Sports Counseling

Sports counseling; or, why every Rocky needs a Paulie, and every Nuke LaLoosh deserves a Crash Davis.

 

Sports Psychology
Success demands peak performance, both physically and mentally – neither of which occurs without training.

Is your performance the best it can be?  Even when an athlete gives everything they have on the field, (court, gym, pool), most realize they still could have done better.  Too often we perform below our aptitude, ability, or level of training and recognize that we could have been better prepared.

 

This is why athletes exercise, train, and watch what they eat.  Not to maintain their performance, but to improve their performance.  They recognize the need to push themselves to always be improving.  The best athletes are also students of their sport – they study.  All of that work is taxing, physically and mentally.  Every athlete has stretches where they find it difficult to maintain the focus and motivation they need, not to mention the stress it can have on other dimensions of their life.

 

Athletes who are serious about doing their personal best get help.  They don’t pursue their goals alone.  Top athletes have agents, personal trainers, coaches, managers, and dieticians to assist them in becoming their best.  The smart ones also recognize that a holistic approach to maximizing their performance must also address their mental conditioning, prepare them to compete with confidence, and to win.

 

What do the Dallas Mavericks do?  They have a Sports Psychologist.  So do the Texas Rangers.  The Dallas Cowboys?  Yep.  The Dallas Stars?  You’re darn right.  These days, virtually every university, national team, Olympic team, and professional team has a sports psychology consultant on staff.

 

You’ve heard the story of the golfer who played 18 holes without a golf ball?  We’ve all heard of visualization techniques and know that golf has a huge mental element to it.  What about sports at the other end of the spectrum, like, say boxing?  Before Manny Pacquiao’s fight with Oscar dela-Hoya, trainer Freddie Roach said he thought the fight would be 90 percent mental.  That’s a pretty big statement for something we know is so incredibly physical.  Ripped pecks or delts you can see, but when an athlete walks onto the field, we can’t always see their mental preparation, so we tend to discount its importance (unless Survivor’s Eye of the Tiger theme music is playing)!

 

Both as a sports fan and as an All-American athlete, I’ve repeatedly seen gifted athletes who faded away after a couple of seasons because they couldn’t sustain their performance at a high level.  They neglected to invest in their most valuable asset and biggest completive advantage, the muscle between their ears.  A physical edge is critical, but success demands a mental edge too.

 

How do you know if you might benefit from sports counseling?  Athletes often benefit most from sports counseling when:

  •                they’ve experienced a recent injury, or a slump
  •                they perform better in practice than in game-day situations
  •                they have a difficult time focusing or breaking bad habits
  •                they find difficulty staying motivated, or just don’t find training as rewarding as they once did
  •                high performing individuals who don’t function well as a team may also benefit from sports counseling
Austin Triathlon
Mental preparation and training can improve your endurance

 

These same problems invariably bleed over to the rest of your life, and can lead to overall lower satisfaction, lower confidence levels, and even quitting the activities that in the past you might have credited with fueling your success and happiness. 

 

Common tactics, or skills that you may work on with a sports counselor include goal setting, visualization techniques, preparation routines and how to get into the zone, self-talk, and managing team dynamics.

 

Enlisting help early is important as these performance difficulties have been shown to be the number one predictor of both the duration and enjoyment of an activity.  Don’t neglect your mental training.  It can help you, or your child, with both health and the enjoyment of the things you love, so that you can reach your aspirations.

 

As a counselor, I am passionate about helping individuals of all ages, and at all levels, to improve their performance through the use of evidence based techniques proven to improve performance and increase enjoyment.  I look forward to consulting with you on how you can get the most out of your training and reach your performance goals.

 

Mary Lee King, MS, LPC-S

 

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