Tips to Come Out on Top at Tryouts

In the pressure cooker of the final weeks before tryouts, I have seen the stakes rise, as athletes by the masses cram into practice clinics, squeezing in every extra hour of competitive training possible. It is almost as if the ten months between seasons were meaningless. It is all in, right here, right now. The pressure is on; everyone can feel it. As a Sport Psychology Consultant, I cannot only feel it but also see it. I can see the anger and irritability as one athlete makes an error and is quick to throw his racquet across the net. I can see the sadness and hopelessness of another athlete who is so caught up in his negativity, announcing after every point that he is “so bad.” I see cheating, I see "fake injuries" to avoid losing. My athlete in distress radar is lit up during practice, as I am consistently putting out fires so to speak. 

With tryouts looming next week, I have five tips to play your best under pressure:

1. SLOW DOWN. It's okay to be nervous, but you have to control your racing thoughts and your rapid breathing. I tell my athletes if you let yourself get worked up, the muscles in your body and brain will tighten, meaning not only can you not move efficiently, you can't think effectively either. Instead, take some time to engage in a breathing routine and simplify your thoughts. 

2. FOCUS ON WHAT YOU CAN CONTROL. During a tryout, there are plenty of things that you cannot control. Most importantly you cannot control your opponents, and you cannot control the coach. What you can control are your mental game and your effort. If you find yourself thinking about or comparing yourself to others, bring the attention back to yourself and your task at hand. Aim to perform your game whether the coach is watching or not.

3. MAINTAIN CONFIDENCE. You are human; you will make mistakes. Sports are games of risks and rewards, errors and winners. The middle of a performance is not the time to beat yourself up over a mistake.  Let the past stay in the past, focus on the now and continue to believe in your abilities. Maintain your warrior mentality, just because you got cut and bruised doesn't mean you are out of the game.

4. PERFORM FOR YOURSELF. Many athletes carry the burden of caring about what other people think. Other people could be parents, coaches or friends. What will they think of me if I don't make the team? I often tell my athletes, the people that provide you support need to stay where supporters stay, on the sidelines. Mentally, leave these people off of the court, it is not your job to impress them, it is your job to play for yourself.

5. HAVE FUN. It is easy for me to say from the outside. Treat tryouts as a challenge or performance. It is a chance for you to put your skills on display. So go out there and enjoy doing what you do best. Don't forget to smile, if you smile you will relax and loosen up. Try it.

The 3 R's of Resolution Writing

Resolutions come in all shapes and sizes and can cover all aspects of life: health, education, career, social, love, hobbies, and money. The three most critical aspects of creating resolutions include reflection, rationalization, and reservation. 

The first step is to REFLECT, reflecting on 2015 is essential to writing resolutions. I recommend that you take the time to reflect on your own before you seek input from others. By adding self-reflection to your resolution writing, you can identify what changes YOU, and you alone are looking to make. I create a list as they pop into my head, I keep the different areas of my life in mind as I do this. I challenge you to sit for 30-45 minutes and reflect, you will be amazed how some ideas will come out right away while others take some time. 

The second step is to RATIONALIZE, with resolutions, come changes in your life. It is important to think through your resolutions and confirm that these are changes that you can make. If you cannot reasonably make the change, it is time to rethink and modify the resolution. At this point, I usually look back to my list of resolutions and eliminate any resolutions that appear too lofty right off the bat. 

The final step is to use RESERVATION. The number of resolutions you make can impact your ability to keep them. If you have a list of 15 resolutions, it is unlikely but not impossible that you will be able to keep up with all of them. With the hope, promise and energy of the new year come lengthy lists of resolutions, like the list I told you to make. Review the list and reserve your resolutions to the most significant changes you want to make. What resolutions are most pertinent to you and will have the greatest impact on your life. I have found the magic resolution number to be three plus or minus one resolution.

Remember: REFLECT, RATIONALIZE, RESERVE

The Power of Process

In an age of instant gratification, things that cannot be acquired in a heartbeat are met with frustration and disdain. Individuals seek out "quick" fix solutions to problems. A clear example from the health industry is diet pills and their promise to help individuals lose weight quickly and effortlessly. Research has shown that many diet pills are not effective and are not safe. Not every solution should be a quick fix, and hardly anything that comes quickly and easily is worth it in the long run. Finding the solution to problems is often a process; a series of steps necessary to reach a goal. Many parents, performers, and coaches want to tell me their concerns, and then want me to hand them a solution to them to use. Sure, I could throw out a solution, but without the process behind it, that solution has little bearing, little meaning, and little effect. 

Performance Psychology is a multifaceted process. Mental training, just like physical and technical training, cannot take place overnight. Think back to when you were a child and the sheer amount of preparation you needed to take your first steps. Maybe you crawled for a while and watched people, maybe you practiced standing up holding onto a support; maybe you stood there supported and bounced, and maybe then you took a small step before tumbling back to the ground. It took awareness, time and practice to learn to walk. All of these steps had their purpose, and all were needed to get you from a baby in a crib to a toddler exploring the world around you. There were no shortcuts

In Performance Psychology, there are many different skills to master. The process starts with awareness; how aware are you of what is happening during your performance? Without the proper awareness of your strengths, weaknesses and experiences it is hard to develop the roadmap for developing your mental skills. The awareness stage never ends. It is essential for feedback and assessment as you move through the process. The education process is about learning skills, and how to adapt this knowledge to your performance. The process does not stop here. Simply being aware and knowing the definition of your skills does not constitute mastery. These skills require time to practice. Time to practice at home, practice at practice, and practice during a performance. Without practice,  these skills will not have their desired effect. After practicing these skills extensively,  you are ready to select from your new found repertoire of mental skills during a high-stakes performance. The process is never truly over. Awareness and regular practice of mental skills are crucial to success time and time again.

The main takeaway is, don't resist the process because it is not quick and easy. Embrace the process and give yourself an opportunity to move your performance forward.

Why YOU Should Hit the Mental Gym

Do you consider yourself a competitor, a contender or a champion? Do you attend practices regularly to sharpen skills? Do you train physically for your sport by improving your strength, agility, and flexibility? What about your competition, do they train their skills and physical fitness? When there is only a marginal difference between skill and fitness level what is going to set you apart and to keep you on top? The answer: Mental Training.

Unfortunately, mental skills training is one of the most underutilized tools for a few reasons. 

1. Coaches often feel that their athletes are not ready for performance psychology until they have mastered all of the specific skills and techniques that they have to offer. The skills gained through mental skills training can be applied to all areas of life, because life is one big performance. For this reason, performers with a broad range of experience can benefit from incorporating mental skills into a regular training regimen. 

2. There is a stigma that only athletes that have "issues or problems" need performance psychology to "fix" them. In truth, mental skills training is implemented to enhance performance in and out of the sporting arena, to increase satisfaction in performance, and to assist in training adherence.

3. When an athlete underperforms whether attributed to choking under pressure, losing focus, losing motivation or composure the knee jerk reaction from coaches, parents and athletes alike are that more technical practice is needed to build confidence before success ensues. Performers do not have to wait until there is a performance "concern" to act, in fact, mental skills training can optimize performance when regularly combined with technical and physical training. 

Performers across the board attribute specified amounts of their performance as mental. "Tennis is 90% mental," according to both Jimmy Conners and Chris Evert former World Number 1 tennis professionals. Looking at this quote and doing some quick math, both Conners and Evert have left a mere 10% of the game attributed to physical and technical skills. However, the majority of players spend the greater part of their time training these physical and technical skills. Logically it would make sense to spend time in preparing the area of the game that makes up most of the performance and by improving this area overall performance can be enhanced.

The bottom line is that mental skills similarly to technical and physical skills need regular attention and practice to be effective.