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2 Sports would be a lot of fun if it weren’t for the athletes. -Anonymous

"Baseball is 90% mental -- the other half is physical." Yogi Berra (caught Don Larsen’s perfect game in Game 5 of the 1956 World Series) 3

4 Get Your Head in the Game!

5 The triple play of peak athletic performance Physical –Catching –Running –Throwing –Swinging –Diving –Swimming Mental –Focus –Imagery –Attitude –Goal Setting –Thinking Equipment Practice Game

6 PERFORMANCE FUNNEL Equipment Physical Mental PREPARATION

7 Which athletes practice their sport mentally? Every professional, elite, and high performing athlete

8 What happens if both Mental and Physical parts of you are not in the game? Surprised Make errors We don’t prepare for the next play and worst of all...

9 Mental Sports Preparation Ready Aim

10 FIR 2 E F ocus I ntensity R elaxation & R elationships E xecution

11Focus Thinking about the sport Handling and trying to minimize distractions –Parents –Friends –Past mistakes

12 Blocking out everything else except your job in the game Maintaining your composure even when things seem bad

13 Insight into FIR 2 E Model Focus Reasons athletes lose focus – Lack of vision of what the outcome should be. Too many goals. Failure to prioritize which goals are most important. Ways to improve focus – Establish a personal scoreboard. Current result Target result Deadline Maintain a Macro-view

14 Focus (continued)

15 Focus (continued) >Specific versus general focus – “I want to be a better football player.” vs “My goal is to not drop any passes during the game.” >Focus on positive vs negative “Nice level swing” vs “Don’t pop out.”

16 Intensity Positive and important contributor to optimal competitive performance. Often, it feels like nervousness Helps strength, stamina, agility, and makes your senses work better. Based on “Fight or Flight” instinct.

17 INTENSITY/PERFORMANCE CURVE Good Poor Low Medium High Intensity Best Performance PerformancePerformance Poor performance

18 SIGNS THAT YOUR INTENSITY IS TOO... LOW Selftalk of “I won” or “I quit” or “who cares” during competition Falling asleep Lethargic and listless HIGH Can’t control breathing Stomach butterflies Shaking muscles Sweating excessively

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20 To help control your intensity level use:

21 Relaxation Breathing –Take deep, regular breaths to get more oxygen Muscle relaxation –Tight muscles are very un-coordinated and increase the likelihood of injury. Smiling –Controls anger –Changes blood flow to the brain –Releases chemicals in the brain

Progressive Relaxation Techniques Four Stages –Awareness of tension - by concentrating on an area of your body, you learn to recognize tension. –Tensing the muscles –Letting go of the tensing –Awareness of relaxation - you concentrate on the particular area of your body, and you learn to recognize the feeling of relaxation. 22

23 Relationships Relationships can be described as “the distance between two items.” What relationships provide you with support in your sports? Relationships are what make sports worthwhile. They provide energy, enthusiasm, and excitement.

Key Scholar-Athlete Sports Relationships Your relationship with the sport Your relationship with yourself (confidence). Your relationship with your teammates Your relationship with your coach Your relationship with officials 24

25 Execution Taking all your practices and putting them into the game. Thinking about the game situation and what you’ll do with the ball if its hit to you EACH AND EVERY PLAY. Communicate with each other Use mental imagery

26 Final Thoughts Your Mental game is at least as important as your Physical game You control your Mental game. Both your mental and physical game must be in sync to be at your

27 Intensity Is the application of focus. Back to magnifying glass analogy –Too little focus and intensity is too low to do work. –Too much focus and intensity is too high and burns paper. –Focus just right and intensity brings clarity and usefulness. Athletes need to understand how to know when their level of intensity is too high or too low, self monitoring.

28 Relaxation and Relationship Understanding that relaxation is not a leisure activity. –Stress is a focus killer. –Relaxation is useful in preparing to do many different athletic endeavors (imagery, goal setting, performing, communicating). Relationships – Asset or liability –Between Players –Between players and coaches –Between players and significant others –Between player and sport

29 Execution Successful athletes are not necessarily the ones with the greatest athletic skills or winning personalities. They are the ones who execute their goals and do what they say they will do.

30 Execution (continued) Sport Psychologists help clear the barriers to successful high performance in athletic participation and achievement of goals. The “Sport Psychologist-Athlete” team relies upon the synergy of the relationship to achieve more than either one can do as an individual.

31 Execution (continued) Successful athletes know how to continuously make course corrections. Ultimately, athletes need to hold themselves accountable ALL THE TIME!!! –Athletes need to assess their successes. How did they achieve this success? What were the challenges? Who did they rely upon for help?

The Performance Profile 32

33 Final Thoughts You are the only one who can achieve your own

34 Remember!!! If you’re not having fun… you’re doing something wrong.

35 Thank You! Bruce Gillies, PsyD.