Sports Psychology Articles

In everyday life anybody is capable of making a difference in their community, it doesn’t have to be the prominent civic leader, politician or business tycoon, any he or she can seize the initiative. Superheroes need not be all flash and regal, it could just be the down to earth everyday guy or gal who conditions themselves for peak performance. You sure need it in this world to battle the evil bullies of greed and selfishness. A big heart is every bit as important as big muscles bulging out of everywhere and of course what you put into your body is is vital.

The definition of a contract in Webster’s Dictionary is “a binding agreement between two or more persons.” Contracts have many purposes. We expect contracts to define expectations and purpose as well as limitations. They clarify the parameters in the agreement. Typically, they are explicit and tangible. This is the typical view of a contract. Then there are the negative contracts. Negative contracts are little known facts which have far reaching implications. They are typically between two or more people. There is no statute of limitations.

I first began rowing seasonally, only during the fair weather months. I couldn’t understand why anyone would want to row in the winter. After a couple of years, watching other people row all year long, I made the decision to become a recreational rower. Now I had the opportunity to row any time I wanted. Surprisingly it wasn’t “that cold” during the winter months. In fact, the winters were easier to endure because of my new interest. All this time I was aware of the racing team, but was unable to imagine myself in that group.

Do you find that you get inquiries, people who have expressed an interest in working with you, and you wait before calling them? Or maybe someone has a warm lead for you, they know someone who is interested in talking to you about your services, and you are not sure how long to wait before giving that person a call? When you wait too long, your warm lead ends up going cold.

Although I have practiced as a therapist for many years, EFT has helped to improve my therapeutic skills significantly. The EFT community provides rich information through the DVD’s and newsletters that are available. From watching Gary Craig on his DVD’s, I was able to observe EFT ...

Transparency. It has become the norm with social networking and online marketing. We each have our own barometer between too much information and not enough revealed. Wikipedia states: “transparency in a social context more generally, implies openness, communication, and accountability. It is a metaphorical extension of the meaning a "transparent" object is one that can be seen through.” Weaving transparency is important for an effective marketing message and branding. How much though is too much?

The boys of summer are just getting warmed up for the season. Then out of left field, the L.A. Dodgers are thrown a wild card. Talk to any baseball fan and they will comment on the L.A. Dodgers takeover by Bud Selig, the baseball commissioner. Although Selig’s move is to return order where chaos has reigned, it has the makings of a corporate takeover. The majority of the attention is placed on the admin side of the team to regain financial control of their business operations.

"To achieve in sports you first have to have a dream, and then you must act on that dream. The best athletes are those who truly enjoy what they are doing and display a tremendous amount of work ethic. They continue to persevere in spite of setbacks and never lose sight of their ultimate goal." rn---Dianne Holum

“Coming together is a beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success.” Henry Ford Albert Pujols is BIG news right now. His declaration as a free agent led to a lucrative contract. He will be moving west to join the Los Angeles Angels ball club. The St. Louis Cardinals who have been left behind. Will they recover now that their leading player is moving on? General Manager John Mozeliak will rebuild his team. A momentary setback, with the right approach, can rebuild to become a winning opportunity.

Where does your focus stray when competing? You can be completely focused, totally distracted or somewhere in-between. Sometimes it doesn’t feel like you have a choice, when your head is swimming with all the “what-ifs” and last minute details. Not being laser focused, however, is usually due to a lack of mental game skills. Yes, life happens. An infinite amount of possibilities can easily distract you, throwing you off course. With the proper mindset, however, you are able to control your focus. Continuing to feel in control, regardless of your circumstances, is empowering.

"You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with."rn— Jim Rohn Purpose is powerful. Do you know the reason you have deeply committed to your business? What drives you to share your gifts with others? Why you devote so much of your life to your business? Connect with the underlying passion. Discover the compelling reason you do what you do.

Congruency is very sexy to the Law of Attraction. The universe responds positively when your thoughts, emotions and actions all line up. Your positive energy signals the universe to take notice. Consider the things you say you want for yourself. What are your goals for your practice? To really be successful you must have alignment between your values and goals. Visualization is a powerful tool for reaching your goals. Vividly imagine yourself being in your ideal life, having a full thriving practice and supportive positive relationships.

Stepping out of your comfort zone is the norm for competitive athletes. Highly motivated athletes are expected to train harder, perform better for optimal results. High performance is easiest under ideal conditions. If you’ve been competing for any length of time, you know conditions are not always in your favor. Maintaining focus during crunch time, facing adverse conditions, requires confidence, focus and a strong skill set.

Sports doping has now crossed over into Hollywood as Charlie Sheen admits steroid use for his movie role in Major League. Baseball, football, cycling, track and field and MMA to name a few are plagued with steroid use. Those are just the newsworthy sports currently facing this issue.

With all things being equal, what is different about winning athletes? When elite athletes are competing, the gap in abilities between the first and last place athlete is relatively small. You’ll need to dig a little deeper to understand what separates the top 1% of elite athletes from all the rest.

Too frequently triathletes are told by their coaches to ignore what is going on around them. The coaches who tell you to just not do it are unaware of the power of habit. Following the crowd, going out too fast because of the other athletes around you, is a symptom of a habit. Under pressure, you are going to return to your old familiar habits. This is why competing successfully in triathlons is a mental game.

"You must love what you do. Your heart must be in it. Without enthusiasm, you cannot work up to your fullest ability and potential; you're just going through the motions. And just going through the motions won't bring you to the level of competitive greatness we seek whether in basketball, business, or life." -John Wooden

“Do what you fear and fear disappears." David Schwartz When I first started my practice my coach told me I was going to learn to love marketing. I just chuckled. She had no idea what I thought about marketing and going to networking events while working in my counseling agency. I had avoided them for the past 12 years of my business. My excuse was that Steve, my husband, was more charismatic and enjoyed socializing. He was the outgoing personality and I enjoyed staying in the office working directly with our clients.

When you opened the doors to your business were you hoping the field of dreams concept was true, build it and they will come? Just hanging out a shingle, however, does not mean you will quickly have a full schedule with new clients. Unless you already have a strong following, you will need to figure out a way to drive clients to your business.

Imagine how your life would be different if you had better boundaries. Things would change as a result of the change that you made. People would begin to respond to you differently. What you once tolerated you might find is not acceptable anymore. How are your boundaries? Do you feel that ...

We have all watched a sports game and noticed an athlete that may not be as naturally gifted as others, but he had a burning desire and drive to succeed. You noticed that they never gave up on any plays and contested at every possible opportunity. The internal drive to succeed is crucial is sales. In the event obstacles appear from nowhere which they often do in a sales cycle especially during these times, the drive within could make the difference. In an ideal world all sales reps would always give it their best effort, unfortunately that's not the case.

The person we believe ourselves to be will always act in a manner consistent with our self-image. Brian Tracy No matter what you want to believe, your image affects your business. People judge based upon first impressions. “What you see is what you get.” In fact, your image is nine-tenths of success. A potential client will determine whether to connect with you in less than one minute. As an entrepreneur, you are your brand. Your best foot forward helps with success. People are attracted to winners. A strong or soft personality does not affect success.

Every man has three characters: that which he shows, that which he has, and that which he thinks he has. Alphonse Karr n How often have you been unable to make progress on a specific issue? You feel stuck. You are aware of the problem. You even know what you ought to be doing to make a ...

The world of Cricket is at a standstill. Cricket series throughout the world have been canceled, and a lot of cricket playing boards have been suffering from no revenue generation for the past few months. Even the online cricket betting sites have had to manage with the possibility of no action for the next few weeks. While this is the situation with all the other sports activities, due to the limited number of countries that play cricket, it is extremely important to ensure

You have trained long and hard for this event. Today’s the big day. Your moment of truth. Will it all come together as you have dreamed? Or will those doubtful nagging thoughts begin to appear, slowly chipping away at your confidence. Your anxiety rises as the time for your event approaches. The anxiety is so overwhelming making it difficult to focus. Nothing you do brings relief. These are the moments when the biggest hurdle is fighting down the waves of anxiety.

How you do anything is how you do everything! There is a connection between your thoughts, emotions and actions. If there is a part of your business which you are dissatisfied with, take a closer look and figure out why things are not working well. Discover the conflict between what you want and how you feel about successfully achieving your goal. If you have a deep underlying belief which contradicts your goal, you will hold yourself back. The good news is change can happen. With that being said, think about your business. Do you love what you are doing? Are you having fun while working?

Why do some athletes succeed where other’s fail? Although it sounds like an easy question the answer is not always obvious. Athletes prone to failure are likely to get caught up in a trap where they cycle through periods in their career where progress grinds to a screeching halt. When you are caught up in that cycle it can be a very, very frustrating place to be. Many athletes end up digging themselves into this cycle even further without realizing what they are doing.

You are the average of the people you spend the most time with. As an athlete how do you feel when you think about the other players on your team? Notice how it feels in your body when you think that thought. Are you sensing tightness or expansion in your body? The feeling you are having is an indication of whether you have the right people on your team.

Organizations need to keep a watchful eye on not only their overall company sales strategy, but also at the individual sales rep level. Sales reps are the foot soldiers in the field. They are in the trenches every day and well rewarded for it too, however they should also be able to chime in on decisions out in the field. The sales reps have a direct line to their client base, they should understand the landscape better than their managers.

The U.S. Open has begun. Tennis fans anticipating upsets are waiting to see how it will all play out in the finals on the stadium courts. For the first time Mardy Fish, seeded eighth, is the highest-placed American in a major championship. Renewed commitment to fitness and strength are paying off. His turnaround performance continues to improve. Fish’s confidence is building as he continues to tap into his full potential.

Entrepreneurs are a unique breed. We think, see and perceive our world differently than those around us. Instead of staying with the traditional status quo security of a job, we have made a step to do things differently by creating our own business. If you have taken this step you are most likely excellent at what you do, driven by a passion and are service oriented. Now that you have opened your doors, you are ready for business. Excellent. What are the steps you are taking to drive clients to you? How can they find you? When you talk, do they listen?

One of the reasons that the top performers of each organization continue to bring in a bulk of the revenues is due to their superior sales techniques. Some sales reps are more adaptable than others. They don't use a one size fits all technique. They learn to adapt as the situation dictates, they don't need a script to stick to. The best sales reps use a combination of left and right brain techniques to succeed. Is sales an art or a science? Surely it can be both.

Not everyone is a sports enthusiast or competitive person. There are lessons, however, which can be learned from athletes and applied to your business. Each and every Olympic athlete has a coach behind her, is part of a group and is driven to strive for peak performance. They have the determination and mindset of a winner, choosing to move forward even when it is uncomfortable. Although I have always exercised, my time was primarily spent in a gym. I became involved in sports very late in my life. At 40y/o I learned downhill skiing and sweep rowing in the same year.

Do you live in the past, the present or the future? Might sound like an odd question, but the majority of people, entrepreneurs included, rarely are in the present. There is so much that goes on in your daily life, whether someone wants something from you, planning to take care of the things on your to-do list, or changing a part of your business for improved results. Thoughts will stray to something which already occurred or something about to happen. When your thoughts are either in the past or considering the future, you are not in the present.

"Holding onto anger is like grasping onto a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else. You are the one who gets burned." – Buddha When things don’t go your way, how do you handle upsets? You response says a lot about you. More information is revealed through your actions regarding you, and your sportsmanship, than you realize. So think about it, do you become angry, short-tempered and have a tantrum when you lose?

You are not alone, many people have a burning desire to release the power within them. However all too often action is simply not taken, days may go by, maybe months or even years and they kick themselves later. It’s never too late to do many things in life, it’s just your mindset and it’s definitely never too late to uncage the thing within you. If you are thinking about it, then find a way to do it. Some people have something inside of them fighting to get out, but they feel letting it out may make them vulnerable, however allowing it to eat away inside them is even more damaging.

"Experience tells you what to do; confidence allows you to do it." - Stan Smith As athletes strive toward high performance, setbacks and failures occur. It is part of the process. Some athletes are easily able to put the failures into perspective. Other athletes hold onto them longer than necessary, allowing those moments to define who they are. Holding onto setbacks impacts athletic performance.

What if everything you need for success was already available to you? You hold the key to your future. Instead of looking for the solutions outside of you, tap into your mind’s eye and envision your future. Everything you need is within you. Your mind is unable to discriminate between imagination and reality. This is powerful. Harness the power of your imagination and visualize your success. According to the Law of Attraction, envision your success as if it is in the present and has already happened. The more detail you bring into this mental image, the better.

Maintaining motivation is a huge factor in accomplishing your goals in life. We’ve all been there before when we embarked on a particular project full of energy and enthusiasm only to find ourselves losing interest a few months later. Losing your passion and motivation is a common challenge. That’s just exactly what it is, a challenge to your internal drive. How much do you really want to achieve your goals. How much effort are you willing to put in? It’s important to understand how to manage your own particular motivational factors whether internal or exte al.

Envision your success Opportunities to expand are dependent on your focus, whether present, past or future. Consider your goals imagining how you would be different, how your business would change and how your life will be affected. Allow yourself to step into that vision now, as if it had already happened. Notice how you are feeling as you are doing this. Tune into the details. What you see and feel is important.

Inspiration is the brother of motivation, if not at least close cousins. Some would even argue that inspiration trumps motivation. One could simply say that inspiration provides the high octane gas that can fuel your motivational drive. In some circles, inspiration implies a higher calling, something divine that propels one to keep pushing on against the odds. Individual inspiration plays a crucial part in sales, however we are going to examine collective inspiration of the entire sales team as a whole. Sales managers sometimes struggle with inspiring their team.

Did you know that 95% of all athletes have not clearly defined their goals? Defined is to the essential qualities necessary to reach your goal. Focused, single-minded intention about your goals directly affects your success. A well-defined goal connects you to your vision.

Sometimes we get in our own way. Do you know what I mean? Recently I have been working with one of the contestants for Dancing with the Rogue Valley Stars. A BIG part of our focus was transforming her perfectionist tendencies. She knew it was preventing her from fully relaxing and allowing her dance movements to flow. When she focused on her mistakes or not messing up a part of the routine it actually increased her tension. Dancing, like most sports, requires grace and ease.

How often have you heard the phrase “walking your talk?” When that does not happen there is a disconnect. What you are saying and what you are doing are two different things. When you have a discrepancy between your words and your actions, your actions will be the truth. People will pay attention to what you are doing and disregard what you say. We all know people like that. When they talk, they appear very sincere. I believe they actually are sincere at that moment when they are talking.

Does your burning desire to win drive you? Many highly competitive athletes believe winning is their primary motivator. It may be true for some, but not necessarily for everybody. Examine your real driving force and you may find out the actual core reason is to evade losing. What does it mean for you? Well, winning is an optimistic objective while avoiding losing has a negative focus. Winning is a positive goal. Do you desire to win, or do you actually want to avoid losing? What is the difference between these two? Either you are working toward reward or trying to avoid pain.

Ever wondered why some people have such a great attitude? Could they possibly have no problems whatsoever? Of course, everyone has their share of issues in life whether rich or poor, the important thing is maintaining a positive attitude regardless what obstacles come your way. Learning to keep a positive attitude at all times doesn't come naturally to everybody. However it's a vital skill if you plan to enjoy the highway of life. When we were young as kids and things failed to go as planned, we automatically resorted to negative behavior.

Where is your focus, past, present or future? At this very moment in time where are you? Are you thinking about a past event, wondering about the other athletes in the competition or tuned into what is going on here and now? Where you are now, whether past, future or present, makes a difference in your performance. Focusing on either the past or the future will pre-occupy your mind. The Past

All athletes experience fear at some point. It is the primary reason for failure. Defeat and walking away from your dreams stem from avoidance. It is not whether you will face fear; it is the way you respond once fear arises. First and foremost, all athletes experience doubt along the way. Eventually you will reach a level of competition which will stretch you beyond what you believe is possible. Is this when your inner voice of doubt kicks in? "I can't do it." "I am afraid to try."

Is there anyone alive that hasn't heard about the power of positive energy? Even though many people know all about it, only few truly believe in it. Perhaps some feel that it's just not possible for them given their circumstances. It's far from the case; you could be a rich man, but still have a negative attitude. The opposite also holds true; you could be the poorest man on earth and have a better attitude than most. One would have to assume that positive energy has been around since the origin of the universe, so if it exists, perhaps there must be negative too.

The exciting and thrilling sport of motocross originated in the United Kingdom in the early twentieth century and has gone on to gain popularity all across the world thereafter. In the early days, however, the sport was better known as ‘scrambles’. Derived by combining the French word ‘moto’ with ‘cross-country’, the sport of motocross is a form of all-terrain motorcycle racing that takes place on dirt or off-road tracks. These tracks could also be muddy, hilly, s