We all know that competing in sports is much more than just Xs and Os on the field. Regardless of age, level, or experience, we’ve all dealt with the mental side of the game and the struggles and difficulties that it brings.  We also know that the mental side of sport is often more difficult than the physical side.  You’ve made a free throw hundreds of times in practice but sinking that shot with the game on the line may seem near impossible.  You may have the best serve in the entire state, but for some reason, your arm feels like it weighs 1,000 pounds when serving in a match.  That simple throw from second base to first suddenly becomes terrifying when there are hundreds of eyes on you.  The mental si...

Read Full Article

We’ve all had it, that niggling voice that discourages us before or during competition.  Self-talk is our inner narrator, and when it directs our attention to destructive thoughts or feelings, it can deep-six our performance levels.  Thankfully, mindfulness training teaches us an easy way to strip power from this kind of talk, and separate ourselves from its consequences. Mindfulness teaches us to shift away our attention away from analysis or judgement, and toward observation and acceptance.  An analytical mind evaluates and reacts.  It examines the past, it anticipates the future.  It worries and it avoids.  The observing mindset merely notices and accepts.  It doesn’t get hooked by negativity or try to change an undesirable thought or event, it neutralizes it by letting it pass by, like a leaf in a stream. “I’m not good enough,” is a prototypical example of negative self-talk and, like nearly all negative self-talk, it’s analytical.  It’s an assessment of...

There are butterflies in your stomach and you feel weightless. Weak.  Your legs feel numb and you don’t feel like moving. Your hands sweat and you give up on wiping them off on your jersey. Your heart races. Your muscles tighten.  You start to wonder about what is going on and if it will ever stop. Your focus is off the road and you have already forgotten the game plan.   Extremely uncomfortable right? Now, what if I told you that you could be the best player on the team not despite these feelings, but because of them?  What if I told you that they could affect your play in a positive way? Would you take them? Would you elect to have all of these symptoms in order to be the best on your team? The best in your conference? According to social and sport psychologist Yuri Hanin (2010), research actually shows that functionally high anxiety, especially in top-level sport, is beneficial for athletic perfo...

Read Full Article