Bea My Coach

Sport Psychology Toolbox- 35

Self-reflection as part of a post-performance routine

Having a structured approach to self-reflection after a performance, competition or training is in my opinion from what I see daily an underutilised mental skill.

The key to self-reflection that moves you forward is:

- Writing ✍️ it down. Not only helps this channel your thoughts rather than just ruminating over what went wrong, it also means you can return to it as a reminder.

- Be honest, there's no hiding here, nor is the exercise going to bring you forward, unless you are honest

- Focus on both what went well and what didn't.

- Decide what is more and what is less important in your review. Create a hierarchy.

- What is in your control and what isn't.

- Take this a step further reflect on what strengths you can build on and which weaknesses you can't ignore. We want to work on both.

- Ask yourself what do I need to do in the next training session/competition. Make a plan and execute

- Implement your learnings in training, review for your next performance

Is self-reflection part of your routine?

OFF SEASON BLUES?

If you're a triathlete or long distance/track runner, maybe your season has already ended, or it will over the next few weeks after one of the late season races.

How does that make you feel?
Are you a bit tired mentally and physically but already pushing ahead towards next season not having even taken a week off. Do you feel a bit flat and demotivated, but you can't put your finger on why that is?

Do you only ever take time off training when you're forced to through injury or illness?

That was certainly me 10yrs+ ago when I went straight from Ironman to a triathlon training camp (where the coach pushed as all equally despite being in different phases of training) to resuming normal training once back home and then running and hiring a bike jyst so i could keep on training during my trip overseas . The year after, I had to cancel the majority of my races because I was too run down. Batteries empty, not able to train consistently.

The pros take some time off after a busy race season. They're active, yes, but not with swim, bike run, and nothing too structured. We should do the same! More so because we handle training, family, AND work life. Something has to give. All my clients have periods of time off/unstructured activity for a mental and physical reset

If you're struggling with allowing yourself to step away from training for a week or two, let's have a chat.

COMING SOON! Autumn Sports Psychology Workshop Series for in collaboration with 2020Archery

1. Effective Goal Setting and (Season) Planning – 19 Sept
2. Making Successful Technical / Form Changes – 24 Oct
3. Creating Successful Performance and Competition Routines – 21 Nov

📍Downside Fisher Youth Club (SE1 2EZ)
⏰11:30am to 1:00pm
📨[email protected] for more details and booking info

Sport Psychology Toolbox- 34

(Pre) performance routines

We can't rely on confidence alone for a great performance. Nor can we rely on conditions around the competition to be perfect. There's only so much that is within our control.

That's why it is important to have a pre performance routine that gets us mentally and physically ready and a few go to routines during a competition to deal with i.e fatigue, loss of focus, distractions, circumstances outside our control and non functional self-talk.

It's important to find routines that work for you, i.e if you struggle with imagery, you might benefit more from instructional self talk and vice versa. Your sport psychologist can support you in finding the tool(s) that work best for you.
It's also important to stay somewhat flexible so that you're not thrown off kilter completely by your go to routine not working in a particular moment and context.
This is something you can and should think about and practice outside of the actual competition, just like you do with your physical training hours.

Are you making sure you're READY for your performance?

Mental Blocks

In both my work as a coach and a Sport Psychologist (in.T.) I help individuals deal with mental blocks.

I purposely don't say remove them because they often don't go away completely. However, we start recognising the thoughts that contribute to the mental block and can them go..no not today and we learn to navigate (around) them.

Mental blocks can be big or small, fairly new or  thoroughly ingrained in our mind, they can be fairly easy to tackle or sometimes we need to do quite a bit of work until we are able to manage them.

They are there because we have internalised particular experiences and our brain defaults to a particular thought especially when stressed or under pressure.

They are there because of stories we have told ourselves so that we believe we can or cannot or should not do something, often because society, a coach, a friend, a teacher, a family member anyone really has said things that strengthen that belief and it is hard to find our own way out of that way of thinking.

If you feel stuck in a bit of a rut and you feel like you're mind(set) is holding you back whether that be in your sport or in improving your physical health DM me using 'Mentalblock' or add a comment and we can have a chat.

Honoured 🙏 and excited to be part of this network of stress management experts.
Dr Bernadette Dancy | Stress Coach has built a great community and network of experienced providers in the wider health and fitness community with her directory. Stress Education & Training Provider | Stress Ed. also offers stress management CPD courses.
Highly recommend following Stress Ed if you're a Sport Psychologist or coach with an interest in stress and burnout or if you just have a genuine interest in the topic

Sport Psychology Toolbox- 33

Taking a different perspective

A lot of the time, especially when our minds are telling us a particular (unhelpful) story, we can feel trapped with those thoughts, feelings & emotions and those in turn affect our performance.

We could obviously dig deeper to understand why this happens. And some times that is necessary but also more time intensive.

What can we do that is part of a shorter more immediate intervention?

Asking the right questions can help the performer develop a different perspective on the particular issue at hand.

Ideally, in my opinion, we should let the performer develop the change in perspective themselves rather than telling them what to do/think. So we we are guiding more than coaching, and letting the performer change their own narrative

Sport Psychology Toolbox - 32

Professional boundaries and ethics

Yes, a slightly different take this week but an important one nonetheless.

Any sport psychologist will have gone through training, CPD/CEUs, reflection on and supervision and mentoring in how to maintain professional boundaries and deal with ethical conundrums.

This is often what distinguishes us from "Mindset coaches" or whatever other terms might be used.

We know when a case may need a referral to another practitioner either because the case clearly is outside of our professional remit or because we have insufficient knowledge in a particular area.

The standards we need to adhere to limit us from making promises on outcomes that we cannot be sure of.

"It depends" might not be the answer all of our clients might be after. It's worth to remember that we say this not due to a lack of knowledge, more so the contrary, because we know that our wider knowledge allows us to ask the right questions before we come up with possible solution.

DON'T CALL IT A COMEBACK 🤣

The journey back to running regularly and yes I've even got a race I've signed up for - 10km in October

My running journey is kinda coming full circle atm - see the carousel 👆

The major positive is that knees, ankles and back are all holding up

Making use of all my combined knowledge as a rehab specialist and mental performance coach