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Author: John Schatz

In a fast-paced and ever changing world of sport, more and more athletes are recognizing the importance of the mental side of sport. That means that an increased number of athletes, teams, and coaches are leaning on mental performance and sport psychology services. 

At Premier Sport Psychology, we’re honored to serve athletes each year ranging from youth to professionals and Olympians. The mental side of sport evolves the good to great and is the final frontier toward reaching peak performance. 

All athletes can benefit from sport psychology, and to showcase what sport psychology looks like, how athletes can benefit from it, and what the industry looks like,  we’ll be featuring Dr. Kirbi Kidd. one of our postdoctoral providers at Premier.

A native of Birmingham, Alabama Dr. Kirbi (also known as Dr. K) attended college at Mount Holyoke College where she graduated with a degree in Psychology and a minor in Sport Studies. Following her time at Mount Holyoke, Kirbi completed graduate school at Springfield College, earning her master’s degree in Doctorate Counseling Psychology and Athletic Counseling.

Kirbi is passionate about working with athletes of all ages, and has a strong background in collegiate athletics and is passionate about helping athletes find balance, their own narrative, and using their origin story to pave a successful path forward. 

Through a series of articles we’ll be showcasing the work that Dr. K does, how she approaches meeting clients where they are at, and insight into the profession of sport psychology. 

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What are you hoping to showcase through the Postdoc Corner?
I want to showcase my personality, why I’m practicing sport psychology, and what that looks like at Premier. It’s important to showcase the work that we do because it can help others, but is also fun and fulfilling. 

What got you interested in sport psychology?
Having those not so good moments in sport. I played basketball growing up and had a moment where I wasn’t playing much and wasn’t practicing. Because I was on the sidelines quite a bit I saw quite a few things. I saw poor coaching, anxiety, poor communication, and saw teammates work around that and do their own thing. At the same time I had to wrestle with the question of “why am I not playing?” So I saw all the dynamics. In that time with that team I decided to pursue sport psychology to pursue some of the answers that I was questioning in that time in my life.  

Sport is very human and a microcosm of life. What would you say to a younger version of yourself?
There are many ways to play the game. I didn’t know that then and being convinced that there’s only one way and when you aren’t meeting that way, you’re wrong. There are so many different ways to get up the court, to draw up a play, and  to approach the mental game. 

That leads into a piece of advice that I’d give to people interested in going into the profession. There’s no one way to do this. There’s no one way to get into this discipline (you can pursue different majors and programs), there’s no one way that’s perfect and absolute when it comes to carrying out your practice. There is one way not to do it…make it about you. 

What were you doing before Premier?
Before this I was wrapping up my doctorate in Counseling Psychology (PsyD) from Springfield College in Springfield, Massachusetts. I ended that experience with my internship at Mississippi State University, where I had the opportunity to work with their athletic department doing both clinical and mental performance work.

You were trained in Counseling Psychology and are now working in mental performance and sport psychology. What has that experience been like?
Laughs…..The shift has been a humbling one, but an intentional one. It has taken me a while to drum up meetings with Premier’s clientele where they’re more apt to focus on performance, although we do have licensure to focus on and provide traditional clinical needs when appropriate. It’s been exposing and humbling to objectively notice that I am primed to call out the clinical (side of psychology) first and then lean into the performance coaching. However, in my experiences so far, the client often wants and needs performance coaching first. Oftentimes we’re working with adolescents who want more direction and instruction whereas my experience comes from college-aged adults who have a little bit more life under them that can point to their history. Some kiddos don’t have that in full just yet (all the history or language), and it’s ok. It’s also positioned me to partner with anyone and everyone and lean into versatility, feedback, and suggestions. 

What makes your position difficult?
Deciding to stay open to what each experience will bring. You may have an idea or expectation of what a situation may bring, but mindfully pausing to stay open, considerate, and ask questions will shift and help you better understand the expectation. It’s hard because it’s something that you consciously have to manage. It’s humbling because you often have to open your mind to new ideas and ways of thinking, doing, and applying that may be very different from previous experiences. 

Premier operates very differently from a college counseling center or athletics department. I’m used to working with Titanium (a favored college EMR system)  and tracking notes, sessions, signatures and now I’m working with three different EMR (Electronic Medical Records) systems. Could I choose to get frustrated by that? Absolutely. But do I embrace it and recognize that it’s a part of growth? YES! Being open to change and becoming uncomfortable is what will make you grow and become a better clinician and mental performance coach. 

What keeps you going every day?
Overall, what fills my cup is having a growth mindset and leaning into the transition from my clinical background to mental performance, and then fusing the two best. As I’m mindfully noting changes for me, and learning where I can stretch, I know that I’m growing and being able to point to that growth; and hearing from others about it is very fulfilling. We’re very community-based here and I’ve certainly felt that. Just as Premier serves athletes of all backgrounds, ages, and experiences, our team has so many different experiences, approaches, and perspectives that come together for the common goal of serving others. 

How we set goals dictates our approach toward training and competition and can serve as the initial step toward reaching peak performance.

Process vs. Performance vs. Outcome Goals

There are three different types of goals and each type serves a different purpose in getting us where we want to be. It’s important to be intentional about each type of goal, how we set them, and the order in which we view them.

Outcome Goals

Outcome goals are what get us up in the morning and keep us going. Think of outcome goals as big picture goals; winning the state tournament, making the varsity team, or getting a division one offer to your dream school. Yet while outcome goals are exciting, they are almost always out of our control.

You could play the best tennis match of your life the day of the state championship but there’s still a chance that your opponent could play better, or that weather could impact play. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t set outcome goals. Yet it’s important to be aware that there are contributing factors outside of your control. To give yourself the best chance of achieving your outcome goals, focus on performance goals and day-to-day process goals.

Tip: Accomplishing outcome goals take the most work and are long-term. To maximize goal attainment, limit yourself to 1-2 outcome goals at a time.

Performance Goals

Achieving outcome goals doesn’t happen without first achieving performance goals. These goals pertain to things that can be attained through hard work and incremental improvement. For example, if your outcome goal is to make the all-state football team, accomplishing a performance goal such as averaging over two touchdown passes per game on the season can help you get there.

There are things within performance goals that are within our control; a quarterback can control the focus they bring into each game, their pre-game routine, and their daily workout regimen that will naturally put them in a better position to succeed. Yet there are still things within performance goals that are uncontrollable; a quarterback could be throwing the ball better than ever before in a game but receivers could struggle to get open. The weather could impede on the quarterback’s ability to scramble in the pocket and the opponent’s defensive line could be having their best game of the year.

Performance goals serve as a vehicle to reach our outcome goals, yet do not take place without first mastering process goals.

Process Goals

To achieve performance goals and outcome goals, an athlete must first achieve process goals. Process goals are day-to-day frequent goals within our control that will put us in the best position to achieve performance and outcome goals. Things like drinking enough water each day, working out three times a week, and journaling after each practice and competition are all process goals. Process goals seem small but lay the foundation for us to reach success and notice growth.

Since they are within our control, process goals allow us to notice progress, even if we fall short in our performance or outcome goals. Let’s say a volleyball player’s process goals include drinking eight glasses of water a day and utilizing a new breathing technique in pressure situations and has a performance goal of making 85% of serves in a week and an outcome goal of being selected as Senior Athlete of the Year. Even if uncontrollable factors prevent the latter two goals from happening, the athlete will still notice growth from the controllable process goals that she has set. Focusing on things within our control is not only the foundation of success in life, but the base layer of effective goal-setting.

Did You Know? Research shows that process goals are the most important goals for athletes to make!

Action: Create a Goal Pyramid

It’s important to identify your process, performance, and outcome goals. Create a pyramid and place your outcome goals at the top, performance goals in the middle, and the process goals required to get there at the bottom. It’s important to be intentional when goal-setting and not biting off more than you can chew. Note the shape of the pyramid below. As a rule, we should have more process goals than performance goals and more performance goals than outcome goals. As we move up the pyramid our goals become less in our control. When lacking motivation, remind yourself that small process goals are leading you in the right direction, even if it doesn’t feel like it in the moment. Use the pyramid to check in with your goals and adapt when needed.

Example

 

The least exciting, the simplest, yet the hardest…and most effective tool to be present and ignite peak performance. 

Meditation caught fire in the sports world this past fall when University of Michigan Quarterback J.J. McCarthy was noticed practicing the mindfulness tool beneath the goal posts prior to Wolverine football games. 

Quoted in the Wall Street Journal about how he meditates each day to find focus and be in the present, McCarthy’s story shines light on a tool that is often overlooked and underutilized by athletes. 

Athletes know that peak performance comes from being in the present and meditation is perhaps the greatest way to achieve that. 

A Glass Lake Amidst a Storm 

It’s no secret that athletes live in a world that is busier than ever before. With the mind going in different directions constantly throughout the course of one day, a constant game of ping pong clouds the brain and oftentimes makes it difficult to be present moments of desired excellence. 

Insert the benefits of meditation. 

“I would say meditation is the number one tool to help with performance. It is the least exciting, the simplest, and probably most difficult,” Premier’s Dr. Chrissy Holm Haider says. “Why is that? Because we live in a society where it is very difficult to sit still and not do anything.”

A mind that fosters peak performance can be personified by the phrase where your attention goes your energy flows. When the mind is going in 1,000 different directions, it parsons off one’s attention and energy into different places. 

“Meditation is a way to bring your energy and attention back within your control and then you can put it towards whatever is meaningful to you,” Holm Haider says. 

Meditation is a form of mindfulness that allows a person to be in the present moment without judgment. In a world of black and white and good vs. bad, meditation allows athletes to observe situations without tagging them as good or bad. That neutrality channels focus and propels more intentional and purposeful experiences. 

If you can keep your energy and attention in a neutral way to that thing, you’re able to see things unfold (in a healthier way), connect different ideas, and make quality adjustments,” Holm Haider says. “That’s very hard to do when we judge or analyze situations as good vs. bad. We either move toward or move away from something, when we might not have all the data yet to execute.”

Just as humans have relationships with other humans, internal relationships also exist in our mind with the experiences that we have. It’s well known that much of sport is outside of an athlete’s control and meditation can help strengthen an athlete’s relationship with experiences out of their control that may have previously been regarded as negative. 

“Meditation allows us to observe the quality of relationship that we have with what’s right in front of us,” Holm Haider says. “We’re not always able to change all the things that come up in life, but if we can change our relationship with them to a more open, neutral perspective, that allows us to be more intentional.”

One Thing at a Time, Present Moment

It’s often perceived that meditation is grounded in clearing the mind’ yet that couldn’t be less true. 

“If you’re going to practice meditation and expect your mind to be completely clear, then good luck. Our minds are naturally active and are conditioned to be active,” Holm Haider says. “It’s not about clearing things out, it’s about understanding what we feel about things, how they dictate our feelings, and assessing what thinking patterns are helpful.” 

Discovering those thinking patterns comes as a result of focusing on one thing at a time. That one thing could be focusing on breathing sensations, or perhaps tuning into your five senses (five things you see, four things you feel, three things you smell, etc). Regardless of what that thing is, the concept gears one to focus on what is taking place in the moment and develop a cognitive ability to learn the patterns of their mind. 

That practice of focusing on one thing during mediations will blossom into the ultimate goal of any athlete; the confidence, discipline, and ability to stay present during practice, competition, and life. 

“While our thinking often wanders to the past and future, the only space that we can control things is in the present moment,” Holm Haider says. “If you can be focused on the present moment and train your ability to focus on one thing at a time, you’ll be able to not only maintain your focus on the controllables for longer, but you can fundamentally change your relationship with the happenings around you to be more curious and open so that you can stay engaged with your craft for longer and be more purposeful with how you execute that craft in the present moment. That’s what it’s all about.”

Mindfulness Tips

Rome wasn’t built in one day and meditation can seem daunting to a first-timer. Here are a few tips to getting started. 

  • Use the Five Senses exercise. In any order, identify five things you notice from one sense, four from the next and so on. For example, five things you feel, four things you smell, three things you taste, two things you hear, and one thing you see. 
  • Set a timer for 3-5 minutes, begin seated or standing, close your eyes, take a few deep breaths, and begin to observe the sensations of your breathing. Any time you notice your mind wandering off to something other than your breath, recognize that it is normal, and gently refocus on your breathing. It is the refocusing that makes your focus muscle grow stronger. Overtime you can extend this amount of time to 10, 15, 20 min and so on. Many successful athletes will meditate for 45 min per day and do a quick 5-10min tuneup before competition. 
  • If your mind goes astray (both in meditation and in competition), ask yourself W.I.N.; What’s Important Now? This will allow you to reallocate your attention to what is important and within your control.

Mindfulness is all about paying attention. Mindful eating is another strategy to help you pay attention in the present moment by focusing on the sensations that arise from eating. Chew or sip slowly and notice the tastes, textures, temperatures, and smells of your food to create a more mindful experience and practice paying attention with intention.