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Issue 89 ................................................................. August 1, 2008
Welcome to Sports Insights Magazine
Welcome to Sports Insights Magazine! We are pleased to bring you practical, cutting-edge sports psychology and mental training tips to improve your mindset and performance. We thank you for being a subscriber of Sports Insights Magazine!
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The Relaxed Athlete: A 14-Day Plan for Optimal Mental Preparation. Two programs combined into one, you not only learn how to develop a focused and confident pre-competition routine, but you also learn the secrets to a poised and relaxed mindset. Read more about mental preparation keys...
NEW! Kids Sports Psychology! Kids' Sports Psychology is a one-stop, exclusive 10-step plan for boosting confidence and cultivating positive mental game skills in young athletes! As a member of our newest online community, parents and coaches can download age-specific confidence-boosting mental game strategies, e-books, videos, and audio programs produced specifically for young athletes. Learn how to boost sports kids' success...
The Focused Team DVD Program! After months of tweaking, The Focused Team is so powerful that it’s virtually the same as having me conduct a live (in person) mental training seminar for your team. Includes everything a coach or team leader needs to effortlessly boost his or her teams' focusing skills and here is the kicker…. in just 7 short sessions! Read more about how to focus your team in 15 minutes per day...
Locker Room Talk
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Feature Mental Game Article
How Sports Psychology Can Help Athletes Manage Failure Better
By Patrick J. Cohn, Ph.D.
Athletes have many opportunities for success in sports. However, there are many opportunities for failure as well – it’s part of sports. For example, only one golfer out of 144 players will win a golf tournament! And if you are a successful batter in baseball, you fail about 70% of the time. Additionally, many kids drop out of sports because they no longer are having fun, which is often due to the negative emotions of losing.
I know my daughter struggled with losing as a kid because she was so used to always winning in our household. She simply did not know how to lose nor accept it. So losing her first few tennis matches was extremely difficult, but with time (and some coaching from you know who), she has learned to accept failure as a springboard for improvement.
Sports is filled with failure. Some athletes are more successful than others, but the athletes who can cope with failure are the ones who can bounce back stronger than ever.
That’s why you want to use losing or failure as a chance to learn and continue to grow as an athlete (and even as a person).But still, many athletes hate to lose and not be the best every time they perform. This mindset can be both an asset and a detriment, depending on how it is used.
As a competitive athlete or team, you and your athletes must learn how to cope with losing and failure. Good coaches manage this according to Vince Lombardi: “The real glory is being knocked to your knees and then coming back. That's real glory. That's the essence of it.”
I recently read that the Kansas City Royals hired a sports psychologist to help players “manage failure better.”
Royals general manager Dayton Moore said, “It's good to have somebody on board where players can work through different circumstances, whether they are professional or personal.”
Usually in sports psychology, we talk about how to become more successful by improving your mental game. But the Royals’ goal of having a sports psychologist on staff was to help players manage failure better. “As everybody knows who follows professional athletics, especially baseball, whoever manages failure the best is going to be successful, and you need somebody on staff to keep things in perspective and help players manage failure,” said Dayton Moore.
“Many of life's failures are people who
did not realize how close they were to
success when they gave up.”
~Thomas Edison
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____________________________________________Some of my students would argue that nothing good can come from making mistakes, losing a game, or failing. In reality, however, the best lessons are often learned in light of a tragedy—no matter how big or how small.
How can you better manage failure? You must use failure as an opportunity to learn and grow. Here are a few tips to help you manage failure and learn from failure.
I remind my students that they have two methods to react to failure or losing. Your first option is to get upset, frustrated, and angry that you lost the match or did not perform up to your ability and carry these negative feeling with you for hours after competition.
If you choose this option, clearly not the best option, you to lose confidence and possibly even lose motivation for practice and training. Your second option is to react with confidence and composure by focusing on what you are doing well. I ask my students to reframe the situation by finding the unseen benefit hidden in it. This option, the better choice, helps you build composure, confidence, and the ability to assess your performance objectively.
You should also cool down immediately after the game or match. When emotions are elevated, it’s easier for you to beat yourself up when you still feel frustrated or upset. I suggest that you take 20 minutes to relax, get a drink, hang out with your friends or family or find something that will temporarily distract you from your negative emotions.
Your next task is to think about what you did well during your performance. Maybe you didn’t win, but I’m sure you can think of something positive that you can reward yourself for even if you lost. Some examples of performances worthy of a reward would be: making an interception, sinking a long putt, or battling back to win the second set of the match.
Parents and coaches also need to direct positive comments first before jumping in right away to offer constructive criticism such as, “you really served well today or great hustle out there today.”
You can’t expect that your sports career will be without bumps and dips along the road to stardom. Many successful athletes today are successful because of their ability to grow from defeat and use failure as a springboard to improve and become mentally tough. When defeat or failure is upon you, ask yourself: “How can I use this experience to help me improve or make me a better athlete?”
If you want to learn all my game-time composure-boosting strategies, I suggest you snag a copy of "The Composed Athlete," part 3 of my ground-breaking CD programs in The Confident Athlete Series.
Sports Specific Mental Training Tip
"I Always Put on a Winning Face!"
As a coach, you play a big role in how a team will react to a loss. If you lose confidence in the team or feel dejected, your team players will learn to doubt their own ability...
"When we lose, no matter how dejected, tired or depressed I might be I have to put on a new face, a winning face and an enthusiastic face, a self-confident face, when I walk into the clubhouse. If I walk into the clubhouse dejected or depressed, the players are going to be that way."
~Tommy Lasorda
Podcasts of the Month
The Sports Psychology Podcast of the Month!
In this week's sports psychology podcast, Dr. Cohn talks about how to use failure and losing as a springboard or opportunity to improve your game. You don't want to dwell on failure or beat yourself up for mistakes. The top athletes understand that failure is a part of sports and know how to manage their mindset after failure. Listen to this month's sports psychology podcast...Show me the Sports Psychology Podcast of the Month!
The Golf Psychology Podcast of the Month!
In this week's golf psychology session, mental game of golf expert and author of The Mental Game of Golf, Dr. Cohn, helps golfers cope with negative teammates. Many golfers are affected by what others say about their golf performance. Learn how to detach your confidence and self-esteem from what others may say about your game.
Pro Athlete Quote of the Month
"Attacking Adversity"
"Shoulda, coulda, and woulda won't get it done. In attacking adversity, only a positive attitude, alertness, and regrouping to basics can launch a comeback."
~Pat Riley
Ask Doc Cohn
"How do we keep our team's spirit up when losing?"
Baseball Parent:
"How do you help a child with a losing baseball season? All teams play against each other in the community. My son's team has not won any games. The children are down. What are things that parents can do to keep the team's spirit up? They start to think that they cannot play which is not the case."
Most Valuable Product (MVP)
The Relaxed Athlete: A 14-Day Plan for Optimal Mental Preparation NEW!
The Relaxed Athlete: A 14-Day Plan for Optimal Mental Preparation!"The Relaxed Athlete," our 5th CD program in the confident athlete series teaches you Dr. Cohn's top mental strategies for complete mental preparation for competition. Two programs combined into one, you not only learn how to develop a focused and confident pre-competition routine, but you also learn the secrets to a poised and relaxed mindset. The program includes 14 days of mental preparation exercises that can be tailored to your specific sport. Each copy comes with 3 premium bonuses that you can download immediately! Become a peaksports member and receive 30% off retail.
Read more about The Relaxed Athlete CD Program!
Buy The Relaxed Athlete Program Now!
Peaksports Members please login in by using this page to access the "Member Only" link to save 30%.
Not a peaksports member yet? Go demo our New Online Mental Training Site at Peaksports!
Dr. Patrick J. Cohn
Master Mental Game Coach
Boost Your Success with The Confident Athlete Series!
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