The Mental Performance Corner: The World is on Lockdown… What Do I Do??

With everything that is going on in the world right now, things are, well… a little challenging. I know that there is most likely a lot of stress and anxiety swirling around about not being able to get on the ice, field, court, etc. Anxiety for the athletes for sure, but also for parents (and even us coaches!). I thought I would make this months' newsletter about how to deal with this unexpected new world we are temporarily living in.

First off, acknowledge that this new situation is less than ideal (read: sucky - and yes, that’s a technical term). Because it is and it’s ok to be upset. After you’ve acknowledged the crappy part of this situation you have two choices: you can continue to sit in that negative emotion and let it control you, or you can alter your mindset and your attitude, refocus, and move forward. The key here is it IS a choice. Here are some tools that will help you move forward and power through this lockdown like a champ:

One: Breathe! Take some long, slow, deep breaths. As you do so, conjure up some positive thoughts - I like to think about the things in my life I am grateful for like the roof over my head, food on the table, a family who loves me, etc.. It doesn’t have to be grandiose. It can be as simple as the fresh air you get to breathe each day. What this does is brings your thought process back to something positive which in turn effects your emotional state.

Two: Focus on the things you CAN control. You cannot control the fact that the government wants us to stay in our homes all day but you CAN control what you DO in your house… like whether you sit around all day moping, or get up and do yoga, try cooking a new meal, or get out in the backyard and play with your kids (or practice your skills! For the athletes reading this…).

Three: Create a daily schedule and stick to it. One of the simplest ways to get a sense of control back when we feel we feel like we have none is to create a schedule to follow each day. Start from the moment you wake up and add everything into it, including time frames - meals, work/school (get very specific with this, write down projects or subjects you will work on at specific times), exercise, the new hobby you started, practicing your mental game (again for the athletes), family time, Netflix, bed time. Then as you go through the day and accomplish things, cross them off. This feels SO good!

Four: Exercise! Please, do yourself a favor and exercise. I won’t go into the science behind why exercise is so amazing for you; just believe me when I say, it is and you must do it. Even if it’s just a 15 minute walk or a few jumping jacks. Get up and get moving. Athletes: get out and practice your shooting, stick handling, speed, agility, stride, endurance, etc. If you decided to take these past two weeks off that’s totally fine. I encourage a break. But now is the time to get back up and moving again. Work on your skills; (you can thank me later!)

Five: Maintain your brain. When we can’t leave and go anywhere, ie: we do every single thing from home - work, school, etc… cabin fever sets in and it is very easy for our brains to turn to mush. Also, just as our muscles can start to atrophy at around the 3 week mark, the same thing can happen with our brains. Combat that with a few of these activities that you can do solo or as a family:

Athletes: Watch some film - go on YouTube and find old games - Professional, Olympic, or whatever you’d like. Sit down and pick a player. Watch them for ten minutes and anticipate everything they are going to do before they do it. For an extra challenge, pick a player that doesn’t play your position!

Parents and Athletes: Get a couple 50-100 piece puzzles and race each other to see who can put it together the fastest. You can do this solo as well and time yourself. Then try to beat your time. It doesn’t have to be a puzzle, there are a ton of these types of brain games on Amazon or even on the computer. Find something to exercise your focus and get your competitive juices flowing!

Athletes: Visualize yourself playing. All this requires is sitting down and remembering your best game or imagining something in the future. Get as specific with it as you can. I am doing this with all the athletes I am working with now. It is SO important. It is one thing to practice your physical skills - that is fantastic, keep doing that. But we don’t want to lose our mental skills like focus; decision making; the way we see the ice, field, court, etc; timing; performing under pressure; etc. All of these mental exercises I have listed will help work out those parts of your brain and keep you sharp and ready to go when we get the OK to get back on our respective playing fields.

I hope this helps give you a little direction and motivation. I would love to hear how it goes! Feel free to send me an email and let me know. One last thing I thought I would mention, last summer I offered a Mini Summer Series - an introduction to Mental Performance Training. Because we are on lockdown with not much else going on, I have decided to move the start date of this summer’s series up to April 6th. All sessions will be virtual until further notice. For more information on that please feel free to contact me directly, or check out that section on my website at www.peak-performance-training.mykajabi.com.