What is mental game coaching?
Mental Game Coaching concentrates specifically on helping athletes break through the mental barriers that are keeping them from performing up to their peak potential. By focusing on the mental skills needed to be successful in any sport competition, mental game coaching seeks to achieve the overall goal of performance improvement.
Who needs Mental Game Coaching?
Athletes who …
aren’t performing up to their ability
perform better in practice than during competition
feel confident in practice but are plagued with doubt during competition, especially checking out your competition beforehand
ability to perform is impacted by being watched by others, i.e., judges, coaches, family & friends → worry about letting others down or “failing” in front of them
have a fear of failure because they want to win so badly so they try too hard and worry too much about outcomes
lack clear, healthy goals of why they compete and understand what motivates them to compete
attach their self-worth to their ability to perform
lose focus or have mental lapses under pressure thus making mistakes
were injured but despite being almost/100% recovered, cannot return to their level of performance pre-injury
want to do something that none/very few of their competitors do to get an edge over their competition… the mental edge
What does a mental game coach do?
Mental Game Coaches’ primary goal is to teach athletes how to be more confident, focus better, stay composed under pressure, practice more efficiently, and develop more effective pre-performance routines.
What are the common mental game challenges in bodybuilding?
Distracted by the competition, before and during the show
Focusing on winning is everything
Experiences doubts when compares what they eat, how they train and prep during peak week, the day before and the day of the show with their competitors’ prep
Experiences doubts when they compare their physique with their competitors’ physiques
Lack of emotional control leading to setbacks and mistakes
Lack of composure under pressure
Unhealthy belief systems, i.e., using negative self-labels, unrealistic expectations
Unbalanced motivation to compete, i.e., solely extrinsically motivated
Lack of confidence post-injury caused by self-doubt, lack of focus on the task at hand, focusing on the fear of re-injury
Lack of understanding of how they can get into “the zone”
Psychotherapy vs. Mental Game Coaching
| Therapy deals with dysfunction, pathology, or past traumas | Coaching deals with healthy clients who want to better themselves |
| Therapy focuses on the whole experience: thoughts, emotions, actions | Coaching focuses on actions and on doing things better or differently |
| Therapists assess and come up with a treatment plan to facilitate change | Coaches identify challenges and help clients look for solutions in the present & future |
| Psychotherapy is a regulated profession with a Code of Ethics and professional conduct | Coaching is not a regulated profession |
| Negative stigma still exists with psychotherapy | Coaching is viewed as positive by high level athletes |
Roles of a Psychotherapist
To foster a climate conducive to client’s growth
To collaborate with the client and honour him/her as an active self-healer
To use the client’s “voice” to inform the direction and process of therapy
To do continuous assessment as a means to better understand the client’s experience and meaning making process
To assess readiness & motivation to change
To come up with interventions that fit the client’s uniqueness & readiness stage
To have a collaborative & curious stance
To avoid “one-upmanship” positions & judgements
To check assumptions in order to deepen the understanding of the client’s issue, context, goals, & experience
Roles of a Mental Game Coach
To maintain safety & well being of athletes
To help athletes’ improve performance
To help the athlete achieve peak performance
To educate athletes on mental skills
To provide solutions to mental blocks in performance
To assess athletes’ readiness & commitment to change
To assess & discover the athlete’s mental game issues
Adapted from Patrick Cohn at Peak Performance Sports, LLC.
