Sport

Mental Skill Training
Parents often come to trainers with the problem that their kids need  help as they are  not confident  about playing well on the field, and asking what can be done to help them, get over their fears and develop into more confident and  better players.

The use of imagery as a means of building confidence can be used, and used at the simplest level whether you are a coach or a parent, and it is a system which can easily be worked.

The first step towards this would be to question the child what they want to be, and what does it feel like to be someone who is able to perform. By keeping at it, the child begins to have an image of that in mind.  As the mind does not differentiate between the real thing and the imagined, and by keeping at it, the practice of just getting in as much positive thought as possible, and using the power of the mind to help build confidence. The need is to develop consistency in whatever aspect of the sport that is needed, and just to avoid seeing the negatives and getting to see the positives.

Some kids have a problem that they just cant keep their attention on the game and allow their mind to wander. To overcome this, performance routine can be introduced and there should be a purpose between the exercise, especially as each child needs a check list, so that they can focus on the next play rather than let their mind wander around to the stands where their parents may be sitting.  This can be called CPT - control, play and trust.  Control covers learning to stay calm and getting ready for the game. Play can involve warming up and running around and finally Trust which is meant to help focus on the pitch or game and trusting yourself to do whatever it is that is to be done. In this manner they develop some accountability.

Self Doubt and Change
Dr.Patrick Cohn who is a well sports Psychologist in his video on  High and  Strict Expectations of  Sports Persons, talks about  how players can  carry self doubt into a game which  can affect their performance. He describes self doubt as the opposite of self confidence, and as something that undermines you. When you doubt your ability to perform well at any time, and you are questioning yourself that is self doubt.

How does one determine self doubt  The mind at any given time is either contributing or undermining your confidence. If the answer is NO, then you are undermining yourself. If the answer is YES then you are confident, and should just carry on.

To help determine undermining thoughts, a system whereby a pocket diary or pad is kept handy, in which immediately after game, specific doubts are written down, probably listing the five most important ones that come to mind. The key is to know what the things that are undermining your confidence , and once you have them, its possible to address them. The key is not to allow mistakes to cause you to make more. In this manner you are to bring about self change.

How to use positive thinking
Research has shown that that use of positive thinking in sports help you beat negative thought by helping you switch thoughts from negative to positive ones.  All of us with good mental skills have a bad day and may be feeling down. On such days, you will find that you are doing something wrong. Now when you are in that position the kind of images that come to mind, is like whats wrong with me and so on, and in turn this creates self doubt. When that situation comes to mind, stop that thought and turn it around. There are different ways of doing this. Some think of a stop signal or others train themselves to see a red light and so on. Using such signs as soon as you get that first negative thought, and dont think about that again. Come up with a productive replacement thought, so that you can turn that around. In your situation where you get a negative signal, use the stop or whatever works for you and then find that positive statement that you can push.

Improve Confidence through Body Language.
One of the most important things that are required about sports is confidence. Its easy to talk about but how do to get it. A lot of people forget that sport is physical so it has a lot to do with our athletic ability. It has also a lot to do with physical confidence.

When you are at a time of having difficulties, and think of what your emotions were at that time, you will be able to visualize, what as a player you might look like at that time. It is hard to accept that we all make mistakes and those are things we dont feel good about. Your shoulders begin to droop, your eyes look down and so on. Now take a moment and see yourself in your sport and see what emotions you feel when things dont go right. The thing to do is to say to your self that this is my play, and I am going to do it. Hold you head up high and probably push your chest out a bit more. You visualize it, fix it by looking confident, and acting confidant. Thats how you insulate your mind and improve through body language. This will set about a flow in your movement as you relax without negative thoughts, and in turn your game becomes better.

Meeting Competition
According to Dr.Cohn there are three myths in sports Psychology. he explains that it is more of mental coaching, teaching the athlete to have a positive mind set through training. The word Psychology has a negative connotation to it

Firstly that sports psychology is useful only if you are trying to get out of a slump
Secondly  that you need to go to a sports psychologist only as a last resort
And thirdly that something is wrong with you.

People who do not understand these are the ones who propound the above myths about sports psychology.  The word Psychology is much misunderstood and therefore usage of words like mental training, mental toughness and mental preparedness are more apt to use.

Mental training helps in developing mental strength and in turn helps develop strategy. Mental toughness take you to a high zone and helps you stay there. Mental preparedness helps thinking with more confidence, so you can perform at your best. These should be kept simple and not made complex, and will certainly help the athlete meet competition and perform well constantly.
Use Psychology to be a better athlete.

We all have the same technical skills, but why do some perform better at a higher level. Its the bottom line that drives these athletes. Learning to maximize both the mental capacity and technical skills simultaneously and taking it to a whole new level. That how you get there. The mind is a very powerful instrument and once you have mastery over it, success follows.

Comment  Analysis
The project has been interesting because you realize that in sport the on field performance is a direct result of the amount of trainng and preparation which goes into it. In this aspect the Pycholological part takes as much importance as both developing technical skills and physical skills. In fact we can see that without having proper training of the mind, it would be harder for athletes to go the higher levels of sport.

Sports Psychology can be viewed not as corrective step but as part of sports development and training, to help athletes get better and achieve far more. In fact, the importance of this aspect of science , should become part of sports curriculum and  be introduced  at an even more basic  level, when the  athlete is developing. In that sense, introduction of sports Psychology at the school level will prove beneficial for all sports and games, and help raise standards of performance.