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ì  Putting Mental Skills into Practice

Presented  by:  Lori  Dithurbide,  Ph.D.,  Lead  Mental  Performance  Consultant,  CSCA    Acknowledgements:  Bryce  Tully,  Mental  Performance  Coach,  CSCA  

An  Important  Resource  

•  Mental fitness guide structured around the LTAD

•  Considers age and maturity in relation to the development of mental fitness

•  Has implementation content!!

•  http://canadiansportforlife.ca/resources/mental-fitness-ltad

Development  and  The  Mental  Training  Process    

ì  How  do  athletes  develop  mental  skills?  The  mental  training  process  involves  the  following  four  steps:  

 

 

1.Education

2.Awareness

3.Implementation

4.Evaluation

FOUNDATIONAL  KNOWLEDGE  

ABILITY  TO  REFLECT  

PROVIDE  STRATEGIES  

WHAT  WORKED  WHAT  DIDNT  

1. Education

Anatomy  of  Performance  

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The  Importance  of  Habits  

The  Power  of  Habit  ì  Recent  research  examining  human  behavior  and  brain  

acVvity  has  revealed  that  40%  of  what  you  do  on  a  given  day  is  iniVated  by  habit…  

 

With  habits  =              efficiency  with  less  perceived  effort    

Without  habits  =              efficiency  with  high  perceived  effort  

ì  So…you  are  either  breaking  a  habit  or  building  habit  with  everything  you  do.  

The  Power  of  Habit  

In  order  to  achieve  op/mal  results,  the  environment  in  which  athletes  train  should  resemble  that  in  which  they  perform  as  closely  as  possible  (Proteau  &  Carnahan,  2001).    

Specificity  (consistency)  of  PracCce  

Training  (Prepara/on,  aBtude,  mindset,  effort,  engagement,  communica/on)  

CompeCCon  (Prepara/on,  aBtude,  mindset,  effort,  engagement,  communica/on)  

The  Power  of  Practice  

Mind  the  gap…  

Are  your  training  habits  preparing  you  for  compe//on?  

 In  other  words,  how  is  prac/ce  helping  your  athletes  

compete?  

Specificity  (consistency)  of  PracCce  

Important  Question…  

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1.  Experience alone cannot not rival the improvement and learning that occurs from reflecting on your experiences

2.  Enhancing awareness is the foundation of mental performance

3.  Athletes do not need someone else to tell them how to improve all of the time. Establish that.

2. Awareness

•  Training  to  Train  (Females  11-­‐15  years,  Males  12-­‐16  years)  

•  In pairs, ask the athletes to describe their best and

worst performances to each other in full detail. For each description, have them come up with the top 3 words that best describe that experience.

•  Have them reflect on performance in some way at

least once per week, primarily focused on positives.

•  Training  to  Compete  (Females  15-­‐21  years,  Males  16-­‐23  years)  

•  In pairs, ask the athletes to describe their best and

worst performances to each other in full detail. For each description, have them reflect on a few key areas (ex. preparation, motivation, dealing with setbacks)

•  Have them reflect on performance in some way at

least twice per week, with a balanced focused.

2. Awareness

ì  Key  points  for  developing  and  enhancing  awareness:  ì  Asking good questions – promoting reflection ì  Accountability pertaining to the answers of those questions

ì  Ensuring your athletes understand that performances (both good and bad) are not random

ì  Encouraging athlete feedback whenever possible

2. Awareness 3. Implementation

THOUGHTS > FEELINGS/EMOTIONS > ACTION

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Self-­‐Talk  

•  Become aware of what you say to yourself and the impact it has on your performance

•  Saying things to yourself that you wouldn’t say to another person…is a bad idea!

•  1. Manage your perspective:

Self-pity vs. gratitude

•  2. Self-talk should be: Positive, motivating, but most importantly rational.

Self-­‐talk  Implementation  

•  Training  to  Train  (Females  11-­‐15  years,  Males  12-­‐16  years)  

•  Ensure your athletes have a clear definition of what

self-talk is and how it applies to sport •  Have them reflect on both positive and negative

moments from a previous performance and identify what their self-talk was in those moments

•  Develop self-talk strategies for 2-3 specific situations that commonly arise in their sport

•  Training  to  Compete  (Females  15-­‐21  years,  Males  16-­‐23  years)  

•  Ensure your athletes have a clear definition of what

self-talk is and how it applies to sport •  Have them reflect on both positive and negative

moments from a previous performance and identify the direction of their self-talk in those moments

•  Develop positive self-talk strategies for all significant situations

•  Highlight the importance of perspective  

THOUGHTS > FEELING/EMOTIONS > ACTION Goal  Setting  

Goal  Se_ng  Fun  Facts:  •  Our minds generally think in “outcome” terms, but our

bodies can only actually move in “process” terms. •  Over 90% of studies done examining goal setting using this

terminology and system have reported positive results •  Identifying and understanding what you have to focus on in

each moment is one of the best ways to eliminate both distractions and going through the motions

•  Effective goal setting = faster and more efficient progress •  Proof of progress on a daily basis fosters confidence and

motivation

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4.Evaluation ì  Fitting  it  all  into  the  yearly  plan…  

Athlete  Buy-­‐in    

ì  Back  to  the  EducaVon  part…  

ì  Why  is  the  mental  game  important?  

ì  What  is  the  purpose  of  the  mental  training?  

ì  ACCOUNTABILITY!!!  ì  How  can  you  tell  that  the  mental  game  has  improved?  

Planning  Process  

Create  /  modify  

ObjecVves  

Monitor  and  Assess  

Develop  /  Modify  Plan  

Gap  Analysis  (GMP)  

LTAD  Referenced  Pathway  

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Gap  Analysis      

ì  Why  are  we  looking  for  the  Gaps?  

ì  Why  not  the  strengths?  

 

 Linking  the  Profile  to  the  Objectives  

 

 ì  IndividualizaVon  

ì  What  are  the  objecVves?  

 

Paddling  example…  

ì  Early/Off  season  (Prep  phase  –  se_ng  the  tone):  ì  Post-­‐season  debrief  –  awareness  development  ì  Se_ng  a  purpose…  establishing  goals  

ì  Answering  the  HOW  

ì  IdenVfying  and  developing  the  ProducVve  Habits    ì  Tracking…  

ì  Managing  training  moVvaVon  ì  Recovery  skill  development  ì  IMPORTANCE  OF  COMMUNICATING  THE  LINK  

ì  How  does  my  training  prepare  me  for  compeVVon?  

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Paddling  example…  

ì  On-­‐water  training  (pre-­‐comp  phase…  pu_ng  it  into  acVon)  ì  Race  planning  –  MENTAL  RACE  PLAN  ì  Segment  rehearsals  ì  Ge_ng  uncomfortable  –  inserVng  the  wrench  in  the  plan  

ì  DistracVon  control  ì  Full  dress  rehearsals  

ì  ImplemenVng  the  habits  you’ve  already  developed  ì  Pre-­‐comp/post-­‐comp  

ì  Debrief,  Debrief,  Debrief…  ì  RECOVERY,  RECOVERY,  RECOVERY  ì  All  while  conVnuing  to  reinforce  the  habits…  

Paddling  example…  

ì  CompeVVon  phase  (maintenance  –  pu_ng  the  work  to  work)  ì  Confidence  building  

ì  FoundaVon  set  with  previous  work    ì  Tracking  

ì  Recovery  ì  Maintenance  of  energy  management…  

ì  You  cannot  START  training  mental  skills  at  this  point  in  Vme  ì  Limit  informaVon  

ì  Excess  info  -­‐>  uncertainty/doubt  -­‐>  anxiety  

Paddling  example…  

ì  Best  case  scenario          VS          REALITY  

ì  Barriers?  Wrenches  into  the  plan?  

ì  Strategies  to  overcome?  

Vertical  integration  

Micro  Plan  

Day   Obj   SS   MENTAL   N  

Mon  

Tues  

Wed  

Thurs  

Fri  

Sat  

Sun  

PracVce  Plan    

What  are  ways  to  integrate  Mental  Performance?  

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Thank  You