a self critical hole? 10

Failure is a necessary step to success Failure defines success. Without failure how would we know success? Failure can lead to success only with the proper frame of mind. And THAT’s what we teach our athletes from the start. How to build the mind set of a champion with every step. 11

GOAL SETTING 12

It all starts with effective GOAL setting Commitment Direction Feedback Support Effective training 13

Successful goal setting starts with a realistic assessment of skills and abilities Many different methods of assessment Performance profile Role Modeling 14

Personal Performance Profiling Quality Ideal Level Current Level Discrepancy Peak Level Transition 10 7 3 8 Ability to Rally 5 Emotional Control Create a priority list of 3 target skills, any more will diffuse energy and focus 15

Role Modeling Think of an athlete that has achieved what you would like to achieve. List his/her skills, talents, attributes that have contributed to his/her successes Rank those specific qualities like the Performance Profile Compare your performance to the role model’s performance 16

s.M.A.R.T. goals S - Specific M - Measurable A - Adjustable R - Realistic T - Time Based

Choose controllable goals Write goals down Personalize goals Review goals regularly Celebrate goals achieved 18

CONFIDENCE BUILDING 19

Confidence begins with … a positive attitude 2

A positive attitude may be the single most important variable to succeeding! Confidence comes from feeling grounded in who you are - you trust yourself. You have good feeling about about what you can do – you have faith in yourself. You think and feel positive about yourself. This may actually mean REDEFINING who we think we are and ALLOWING ourselves to think positively about ourselves. 21

PERSONAL SPORT AFFIRMATIONS All too often we focus on our fears and faults and less on our strengths, skills, talents and accomplishments. PERSONAL SPORT AFFIRMATIONS 1 I am strong 2 I am confident in my ability 3 I can perform well in tough competitions 4 I train hard throughout the year 5 I have excellent endurance 22

Repeat the list OUTLOUD on a regular basis, at the very least once a day. Once comfortable repeating the list, try using it during training and then competition. This list is meant to be fluid, it may change and expand with new training challenges and/goals. 23

POSITIVE SELF-TALK 24

How we talk to ourselves dictates how we think and feel about ourselves and, ultimately, how we perform Not only must we stop negative self-talk. we must replace it with POSITIVE self-talk. Without replacing it another will take its place, then we are stuck Negative thoughts and feelings create a momentum which builds and saps our energy and motivation Negative self-talk is rooted in the past and projects into the future (usually some disaster). We are distracted from what we need to focus on ... the immediate, the “here and now” 25

How to recognize negative self-talk Judgement laden Pessimistic Emotional Critical Anxiety producing Have to - Must - Should Close ended Surrenders control of success 26

What is positive self-talk? Objective Calming Realistic Directed Optimistic Motivating Open ended Regains control 27

Negative Examples and Positive Responses “I can when I…” “This is a challenge…” “When I…” “I can…” “When I…” “I’ve trained…” “This is a challenge…” “I’m in control…” “ I can’t ... “ “This sucks ...” “If only ... “ “I wish ... “ “I hope ...” “This is hard ...” “If ...” (The official, coach, equipment, environment, time, teammate ...) Personal affirmations and achievements can be used as responses 28

Imagery 29

An often misunderstood and misused tool Imagery uses all senses - Touch, Smell, Taste, Hearing, not just Visualization Emotions and Thoughts, as well Imagery includes the sense of movement and where the body is in space Actually creates Muscle Memory

Imagery basics Find a quiet place and relax Use all your senses At first keep your images simple Keep the time short, 5 - 10 minutes Control your images “Feel” what you are imaging

Look at what is around you - the colors, objects, equipment Notice who is there and what they are doing Look at what people are wearing, what you are wearing Notice the sounds - people talking, equipment being used ... Feel what it’s like to be there - temperature, body sensations Feel your body move Take in the smells What are you feeling emotionally What are you thinking 32

Add movement and feel yourself moving around Imagine yourself performing a skill in your sport Move on to imagining yourself practicing or competing 33

STAYING FOCUSED 34

Distraction Management Actually plan for distractions Recognize internal and external distractions: thoughts, emotions, physical sensations Develop cues to refocus and motivate: verbal, physical, visual, mental ... Develop routines and rituals Focus on basics, not perfection Focus on execution, not results 35

Cues and Thought Stopping 1st, One must recognize the “negative” cues: Negative self-talk Physical feelings butterflies tingling muscle tension “heat” ... Emotions anger fear anxiety apathy 36

(Cues and Thought Stopping, cont’d) 2nd, Use thought stopping technique to interrupt the distraction followed by positive self-talk Verbal Cues: “focus, focus, focus ...” “breathe, relax” “I’m in control” “Let go ...” Mantra Cognitive Cues: Mental time out Imagery Physical Cues: Breathing Shaking it off Looking away Rituals 37

Rituals and/or Routines Routines and Rituals are series of behaviors performed in a prescribed order which: help athletes block out internal/external distractions by giving them something to focus on help calm the athlete by providing familiarity which helps normalize the situation, assisting in calming the athlete provide consistent set of behaviors which creates a sense of stability for the athlete. can be used for pre and post competition 38

Celebration is Necessary and Essential! Remember that all of this starts with a positive attitude. What’s a better way to maintain a positive attitude than sharing and celebrating one’s success and achievements? If you don’t celebrate your success, who will? 39

Just a few more tips ... If you really believe in mental training then you must commit to it Establish the appropriate structure to your mental training plan just as you would any other aspect of your training - Add mental training to your calendar - Schedule time you know will not be interrupted - Choose a time you will always be able to train regardless of change in daily routine, i.e., travel, work, competition … Build your program slowly Integrate mental and physical training Record your progress Update and review your mental training regularly Recruit help from others 40

Thank you for your time and attention! Dr. Frank Sassetti, PsyD, CPT coachfrank@precisionmultisport.com Text 41