Mental Training: Assessing You & Your Athlete’s Needs
In the last few years, media outlets, such as ESPN, have been covering stories about athletes’ journeys with mental health. We’ve seen videos of professional athletes like Kevin Love, Russell Wilson, Carli Lloyd, and Justin Turner, just to name a few, speak up about the importance of mental health and mental preparation for competition. While this has become something more commonly discussed in the media, there is still a lot that we, as consumers, must learn about sport psychology and mental skills training.
Before I started my undergrad degree in sport and exercise psychology, I was like many of you. I, too, had no idea there was an entire field dedicated to helping athletes achieve peak performance consistently. As I began taking classes, I quickly realized that many of my own struggles as an athlete stemmed from the non-existent mental prep that was excluded from my training. Now, I think back and wonder what my athletic career would’ve (or could’ve) looked like had I been given the opportunity to train both physically and mentally.
So, this is why I do what I do today as a Certified Mental Performance Coach. I never want to see an athlete give up on their sport dreams just because their mind, or thoughts, are stopping them.
Now that I’ve set the stage, and you’ve probably looked up those four athletes mentioned above, let’s go over some tips on how to informally assess you or your athlete’s needs. Let’s face it. Every single one of us is unique. This means that every athlete is different, especially in terms of what they need in training.
Follow these four tips below to generate some concrete expectations for your work with a Mental Performance Coach in order to achieve your sport goals:
Reflect on your game and what’s going on for you. For instance, are you unable to concentrate because you’re worried about messing up or because you’re distracted by the crowd? Hone in on where you’re experiencing setbacks in your game.
Consider your goals in sport and life. Ask yourself how you want your performance or life to be different after working with a Mental Performance Coach. Examples include the following: “I want to be more focused on the pitching mound,” or “I want to be more confident at the plate.” Here’s where you get to reflect on how you want your sport story to end.
Decide on the kind of practitioner you need to meet your goals. Mental Performance Coaches use mental skills training to enhance athletic performance. Counselors are equipped to handle off-field adversity that affects both sport and life performances, and sport psychologists will be qualified to treat clinical disorders, such as depression, anxiety, and eating disorders. For example, ask yourself, “Would I benefit from learning skills to help me block out distractions, or do I need to talk about how my family and friend relationships are creating distractions?”
Establish your expectations for seeking a practitioner. Answer the question, “How will I know when I’m done?” By reflecting on this question, you will know more about where you are now and where you want to end up. You may know you’re done working with a Certified Mental Performance Coach when you can successfully block out external distractions and solely focus on pitching to your catcher during each at-bat, for example.
Just think about how many times you’ve failed, given up, or had a bad performance. When you reflect on those experiences, what comes up for you? Did you fail because your body physically gave up and you fully exerted all of your energy? Did you not spend enough hours in the batting cages or on the diamond fielding ground balls? Probably, not. There was likely something in your mind stopping you -- pressure...distractions...nerves.
