Post by ef1 on Apr 18, 2007 12:35:24 GMT
easily accessed articles on the following topics
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Attitude
Charles Swindell writes, "The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude to me, is more important than the facts..."
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A 'Vision' for Future Success! - NEW MENTAL SKILLS ARTICLE
This is the first part of a two part series on building dynamic confidence through the power of imagery and word suggestion.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Centering
Centering is a refocusing skill that allows the athlete to recover composure, and to redirect focus. It is promoted as a basic stress control technique.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Choking
Choking, what is it? How is choking prevented? How is choking overcome?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cool, Calm and Collected...Wins!
Why do some athletes choke or get crazy with anger in adverse competitive situations and other athletes stay calm and focused on the job at hand? Find out how to stay focused to win!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Developing a Championship Attitude
Before you ever can be a championship team, you first must develop a championship attitude. Find out the four important characteristics that you need to get to the top!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Distraction Management
Distraction is damaging to your athletic performance - it interferes with your ability to focus, grabs away your attention you need to apply to maintain good technique, and it causes stress.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Expose Your Weakness
Very powerful thoughts, images and emotions are just like heavy weights. They require more energy and therefore are more stressful. With this understanding, how do you build mental and emotional weakness into strengths?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Finding the Zone
The zone is characterized by a combination of feelings including high self-confidence, a task focus, fearless attitude, and self-composure. The mind and body work in harmony to produce optimal performance. It is impossible to force yourself into the zone, but you can create a mindset that helps you enter the zone more often.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Flow
Psychologists call it "the holistic sensation people feel when they are totally involved, or in automatic pilot." Michael Jordan calls it "being in the zone."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Free to Fail
Athletes, as with all people, fall into two motivational classes: 1) those who truly want success, and 2) those who simply try to avoid failure. Which are you?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Goal Trees
One of the techniques used for goal setting is called Goal Trees. It is a system of designing long term goals, then building the steps it takes to reach those goals.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Handling the Distraction
Distraction is damaging to your performance because it interferes with your ability to focus and it disrupts flow. It also interferes with the attention that you need to apply to maintain good technique. This causes stress and consumes mental energy that is better applied to your game!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
How to Develop Visualization Skills
Swiss Triathlete, Brigitte McMahon, stated that she had visualized the final sprint to the finish of the 2000 Olympic Games in her mind many times before ever coming to the Olympics in Sydney. Brigitte claims that this technique gave her the advantage because she was prepared for it...in fact, she planned the outcome already - in her mind.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
How to Handle Success Related Stress NEW MENTAL SKILLS ARTICLE
Pressure has always been a part of sports. In fact, it's the essence of competitive sports. The great ones learn how to deal with the problems of competitive stress. Learn how you can too!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Imagery
Tips and techniques on how to use imagery to enhance performance, build confidence, accelerate reaction time and improve coordination and accuracy.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Increasing Self-Esteem
Self-Esteem is a core issue because it affects every aspect of your life, not just sports performance.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Improving Focus
Focus is an important element in sports. Focus in a skill, a skill like any other in sport. To improve it takes training and practice. Learn the secrets to improving your focus.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Introduction to Mental Skills
Mental skills expect Beasey Hendrix explains why the mental side of sports is critical to successful sports performance.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Keeping Your Head in the Game
Keeping focused on the right things, at the right time is an important key to having a successful performance. Understand what you need to do to keep your head in the game!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Make Change Happen
Morphing can do several things; it helps the athlete deal with pressure, gives the athletes the opportunity to try something new, it is a new mental game to play, and in puts fun into training.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Making the Right Choices
According to Olympic champion Steve Fraser, "Your future as an athlete is much more dependent on what decision you make, rather that on your genetic make up." The key is choosing your attitude and learning how to think.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mindset of a Champion
How does a champion think? What makes them different from all of the rest?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
No Pain, No Gain Theory
"No pain, no gain." Is it a winning philosophy for you or not? You must determine whether it is based on the issues of "over training and under training."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Physical and Mental Practice
There are three aspects that should be included in any training program; technical improvement and refinement, physical conditioning, and mental practice.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Playing in the Zone
To be a peak performer you need to play in the zone - having your mind and body working with one another in perfect unison. Tips and techniques to get you there.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Preventing Choking
Anxiety is a natural part of performing, whether you are on the baseball diamond, giving a speech, or taking the SAT's. Even seasoned veterans get butterflies before the big game. Where problems begin is if you focus on the wrong things.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Problems with Perfectionists - NEW MENTAL SKILLS ARTICLE
Persistence, determination, and a strong work ethic are excellent qualities to possess in any endeavor. But in sports, if taken to an extreme these qualities that breed success can cause failure.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Psyching Up - NEW MENTAL SKILLS ARTICLE
When you are not feeling motivated towards an event or competition, you may need to psych yourself up. This will allow you to raise your level of arousal so that you can perform effectively.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Raising Your Athletic Self-Awareness
Athletes at the top know that when physical differences between individuals are reduced, it is often the mentally stronger athlete who pulls out the victory. But before searching into the bag of mental skills, you need to develop an athletic self-awareness.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Refocus in Bad Situations
Setbacks are a part of sport. One of the best ways to deal with a disappointment or a setback is to be prepared for it. All athletes need to learn how to refocus quickly after they have become distracted or experience adversity. Tips and techniques to rise above it all from an Olympic champion who has been there!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rituals for Preparation
A warm up ritual can offer time for mental preparation, planning strategies, tactics and even help with stress control - which will help your athletic performance.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Self-Confidence
Self-confidence is arguably one the most important traits an athlete can possess today.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Self-Evaluation
Now is the time that offers both athletes and coaches a challenge - that of making new goals. What do we need to do? How do we accomplish that? Where do we go from here? These questions must be answered before an athlete can set goals and effectively move forward.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Self-Talk...Building a Winning Dialog
Almost all athletes "talk to themselves" during competition. Many of these thoughts help performance, and other thoughts harm performance. One thing is for sure, successful athletes control their self-talk.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Set Goals to Succeed
There is a secret of success in goal setting. Here is the secret: sit in a quiet room with a yellow legal pad and a pen. Make a lest of all your goals for this year, now do this...
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sleep Induction
Many athletes have trouble sleeping on the day before competitions. This is normal problem that annoys many athletes. This problem is called insomnia – the inability to achieve restful sleep. Fortunately, there are ways that you can learn to control this problem.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Staying Relaxed Under Pressure
Do you crumble under the pressure of big games? Does your performance suffer because you lack the composure necessary to effectively execute your talents and abilities? Learning how to stay composed under pressure is a key skill for performing your best in any situation.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Stress
Stress can be a friend or foe. Too little stress and you will under-aroused, too much stress and you will be over-aroused, either way your performance will suffer. Learn how to deal with stress.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Stress, Anxiety, and Energy
Too much stress and anxiety can seriously affect your ability to focus on your skills and flow in an athletic performance. It is important that you realize that you are responsible for your own stress level. Very often they are a product of the way that you think.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Big Mo
What is momentum? In sports, momentum is a feeling or idea that you are playing well and that luck is on your side. It is also characterized by a feeling that you will continue to play well.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Most Powerful Computer on Earth!
Imagine for a moment that you are relaxing in your favorite lazy chair one afternoon and you fall asleep. You start dreaming about a magical coach that comes up to you and gives you a small computer device that he calls a success machine...
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
There's No Limit...
2x Olympic Gold medalist Cathy Turner talks about how visualization turned around her athletic career and paved the way for Olympic Gold.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Three R's for Getting Refocused
Do people tell you that you often lose focus, or that you don't know what is going on? You need to learn how to refocus - we are always focused, but it may be on the wrong things!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Training for Mental Toughness
What is Mental Toughness? By definition, toughness is ?to be strong and resilient; able to withstand great strain without tearing or breaking.? Toughness is being able to create positive emotions upon command, enabling you to bring all your talent and skills to life in a moment, no matter what is happening around you.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Training Stress Syndrome
Training Stress Syndrome affects many people in all areas of life, not just the athletes! Learn how to recognize the signs and avoid the final result - BURNOUT!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Replacing Unrealistic Expectations
Most athletes maintain high expectations especially if they have had past success. When an athlete doesn't meet these expectations, frustration, irritation, anger, or feeling of failure emerge.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Watch What You Say to Yourself
We regularly carry on an inner dialogue with ourselves, this is called self talk. Your self talk can be negative and self destructive, or it can be positive and helpful. The key point is that you choose what you say to yourself.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Watching for the Symptoms of Athletic Stress
Stress is a common element in sport. But when stress levels get too high, here are the signs to recognize the major symptoms of stress that you might be feeling.
link to all articles
www.tothenextlevel.org/docs/coaches_corner/mental_skills_development/athletes_mental_skills/default.asp
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Attitude
Charles Swindell writes, "The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude to me, is more important than the facts..."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A 'Vision' for Future Success! - NEW MENTAL SKILLS ARTICLE
This is the first part of a two part series on building dynamic confidence through the power of imagery and word suggestion.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Centering
Centering is a refocusing skill that allows the athlete to recover composure, and to redirect focus. It is promoted as a basic stress control technique.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Choking
Choking, what is it? How is choking prevented? How is choking overcome?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cool, Calm and Collected...Wins!
Why do some athletes choke or get crazy with anger in adverse competitive situations and other athletes stay calm and focused on the job at hand? Find out how to stay focused to win!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Developing a Championship Attitude
Before you ever can be a championship team, you first must develop a championship attitude. Find out the four important characteristics that you need to get to the top!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Distraction Management
Distraction is damaging to your athletic performance - it interferes with your ability to focus, grabs away your attention you need to apply to maintain good technique, and it causes stress.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Expose Your Weakness
Very powerful thoughts, images and emotions are just like heavy weights. They require more energy and therefore are more stressful. With this understanding, how do you build mental and emotional weakness into strengths?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Finding the Zone
The zone is characterized by a combination of feelings including high self-confidence, a task focus, fearless attitude, and self-composure. The mind and body work in harmony to produce optimal performance. It is impossible to force yourself into the zone, but you can create a mindset that helps you enter the zone more often.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Flow
Psychologists call it "the holistic sensation people feel when they are totally involved, or in automatic pilot." Michael Jordan calls it "being in the zone."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Free to Fail
Athletes, as with all people, fall into two motivational classes: 1) those who truly want success, and 2) those who simply try to avoid failure. Which are you?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Goal Trees
One of the techniques used for goal setting is called Goal Trees. It is a system of designing long term goals, then building the steps it takes to reach those goals.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Handling the Distraction
Distraction is damaging to your performance because it interferes with your ability to focus and it disrupts flow. It also interferes with the attention that you need to apply to maintain good technique. This causes stress and consumes mental energy that is better applied to your game!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
How to Develop Visualization Skills
Swiss Triathlete, Brigitte McMahon, stated that she had visualized the final sprint to the finish of the 2000 Olympic Games in her mind many times before ever coming to the Olympics in Sydney. Brigitte claims that this technique gave her the advantage because she was prepared for it...in fact, she planned the outcome already - in her mind.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
How to Handle Success Related Stress NEW MENTAL SKILLS ARTICLE
Pressure has always been a part of sports. In fact, it's the essence of competitive sports. The great ones learn how to deal with the problems of competitive stress. Learn how you can too!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Imagery
Tips and techniques on how to use imagery to enhance performance, build confidence, accelerate reaction time and improve coordination and accuracy.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Increasing Self-Esteem
Self-Esteem is a core issue because it affects every aspect of your life, not just sports performance.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Improving Focus
Focus is an important element in sports. Focus in a skill, a skill like any other in sport. To improve it takes training and practice. Learn the secrets to improving your focus.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Introduction to Mental Skills
Mental skills expect Beasey Hendrix explains why the mental side of sports is critical to successful sports performance.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Keeping Your Head in the Game
Keeping focused on the right things, at the right time is an important key to having a successful performance. Understand what you need to do to keep your head in the game!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Make Change Happen
Morphing can do several things; it helps the athlete deal with pressure, gives the athletes the opportunity to try something new, it is a new mental game to play, and in puts fun into training.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Making the Right Choices
According to Olympic champion Steve Fraser, "Your future as an athlete is much more dependent on what decision you make, rather that on your genetic make up." The key is choosing your attitude and learning how to think.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mindset of a Champion
How does a champion think? What makes them different from all of the rest?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
No Pain, No Gain Theory
"No pain, no gain." Is it a winning philosophy for you or not? You must determine whether it is based on the issues of "over training and under training."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Physical and Mental Practice
There are three aspects that should be included in any training program; technical improvement and refinement, physical conditioning, and mental practice.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Playing in the Zone
To be a peak performer you need to play in the zone - having your mind and body working with one another in perfect unison. Tips and techniques to get you there.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Preventing Choking
Anxiety is a natural part of performing, whether you are on the baseball diamond, giving a speech, or taking the SAT's. Even seasoned veterans get butterflies before the big game. Where problems begin is if you focus on the wrong things.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Problems with Perfectionists - NEW MENTAL SKILLS ARTICLE
Persistence, determination, and a strong work ethic are excellent qualities to possess in any endeavor. But in sports, if taken to an extreme these qualities that breed success can cause failure.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Psyching Up - NEW MENTAL SKILLS ARTICLE
When you are not feeling motivated towards an event or competition, you may need to psych yourself up. This will allow you to raise your level of arousal so that you can perform effectively.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Raising Your Athletic Self-Awareness
Athletes at the top know that when physical differences between individuals are reduced, it is often the mentally stronger athlete who pulls out the victory. But before searching into the bag of mental skills, you need to develop an athletic self-awareness.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Refocus in Bad Situations
Setbacks are a part of sport. One of the best ways to deal with a disappointment or a setback is to be prepared for it. All athletes need to learn how to refocus quickly after they have become distracted or experience adversity. Tips and techniques to rise above it all from an Olympic champion who has been there!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rituals for Preparation
A warm up ritual can offer time for mental preparation, planning strategies, tactics and even help with stress control - which will help your athletic performance.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Self-Confidence
Self-confidence is arguably one the most important traits an athlete can possess today.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Self-Evaluation
Now is the time that offers both athletes and coaches a challenge - that of making new goals. What do we need to do? How do we accomplish that? Where do we go from here? These questions must be answered before an athlete can set goals and effectively move forward.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Self-Talk...Building a Winning Dialog
Almost all athletes "talk to themselves" during competition. Many of these thoughts help performance, and other thoughts harm performance. One thing is for sure, successful athletes control their self-talk.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Set Goals to Succeed
There is a secret of success in goal setting. Here is the secret: sit in a quiet room with a yellow legal pad and a pen. Make a lest of all your goals for this year, now do this...
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sleep Induction
Many athletes have trouble sleeping on the day before competitions. This is normal problem that annoys many athletes. This problem is called insomnia – the inability to achieve restful sleep. Fortunately, there are ways that you can learn to control this problem.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Staying Relaxed Under Pressure
Do you crumble under the pressure of big games? Does your performance suffer because you lack the composure necessary to effectively execute your talents and abilities? Learning how to stay composed under pressure is a key skill for performing your best in any situation.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Stress
Stress can be a friend or foe. Too little stress and you will under-aroused, too much stress and you will be over-aroused, either way your performance will suffer. Learn how to deal with stress.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Stress, Anxiety, and Energy
Too much stress and anxiety can seriously affect your ability to focus on your skills and flow in an athletic performance. It is important that you realize that you are responsible for your own stress level. Very often they are a product of the way that you think.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Big Mo
What is momentum? In sports, momentum is a feeling or idea that you are playing well and that luck is on your side. It is also characterized by a feeling that you will continue to play well.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Most Powerful Computer on Earth!
Imagine for a moment that you are relaxing in your favorite lazy chair one afternoon and you fall asleep. You start dreaming about a magical coach that comes up to you and gives you a small computer device that he calls a success machine...
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
There's No Limit...
2x Olympic Gold medalist Cathy Turner talks about how visualization turned around her athletic career and paved the way for Olympic Gold.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Three R's for Getting Refocused
Do people tell you that you often lose focus, or that you don't know what is going on? You need to learn how to refocus - we are always focused, but it may be on the wrong things!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Training for Mental Toughness
What is Mental Toughness? By definition, toughness is ?to be strong and resilient; able to withstand great strain without tearing or breaking.? Toughness is being able to create positive emotions upon command, enabling you to bring all your talent and skills to life in a moment, no matter what is happening around you.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Training Stress Syndrome
Training Stress Syndrome affects many people in all areas of life, not just the athletes! Learn how to recognize the signs and avoid the final result - BURNOUT!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Replacing Unrealistic Expectations
Most athletes maintain high expectations especially if they have had past success. When an athlete doesn't meet these expectations, frustration, irritation, anger, or feeling of failure emerge.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Watch What You Say to Yourself
We regularly carry on an inner dialogue with ourselves, this is called self talk. Your self talk can be negative and self destructive, or it can be positive and helpful. The key point is that you choose what you say to yourself.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Watching for the Symptoms of Athletic Stress
Stress is a common element in sport. But when stress levels get too high, here are the signs to recognize the major symptoms of stress that you might be feeling.
link to all articles
www.tothenextlevel.org/docs/coaches_corner/mental_skills_development/athletes_mental_skills/default.asp