Sports Shut Down and the Mental and Emotional Impact on Athletes

Overcoming Mental Blocks in Sports

April 5, 2020 by Robert Andrews Leave a Comment

By Michael Heck, MA, LPC

This season of life has been an emotional roller coaster for many in our nation. The adjustments we’ve had to make to stay healthy have been significant. The adjustments, due to a life in quarantine, job status or health, have paused life as we know it. Most young athletes and families are now homebound; with parents wearing multiple hats: teacher, referee, coach, and parent. High school and college students that I’ve been working with are trying to stay in shape, trying to find some resemblance of normalcy. Professional athletes experience a career on hold, uncertain of when their seasons will begin again.

I’ve found that athletes who struggled with a mental block before the impact of the COVID 19 virus, have continued to wrestle with the stress of the mental block. These issues have been consistently reported no matter the age, level, or sport. Unfortunately, the impact of a mental block remains until it is addressed, it rarely just goes away (as much as I wish it would!). Fortunately, I’ve been able to help athletes address the emotional impact of the block, paving the way for a more hopeful future when their sport begins again.

Current Treatment Protocols

I’ve researched how others are currently attempting to treat these issues. Tools such as self-talk and visualization, especially when the block is related to a traumatic event or witnessing a traumatic event, have been substandard in helping athletes. We are learning that mental blocks must be viewed as an unseen injury to our brain, an unseen injury that causes an athlete’s body to do what it was designed to do: protect itself. We know that negative self-talk is problematic and positive self-talk isn’t always corrective or else these issues would be far easier to work through. We know visualization can be helpful, but with a mental block, visualization can be a traumatic experience as well!

In my experience, there is a difference between balking and a mental block. I believe that balking can be addressed by using skills such as the 5-second rule, visualization, relaxation skills, breathing, and positive self-talk. In situations I’ve encountered an athlete balking, their stress level is reported at a lower level (compared to the impact of a mental block) and can exercise some important mental ability to perform. While they are not performing at the desired level, they are still performing certain skills.

I work with athletes with mental blocks and it’s a very vulnerable experience; it’s emotional for the athlete, family, and coaches. It feels like all the tires have come off the race car with very little understanding of how to regain the momentum an athlete once enjoyed. I get calls from parents who deeply care about their athletes and they feel powerless to address the issue. Both balking and mental blocks impact an athlete mentally and then can be worsened by:

– Coach/athlete friction
– Inability to compete
– Embarrassment
– Teammate friction
– And family friction

I often hear, “My brain is working against me!” or “I can’t explain why I freeze!” and, lastly, “I know others have had this…but I feel alone.” Sometimes a student/athlete’s academic experience is disrupted as well.

Mental blocks are a response to a stressful, traumatic event that causes a post-traumatic stress-type response. Most athletes will report that when away from participating in the sport, they are still experiencing a high-stress level or experiencing flashbacks (being triggered by things such as watching your sport on tv or playing your sport for fun at home, or with friends). I’m currently working with athletes who have such a response as they anticipate the day they are able to return to their sport.

Our Brain is Actually Doing Its Job

It’s important to understand that our minds are designed to protect us and sports include daily activities that are challenging and risky. Understanding balking and blocking can then be quite easy to understand: when those risky events are a real or perceived threat, our minds function to protect, protect, protect! Whenever I work with an athlete with a mental block, I ALWAYS affirm that your body is taking good care of you and, simultaneously, you need support and recovery. Trying to compete with a mental block is like trying to compete with an untreated broken bone, it’s too painful and your body will protect itself, you will shut down!

Now, what is my approach to helping athletes resolve mental blocks? I approach mental blocks with this process in mind: everyone is different but, “slow and steady wins the race.” In understanding how our minds work, we’ve developed methods to calm mental blocks which help the athlete relate to the moment in a way that is less stressful. This approach separates our work from much of popular sports psychology. I’ve read, in some sports psychology, that an athlete should not show weakness and I vehemently disagree with this because it goes against being a genuine and authentic human being. We all experience weakness, and mental blocks remind us that we are all vulnerable. It’s our relationship with the experience of weakness and vulnerability that’s the issue.

Skills Never “Go Away”

During practice, athletes report “losing skills” or stress bleeding into other skills, causing a setback in other skills he/she was once able to confidently perform. I don’t believe that, due to balking or a mental block, athletes “lose” their skills. This is an important distinction to make for mental and emotional purposes. The idea that athletes “lose” something increases stress because one literally believes that their hard work has been invested for nothing. If you are balking or blocking, it will be far more compassionate to view yourself as “recovering your skills.” Skill recovery is the assumption that your body is still amazingly capable and you’re learning how to manage stress in healthier ways. We experience hope through reasonable goal-setting, and appropriate levels of exposure to stress one improvement at a time.

I often tell athletes, “I wish I had a Jedi-mind trick to help you!” All athletes respond to the process differently, but balking and mental blocks can be worked through! It takes patience and perseverance to calm balking and blocking. However, you will be a different athlete on the other side of your experience. You will be more aware of your character, emotions, and strengths; you will learn more about vulnerability, authenticity, and joy…I hope to work with you soon!

What Happens When A Season Disappears? Drug and Alcohol Issues And The Sports Shut Down

April 3, 2020 by admin Leave a Comment

By Kierstin Collins MS, LPC

With gyms, fields, pools, and competitions closing overnight athletes are left without structure, without routine, without much accountability. They are suddenly home, sleeping in, staying up late, separated from teammates and workouts. Some may be relieved for a break from grueling training or a competition year that wasn’t shaping up to be their best. Some will enjoy being a “normal” college aged kid or young adult by doing things all their peers are doing. Like drinking alcohol, the way training never allowed for. The typical barrier to partying that training provides (a week, a training cycle or a dry season) is gone and with every postponement, competition seems further and further away.

Athletes are conditioned to doing things with intensity, whether it’s on the field, in the pool or the weight room and social activities are no exception. Squishing a week’s worth of “normal” college drinking and socializing into the one night off from training each week is a common practice. To an athlete’s detriment, alcohol is shown to dehydrate the body, deteriorate muscle growth and reduce recovery in significant ways. Let’s not forget the unnecessary, often greasy meal that accompanies a night out. Most athletes will experience cumulative negative effects, but because they are still showing up to workouts and games, will think their body isn’t impacted. They will also wonder why they aren’t hitting the time, weight, or place they wanted to or were capable of in the past. All this from one night out a week. Now enter the sports shutdown. With little activities to pour all that intensity into and no workout, game, or performance in the near future to prepare for, that once a week binge easily becomes a nightly habit.

However, like the saying goes, “this too shall pass”. This quarantined world will end, sports will return, your goals will still be there, and all eyes will be on athletes maybe more than ever before. Those virtual happy hours may have seemed harmless at the time, but now bring weight gain, muscle loss, and reduced mental clarity into athletic performance, putting an athlete behind the competition. Maybe they even expose a habit that is now hard to break. Enough alcohol or drugs, combined with a genetic predisposition or mental health issue, put even the healthiest of athletes at high risk of developing an addiction. A biological disease that tricks the brain into believing it needs those substances to survive. Suddenly, sports are a mere sidekick to the urge for drinking or using drugs.

What happens now will help or hinder how the game is played later. During this time, it is imperative that athletes find a “new normal” to be their best selves when sports return. Find ways to fill your time and provide accountability to avoid these risky behaviors. Ask yourself if what you’re doing now contributes to what you want to be doing in the future.

Warning signs of substance abuse:

Increased alcohol or drug consumption
Decreased motivation or interest in activities
Isolation from teammates, friends, or family members
Difficulty completing workouts or skipping them altogether
Others around you express concern about drinking or drug use

If these stand out to you or about someone you know talk to a trusted family member, friend, or reach out to a professional to help get you and your game back on track.

A Parents Guide to the Sports Shut Down

March 19, 2020 by Robert Andrews Leave a Comment

By Robert B. Andrews MA, LMFT

The shutdown of schools and all sports programs has created quite a shock wave in the families, homes, and lives of athletes who suddenly find themselves without a sport. I have been receiving a lot of inquiries from parents seemingly lost on what to do with their athletes at home. Understandably this can be a tough transition for all family members involved.

These losses not only impact the athlete, but are systemic in nature. They effect the entire family.

I thought it timely to provide a few tips to help parents cope with this stressful time that we all find ourselves facing.

Seven Keys to a Healthy Transition

• Normalize the first week or two. Look at this like a holiday for the first week or so. Athletes suddenly find themselves at home with little to no schoolwork, no structured workouts and no competitions. Let them sleep in for a while. I see so many athletes who are sleep deprived from their rigorous schedules. The grind of training, school, homework, and competitions has left many athletes with serious sleep deprivation. I see athletes that are 40 to 60 hours a month behind in their needed sleep! And we wonder why athletes seem to struggle so much with anxiety and get overwhelmed so easily. Give them time to get caught up. You will see they will be able to better handle the curve ball they have been thrown. They will handle stress, down time, the experience of being disconnected from their sport and lack of exercise much better with adequate sleep.

• Have regular family meetings to discuss how everyone is doing, where are they doing well, where are they struggling and where they need help. Your kids will resist at first, but if you do a good job of modeling openness and vulnerability and lead a structured meeting, they will learn to value this time together. The family meetings are also good times to discuss expectations around chores, schoolwork, training and any other topic the family needs to focus their attention on.

• Help your kids create a written planner for their schoolwork and training schedules. Our athletes are used to structure. They need structure and discipline in their lives. Especially now! In this planner have them lay out their training schedule. You might ask, “what training schedule?” Find out the most important strengths they need to conserve to be ready to get back in the gym or on the court or in the pool. Some might need flexibility. Others strength and conditioning. It is time to get creative. I spoke to a gymnast the other day who committed to do an hour and fifteen minutes of stretching at 2:00 p.m. six days a week. Her mother ordered her a rug to use since they have hardwood floors. I have seen videos of kids doing conditioning work on the roofs of apartments in New York City. Go for walks, bike rides, play tennis.

• Empower them to take responsibility. There are two key traits that determine what level of development we obtain in our lives. One is the capacity to experience empathy and the other is the ability to take person responsibility for our lives. This is a great time for them to step up and learn personal responsibility and accountability. Another suggestion is to have your athlete find an “accountability partner”. This is someone that they can check in with every day to discuss how their workouts are going, if they did them or did not, and why, and if they need support or need to be challenged to stay committed to the agreement they made with themselves and others. I can guarantee you that the athletes that take responsibility for themselves mentally, emotionally, physically and spiritually will be the ones who make the best comebacks when their respective sport fires back up again.

• Connect with others. Today more than ever, we have the ability to connect with each other. Have your kids step beyond texting and set up Join Me or Vimeo groups with their friends and teammates. This will go against their nature to communicate via text, but it is critical that they learn how to reach beyond these methods of communication and make meaningful attempts to reach out in ways that they can see a smile or a laugh. They need to be able to see when a friend is upset. Connection is critical during this time. Text messaging is not enough. I have been using FaceTime, Skype or JoinMe with some of my friends on my Mac. The bigger the screen the better the connection. It is amazing how our faces light up when we see each other. It has made for a much richer conversation. I hang up filling emotionally full and connected to them. If they set up a team or group list, make sure and include EVERYONE! I have worked with far too many athletes who have been left out of group chats and text groups. They need this connection just as much as anyone else.

• Try new things to stimulate your mind, body, and emotions as a family. Try a family game night, movie night, bike rides or walks, reading time, family cookouts, or karaoke. These might get your family out of your comfort zones. This is a time we must get out of the boxes we live in mentally and emotionally. Challenge your family to get uncomfortable with new experiences.

• Expect your kids behavior to be less than perfect. They are under tremendous stress. Many have experienced profound losses. The loss of a season, connection to a team, identity, structure, meets, travel to name a few. Be mindful of this when you discipline. If things do get tough, here are a few tips to help deal with kids who don’t respond to your reminders. Some parents say that no matter what they do their kids won’t get off of their phones or video games. They just sleep and play games or are on their phones. There is a concept called “escalation of leverages”. It goes like this. If your kid won’t get off of their video games or phone, take something that they value away. Limit their data or take their phone away for a few hours a day. If that doesn’t work raise the leverage that you have on them. Take their TV out of their room for a few hours or day. Take their phone away. When they buy in to the structure that they need to hold themselves to, then the reward is that they get the data, the phone, the video controller or the TV back. Some time we have to be the wall with our kids. They won’t like it, but like I said earlier, they need structure now more then they quite possibly ever have.

I hope these tips help. It will take time and you will struggle. Keep at it. If your kids aren’t frustrated or angry at you at times, then you aren’t holding them accountable enough. These are trying times for all of us. When kids get stressed, they look for something to push up against as a way of feeling safe. If they don’t find it, they keep pushing. Some will end up getting in trouble with their behaviors. You can be that something that they push up against. It will be good for all of you and it will help them stay on track in their schoolwork and in their respective sport.

If you need help implementing these strategies feel free to contact me.

Peace and stay safe,

Robert Andrews

Cancelled Seasons and the Mental and Emotional Wellbeing of Athletes

March 19, 2020 by Robert Andrews Leave a Comment

By Robert B. Andrews MA, LMFT

The Corona Virus outbreak has sent a shock wave of anxiety and concern throughout the world of sports. Here in the United States MLB, the NBA, and the new XFL have postponed or canceled their seasons. The NCAA has cancelled March Madness. Entire seasons in gymnastics, baseball, tennis and numerous other sports have been put on hold or cancelled.

Athletes in junior high, high school and college are not going to school as we wait and see how bad this crisis gets and how long it last.

With the sudden halt of these seasons, and the lack of the structured environment that school provides, hundreds of thousands of athletes throughout the country must face a serious transition. This transition forces the athlete to face a number of key stressors and losses that could have an impact on one’s mental and emotional health and well-being.

Athletes must face and adjust to these losses:

The loss of a highly structured school and team environment.

The loss of routines and daily rituals.

The loss of identity associated with being a student/athlete.

The loss of the dreams that go with a promising season or key event.

The loss of an active lifestyle that stimulates one’s mind and body.

The loss of a highly competitive mindset in the classroom and in sport.

The loss of comradery and connection to a team.

The loss or ending of a career.

The loss of activities associated with campus life.

The loss of family centered events (games, tournaments, travel)

Uncharted Territory

Athletes don’t train for a critical event like this and the losses that come with it. The further along one is in their career the more difficult it might be to face this shut down.

Olympic hopefuls are facing the uncertainty of the Olympic games being cancelled. Years of training, conditioning, discipline, competing, mental training and overcoming injuries are now in jeopardy as the crisis at hand spreads. Altering training schedules and gearing down mentally and emotionally, if the Olympics are delayed. will take an enormous amount of mental and emotional energy.

Professional athletes are suddenly kept away from the game they love, connection to their coaches and teammates and a highly structured lifestyle.

College basketball, tennis, gymnastics and other sports have had their seasons end and dreams and goals shattered due to the NCAA tournaments and other events being cancelled.

The careers of some college seniors have harshly and unexpectedly come to an end.

At the club level in sports like gymnastics and volleyball, State, Regional and National competitions are on hold if not cancelled.

Sudden Change in Lifestyle

Along with the sudden end to a season can come a just as sudden halt to a highly structured and intense training routine. For many, workouts and training sessions have stopped. There is research
that tells us that when an athlete who is used to a very active training regiment suddenly stops training and being active, hormones and other important chemicals in the brain and body change. These changes can have a serious impact on the brain, mental and emotional states, personality, mood and behavior.

Warning Signs:

Emotional changes: Increased anxiety, frustration, sadness, grief, outburst of anger, despair, depression and hopelessness.

Personality and behavioral changes: Isolation, withdrawal, sullen or depressed. Outgoing personalities might become withdrawn and spend more time alone or in their bedrooms. Some might become quiet. Others might experience angry outburst and bouts of extreme frustration. Others might become hyper controlling in an attempt to gain control over a situation they have absolutely no control. You might see experimentation or increased use of drugs and alcohol.

This crisis could be one of the most significant transitions an athlete might face, depending on their age, level of competition, maturity and emotional intelligence.

Providing Support

Increasing our awareness about symptoms that they might exhibit as they work their way through the losses associated with the end of their respective seasons, will help us to provide the care they need.

If you are concerned about self-quarantine and social distancing, most providers are equipped to provide technologically assisted calls or sessions on the internet. These sessions can be very effective. Just make sure that your athlete is in a quiet private area, is using a tablet or computer for a larger image on the screen, has earphones on for privacy and has a pen and paper to take notes.

We will get through this and sports will return. In the meantime, let’s give our athletes the care they need as they work their way through the mental and emotional gauntlet they face.

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Learning Styles and Effective Coaching: Empowering Your Athlete To Their Full Potential

September 7, 2018 by Robert Andrews 2 Comments

Every athlete has a way of being taught and coached that ignites their passion for their respective sport. Taking the time to find out the most effective and efficient way to coach your athletes can eliminate many stressful coach/athlete interactions, and make for a more rewarding and successful journey between coach and athlete. After all, helping your athlete reach their full potential and their dreams is a journey, a process that may last years. Your coaching style plays a significant role in how this journey plays out and what each of you find at the end of this road you will travel together.

When a coach is able to reach their athletes with effective and empowering strategies for learning, athletes learn faster, acquire skills and techniques faster, reach loftier goals, and enjoy their sport more. The experience of coaching is more enjoyable and rewarding for the coach as well.

This doesn’t mean that you have to coach every athlete differently. It means that you can learn to coach using different teaching/learning styles with your whole team. This allows you to reach every athlete effectively.

I hear from many coaches who are frustrated with their athletes lack of progress. I also hear from many athletes who are frustrated with the interaction that occurs between the athlete and their coach or coaches.

In many sports there is a dynamic in place where the athlete is sent clear messages to not ask questions, voice their opinion, speak up, or challenge a coaches tone, treatment and coaching techniques. The coach coaches and the athlete trains. The relationship is usually good until frustration increases and tension begins to build.

The personalities of coach and athlete can change dramatically under this kind of stress.

When something goes wrong in training, “corrections”, or feedback are given to help the athlete get back on track and progress. Too often these corrections bypass the athletes most effective learning style and the athlete does not improve as quickly as the coach might like. The coach might become frustrated, try to implement these corrections again, in an ineffective way, and continue with this cycle of ineffective coach/athlete interaction.

Over time, more and more of the athletes energy goes into avoiding making mistakes and upsetting their coach. Coaches can begin to “put the athlete in a box” or see them as incapable or un-coachable.

Using Energy Efficiently

Mental and emotional energy is the driving force behind excellence and brilliance in sport. This energy is also critical to building confidence, passion and rock solid belief.

Effective coaching helps the athlete channel this energy into the acquisition and mastery of physical skills necessary to compete at the highest level. Physical, mental and emotional energy moves in a highly efficient and productive direction.

Ineffective coaching creates an environment where more and more of the athletes mental and emotional energy is channeled away from training and improvement. Personality can begin to change. The athlete can become passive, timid, too focused on avoiding mistakes, highly emotional, and afraid of upsetting their coach.

The more shut down the athlete becomes, the more frustrated the coach can become. This can lead to intimidating behaviors from their coach such as ridicule, shaming, yelling and ignoring the athlete. In some instances the athlete receives extreme physical punishment or can get kicked out of practice.

Four Distinctly Different Learning Styles

Every athlete utilizes a specific learning style or combination of learning styles to learn most effectively. There are four different learning styles.

Visual Learning- Show the athlete visually what you want them to learn. Visual learners learn best by seeing what it is they need to work on or improve. Their brain processes information visually. Use video, images, illustrations or show the athlete the feedback or instruction you are trying to give them.

Aural Learning- The aural learner likes to hear feedback, instruction, and correction. Tell them what you want them to learn. Make sure that they are paying attention and then give them feedback or instruction with your voice, a recording, or some other form of aural input.

Reading and Writing– This learning style prefers to read or write about the improvements or corrections they need to make. When working on skills, they learn best by receiving written feedback that they can process. They also like to write or journal as a way of learning.

Kinesthetic- This learning style likes to hear and see feedback and then go to work making the necessary changes or corrections to help anchor in effective learning. They process best by taking in feedback visually and/or aurally and then getting to work mastering the skills and corrections. Tell them what to do, show them what to do, give them something to read, and then let them get to work. They learn from making mistakes, falls, and others struggles. They need time to integrate and learn.

Formula for Success

I have worked with world class athletes in trampoline, men’s, women’s and rhythmic gymnastics, track & field, swimming, fencing, football, baseball, basketball, judo, figure skating, ballet, luge, skeleton, and other sports. These athletes come from all over the world and many different cultures. Those that have reached their full potential, in most cases, have worked with coaches who are open to teaching them in ways that maximize learning and evoke passion. This is a common denominator for success at the highest levels.

This doesn’t mean that an athlete won’t reach peak potential with ineffective coaching and teaching. We have certainly seen this in many sports where the athlete is not allowed to question a coaches style or have a voice in their own training. These athletes have become Olympic and World Champions.

I strongly believe that these athletes could have been even better if they had been coached with more effective and empowering coaching and teaching styles.

Short Circuiting the Brain

It is very frustrating for an athlete to have their learning style short circuited by a coach who only gives feedback one way. The athlete has to take in and process information, feedback and correction in a way that does not allow them to learn at the highest level.

Most of these gymnasts are strong kinesthetic learners. They learn best when their coaches show them what they want them to work on or correct, and at the same time tell them what they need to improve or correct during training. The gymnasts is then empowered to get to work integrating the feedback they have received. They work hard, struggle, fall, and are free to make mistakes. The coach gives them more visual and aural feedback and corrections. The gymnasts then goes back to work integrating and learning. Gymnasts learn skills faster, increase the difficulty and execution of their routines, and progress in their development at a much higher level.

Many coaches interrupt their gymnast learning styles by getting on them when they make mistakes or make them do conditioning if they don’t get a “correction” quickly, or the first time. In worst case scenarios, coaches kick their gymnasts off of the apparatus or out of the gym. This is incredibly unproductive. Gymnasts don’t get better sitting on the sidelines watching or skipping an apparatus that they are struggling on. It is also very embarrassing for them, and it breaks trust with their coach.

“There Are No Mistakes, Only Learning”

Kinesthetic learners learn best when they are free to make mistakes.

Many coaches punish their gymnasts for getting emotional during training. They don’t understand that their coaching style might be contributing to the gymnasts frustration. The gymnasts is afraid to make mistakes. They are afraid to upset their coach. When the brain focuses on not doing something, it is guaranteed that they will experience more struggle. And most likely make more mistakes.

I work with gymnasts whose coaches tell them “you will never improve if you don’t get corrections the first time”, “you will never make it to level 10 if you keep making mistakes”, you will never make national team if you don’t get this skill by next camp”. If the gymnasts doesn’t improve quickly, the coach becomes frustrated. These coaches don’t understand that if they create an environment where it is safe for their gymnasts to struggle, they will go far beyond their current skill level.

Kicking them off the apparatus or out of the gym, shaming them in front of their teammates and yelling at them will only increase the gymnasts upset and the coaches frustration.

These types of coaches are usually highly reactive, meaning they bypass their most effective coaching traits and go strait to negative and dysfunctional methods of coaching when things aren’t going well in the gym.

If we retain the old abusive culture, nothing will change and we will continue to experience athletes with no voice, no sense of personal power, poor interpersonal boundaries and life skills, and low self esteem.

I think it is safe to say that in gymnastics we all know where this type of coaching has gotten us.

Building a New Culture

We are in the process of building a new culture in gymnastics. It will take open minded coaches willing to ask questions, seek out information, show a willingness to learn and admit mistakes, listen to their peers and pay attention to interactions with their athletes. This open minded coach will become a better coach. Athletes will grow in confidence and belief in themselves. They will acquire skills faster and reach higher levels of success. They will show up authentically and will be free to express their unique personalities in their gymnastics.

And I believe they will achieve greater success.

What kind of coach do you want to be?