Welcome to our weekly Performance Excellence email newsletter. With the start of school and the beginning of fall sports -- football, cross country, volleyball, and tennis to name just a few -- we are excited to be reconnecting with you to bring you information about the mental side of the game. Our goal is to help athletes, teams, coaches and sport organizations, perform at their highest level and get the most out of their performances by being mentally ready to practice and compete. Often, great performances result in “wins.” But even when they don’t, they let you stand tall and proud for the effort you just put forth.
So, the question that needs to be asked at the beginning of any season is. “Are you preparing your team or yourself -- mentally and physically -- to play at your best?” Great coaches and athletes, like Coach K, Bill Belichick, Pat Summitt, Phil Jackson, and Mack Brown, know that winning takes more than just physical strength and a solid game plan. Peak performances and winning efforts also require a focus on mental factors. Teams and athletes must have:
- goals that motivate them to work through tough practices and execute in competition
- a sense of cohesion that keeps a team together and allows them to work through adversity
- confidence in their abilities and knowledge that they are ready to play at a premium level
- the ability to prepare themselves mentally before each competition so they can consistently play at the highest levels
- the talent to stay focused and in the zone even during the toughest, most demanding times of a game or practice.
- When you consider these essential performance factors, are you and your team as prepared as you want to be this season?
At the Center for Sport Psychology and Performance Excellence we have a staff of highly trained consultants who are committed to help athletes, coaches and teams achieve their performance goals, be it winning a state or conference championship, simply improving their consistency of play, or increasing team chemistry. For more information about our services and how we can work with you and/or your team, contact us at (940) 369-SPORT (7767). Or you can visit our website and send us an email at www.sportpsych.unt.edu In closing, we leave you with the sport quote of the week:
“Teams do not go physically flat, they go mentally stale.” –Vince Lombardi
Good luck with the start of your seasons.
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