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Mental Training Begins for the Tennis & Golf Academies
Sep 10, 2014 9:29 AM
By Jean Bonnyman - FF/S
Not many high school students get the opportunity to participate in a mental skills program. Usually this is a college course or done as a private consult by a sport psychologist. This year, however, 20 student-athletes from our Tennis and Golf Academies will participate and learn about the mental side of sport and how to “think like a winner.”
When I attended the University of Virginia, I was so impressed by the (not yet famous) sport psychologist Robert Rotella. I stayed to do a master’s degree with Bob as my mentor. I am excited to bring the knowledge from Bob’s training and my experience from consulting to our academy student-athletes here at Darlington.
In our first meeting with the students, I talked about self-honesty as the corner stone and first step to mental skills. Self-awareness is a constant effort because humans talk to themselves constantly by what they think. Emotions greatly influence thoughts, particularly negative thoughts, because anxiety causes negative self-talk.
With awareness and, mostly importantly, effort, thoughts can be managed as well as the images that accompany thoughts. For example, if an athlete is afraid of making a mistake, he (or she) sees himself making that mistake and is, therefore, rehearsing it! Utilizing mental skills for sport is for the dedicated athlete; it is not as simple and easy as it sounds, but anyone can benefit from it if he or she is willing to work.
I explained the difference between “mimimizers and maximizers” and our students could see where they fell on the scale by a self-survey. Maximizers attribute success to effort, while minimizers attribute success to ease of the task or talent. Being a minimizer creates fear of failure over time; they are “product oriented,” focused only on winning. This often creates crippling anxiety. Maximizers are “process oriented,” focusing on goals and improvement of skills. They believe in their skills where minimizers do not… there are many comparisons. So how to become a maximizer? Change your perceptions, emphasize effort, and use mental skills to help your game. This takes dedication, persistence, responsibility, support and effort.
Leanne Mann, operations director for the Golf and Tennis Academies, handed out journals for students to start recording their thoughts and feelings. Students were given 20 questions to consider and choose several they wanted to focus on, such as, “Do my actions follow my words?" "Do I really do what I say?" and "Do I make excuses for my mistakes or do I see them as opportunities for improvement?” Finally, students were encouraged to review part 1 of their new textbook by Terry Orlick, "In Pursuit of Excellence: How to Win in Sport and Life through Mental Training."
So the entire Darlington Community can benefit, Leanne and I will post blogs once a month.
When I attended the University of Virginia, I was so impressed by the (not yet famous) sport psychologist Robert Rotella. I stayed to do a master’s degree with Bob as my mentor. I am excited to bring the knowledge from Bob’s training and my experience from consulting to our academy student-athletes here at Darlington.
In our first meeting with the students, I talked about self-honesty as the corner stone and first step to mental skills. Self-awareness is a constant effort because humans talk to themselves constantly by what they think. Emotions greatly influence thoughts, particularly negative thoughts, because anxiety causes negative self-talk.
With awareness and, mostly importantly, effort, thoughts can be managed as well as the images that accompany thoughts. For example, if an athlete is afraid of making a mistake, he (or she) sees himself making that mistake and is, therefore, rehearsing it! Utilizing mental skills for sport is for the dedicated athlete; it is not as simple and easy as it sounds, but anyone can benefit from it if he or she is willing to work.
I explained the difference between “mimimizers and maximizers” and our students could see where they fell on the scale by a self-survey. Maximizers attribute success to effort, while minimizers attribute success to ease of the task or talent. Being a minimizer creates fear of failure over time; they are “product oriented,” focused only on winning. This often creates crippling anxiety. Maximizers are “process oriented,” focusing on goals and improvement of skills. They believe in their skills where minimizers do not… there are many comparisons. So how to become a maximizer? Change your perceptions, emphasize effort, and use mental skills to help your game. This takes dedication, persistence, responsibility, support and effort.
Leanne Mann, operations director for the Golf and Tennis Academies, handed out journals for students to start recording their thoughts and feelings. Students were given 20 questions to consider and choose several they wanted to focus on, such as, “Do my actions follow my words?" "Do I really do what I say?" and "Do I make excuses for my mistakes or do I see them as opportunities for improvement?” Finally, students were encouraged to review part 1 of their new textbook by Terry Orlick, "In Pursuit of Excellence: How to Win in Sport and Life through Mental Training."
So the entire Darlington Community can benefit, Leanne and I will post blogs once a month.
