In a perfect world, you and your team would never lose focus and you would never encounter disruptions in play, but no plan ever turns out perfect. Things happen that are beyond your control, but your team has to prepare itself proactively so you can rebound quickly. Athletes should prepare
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Coaching the Mental Game
Identifying Performance Cues
A performance cue is a thought, feeling, and/or piece of information athletes have in mind to help perform a skill. Defining performance cues for your sport and specific position is essential for your athletes concentration. You should also know the cues that are not important to your performance. I
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Coping with Distractions
Why do athletes with strong powers of concentration become distracted? First, no one is perfect. Even the best athletes in the world become distracted at times. Second, distractions or disruptions to the flow of play are a natural part of many sports. Concentration or focus is the ability to fully
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Use Practice Time for Mental Training
Some athletes are reluctant to discuss their true feelings about the mental game in the team meetings. This may be because they feel embarrassed to share these thoughts in a group setting, or they may feel uncomfortable and hesitant to show weakness to you, the coach.
Use team meetings to discuss
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Myths About Mental Training
Mental training is only valuable if you believe it can help you perform your best. A few myths or attitudes prevent athletes from using mental training. Listed are the top three myths or attitudes that prevent athletes from embracing mental training:
1. Teammates or coach would think you are weak
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Establishing a Winning Mindset
You might have the most physical talent or the most talented team and great coaching. However, if you do not have a winning mindset to support your physical ability, you simply cannot perform consistently, nor can you perform up to your potential. Follow these mental training tips to help your team
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Helping Athletes Find the Zone
The zone is a states of supreme focus helps athletes perform at their peak when they become totally immersed into their performance. Many athletes who want to reach their peak potential are always in search of secrets to enter a zone state. But the zone is really not that complicated or hard to
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Two Practice Mindsets
Athletes perform their best under two distinct practice mindsets. The first is skill acquisition or skill mastery, in which athletes master sports skills. Here, coaches help athletes become competent with the technique or the "how to" of execution.
The second type of practice is specificity
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