Coach Traub's NewsletterFebruary 17, 2011
Mental Skills Training = Performance Enhancement and Personal Growth
My mission is to over-deliver value on goods and services designed to help you win the mental side of the game.
Contents:
Getting Into Trust ModeToday's Mental Skills Tip - My definition of 'winning' the mental game, revisited: I will give my best effort one step at a time and accept whatever happens. Athletes give their best effort when they are performing from a trusting mode. To do this, they must be confident and focused (as opposed to distracted by thinking too much) while performing. In competition, execution is the name of the game. It is much more important than talent, reputation, potential, or even desire. Execution is a function of both physical skills and mental skills, but physical skills won't change much during one season or one post-season. In a week, day, or even an instant, however, mental skill can fluctuate from Mars to the Moon. The team that wins the big game will be the one whose players get into their "trust mode" more often than their opponents. There are other important mental skills, too, but "trusting it" has to be right at the top of the list. How does an athlete get confident and focused, so that he can trust it and let it happen? He learns to consciously increase his confidence by preparing well and by developing an optimistic explanatory style. When something tries to get in the way, like a mistake, a stroke of bad luck, or an opponent's or even a teammates behavior, this championship athlete won't let it interfere with his confident attitude or body language. He knows the mistake was just a one-time thing and that he's still good, and he doesn't let things outside of his control bother him. By emphasizing good thoughts and carrying himself with poise, he gets his mind right and his body right. He is creating ideal state, which sets the stage for a peak performance. I've said it before and I'll say it many more times: the three steps needed to give a best effort performance, assuming that the motivation is there, are: (1) create an ideal performance state (e.g. confident, having fun, intense, under control, and relaxed) (2) commit to a plan of attack, and (3) focus singularly on the task-at-hand. In step two, he defines what he wants to do on the next play in controllable terms with the simplest plan possible for the current situation. He's programming his own computer so that he doesn't have to think about it while he does it. He knows that to trust it and get his brain out of the way, he must keep it simple. Committing to his plan allows him to just see it and act or react appropriately. At 'go' time, step 3, he trusts that he's doing everything he can to give his best effort, so he is at peace and can focus wholly on the task-at-hand. No regrets about the past; no worries about the future. He will do the opposite of thinking too much. This focus on the process of doing his job unleashes his potential. He is trusting it and letting whatever will happen, happen. Coaching PointThe most important coach any athlete will ever have is himself, but you're pretty high up on that list, too. You influence your athletes/kids/teammates with every communication you deliver, verbal and non-verbal. If trusting is so important for their performance and you want to win, you'd better make your communications lead to trusting more rather than less. Unfortunately, it is possible to slip up and communicate mechanical corrections, strategic teaching points, restated standards, and negative emotions too often. I'm not saying don't do these at all. I'm suggesting that you should be aware, especially during intense competition, of whether or not your communications are likely to help you get what you want most. Perhaps that teaching point could wait until after the game and perhaps your own emotions that are tied up with winning and losing could be hidden so that those around you feel like winners as long as they continue to give their best effort. Exciting NewsKeeping a log after practices and competition is a great way to increase awareness and promote effective adjustments. After all, it's not experience that makes you better, it's what you do with the experiences you have. The goal is to recognize what works so that you don't forget to do it again, and recognize what didn't work so you can adjust and improve. I've come to the realization that a blank notebook used to keep this daily log would be a great mental skills training tool for any diligent athlete. Then, I started thinking that I could make sure the right questions were being asked each day. I could also present information that would build on itself, ensuring that the athlete systematically builds his or her own awareness, routines, gathering strategies, and keys for consistently giving a best effort performance! Finally, I added many mental skills training exercises I use with individual athletes and created: Coach Traub's Mental Skills Training Workbook and Daily Log. If you can't already tell, I'm very excited about this! It allows any motivated athlete to take their mental training to the next level, where awareness and efficient adjustments are commonplace rather than the exception. You can learn to find your powerful trust mode much more often, if you're willing to work on it for a few minutes every day for two months. The workbook is for sale at a special "New Release" promotional price, with team rates also available. Please go to
myonline store for details and always feel free to email me with any questions.
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