The Mental Performance Corner: Your FAQs

During the month of February, I’m covering all the most frequently asked questions I receive. In this blog, I’m going to cover 3 of the ones I hear A LOT from student athletes and their parents: 

1. What are some tips for not giving up when you are down by 7 and still have 2 more periods to go?
2. How do you help your student-athlete while they’re managing ALLLL the things: multiple sports, hours and hours of practice, social lives, school work, nutrition, rest, down time and everything else that goes with it?
3. How can you work with me?

Let’s dive in!

What are some tips for not giving up when you are down by 7 and still have 2 more periods to go?

This is a TOUGH one. We’ve all been there, done that, and it is hard. But ultimately, it comes down to managing what we can control and what we cannot control in any given situation.

For example: 

What can you not control? That you are down by 7, that there are only 2 periods left, and anything else like difficult refs, coaches behavior, etc.

What can you control? Your own effort and attitude. I recently shared the exercise, “why I play.” It helps athletes really identify what they love about their sport, and why they want to play it.

It’s so important to have strong roots, and a love for your sport to help you through the tough situations like this. This can help athletes reframe the story of loss, how hard it is, or how badly they just want to quit. Instead, with a strong foundation of LOVE for their sport, athletes can CHOOSE to focus on what they love about their sport, regardless of the numbers on the scoreboard. 

Focusing on those controllable goals and FUN, and not focusing on the scoreboard will help them give it their all, and ultimately help build momentum on the team too.

How do you help your student-athlete while they’re managing ALLLL the things: multiple sports, hours and hours of practice, social lives, school work, nutrition, rest, down time and everything else that goes with it?

I say it a lot, but athletes are truly under a lot of pressure these days. Just look at that above list…aren’t you exhausted? So what do we do about it?

Build it into their schedules. Ensure they have time for rest and friends and free time, amongst all the things that require work like sports and school.

Kids need to be kids. They need the rest and “orange zone” minutes to be able to be successful on the field and in life too. If athletes aren’t given that down time, or that time to just be a kid, they will burn out hard and fast. 

Give them quiet time, and a bed time that has consistency. Work with them on using that time for meditating, breathing, coloring, listening to relaxing music, journaling or whatever works for them to just be.

How can you work with me?

We have just a few openings in “90DaysToClutch,” a 90 day mental performance program. It includes lifetime access to skills/tools/strategies, group coaching zooms, 1:1 coaching zooms, bonus content, and best of all – a community of peers to build a sense of connection and belonging.

I've built this program with an atmosphere that will help your athlete be challenged, be inspired, learn and grow. By incorporating a small group dynamic, athletes will help each other through a shared determination and motivation, and I will work with them to build their mental health performance. It's time to level up!

Want to learn more? Reply back and we can set up time to chat!