Break Through To New Horizons With Sports Psychology
Will Sports Psychology Mess With My Mind?Your biggest hurdle to reaching your true potential is an invisible one. Not because it hidden from view, in fact, you can’t see it because you are too close to it, it’s right in front of your nose, or to be accurate, behind your nose.
A sports psychologist is not a trained psychotherapist and does not deal with abnormal behavior or mental health. The role of sports psychology is to help you recognise and break through your mental barriers that are preventing you from reaching your peak. We see evidence of the impact of how our thoughts influence our bodys, and also performance, all the time. We call it body language. We can often tell much about the person in front of us by how they appear. Are they confident? Are they nervous or are they a potential threat? Our thoughts determine our actions which includes all of your muscles. Look at the photograph below. I have used this before as an example for running technique but let's now think about the mental state of the runners in turn. 
Which runners look confident in their ability? Who is struggling? What are their thoughts at this moment in the race compared to the confident runners? How will their immediate thoughts effect their performance? Who do you think came into this race better prepared and with a well-thought out strategy?We must not think of sport or physical training purely as physical. Too many factors will be left to chance if you are not focused and aware of how you are responding to events around you. Could I Benefit From Sports Psychology?Dr Patrick J. Cohn is an authority on sports psychology. Below is his list of indications, that if applicable to you, would suggest you would benefit from using some of the mental strategies developed by Cohn.you perform much better in practice than in competition you are a perfectionist and get frustrated if you are not achieving your goals you don't perform well if others are watching you doubt your ability you feel scared during competition your attach your self-worth to your ability to perform you lose focus at critical moments This is not a complete list but it will give you an idea of where sports psychology could help with your performance. It can also be very useful to apply if you find you have reached a plateau or hit a slump. There may well be issues that you are not aware of that could be addressed through mental strategies. Setting goals to ensure success How you select your goals is a crucial step in whether you succeed. Here is a list of what a goal should and should not be. Can we train to get into The Zone? Yes I believe you can. The Zone is a state where you can perform at your peak and yet it seems almost effortless.
|
