Feb 3
Youth coach Doug Donaldson says he knows intuitively when one of his young athletes feels pressured by a parent’s expectations. And he also knows the problems such well-meaning expectations can create in young athletes.
For example, one of his player’s mothers wants the child to play goalie in Lacrosse. But when the mother isn’t listening, the boy says he wants to play defense. “It’s a real quandary for him. He’s looking for Mom and worrying about what Mom thinks.”
Donaldson says he can sense when his young athletes are driven to do something to meet their parents’ expectations. They feel pressured. “This affects their passion and their interest,” he says.
How do parents’ and coaches’ expectations affect kids’ passion and interest? Not in good ways. Not in ways that improve their mental game–or performance.
Read more… How Coaches' and Parents' Expectations Hurt Athletes at Youth Sports Psychology
Dec 21
Peak Performance Sports and Dr. Patrick Cohn launches http://www.hockey-psychology.com/ for players, coaches, and hockey parents. Hockey Psychology Tips helps junior to professional hockey players improve confidence, focus, composure, and boost mental toughness for practice and games. Dr. Patrick Cohn is a master mental game coach with over 20 year of experience helping athletes and teams succeed using sports psychology strategies. Peak Performance Sports is the online leader in the delivery of sports psychology programs, products, and strategies for athletes. For more information about how to boost your players mental game of hockey visit, Hockey Psychology Tips.
Oct 12
October 12, 2009--Orlando, FL. Dr. Patrick Cohn, sports psychology expert and owner of Peak Performance Sports (www.peaksports.com) launched a new baseball web site to help players, coaches, and sports parents improve mental toughness in baseball. Visitors can read mental game of baseball articles, watch baseball psychology videos, and download a free report to enhance mental toughness in baseball.
Visit Dr. Cohn’s Baseball Mental Game Tips to improve you mental toughness for baseball.
Sep 9
Is 17-year-old Melanie Oudin the real deal? Most experts, such as Brad Gilbert think so. Read on to discover her biggest weapon...
If you have seen Melanie Oudin’s remarkable 3-set wins, you have witnessed her big-time comebacks against top players in the world.
How is she’s pulling out those matches come-from-behind victories? Is she that talented or skilled? Or is it sheer grit and determination?
To beat the top players, it's all of the above. But I left out her most important weapon--and it's not her ability to run down balls consistently--it's her mental toughness!
“I think the biggest weapon can be mental toughness. It doesn't have to be a stroke or a shot or anything like that. If you're mentally tough out there, then you can beat anyone. I think that's what I really did well today and I've done in my past matches. I'm so focused and I fight super hard. So it's not going to be easy to beat me or I'm not going to back down at all,” said Oudin.
What is mental toughness in tennis?
Read Melanie Oudin’s Secret Weapon: Mental Toughness at Sports Psychology for Tennis
Sep 8
Have you watched the action at the U.S. Open? A lot of surprises this year. We’ve seen some early exits by top seeded players… Are these early exits caused by a poor mental game or physical game?
For example, Ana Ivanovic lost to Kateryna Bondarenko of Ukraine in the opening round of the US Open. In this case, her first round exit was caused by a poor mental game, as she confessed…
“I think I’ve been thinking about everything too much and trying to address lots of issues with my game,” Ivanovic said.
“My fitness is at one level, mind at another, my game is at another level. I think these all these things have to marry to get into the right direction and have to fit.”
What’s the culprit? Ivanovic has lost trust in her game. She got sidetracked with too many methods or solutions…
Read Early US Open Exits – Mental or Physical at Sports Psychology for Tennis>>
Aug 27
Roger Federer demoralized Novak Djokovic at the Cincinnati Masters Tournament recently winning easily 6-1, 7-5.
“It looks convincing, 6-1, 7-5, but a few points here or there, your focus is not right on break point, maybe you are the better man, but you end up losing because you lost focus on the biggest points,” Federer said. “That’s why you’ve always got to push yourself.”
No matter what the score is, maintaining your focus is important to your performance. Some players lose points or games because they lose focus for just a game or two.
Federer was down 0-3 in the second after winning the first easily. He lost his mental edge for just one moment. He coasted on his talent. He forgot to focus to the max. Was he distracted? No. I think he let up for just a moment and found himself down 0-3.
Read how Federer lost his focus but still won…
Aug 27
What do you do when your young athlete’s confidence sinks every time a talented friend or teammate excels in sports?
This is a common problem for young athletes. Kids are social beings—and they tend to compare themselves to their friends. But in sports, this is a bad thing to do. Making comparisons to other athletes hurts kids’ confidence.
Here’s one sports parent whose athlete struggles with confidence when friends do well:
“My daughter is a sprinter, long jumper and hurdler. She lacks confidence generally, in particular because a friend seems to be a natural at everything and beats her. Her friend has done hurdles once and already beaten my daughter’s best time, which has shattered her self-confidence. How do I build her confidence back up?”
Read youth sports psychology tips to boost your sports kids confidence…
Aug 24
Do you or your athletes fear other athletes will see you as weak if you have to do mental training or work with a sports psychologist? Still today, athletes buy into myths about sports psychology, which prevent them from embracing the benefits of mental training. I recently received an email from a young hockey player getting ready for try outs. This hockey player states:
"I have friends who perform better than me and they don't read any mental training books. Every time I open my mental training book I feel no motivation to read because better athletes don't do anything to mentally prepare themselves. I feel that I'm weak by being probably the only guy going to try-outs that reads mental training books. I have only heard of a very few great athletes that do mental preparation."
When I receive these emails from athletes, I'm surprised that people still view mental training or sports psychology as a weakness and thus think they are inferior because they need to do mental training. Unfortunately, a few athletes still buy into myths about sports psychology and thus shy away. This is an interesting--and misguided--conception about the value of sports psychology.
Read entire article at Peaksports.com>> Myths About Sports Psychology
Aug 22
Most athletes feel “jitters” or nervousness before competition. But are jitters a bad thing to feel before a game? It depends on who you ask. Many young athletes who experience pregame jitters think they are nervous or tense and don't like these feelings. However, veteran players welcome pregame jitters and even worry when they don't feel some butterflies before a game.
As a matter of fact, I saw an ESPN interview with Brett Favre about playing his first game with the Minnesota Vikings this week. He talked about feeling the butterflies and pregame jitters again, something he has not felt in a long time:
"Today, sitting in the hotel, all of a sudden, I starting having butterflies, I'm like, 'I haven't felt this in a long time," Favre said. He went on to say that the pregame butterflies means he still cares about playing football. He would be worried if he didn't feel the jitters... If he didn't want to play or be on the field, and did not care, that would be a clear sign that he's ready for retirement -- for good!
Read more at Peaksports online mental training system…
Aug 21
Golf psychology expert and author of the “Golfer’s Mental Edge” CD program, teaches amateur to tour professional golfers how to improve their mental game of golf. In this week’s golf psychology session, mental game of golf expert and author of The Mental Game of Golf, Dr. Cohn, helps a golfer improve commitment before her shots. You can't be wishy washy with your decisions and expect to hit good shot. You must make good decisions on the course with you club, target, and shot: http://www.peaksports.com/sports_psychology_blog/?p=365
