Have you ever worked with a sports psychologist? If so, how did it help you? I've been working with Carly Anderson for 3 years now. She has helped me to improve in so many ways. My mental strength and resilience have improved dramatically. I've learned to see difficult situations as challenges to overcome rather than disappointments. What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever received? "Have fun." It seems silly but when you take a sport as seriously as we do, having fun can seem difficult as times. But having fun, playing loose is much easier than being stressed. What's a big obstacle that you've overcome in your life? Graduating nursing school while being a competitive curler! What is your biggest fear when competing? That I'll look back at my curling career and wish I would've worked harder. This thought pushes me to work as hard as possible every day. Read the full interview at  Read Full Article

"I think Minnesotan's are very, very gun-shy about any type of expectations for winning. So, when you talk about superstitions, I think it's more about 'Geez, they don't want to jinx this expectation and they don't want to get their expectations too high," said Dr. Justin Anderson, the founder of Premier Sport Psychology in Minneapolis. Dr. Anderson says, since the Vikings have never won a Super Bowl, fans point back to the heartbreaking history. And, when something bad happens, it's here we go again. "There is this collective energy that does tend to happen between humans when we start to feel the momentum shift, things can shift because our realities are really based around our beliefs," said Dr. Anderson. And, with it, the pressure builds. This can negatively affect the team, too, because they're hearing about the painful history everywhere. But, what if this year is different? "I think (Mike) Zimmer can be the strong personality to say that things are different h...

“I think that people think it’s innate,” Anderson said. “I think people say that a guy either has it or he doesn’t. We know that’s just not true.” Clutch would be better defined as the ability to block out outside noise and focus on tasks at hand. Maybe Derek Jeter didn’t change as a player, but he was able to continue being great during the World Series because he didn’t let nerves, criticism, worldwide viewership etc. get in his way. Anderson likes the example of forward TJ Oshie winning a shootout against the Russians in the Olympics. Following the game, Oshie admitted to his legs shaking while skating toward the goalie to take shot after shot. “Some athletes put in that situation are like, ‘Why now, in the most important time in my whole athletic career are my legs shaking?’” Anderson said. “Why do they feel so heavy now?’ Ultimately if they are thinking about why their legs are shaking, it’s enough distraction to pull away from, where’s t...