Psychological Factors in Sports

In today’s episode we look at working with the subconscious mind to improve self-awareness, overcome self-doubt and reduce your chances of choking when performing.  My guest, Mental Performance Coach, Brandon Epstein shares his wisdom and gives you some ideas and strategies to keep moving forwards.

Key Learning Points:

• Our subconscious mind can be programmed to help us win or lose.
• A lot of people are unconsciously incompetent, they lack self-awareness and don’t live in the present moment.
• Self-awareness is crucial to be able to grow and overcome performance plateaus.
• Start by asking yourself the question – how does my emotional experience start?
• A lot of athletes crave the feeling of confidence when they perform – it is possible to experience this when working with the subconscious.
• Self-hypnosis can help you reprogram patterns of behaviour that you repeat.
• Understanding your limiting beliefs and changing them is a helpful approach.
• By being proactive and using psychological skills training you can give yourself a better chance of thriving under pressure.

Connect with Brandon Epstein

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Connect with David Charlton

Sign Up to The Mental Edge

Join David @ The Sports Psychology Hub

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Relevant Podcast Episodes

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

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”

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

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Connect with David Charlton

Sign Up to The Mental Edge

Join David @ The Sports Psychology Hub

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5 Relevant Podcast Episodes

Ep015: Nick Grantham – Essential Elements of Rest and Recovery

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

Supporting athletes with perfectionist tendencies is a large part of our work at Inspiring Sporting Excellence.  They often display the following characteristics:

• Difficulties transferring their practice or training to competitive events or matches.
• Trying too hard.
• Focusing intensely on results and outcomes.
• Unable to trust themselves under pressure.
• High, rigid and often unrealistic expectations of themselves and others.
• Impatience and a tendency to demonstrate poor body language in the face of difficulties and for some to give up too easily.
• Being frightened of letting other people down.
• Having brittle confidence.
• Letting their own self-worth and self-esteem be influenced by poor sporting performances.

Additionally, the perfectionist athlete can be very hard on themselves which informs the content in today’s episode where I share a case study and a helpful exercise relating to recovering from mistakes and errors.

Key Learning Points

• When we’re not emotionally involved it’s easier to be kind and compassionate.
• Often athletes find it easier to be kinder to team-mates than themselves when difficulties arise.
• The pressure of being judged and critiqued in sport can impact on an athlete’s ability to deal with mistakes.
• Being kind to yourself as an athlete doesn’t mean that you are going soft.
• Learning how to be more self-compassionate can help you motivate yourself more than fear- based motivational methods.

Connect with David Charlton

Download THE FOCUSED ATHLETE CHECKLIST

Join David @ The Sports Psychology Hub

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Relevant Podcast Episodes To Help Perfectionist Athletes

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

Ep130 David Charlton – How to Deal with Self-Criticism using Self Compassion – PT2

Ep131 David Charlton – How to Deal with Self-Criticism using Self Compassion – FINAL PART

Ep142: Alessia Bruno – Is Striving for Perfection a Good Thing in Gymnastics?

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

Other Relevant Blogs And Resources To Benefit the Athlete Who Desires To Be Perfect

Coach Development Helping Athletes Overcome Fear Of Failure

5 Ways To Create A Psychological Safe Sporting Environment

Are You A Rugby Player With Perfectionist Tendencies?

How to Trust Your Skills When You’re a Goalkeeper

How to Help Children Overcome Fear of Failure

How To Play Well When You Aren’t Feeling Great

Conversations with Kids – Dealing with Criticism

Kristin Neff Website on Self-Compassion

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

Book: Psychology in Sports Coaches: Theory and Practice

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Connect with David Charlton

Sign Up to The Mental Edge

Join David @ The Sports Psychology Hub

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6 Relevant podcast episodes

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

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

Today’s guest, trainer, coach and author Andrew Simpson and I chat about the youth sport experience today for kids, parents and coaches.  We discuss pressures on kids, coaching and parental pressures and stressors.  We also look at parents who also coach and the difficulties involved in that role, in particular.  Common mindset traps kids fall into are also part of the conversation including the perfectionist kid who has high and unrealistic expectations of themselves and others, social comparisons and kids who carry their sporting identity so that it impacts their self-esteem.  Parents, and coaches in youth sport and teachers may find this episode helpful.

Key Learning Points

• Two big pressures that a lot of kids put on themselves in sports include trying to please others (coach and parents) through their performances.
• Between 9 and 11 years old children go from focusing on the task at hand to being more aware of others and their thoughts, emotions and behaviours.
• It is easy as a coach to lose sight of why you coach.
• Showing kindness and compassion as a coach and parent is a helpful way to help children regulate their emotions.
• For parents who also coach their children setting boundaries of when you’re a coach and a parent is vital.
• Children can find it difficult to regulate their emotions in sport due to performance demands.
• Parents can consider themselves as role models whilst standing on the sidelines.  If they get animated their children may follow suit.
• Bribery when parenting is unhelpful in trying to promote intrinsic motivation.
• Sports are what you do and are not who you are.

Connect with Andrew Simpson

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Connect with David Charlton

Sign Up to Conversations with Kids

Join David @ The Sports Psychology Hub

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Relevant Podcast Episodes

Ep154: David Charlton – How Do I Go About Controlling The Controllables To Help My Sport Performance?

Ep145: David Charlton – How Can I Help My Children Who Suffer With Nerves Before They Compete?

Ep141: David Charlton – How to Help a Child Who Wants to Quit Sport

Ep122: Camilla Knight – Helping Your Children Get The Most From Their Sporting Experiences

Ep082: David Charlton – Supporting Children in Sport with Positive Feedback

Relevant Blogs

Blog: Helping a Critical Child When You’re a Parent

Blog: How to Help Children Overcome Fear of Failure

Blog: How to Support an Angry Young Athlete

Blog: How to Help Kids Overcome Performance Anxiety

Blog: 9 Tips for Children from Olympians

Relevant Resources

Sports Psychology Resources for Youth Sport (Blogs, Podcasts, Video’s)

Sport Psychology for Children and Parents

Child and Youth Motivation for Sport Quiz

Parent Motivation for Sport Quiz