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Welcome to Sports Insights Magazine! Learn practical, cutting-edge sports psychology and mental training tips to improve mental toughness in sports.

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NEW! The Confident Sports Kid CD and Workbook Program! Packed with mental strategies, this program teaches your young athletes how to identify confidence busters, manage expectations that undermine confidence, and mentally prepare to stay confident when faced with adversity. Improve your sports kids confidence quickly>>

Instill Confidence in Your Baseball and Softball Players! Learn how to help your team play with full confidence and help them stay confident after mistakes! Learn more about Instilling Confidence in Baseball and Softball Players>>

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Free Mental Toughness Reports!

• Golfers and Instructors: Improve Preshot Routines.
• Golfers: Learn How Overcome the Yips with Freer Putting Drills
• Baseball and Softball Players and Coaches: Improve At-Bat Routines!
• Tennis Players and Coaches: Improve Between Point Mental Toughness!
• Hockey Players and Coaches: Improve your Pregame Mindset!
• Equestrians and trainers: Improve Rider's Preshow Mindset!
• Parents and Youth Coaches: Boost Kids' Confidence and Success!
• Musicians: Overcome Performance Anxiety and Reach Your Peak

Locker Room Talk

"It Changed Me..."

"Solid A. I've recommended The Ultimate Sports Parent CD to friends and coaches. It changed the way I talk and work with my son. The Lesson on Trust was the best and I listen to it over-and-over on my commute. Bottom line: well worth the money, it changed me!"

~Robert, sports parent

Help kids play with confidence and trust now>>

Feature Mental Game Article

How Stress Can Affect Sports Performance
By Patrick J. Cohn, Ph.D.

Not all stress is bad for your performance. Stress can affect your performance in two different ways. Stress can help you when it makes you more alert, more motivated to practice, and gain a competitive edge. In the right amount, stress helps you prepare, focus, and perform at your optimal level. Conversely, too much stress, or bad stress, can cause performance anxiety, which hurts your health and does not allow you to play relaxed, confident, and focused in competition.

"You're always going to be nervous teeing it up in a Major Championship. It's very natural and it's a good thing. It means that you want it."
~Rory Mcilroy, first round leader at the 2011 Masters

Every competitive athlete experiences some stress; good and bad. Your stress may be positive and helpful or instill anxiety and apprehension. Pregame jitters can cause some athletes to not sleep well the night before competition. Some athletes can’t eat the morning before a big game. Your pre-competition jitters may make you feel like you have to throw up.

You want to feel excitement or thrill in anticipation for competition (what I call positive pregame jitters). A high level of activation will help you perform your best – up to a point where you may be too jacked up to play well. Too little or too much intensity (or stress) can cause your performance to decline. Your ability to cope effectively with pregame nerves is critical to consistent peak performance.

Sources of Stress in Sports

Worry, stress, anxiety, or tension can come from several sources depending on your personality. What causes you to become anxious or stressed is different than what another athlete experiences. I have found that most worry comes from focusing too much on results or more specifically, the consequences of poor results.

For example, a golfer might worry about shooting a high score, but the real anxiety might be directed at the fear of embarrassment or letting a parent down. The fear isn’t really about shooting a poor score. It’s about what you think others might say or think about you.

Performance anxiety comes from the following:

• Focus on outcomes or scores
• Excess mental chatter or negative self-talk
• Fear of failing
• Worrying about what others might think
• Not performing up to expectations
• Not feeling fully confident – being doubtful
• A poor practice leading up to a competition
• Worrying about performing well in the “big game”
• Worrying about not playing well due to injury
• Feeling intimidated by the quality of the competition

Want to Become a Mental Game Coach to Athletes? Enroll in Our Unique
Mental Game Coaching Professional Certification Program!
Apply for the Summer 2011 MGCP Course

Fear of Failure and Stress

Fear of failure is the major source of stress or anxiety for athletes. I believe anxiety and fear of failure are closely related. And most athletes who are afraid to fail have anxiety about disappointing coaches, teammates, or parents, for example. Many athletes worry about embarrassing themselves when they do not perform well. They are afraid others will judge them harshly or not approve of them in some way.

You should also know that fear of embarrassment or rejection (social approval “threats”) are not always based on reality. Your fear and anxiety may feel very real, but the source is not realistic. Worrying about shooting a high number and fear of embarrassment feels real to golfers, but it may not be rational or helpful to one’s game. You do not want to base your fear on false assumptions about what others might think about you or your game.

Some athletes feel this when they are afraid to lose, get embarrassed, or afraid of injury. You might be worried about your opponent, or impressing others. You might start doubting your ability and it snowballs prior to a game and thus you feel anxious. Once you experience anxious symptoms, you become obsessed with the uncomfortable feelings, which distract you from what you need to focus on. Focusing too much on the uncomfortable feelings only heightens the tension.

What's Your Ideal Performance State?

Why is finding your ideal mindset so important? Every athlete has an ideal performance state or mindset which you can use as a model for future performance. You should realize that NOT every athlete needs to be relaxed to perform well. Many athletes indeed need to relax while others would perform better by getting energized. Keep in mind that performing your best includes a mix of focused intensity and a relaxed or calm mind.

You intuitively know that too much stress or anxiety can cause you to perform poorly. Likewise, too little intensity or physical activation can cause you to under perform as well. What does this mean? You need to find a balance. A balanced mindset will help you focus to do your best and be “up” for competition, but one that also allows you to think clearly and have a calm mind.

Think back to when you felt "over the edge" and too anxious when performing. Contrast this with when you felt energized, focused, alert, but not stressed. Ask yourself the following questions to help you contrast these mindsets:

• What was your pregame attitude like?
• How did that affect your ability to perform?
• How juiced or up did you feel?
• Did you feel full of energy or drained?

Embrace the Butterflies

One important lesson here: Avoid turning positive stress or excitement into anxiety or worry. Feeling jacked up or excited is a natural part of sports, and you need to feel it to play your best! If you think you can’t handle the challenge, you will lose confidence and tighten up. If you think you are up for the challenge, you will embrace the excitement and perform confidently. Embrace your pregame intensity. It's your body’s way of preparing for action. Welcome it and it will help you perform at your peak.

This article was based on the popular CD and Workbook program, The Relaxed Athlete. Check out The Relaxed Athlete today!

Sports Specific Mental Training Tip

"I've been preparing for Augusta..."

Top athletes focus on the big events and peaking at the right time. Jack Nicklaus was great at peaking for majors. You have to set your practice plan around the big events and gear up as you get closer.

"I've practiced and I've prepared myself for this week. Everything that I've been doing since I got the clubs out again after the new year on the 7th of January it's just been working towards Augusta. And it's paid off today and hopefully it can pay off for the next three."

~ Rory Mcilroy, PGA Tour

Podcasts of the Month

Sports Psychology Podcast of the Month!
In this week’s sports psychology podcast, Dr. Cohn responds to a question from a sport parents whose daughter has trouble performing as well in competition as does in practice.  In this Podcast, Dr. Cohn discusses the top challenges athletes have with taking confidence and the skills they learn in practice to competition. Listen to this month’s sports psychology podcast to learn how to overcome these challenges and perform with confidence.

• Show me the Sports Psychology Podcast of the Month!
• Learn more about our "Sports Psychology CD" Programs
• Watch the Sports Confidence Videos by Peaksports!
• Subscribe to the Sports Psychology Podcast at iTunes!

The Golf Psychology Podcast of the Month!
In this week’s golf psychology podcast, mental game of golf expert and author of The Mental Game of Golf, Dr. Patrick Cohn, discusses how players can develop the mental skills needed to succeed with "The Golfer’s Mental Edge CD and Workbook Program.".

• Show me the Golf Psychology Podcast of the Month!
• Learn more about "The Golfer's Mental Edge" CD program
• Watch the Golf Confidence Video series!
• Golfers and Instructors: Download a golf psychology report to improve your preshot routine overnight
• Subscribe to the Golf Psychology Podcast at iTunes!

Athlete Quote of the Month

"As long as we stay mentally tough, we'll be fine..."

"As long as I stay mentally tough and my team stay mentally tough, just like we've been doing throughout this whole post-season, we'll be fine. I trust these guys, you know, to carry the load. So that's all that matters.”

~Kemba Walker, 2011 NCAA Basketball Tournament MVP

Ask Doc Cohn

"How do I get my team to play like they practice?"

Softball Coach :

"How do I get my team to play like they practice? They practice very well, but in a game they tighten up and breakdown fundamentally."

Read Dr. Cohn's answer to this question now!

Most Valuable Product (MVP)

The Confident Sports Kids CD and Workbook Program NEW!

"The Confident Sports Kid: A 7- Day Plan for Boosting Self Confidence in Young Athletes." Packed with mental strategies that you and your kids can start using immediately, this program teaches your athletes how to identify confidence busters, proactively deal with them, manage expectations that undermine confidence, and mentally prepare to stay confident when faced with adversity.

What's more, our new program teaches you, as sports parents and coaches, how you may be hurting your kids' confidence and gives you instructions for changing your behavior in ways that will improve your athletes' performance, confidence and enjoyment.

Read more about The Confident Sports Kid CD and Workbook Program!

Dr. Patrick J. Cohn
Master Mental Game Coach

Dr. Patrick J. Cohn is the President and founder of Peak Performance Sports of Orlando, Florida. He earned his Ph.D. in Education from the University of Virginia in 1991, and founded Peak Performance Sports in 1994. Dr. Cohn is an author, speaker and one of the nation's leading mental game experts. His coaching programs instill confidence, composure and effective mental strategies that enable athletes and teams to reach their performance goals. Dr. Cohn has helped athletes from a variety of sports backgrounds (both amateurs and professionals) identify and develop the mindset needed to achieve peak performance. World-class golfers, runners, shooters and auto racers, as well as motocross, tennis, baseball, softball, football and hockey players, are among those who have benefited from his mental game coaching and training.

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