Sport Psychology can help an athlete transcend from good to great in both sport and life for a lifetime, but it doesn’t take a lifetime for an athlete to use the skills learned from sport psychology to improve. 

In fact, many athletes notice a difference after just a few sessions. 

The before-and-after portraits of sport psychology success stories can conjure the perception that these mental skills apply only to performances years down the road.  Quite the opposite is true.  While athletes have goals in the near and distant term, sport psychology sessions target tangible skills that athletes are encouraged to rehearse quickly, often as soon as the next practice, to improve performance.  The accumulation of these skills can indeed take time, but the objective of each session, and each skill, is to elevate performance and mental wellness in the here and now.

Charting the Course

Athletes enter sport psychologist for a variety of reasons.  The same can be said for the parents who so often refer them.  And while some come into sport psychology knowing exactly what they need, many more just know that there’s a problem that needs addressing or an opportunity that needs seizing…quickly.  

“Many parents won’t come to me with those specifics, but they can see that there’s something going on with their child,“ Premier’s Dr. Erin Ayala says.  “It could be Johnny’s having a tough time getting over a loss, or my daughter just isn’t having fun anymore and it seems that there’s been a drop in her confidence.”

Premier’s team works to quickly identify the root of the problem or opportunity. And while things such as confidence, dealing with pressure, and focus all are things that do take time to master, sport psychology can provide athletes with instant tools to notice results by as soon as the next day. 

What it Looks Like

Premier’s team sees individuals of all kinds walk through its doors each day, with a wide variety of stories and needs.  For high school athletes, two of those things are often growing confidence and dealing with negative self-talk and self criticism. 

“A lot of athletes have the misconception that they have to feel confident in order to compete confidently,” Ayala says. “That is false. We know that actions and behaviors lead to feelings of confidence.”

That being said, Ayala works to quickly instill confidence in high school athletes by asking them a brief set of questions that prompts action. 

If you had the confidence that you wish you had, how would you act differently and how would you behave differently? What would the confident version of you look like?

“Not just in sport, but in the classroom, in social situations, in dating,” Ayala says. “Usually the answer has something to do with better communication, being willing to speak up.”

That concept translates to sport. We know that look of an athlete who is playing scared who doesn’t want the ball.  Knowing that a confident athlete would want to control her own destiny, Ayala will then work with the athlete to name a few behaviors that exemplify feelings of confidence that can be implemented into the athlete’s next practice or competition. 

“It’s surprisingly effective and is a gamechanger for some in a matter of 24 hours,” Ayala says. 

The same can be said for different tricks and tools used to manage negative self-talk and self-criticism.  When negative self talk arises, we often respond to it in a negative way because we think it is there because something is wrong. 

Yet according to Ayala, beating yourself up when negative thoughts arise is like listening to a bad radio station while trying to turn on a good one.  Lots of noise.

“Instead of trying to avoid those negative thoughts, we should be letting those thoughts in so we can accept them for what they are, acknowledge them, and let them go so there’s room for a new thought,” Ayala says. 

Ayala encourages athletes to acknowledge that not all thoughts need to be taken as the end all be all.  We can let some of them pass us by.  

“It’s like the parent giving you unsolicited advice for a sport that they’ve never played,” Ayala describes.  “Are you going to say thanks for the advice, mom? Probably, but are you going to actually take it as real sport advice?  Probably not.  So why do you take your own thoughts seriously when you know they aren’t true?”

Ayala likens fighting negative thoughts to playing tug of war with a monster of your own creation.

“Instead of tugging on that rope and wasting all that energy, just drop the rope instead. The monster may still  be there, but you’re not wasting any energy on it.” 

Simple tips and tricks like these can help break barriers immediately. 

Why it Matters 

The on-the-field results that come from sport psychology are certainly wins in themselves. Yet perhaps contribution that sport psychology provides for athletes is the values-based approach that all sessions emphasize…the ability to get the most out of sport and life, regardless of results. 

“The skills that your child will learn will benefit them in other parts of life, including, but not limited to, relationships, friendships, family, any other extracurricular,” Ayala says. “Whether it be focus, motivation, confidence, or other values, we know that sport psychology is our way in to work with athletes to give them great skills that can help them in all domains of life.”

Dew glistens atop the grass on a Saturday morning at Xcel Energy Mountain Bike Park in Shakopee. While most are asleep, Dr. Erin Ayala and Alex Wulbecker-Smith are in mid-season form…setting up four cherry-glossed canopy tents and fifteen vibrant pseudo-recliners that rival a La-Z-Boy chair and inflatable pool seat crossover. 

Simple, yet meaningful beyond what one would ever know. 

It’s the first weekend of the Minnesota Cycling Association’s fall mountain bike league. With a middle school race on Saturday and high school race on Sunday, around 1,200 racers will hit the course south of the Twin Cities metro. Hit copy paste for nine race weekends throughout the fall spanning the entire state, featuring over 3,000 student-athletes and  1,500 coaches from across the Midwest. 

This year’s different though.

In a unique and awkward back to normal time, mental health concerns are at all time highs for populations across the board…and student-athletes are no exception, prompting MCA Executive Director Josh Kleve and Premier Sport Psychology’s Dr. Ayala to take action. 

A space for student-athletes to decompress, relax, and chill before and after races. No parents, coaches, or officials allowed; a sanctuary for student-athletes to come as they are and let go of all the stressors, anxieties, and pressures that come with being a youth athlete in today’s world.

The Premier Chill Zone. 

A great idea..if done right.

After nearly a decade at the helm of the MCA, Kleve reached out to Ayala midway through last year’s season after observing an increase in mental health concerns among student-athletes at races.

“Josh noted that there had been a really big increase in student-athlete mental health concerns, especially anxiety,” Ayala, who heads Premier’s Research team and is a competitive cyclist, said. “He’s a really big advocate for mental health education and he genuinely wants kids to live their best lives.”

The conversation started around coaching. With coaches already trained in mental health first aid, Kleve wanted something deeper. How can MCA’s coaches be best equipped to deal with the needs of their student-athletes when those anxieties arise?

“We were talking about how to help our coaches help our athletes, because this should be fun, it shouldn’t be filled with anxiety,” Kleve said. 

There was a craving to go beyond the tip of the iceberg. A need for answers that applied to real situations. 

“The coaches needed the nitty gritty details of What do I say when a kid freezes up at the starting line? What do I say when a kid collapses after a race and is really upset? What do we say when we know that they’re really sad or depressed?,” Ayala recalled.

That led to Ayala and Premier’s Youth Sports Coordinator Wulbecker-Smith leading a 90 minute session at the MCA’s yearly summit for coaches on how to work with GenZ athletes and some of the things they’ve struggled with in the past few years. 

The conversation was fruitful, yet there was still more to be untapped. 

Following the workshop, Kleve approached Ayala with the idea of fostering a Chill Zone; an area strictly for student-athletes that serves as a place to decompress and escape before and after races, regardless of results. 

“This is something that we’ve had on our radar for a number of years and have just tried to figure out how we could get it done,” Kleve said. “We know that kids need a place to decompress where they can just go to have a minute to themselves, the hard part is that on race day there’s all these other things going on and if we do something like this, we want to do it right.”

To Kleve right meant knowledgeable and neutral staff that could monitor the space but also be an attentive ear for student-athletes to talk to.

Insert Premier’s team of world-class sport psychologists and mental performance coaches. 

“With Premier as an independent partner, it’s great because it’s not parents, coaches, or officials, who may be causing some of that anxiety to begin with,”  Kleve said. 

“He said if we do it, it needs to be repeatable, sustainable and it needs to be high quality. I said, “Josh, you’re speaking my language.” Ayala added.

The Root..Why the Chill Zone is Needed

Nestled just off the finish line, the Chill Zone will be a staple at each race this fall. Staffed by two Premier team members each weekend, the space serves as a small safe-haven for a generation faced with a myriad of pressure and anxiety. 

Pressure has always been there for youth athletes, but the Covid-19 pandemic only heightened things. 

“Before Covid times there was always a lot of pressure to do well, but then when everything was taken from them, it gave people a lot of time to think,” Wulbecker-Smith said. “When student-athletes came back there was a lot of pressure of ‘Now that I’ve rested and thought about it, I don’t want to take it for granted, I want to come out and reach these goals.’ There’s a lot of internal pressure with that.”

Internal pressure can take a toll on student-athletes…so can external.

“That external pressure of  “I’ve been out for a number of months and years and now is my time, I feel like I’m expected to perform perfectly” is a lot,” Wulbecker-Smith said. “We saw that at every level, high school, college, pro. Sport is their outlet, and it can feel like their universe.”

That concept of being perfect can stem from internal and external pressures, but also a societal environment that feeds comparison.

“Everyone is posting on social media and it’s usually their best moments, their highlight reel,” Wulbecker-Smith said. “That creates a pressure of ‘not only do I have to do well for the people that support me, but because I’m comparing myself to everyone else.”

For those who see the highs and lows of their athletes on a daily basis, the need for increased support as athletes return to competition has been recognized. 

“Giving young athletes the tools needed to cope with stress is essential for their everyday success, on and off the bike,” said Levon Kalemkiarian, who has coached youth cycling for 12 seasons and has led the Stillwater Mountain Bike team for the last three.

A Home for Those Searching 

Whether it be tennis tournaments, track meets, or baseball tourneys, concepts like the Chill Zone serve as an important vehicle in furthering the conversation around mental health in student-athletes. Yet the population served by the Chill Zone at MCA races is a unique group. 

“It’s really important to identify that we’re different from most youth sports,” Kleve said. “There’s no bench players or tryouts, every athlete gets to participate and at the end of the day it doesn’t matter if they win the race or finish dead last, they have the opportunity to support their team.”

Some of the cyclists racing this fall have been riding bikes before they could walk. Yet almost 70% of the 3,000+ student-athletes don’t come from a cycling background.  

“We have a lot of athletes who have drifted from sport to sport looking to find a home,” Kleve said. “Being that we have such a diverse group of individuals, everyone has different needs and everyone processes those things differently. So that’s why the Chill Zone is another avenue for those individuals to process those experiences, both good and bad.”

That’s the beauty of the Chill Zone. Regardless of background or needs, athletes can come as they are to a safe space. 

“Some athletes need to learn to pump themselves up for competition, but a lot more student athletes these days come into competition with way too much arousal and anxiety and that can lead to mistakes,” Ayala said. “The Chill Zone allows them a space to turn down that dial physically and mentally to get back to the course with a clear and calm mind.”

An organization grounded in developing stronger minds, bodies, and character through cycling, Kleve hopes that the Chill Zone will continue to serve as a way to bring enjoyment back into a lifelong sport. 

“Our goal isn’t to develop the next Olympian (although the organization has produced them), it’s to get kids on bikes and develop a lifelong love of the sport,” Kleve said. “That’s why we’re always trying to find those non-standard things that can help further and support our riders.”

The excitement isn’t just exclusive to Kleve and the MCA. 

“I’m super excited to have experts such as Premier Sport Psychology here to help and guide these young athletes,” Kalemkiarian said. 

For Premier, it’s an incredible way to showcase to student-athletes that their worth is not defined by results and that it’s okay to take some time to yourself.

“Having that space for whether you crushed your race or biffed it is so important,” Wulbecker-Smith said. “You can come here and we’re not going to be all over you asking questions unless you want it. We’ll give you the space to decompress.”

This week’s question: How can your child compete comfortably in pressure situations?

 

All athletes face it: those times when the going gets tough or stakes are high and routine shots, plays, or actions become easier said than done. 

It’s especially frustrating when those shots, throws, or actions are ones that the athlete has completed thousands of times in practice or in previous competitions. 

It’s a crippling feeling; muscles become tight, myriad what if’s swarm the mind, and quick movements turn to molasses. 

To put it simply, the athlete is unable to play freely and pressure is often the cause. 

Athletes of all levels experience pressure for various reasons.  It could be expectations of self, coaches, or teammates.  It could be a fear of losing to an opponent that the athlete knows they’re better than.  It could be worries of poor play leading to being benched or cut. 

Regardless of the reason, pressure is a part of sport that will always exist…and finding ways to acknowledge it, cope with it, and play through it are key to an athlete finding their extra gear during competition. 

Our team spoke with athletes on what helps them complete freely in pressure situations. Here are some common responses and what our mental performance coaches recommend to help your athlete complete freely when the pressure hits. 

Feel free to share these tips and advice with your student athlete.

 

Athlete: I play freely under pressure when I let go of expectations.

Dr. Kirbi Kidd: Expectations can be very difficult for athletes. Not only are there inner-expectations, but there are often expectations from parents, teammates, and coaches.  When expectations turn to pressure, the biggest concept that I love to explore with athletes is remember the love, remember the love of the game.  Get back to that origin story, get back to why you love the sport that you play.  Was it completing that shot, the feeling of hitting or shooting the ball, maybe hitting the ice?  Go back to the points that have made you fall in love with the sport that you play. 

Use that to help loosen up, and tap into the heart’s inner competitor.  It might sound romanticized and you might not have the opportunity to instantly tap into that, but if you can acknowledge that letting go of expectations is also tied to a little bit of anticipatory anxiety, that’s important.  When expectations and pressure hit, a lot of athletes play  through 10 million scenarios in their head.  When you take a moment to acknowledge your thoughts and then take a moment to acknowledge that you’re in the present, think about what is within your control. That can help get rid of the jitters and help you be realistic.

 

Athlete: I try not to focus on the outcome. 

Dr. Kirbi Kidd:  There’s a sneaky thing that our society likes to do: wrap our performances up in wins and losses.  Yet that’s just a small part of performance.  The entire package includes things like fundamentals, how you’re feeling, and utilizing and growing your sport IQ.

I enjoy being able to recognize and call out when the outcome goal has superseded the process goal.  It needs to be flipped.  In the moment and when you feel that pressure, it’s important to ask yourself, what can I control?  You can control your process.  There are a lot of variables out there that can impact the outcome that are out of your control, for the better, worse, and indifferent.  But the controllables are within the process. 

Does your process include that you prepare and take in every controllable moment to build the stamina and endurance needed for big moments?  Have you made sure to listen to your coaches and communicate with your teammates in those moments?  If you have that, you have the ingredients needed to determine at least a good product. You don’t know what the outcome will be, but by controlling the controllables and acknowledging that, you’ll be able to bring the best that you can offer on that day. 

 

Athlete: I acknowledge that I’m feeling pressure for a reason. 

Dr. Adam Gallenberg:  You’ve probably told yourself to calm down or recited ‘everything is alright’ in pressure moments.  Chances are, it didn’t help you calm down and play freely. 

Instead use reappraisal. We interpret our pressure as nervousness and will often go down this road of needing to get rid of the nervousness.  Instead, when you’re shaking and nervous because  you feel the pressure, tell yourself hey, this is a good thing because it means that you’re feeling something, something is about to happen.  That pressure is there because it means that you care.  Acknowledge that and remind yourself what is in your control.  Even if it’s a playoff game versus a regular season game, the free throw line is still the same distance, the hoop is still the same height. 

 

Have a question or topic that you’d like addressed in our weekly mailbag? Email dyoungs@premiersportpsychology.com to send it in!