Mental Preparation Podcast

Ep013: Karl Morris – How to stay present like a major champion

Relevant Podcast Episodes

Ep012: Alessia Bruno – The Yips, Crashes, Trauma in Sport there is hope for Athletes

Ep 081: Stuart Wade – Mental Toughness in Combat Sports

Ep092: Dr James Hegarty – ACT in Sport, Improving Performance through Mindfulness

Ep156: Ruth Chiles – There is Hope: How to Overcome Focal Dystonia

Relevant blogs

Blog: Mental Preparation for Combat Sports

Blog: Would You Like A Secret Weapon in Your Armoury?

Blog: Do you try too hard on the golf course?

Blog: Why You Should Meditate To Improve Your Sport Performance?

Blog: My Child Can’t Find “The Zone”

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David Charlton

Global Sports Psychologist who is located near Newcastle Upon Tyne, UK and willing to travel Internationally. David also uses online video conferencing software (Zoom, Facetime, WhatsApp) on a regular basis and has clients who he has supported in USA, Canada, South America, UAE, Australian and New Zealand.

Managing Director – Inspiring Sporting Excellence and Founder of The Sports Psychology Hub. With over 10 years experience supporting athletes, coaches, parents and teams to achieve their goals, quickly.

T: +44 7734 697769

How To Combat Overthinking In Sport #BITESIZE

David Charlton

How to Help Young Players Stop Enjoying Their Football

David Charlton

How To Help A Young Footballer Overcome Fear

How To Help A Young Footballer Overcome Fear

David Charlton

How To Remain Composed As a Goalkeeper Under Pressure

How To Remain Composed As a Goalkeeper Under Pressure #BITESIZE

David Charlton

The Relationship Between Self Esteem, Fun and Football Performance

The Relationship Between Self Esteem, Fun and Football Performance

David Charlton

Perfectionism in Sport is Getting Worse – Here’s Why

David Charlton

Search Our Sports Psychology Website

Popular Categories

Join Our Online Community Now!

Learn how Sports Psychology Coaching can take Your Performances to the next level

How To Raise Your Levels Of Vitality

by David Charlton

How To Raise Your Levels Of Vitality

David Lindsay is a professional speaker and personal trainer based in Sydney, and has a wealth of experience in coaching, training, and competing as an athlete. He has developed a unique “5 Steps to Improve Vitality” system that has been proven to boost workplace morale, productivity, and ultimately, profitability. David is passionate about sharing this knowledge with others and is eager to bring his message to your workplace.

David’s impressive athletic background includes playing Rugby League up to NSW Cup (formerly Reserve Grade) level, training as a professional arm wrestler, and achieving a Black Belt in Wing Chun, a Purple belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, and competing in several Cage Fights (MMA). Over the last decade, David has studied successful teams and individual athletes, discovering that they all follow a similar structure to his “5 Step System Towards Improved Vitality in the Workplace.”

As a full-time coach and trainer for over 20 years, David has helped transform the bodies, minds, and lives of thousands of people. He has also helped teams to work together to achieve much higher results than anyone expected of them. He brings his experience from both on the paddock and in the Cage, and from the coach’s/trainer’s point of view to achieve optimum results.

David’s speaking engagements have included Grass Roots Development for the ARL (Australian Rugby League) and Staff at NSW Parliament. He wishes to impart the knowledge he has gained from his years of experience to improve your staff’s teamwork and work ethic, and increase their productivity. His approach and philosophy have helped transform normal teams into high-performance teams, and he is eager to help your team snap into action and fire on all cylinders from kick-off to the final whistle.

In episode #171 of the Demystifying Mental Toughness, former Professional Australian Rugby League player and now an inspiring speaker and personal trainer, David Lindsay talks to me about ways you can improve your vitality to improve your chances of success. We also touch on Mental Toughness in a Professional Rugby League as well as discussing the psychological side to martial arts.

Key Learning Points:

When you are smaller than others learning to play to and improve your strengths is important.
“The mental game beats the physical game every day.”
You can control yourself not your opponent, so don’t waste time focusing too much on them.
Mental Toughness in a Rugby League setting is all about your ability to keep moving forwards despite pressures that exist.
A bigger picture mentality without too much emotion is necessary to perform at the peak of your powers.
To psych yourself up, consider energising music or rituals like the All Blacks “Haka.”
Visualisation and self-talk are other useful tools to improve your energy and intensity levels.
Ensuring you look after yourself with adequate rest and recovery is essential to raise your vitality.

Connect with David Lindsay

Website

Connect with David Charlton

Ep015: Nick Grantham – Essential Elements of Rest and Recovery

5 Relevant Podcast Episodes

Ep106: Amy Rowlinson – Why is knowing my WHY important?

Ep112: David Charlton – How to Deal with Physical Insecurities as a Young Athlete

Ep134: David Charlton – Observations: 3 Things That Stop You Achieving Your Goals

EP138: Nick Littlehales – Why do the Mentally Tough see Sleep and Recovery as Important

4 Relevant blogs

Blog: How To Play Well When You Aren’t Feeling Great

Blog: Mental Preparation for Combat Sports

Blog: Does Your Warm Up Influence How You Perform?

Blog: Helping Young Rugby Players Mentally Prepare Before Matches

3 Valuable resources

Understanding yourself better – The 4Ts. Timing, Thoughts, Tension and Temperature

Combat Sports Psychology Library

Rugby Psychology Library

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David Charlton

T: +44 7734 697769

Book: Psychology in Sports Coaches: Theory and Practice

How To Combat Overthinking In Sport #BITESIZE

David Charlton

How to Help Young Players Stop Enjoying Their Football

David Charlton

How To Help A Young Footballer Overcome Fear

David Charlton

How To Remain Composed As a Goalkeeper Under Pressure #BITESIZE

David Charlton

The Relationship Between Self Esteem, Fun and Football Performance

David Charlton

Perfectionism in Sport is Getting Worse – Here’s Why

David Charlton

Search Our Sports Psychology Website

Popular Categories

Join Our Online Community Now!

Learn how Sports Psychology Coaching can take Your Performances to the next level

How To Perform Under Pressure Close To Your Best #BITESIZE

by David Charlton

How To Perform Under Pressure Close To Your Best #BITESIZE

Adam is a professor of psychology within the Department of Sport, Health, and Exercise Science, at the University of Hull. The main focus of his research relates to the psycho-social factors that predict doping among adolescent athletes, along with coping and emotions among athletes. His research is supported by more than £1.5 million of funding. He has published more than 85 journal articles and written five books. His latest book, Psychology in Sport Coaching: Theory and Practice has also been translated into both Arabic and Hungarian.

One of the hallmarks of Mentally Toughness is the ability to perform well under pressure. Whether you play golf or cricket, or enjoy gymnastics or netball. It’s the same in your job if you have to stand up and deliver presentations at work.

So why do many people struggle with this? Why does thriving under pressure separate the great from the good on occasions?

Many things can prevent people to be able to perform in the manner they’d like to when the pressure is on for a host of reasons, including:

Performance anxiety
A failure to learn from past mistakes
Focusing on the wrong things
Making practice sessions too comfortable
Personality traits, for example your Mental Toughness
Off field pressures

Today’s short bite taken from episode 94 of Demystifying Mental Toughness, touches on this topic where Professor Adam Nicholls shares with you a few ideas to be able to improve the way that you perform under pressure. Enjoy tuning in!

Key Learning Points:

Mental Toughness is about an athlete’s ability to be able to perform well under pressure, so that their performance is not adversely affected by pressure.
Typical signs that someone struggles with pressure are that their routines change, that they speed up or slow down or that they fail to carry out tactics and get caught up in emotion.
Experience is an important factor in making good decisions under pressure.
Simulating pressure in training and practice is another helpful approach to take.
Seeking to improve your self-awareness, being open-minded to learn is also essential so that you can make smarter decisions at critical times.

Connect with Adam Nicholls

Connect with David Charlton

Ep166: Mark Bennett MBE – How To Help Athletes and Coaches Reflect On Their Performances

6 Relevant podcast episodes

Ep094: Professor Adam Nicholls – How to Develop Mentally Strong Rugby Players

Ep093: Dan Abrahams – How to Overcome Mental Blocks in Football

Ep091: Jarrod Leathem – How to Transfer Your Cricket Skills to Matches

Ep089: Will Shaw – How To Transfer Your Golfing Skills To The Course

Ep050: Compilation – Mental Strength Does Not Guarantee Success

5 Relevant blogs

Blog: How To Play Well When You Aren’t Feeling Great

Blog: 5 Coaching Tips to Develop Mentally Tough Footballers

Blog: Mental Preparation for Combat Sports

Blog: Does Your Warm Up Influence How You Perform?

Blog: 3 Tips to Help You Overcome Setbacks

4 Valuable resources

Gibbs Reflective Cycle

Understanding yourself better – The 4Ts. Timing, Thoughts, Tension and Temperature

Understand your mental toughness tendencies

Driscoll’s Model of Reflection

3 Great conversations to have with your kids to help them perform better under pressure

Conversations with Kids – Fixed Mindset

Conversations with Kids – Emotional Rollercoaster

Conversations with Kids – Bravery

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Best Wishes

David Charlton

T: +44 7734 697769

How To Combat Overthinking In Sport #BITESIZE

David Charlton

How to Help Young Players Stop Enjoying Their Football

David Charlton

How To Help A Young Footballer Overcome Fear

David Charlton

How To Remain Composed As a Goalkeeper Under Pressure #BITESIZE

David Charlton

The Relationship Between Self Esteem, Fun and Football Performance

David Charlton

Perfectionism in Sport is Getting Worse – Here’s Why

David Charlton

Search Our Sports Psychology Website

Popular Categories

Join Our Online Community Now!

Learn how Sports Psychology Coaching can take Your Performances to the next level

How to Find a Flow State to Improve Your Performance

by David Charlton

How to Find a Flow State to Improve Your Performance

Sun Bio (Founder and CEO)

Sun Sachs is the founder and CEO of Rewire Fitness, the first mental fitness platform that helps athletes reach their full potential and avoid burnout by providing tools that improve mindset, readiness and resilience. He is also a 20 year veteran in software development and a life-long endurance athlete for the past 35+ years in competitive cycling, triathlon and adventure races.

Ed Gibbins (Co-Founder and CPO)

Ed Gibbins is the Co-Founder and Chief Product Officer of Rewire Fitness, a mental fitness platform for athletes which has been backed by Under Armour, Techstars and numerous professional athletes. Ed is also a Sports Science Alumnus of Loughborough University and has been a lifelong athlete.

Today in episode #162 of the Demystifying Mental Toughness Podcast I chat with Sun Sachs and Ed Gibbins, owners of Rewire Fitness about flow states. When you have a sense of control, are at peace, have a quiet mind and an inner calmness about you. We discuss the characteristics and importance of flow states, as well as touching on how you can find “flow.”

Key Learning Points:

Understanding self-care can help perfectionist athletes.
The perfectionist can be relentless in their pursuit of excellence impacting negatively on their relationships and other areas of their life.
Taking yourself and situations too seriously can be a trap perfectionists fall into.
A flow state is where your mind is calm, your awareness is increased and you make quick smart decisions.
When you are in flow you aren’t thinking about the past or future, it is the here and now.
A quality of flow is a loss of self-consciousness and a task only focus.
Visualisation, Mindfulness and Sports Hypnosis are great ways to get into the Flow.
What is your “flow trigger?” If you haven’t got one, create one!

Connect with Sun Sachs and Ed Gibbins @ Rewire Fitness

Website
Instagram

Connect with David Charlton

Ep002: Steve Judge – How to Deal with Adversity

To Listen to Flow State Related Podcast Episodes

Ep007: Toby Flood – How Elite Athletes Mentally Prepare

Ep063: David Charlton – 7 Reasons Why Golfers Should Visualise

Ep 081: Stuart Wade – Mental Toughness in Combat Sports

Ep099: Trevor Jones – How to Deal with Overthinking on the Golf Course

Blogs to read to induce a Flow State

3 Ways to use Visualisation so that You are Mentally Prepared to Win

How to Quieten the Mind when Fighting

My Child Can’t Find “The Zone”

Using ACT and Mindfulness to Improve Your Sporting Performances

Why You Should Meditate To Improve Your Sport Performance?

3 Great conversations to have with your kids that relate with flow states

Conversations with Kids – Relax and Unwind

Conversations with Kids – Gratitude 1

Conversations with Kids – Gratitude 2

IF YOU ENJOYED TODAY'S SHOW PLEASE SHARE

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Best Wishes

David Charlton

T: +44 7734 697769

Download THE FOCUSED ATHLETE CHECKLIST

How To Combat Overthinking In Sport #BITESIZE

David Charlton

How to Help Young Players Stop Enjoying Their Football

David Charlton

How To Help A Young Footballer Overcome Fear

David Charlton

How To Remain Composed As a Goalkeeper Under Pressure #BITESIZE

David Charlton

The Relationship Between Self Esteem, Fun and Football Performance

David Charlton

Perfectionism in Sport is Getting Worse – Here’s Why

David Charlton

Search Our Sports Psychology Website

Popular Categories

Join Our Online Community Now!

Learn how Sports Psychology Coaching can take Your Performances to the next level

Rugby Psychology: 25 Ways You Can Improve Your Performance

by David Charlton

Rugby Psychology: 25 Ways You Can Improve Your Performance Welcome to episode #153 of Demystifying Mental Toughness. This is the final part of four specially created episodes to celebrate reaching 150 episodes! This time the episode is created with rugby enthusiasts in mind where the great guests that have been interviewed on the show to date, and

David Charlton Gets Grilled By Grant Henderson

by David Charlton

David Charlton Gets Grilled By Grant Henderson

After growing up in South Africa, Grant set out to pursue a professional rugby career which took him back and forth from SA to the UK with the culmination of one too many head injuries, leading to him hanging up his boots in just his mid 20’s.

On retiring from rugby and ending up in the North East of England an opportunity in the recruitment world opened up and for the next 5 years Grant worked as a recruitment consultant, regional trainer and branch manager.

In 2009, with the grip of the global financial crisis being felt, he opened his own consultancy business and stated to advise on coach business owners on how to re-focus their sales teams to navigate the changing market. In 2010, Grant partnered with his parents who are still resident in SA, to take the personality assessment they had developed for marriage guidance counselling and create an online application with some contextualisation for the British market.

The i3 profiling platform and associated tools have all followed since and today the online assessment has been carried out by over 25000 people all over the world. The i3 tool is all about identifying individuality and increasing self awareness to support each of us in reaching our full potential.

Since 2017 Grant has worked directly with an international recruitment company, The MCG Group, and in his capacity as COO gets to apply what he has learned through sport, team building and leadership development in a fast paced and high growth environment.

At home he is husband to Erin and father to 3 young children aged 5-12, always trying to stay fit and healthy in order to be as active a dad as possible.

In today’s episode, I chat with Grant Henderson a former professional rugby player, Chief Operations Officer at The MCG Group and Co-Founder of i3profiling. Grant goes on to ask me many questions about the Demystifying Mental Toughness podcast, mental toughness, personality and environment. By listening to the episode you’ll learn more about how I work as a Sports Psychologist, about the complexities that surround sport performance, reaching your potential and a whole lot more.

Key Learning Points:

Podcasting is a big commitment and has been challenging at times however I really enjoy recording the episodes and the feedback that we get highlights that it makes a positive difference to people’s lives, which is my objective.
As a Mental Toughness license holder, where I qualified through AQR International’s training. I sometimes use the MTQ Plus psychometric to measure clients Mental Toughness at the start and end of programs.
Incorporated into some programs are personality assessments too, where I find i3Profiling compliments the MTQ Plus.
An i3 profile presented in the right way can be a big confidence booster, I particularly like the environmental analysis which looks at task and social leadership styles. This can tell me a lot about how a person should train and mentally prepare themselves.
Both psychometric and profiling tools aid self-awareness and can be a quick way of finding out about a person’s complexities and save an enormous amount of time in the consultancy process.
Without self-awareness you’ll continue to make poor decisions and not be as successful and happy as you could be.
Mental toughness can be a good thing, however even the mentally tough fall into traps, again highlighting the need for self-awareness.

Connect with Grant Henderson

i3 Profiling Website

The MCG Group Website

Connect with David Charlton

Ep034 – David Charlton Gets Grilled By Nathan Sherratt

Other Useful Podcast Episodes

Ep050: Doug Strycharczyk, Peter Clough MBE & Dr John Perry – Mental Strength Does Not Guarantee Success

Ep084: Jim Afremow and Phil White – Mental Toughness and The Leaders Mind

Ep121: Doug Strycharczyk and Dr John Perry – What Is New? Developments in Mental Toughness Research and Practice

Ep133: Christina Flach – Why Mental Toughness is Important: Lessons from Sport, Business and Loss

Other Useful Resources

Blog – 5 Ways to Create a Psychological Safe Sporting Environment

Blog – Mental Health Guidance for Coaches When Supporting Athletes

Blog – Mental Toughness is a Hugely Valuable Trait

Blog – Make Better Decisions to Help Your Sport Performance

Sport Psychology for Children and Parents

IF YOU ENJOYED TODAY'S SHOW PLEASE SHARE

SUBSCRIBE AND LISTEN ON YOUR FAVOURITE AUDIO PLATFORM

Best Wishes

David Charlton

T: +44 7734 697769

Download THE FOCUSED ATHLETE CHECKLIST

How To Combat Overthinking In Sport #BITESIZE

David Charlton

How to Help Young Players Stop Enjoying Their Football

David Charlton

How To Help A Young Footballer Overcome Fear

David Charlton

How To Remain Composed As a Goalkeeper Under Pressure #BITESIZE

David Charlton

The Relationship Between Self Esteem, Fun and Football Performance

David Charlton

Perfectionism in Sport is Getting Worse – Here’s Why

David Charlton

Search Our Sports Psychology Website

Popular Categories

Join Our Online Community Now!

Learn how Sports Psychology Coaching can take Your Performances to the next level

How to Deal with Self-Criticism using Self Compassion – Part 2

by David Charlton

How to Deal with Self-Criticism using Self Compassion – Part 2

By working with David Charlton, you and your organisation will be better equipped to rise to modern day challenges and better informed to thrive on and off the pitch, course or court. Where he inspires individuals and teams to:

Cope with pressure and challenges more effectively
Maintain positive mental health
Compete with confidence more often
Manage your emotions better
Improve your commitments levels

David is a Mental Toughness Practitioner, as well as a Health Care and Professions Council (HCPC) Registered Sport and Exercise Psychologist. He has successfully supported athletes, teams and organisations for over 10 years in order to ensure that they perform at their maximum more often.

He has a comprehensive knowledge around the development of Mental Toughness, a plastic personality trait, which determines or limits people to deal effectively with change, challenges and stressors. In today’s climate, during the Coronavirus pandemic this quality is becoming more and more valuable to individuals, teams and organisations.

Today is the second part of a 3-part series, where I share 2 more clips, this time from former England Cricketer and Senior Leadership Coach, Jeremy Snape and multiple World Champion Martial Artist and Clinical Hypnotherapist, Stuart Wade. Jeremy highlights the importance of the psychological side to sport and Stuart defines Mental Toughness in Combat Sports.

Again, I go on to share a case study and another tool that a lot of my clients have found useful, from compassionate focused therapy to help you or your clients manage the voice in their heads.

Key Learning Points

Jeremy states “how my biggest opponent wasn’t India, or the crowd or Harbhajan Singh’s doosra, it was actually the voice in my head which was louder than all 100000 people put together.”
Stuart mentioned how “if you take a good shot, it hurts, immediately we’re hard wired to retreat and protect ourselves and not go forward”
When we’re activated by fear, it’s similar to the sight of a predator, which goes on to trigger a fear response in the amygdala.
It then messes with our motor functions, our heart may beat crazy fast, our breathing speeds up and our mind can go into overdrive.
In this state a lot of people’s thoughts are self-defeating where they get caught in the past thinking about what has happened, and focus on their weaknesses or they flip forward to the future worrying about what may happen, again looking at it from a negative angle.
Some people get into blame mode too, blaming themselves and have a very harsh thought process.
Self-compassionate focused therapy and some of the tools from this approach can come to their rescue such as the one I discuss in this episode, when looking at releasing thought balloons.

Connect with David Charlton

Ep129: David Charlton – How to Deal with Self-Criticism using Self Compassion – PT1

Relevant Podcast Episodes

Ep115: Jeremy Snape – Mental Strength to Succeed: Learning Lessons from International Cricket

Ep081: Stuart Wade – Mental Toughness in Combat Sports

Ep072: Tom Jones – Mastering the Mental Side of Cricket

Ep083: Billy Schwer – Life Lessons from a World Champion Boxer

Other Relevant Blogs and Resources

3 Ways to use Visualisation so that You are Mentally Prepared to Win

Do you focus too much on your opponent before or during a boxing match?

7 Questions to Ask Yourself Before You Bowl Every Delivery

Perfectionism in Cricket

Kristin Neff Website on Self-Compassion

IF YOU ENJOYED TODAY'S SHOW PLEASE SHARE

SUBSCRIBE AND LISTEN ON YOUR FAVOURITE AUDIO PLATFORM

Best Wishes

David Charlton

T: +44 7734 697769

Download THE FOCUSED ATHLETE CHECKLIST

How To Combat Overthinking In Sport #BITESIZE

David Charlton

How to Help Young Players Stop Enjoying Their Football

David Charlton

How To Help A Young Footballer Overcome Fear

David Charlton

How To Remain Composed As a Goalkeeper Under Pressure #BITESIZE

David Charlton

The Relationship Between Self Esteem, Fun and Football Performance

David Charlton

Perfectionism in Sport is Getting Worse – Here’s Why

David Charlton

Search Our Sports Psychology Website

Popular Categories

Join Our Online Community Now!

Learn how Sports Psychology Coaching can take Your Performances to the next level

How does Golf Psychology Work to Lower Your Scores on The Golf Course

by David Charlton

How does Golf Psychology Work to Lower Your Scores on The Golf Course

Cope with pressure and challenges more effectively
Maintain positive mental health
Compete with confidence more often
Manage your emotions better
Improve your commitments levels

In today’s solo episode I talk about golf and what my role as a Sport Psychologist or Golf Performance Psychologist looks like, common challenges that golfers bring to me, difficulties that we experience as Sport Psychologists when working with golfers and a case study to highlight more about my approach to helping golfers shoot lower scores and enjoy the game more.

Enjoy tuning in!

Key Learning Points:

Typical challenges that golfers bring to me are; hitting the ball well on the range however they’re not able to transfer this on to the golf course and score well, not being able to stay present and convert after good starts, dealing with feeling anxious and slow starts and temper tantrums.
Generally 6 hours+ support with a golfer can make a huge difference to them.
Many golfers lack commitment when working with a Golf Psychologist.
Learning from mistakes is a common difficulty for golfers who simply think that the answer is to try and improve their technique.
I always ask myself the question, is this tool going to help the golfer attain their goals and shoot lower scores?
It is possible to break through a glass ceiling and turn 69s into 65s.

Connect with David Charlton