Mentally Preparing for Playoffs…

28 02 2011

At some point in your athletic experience you will most likely participate in some kind of playoff. These games come with greater pressure, more potential anxiety, and greater emotional highs and lows. So, what are the best ways to manage these very difficult times? This article is going to highlight three principles for putting your best foot forward during the playoffs.

First, have Realistic Expectations. Young athletes hurt their own performance as well as their teams when they think that everything they try should work, or they shouldn’t have to deal with things that go the other teams way. I have found that the more unrealistic the expectations the more intense the frustration. Having unrealistic expectations sets us up to be unprepared for what is most likely to occur therefore, putting us at a disadvantage when events unfold that are out of alignment with what we thought would happen.

Second, Focus on Actions Rather than Results. In pressure filled situations it becomes very difficult to remain poised and emotionally stable. When our bodies become overwhelmed with anxiety and adrenaline our judgment may become compromised and we become prone to outbursts of frustration and anger sometimes resulting in taking a penalty, committing an untimely foul, or simply performing tentatively resulting in less then excellent performance. This is heightened when we become over focused on results rather then the actions that are required to earn the results that lead to victories and excellent performance.

Third, Exhibit Emotional Flexibility. Playoff time is filled with ups and downs. There are moments of great excitement as well as great despair. Because of these paradoxical moments athletes are forced to deal with these ups and downs with poise and with grace. Doing this requires the capacity to be flexible and not allowing one’s emotions to get too high or too low. A phrase I have used for years to summarize this principle is “Never too high, never too low”.

Playoffs test our mental, physical and emotional preparedness. With the tips above, the uncertainty and pressure of playoff time can be an opportunity to shine and reveal your Mental Edge on your competition.

Best to you this playoff season!

To find out more about this topic and to schedule a private consultation, please call 763.439.5246.

Shaun Goodsell
President and CEO
Mental Edge

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Categories : Athlete, Coach, Confidence, Goalie, Hockey, Manage Adversity, Mental Toughness, Motivation, Parent, School, Sports Psychology

Confidence…oh, so often misunderstood!

19 01 2011

One of the most common topics that I get asked about from players, coaches, and parents has to do with confidence.  The questions I get vary as people attempt to understand this seemingly misunderstood concept. Below are three of the most common questions I get and my response to them in a attempt to bring greater clarity for those seeking to develop confidence, as well as, understand the role of confidence in understanding performance.

1. Is confidence a critical factor in how someone performs?
Although confidence plays a part in impacting how an athlete performs, what is more critical is how masterful an athlete has become concerning the foundational skills of the sport they play. What is true is that an athlete develops a great deal of confidence based on how effective they feel they have been at developing and mastering skills that allow them to compete with those they play against. If an athlete hasn’t invested the time, energy, and dedication to practicing the skills needed to experience success then confidence should not be a “right”.  Therefore, what is important to performance has more to do more with skill development than confidence.

2. When my son/daughter seems to lack confidence is the antidote encouragement?
The answer to this is maybe. I believe we have become a culture (especially with our kids) that believes the answer for every problem is encouragement. Certainly our kids need optimistic, positive people in their life, however, they also need “truth tellers” that are able to communicate truthful statements in optimistic and positive ways to help them build a healthy self perception built on better “truth”. Telling an athlete they played well when they didn’t does nothing to build their confidence, in fact, it confirms in the mind of many that adults just tell kids things to make them feel better. This actually erodes the possibility of confidence because of the credibility that is lost.

The last question is: What helps to grow self-confidence?
I want to start by saying that confidence can be compartmentalized into different life interests. For example, I can be confident in my ability to understand a persons emotional pain and have zero confidence in my ability to build shelves for my garage. My lack of confidence in building doesn’t compromise my overall confidence as a person it simply means I have not developed the skills associated with building shelves. With this example as a guide I believe the inner belief in oneself that we label as confidence is created, grown, and developed when we invest time, energy, interest, and genetic cooperation to develop what it takes to perform effectively in competitive situations. Because of this, I believe developing true confidence is, in reality, within all of our control. I hope the clarification around this often-used topic is helpful.

Shaun Goodsell
President and CEO, Mental Edge

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Categories : Academics, Athlete, Coach, Confidence, Manage Adversity, Mental Toughness, Motivation, Parent, School, Sports Psychology, Student

Maybe they act like they don’t care because they don’t care!

25 10 2010

One question that is posed to me on almost a daily basis is why do many young people exhibit characteristics of apathy and laziness? While reflecting on this I have pondered many possible explanations. These include being pampered, disinterested, and the environment of low expectations to name a few.  It is possible that each of these holds some merit in trying to explain some of the problematic behavior that appears in some of our young people.

However, I have come to believe that the answer may not be as complicated as I first thought.  Maybe many act like they don’t care because they don’t care! The more I talk to young people the more they tell me they can’t see the connection between school and sports performance and their future. Not only is this blurry but much of the material they are learning in school is not only irrelevant to them but often presented in a manner that does more to put them to sleep then to engage them in a pursuit of ongoing curiosity leading to enhanced living. I often wonder if there is some virtue in choosing disengagement, which is a form of rebellion, to compliance simply for the sake of doing what you’re supposed to.  Where has that lead most of us?

For many this formula has lead to living an uninspired life stuck in jobs that we hate, marriages that are shallow and lifeless, and a life that is to be survived rather then savored. The survival strategies include but are not limited to alcohol abuse, food abuse, over spending, Internet addictions, and simply engaging in activity for the sake of distracting ourselves to avoid the realization that we are simply existing and not truly living. Sometimes, this internal dissatisfaction leads us to focus energy towards over controlling our kids telling them “we want them to avoid the pain that we currently live with by helping them see a better way”.

Inspiration and engagement comes by seeing and experiencing, not by words that are often hypocritical. If we truly want to SHAKE UP our kids maybe the way to do this is to begin to take pride in our own lives. Maybe if we cultivated an appetite for better living by challenging ourselves and those around us to overcome their fears of inadequacy, and heal from the disappointments of their lives, maybe our example would DRAW and ATTRACT those around us to become curious about the new found passion, inspiration, and courage that has now become an authentic expression of our everyday lives.

I believe that our kids are screaming for meaning, purpose, and inspiration. There is a hunger for examples that are credible because of the life they live not the rhetoric they spew to authentically lead our young people to engage in life in a new manner. Maybe our kids act like they don’t care because they don’t care. Why should they?

What do you think?  Please let us know with your comments below!


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Categories : Academics, Athlete, Coach, Confidence, Manage Adversity, Mental Toughness, Motivation, Parent, School, Sports Psychology, Student

What coaching message leads to better performance?

17 08 2010

Noise is defined as a phenomenon that blocks, distorts, changes or interferes with the meaning of a message.

Around the upper Midwest, this week marks a new season of fall sports.  Thousands of young athletes will put themselves in positions to be impacted by coaches. Coaches will utter thousands of messages in hopes of shaping, adjusting, and inspiring those they coach. What makes a coaching message productive? What coaching message leads to better performance? I ask these question because I believe most of what is spoken to young people resembles noise more than effective communication.

For messages to be helpful they need to be free of anything that could interfere with the meaning and desired focus of the message. Noise distorts, confuses, changes, and interferes with clear communication and literally inhibits the athlete from developing and moving forward. It is possible when communication is “noisy” the presence of a coach is more inhibiting than helpful. To make this sort of claim requires some explanation:

Elements of productive coaching messages:

  1. Concise: Spoken in less than 20 seconds
  2. Clear: Stated with clear language and engaging emotion
  3. Constructive: Provides the athlete with an adjustment leading to greater mastery of skill

When a coach seeks to guide an athlete to greater mastery it is important to make clear, concise, constructive comments that lead the athlete to successfully execute the mental and physical connections leading to success. The most effective coaches have been studied and it has been revealed that they clearly state concise messages providing the athlete with detailed input on small adjustments required; leading the athlete to make small consistent adjustments which are associated with maximized skill development.

When coaches use clichés that are wordy, demeaning, and confusing “NOISE” is at it’s highest and these messages serve to slow down, if not stop, learning.  These type of messages not only  inhibit performance but a decrease overall experience.

Let’s challenge ourselves to be clear, concise, and constructive in our communication. Champions are made from this type of communication.

We’d love to hear your comments and thoughts below.  If you are a coach and have a question please feel free to ask below and we’ll answer as many as we can.

Shaun


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Categories : Athlete, Coach, Confidence, Manage Adversity, Mental Toughness, Motivation, Parent, Sports Psychology

8/16 Marks the 1st day for the Boys of Fall

14 08 2010

August 16th Players from all over the country will carry on age old traditions of bonding, competitive challenge, and deep memory creation!

Would love to hear your comments and I’ll personally respond to as many as possible.

Shaun


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Categories : Athlete, Coach, Mental Toughness, Motivation, Parent, School, Student

Join our revolution! We’re creating a new breed of athlete

29 07 2010

http://MentalEdgeNow.com and http://ExplosiveEdgeAthletics.com have formed a training model that creates the DOUBLE EDGE ATHLETE. A Double Edge Athlete is trained physically and mentally be be their best, their mind and body aligned, and is without weakness.

Are you ready to be a part of the revolution?  Call us today to get started!

We’d love to hear what you think, please comment and we’ll respond personally to as many as we can.

Shaun Goodsell/Mental Edge

Shawn Myska/Explosive Edge Athletics


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Get Shaun as your personal coach for FREE!

21 07 2010

We are excited to announce we’ve launched daily Mental Edge video training.  Each day Shaun provides a short training on mental toughness and sports “psychology” to give you leverage on your competition.

Get your FREE training at http://MentalEdgeLive.com

We want to help you be your best when it counts the most!

Enjoy!


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Categories : Academics, Athlete, Coach, Confidence, Fitness, Goalie, Hockey, Manage Adversity, Mental Toughness, Motivation, Parent, School, Sports Psychology, Student

Motivating Kids: Myths & Truths #5

29 04 2010

This is the last of our 5-part series on Motivation Myths:

Motivational Myth #1: Kids need to be motivated. (See 4/7/10 blog entry)

Motivational Myth #2: Rewards are what motivate kids. (See 4/8/10 blog entry)

Motivational Myth #3: Lectures motivate kids. (See 4/14/10 blog entry)

Motivational Myth #4: Hype motivates kids. (See 4/26/10 blog entry)

Motivation Myth #5: Simply suck it up!

This is the last of our five motivation myths. The fifth myth is that motivation is a requirement for success. Although, many would probably argue with me on this one I believe motivation is not required. In many ways one of the important skills of life is knowing how to dig deep when motivation supplies are low. Very few people would say that they have an abundance of motivation. Most of us have to develop strong skills in discipline as well as strength of mind to overcome our propensity to stay comfortable and lazy.

How a person manages their responsibilities when their motivation source appears dry maybe says more about a person then when the motivation is abundant. With that I offer these basic tips for when your motivational energy is depleted.

  1. Break responsibilities into small pieces.  The thought of biting off the whole task can be overwhelming, but often, if one smaller step can be taken a new surge of energy is experienced.
  2. Keep your thinking in the here and now. When you are tired it is not uncommon for thinking to be loose and undisciplined. When this happens everything can easily take on a dark and pessimistic tint.
  3. Wherever you are, be there. Many people have a difficult time taking breaks because of the sheer number of things on their plate. My advice to you is when you are involved in family time, or a pleasurable hobby, be fully present in it so you can be fully present in the task when you get back to it.

Sometimes, you simply have to persevere through difficult times. You have to use the power of your mind and will to act in responsible ways and do the uncomfortable things it takes to accomplish your goals. We, unfortunately, are living in a time where we have become slaves to comfort and make all sorts of excuses for acting in non-responsible ways. Next time you are facing a moment where you need to do something and do not want to, remember you don’t always have to want to do something for it to be productive.

Living in the here and now,
Shaun


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Categories : Academics, Athlete, Coach, Mental Toughness, Motivation, Parent, School, Sports Psychology

Motivating Kids: Myths & Truths #4

26 04 2010

This is the forth of a 5-part series on Motivation Myths:

Motivational Myth #1: Kids need to be motivated. (See 4/7/10 blog entry)

Motivational Myth #2: Rewards are what motivate kids. (See 4/8/10 blog entry)

Motivational Myth #3: Lectures motivate kids. (See 4/14/10 blog entry)

Motivational Myth #4: Hype motivates kids.

Motivation Myth number 4 is the hype myth. The more work I do with teams and coaches the more I realize that we have bought into the idea that we need to get our kids pumped, hyped, and excited. We hear inspirational speeches, pre-game talks in an attempt to get everybody psyched up. The beverage companies have also bought into this with the rise in the sheer numbers of “Energy Drinks” that have come on the market. We need to be careful not to buy into the idea that more hype, intensity, and energy is best for everybody.  Rarely, do you see people who execute excellently under pressure overly hyped or excited in the moment.

On each team there will be a percentage of players that need to relax because they are too intense. Their abundance of intensity often creates a lack of awareness leaving them virtually blind to the more detailed aspects of the game. These players work hard but often move right past the opportunity to score, or finish a play.  Coaches often refer to these types of players as ones that are in constant motion without much impact on the game. Being able to create a consistent level of intensity leading to the ability to pounce on opportunities as they reveal themselves is what leads not only to success but consistent play based on the learning that is acquired through practice and experience.  Certainly, there are players that require jolt of energy. These players often appear almost to relaxed. For some it may take an entire first part of the game to finally find their flow. This type of player usually needs to engage their mind in something clear and attainable. It isn’t hype or excitement needed; it is a clearly defined goal that can be self-monitored.

Helping our athletes utilize useful energy that results from a clearly communicated set of expectations with regular personalized feedback provides the necessary self-motivation that can be sustained over time. Creating hype and over excited athletes does nothing but distract them and leads them to perform in inconsistent and impulsive ways.


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Categories : Academics, Athlete, Coach, Manage Adversity, Mental Toughness, Motivation, Parent, School, Sports Psychology

Motivating Kids: Myths & Truths #3

14 04 2010

There is no doubt that we are living in a time where many of our young people have become overly dependent on the prompts, punishments, and promises of others in their lives. In an attempt to get this to change, parents, coaches and teachers have tried many things to “motivate” young people.

This is the third of a 5-part series on Motivation Myths:

Motivational Myth #1: Kids need to be motivated. (See 4/7/10 blog entry)

Motivational Myth #2: Rewards are what motivate kids. (See 4/8/10 blog entry)

Motivational Myth #3: Lectures motivate kids.

Today I want to talk about the Lecture Myth. It seems that those of us trying to create more energy, passion, or drive in our kids believe that our words are so profoundly inspiring that simply stating them with a bit of passion behind them is suddenly going to turn on the light bulb of drive for our kids. This is not only a myth, but it is utter ignorance. What has led us to believe that our lectures could possibly be that full of impact? Maybe we revert to this because it is the only tool we have available to us. If so, then it makes sense why we engage in this act of desperation. When we use a lecture, that in reality is one-way communication, we cut off the most important information source (that being the kid) because the communication is only one way.

In order to create any change it is going to begin with the cooperation, will, and enlightenment of the kid needing to make the change. We miss that when we believe we are the providers of the motivation because of our perceived words of wisdom. Our kids would have a revival of energy, drive, passion, and motivation if we would simply talk WITH them and not AT them. If the only tool for motivation you have is to lecture…it is time to add to the toolbox. You will be absolutely shocked what you learn if you approach problems of motivation with curiosity as opposed to certainty.

No more lectures…get out of judgment/certainty and into curiosity!

Keep an eye out for Motivation Myth #4!

Shaun


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