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Sports Injuries: Throwing A Stone In A Pond

June 11, 2010 by admin Leave a Comment

My work in the world of sports performance is very rewarding and exciting. I am blessed to work with some of the best athletes in the country. I am fortunate to see them achieve tremendous highs in their careers as athletes. Unfortunately I see many of them after they have experienced devastating lows. These lows come from poor performances, or in some cases a serious sports related injury. Some of the time I see an athlete after they have suffered an injury, but often I am present when an athlete is injured. Through my trained eye I can see the impact of the injury on the athlete, and the athlete’s system.

A sports related injury happens to the athlete, but impacts many others in this system. By system I mean the support team of the athlete. Parents, grandparents, siblings, teammates, coaches, trainers, instructors, teachers, and friends are all profoundly affected by the injury.

Baseball Player DownI was at a baseball game a few weeks ago and a player was hit in the head with a fastball. He went down hard. When the pitch hit him there was a collective moan from the crowd. In an instant his coaches and trainers were around him. When they got to him he was in pretty bad shape. Most of the crowd was on their feet watching. Many had their hands on their heads hoping he was all right. His teammates gathered outside the dugout, held hands and prayed. The opposing team gathered around the pitchers mound and consoled the pitcher.

He was very upset. The batter lay motionless on home plate for about 5 minutes. When his legs began to move people began to chatter quietly. He was carted off the field on a stretcher and taken by ambulance to the emergency room. There was a loud ovation from the crowd and after the ambulance drove off play was resumed. The pitcher took a new ball from the catcher, everyone sat down again, and play resumed. Or so we think.

When something like this happens it is like taking a huge stone and throwing it into a calm pond. When the stone hits the water it makes a big splash. The waves from this splash work their way around the pond until they reach the shore. The waves continue to rock the pond until their energy is absorbed by the shore.

With a serious sports related injury the waves affect everyone in the athletes life. Imagine what it must be like for the parent of the player who was hit to see their son face down in the dirt after being hit in the head with a 90 mph fast ball. First there is the waiting, the silence, more waiting and then a transport to the hospital. Teammates, coaches, friends, girlfriends, trainers, even the opposing pitcher are all suffer the same intense reaction to the injury.

For many the waves in the pond never calm down. They keep on rocking the once still waters, the inner world of the athlete, and those in the athletes system. In one minute the athlete is strong, powerful, prepared, and the next they are on the ground wondering if they are going to live, much less play baseball again. These waves reverberate within the family members, friends, and teammates too.

I feel fortunate when I am able to treat an athlete who has suffered this type of injury. They recover and put the injury behind them. They regain confidence, return to a high level of play, and in the process of recovery become wiser, and more mature.

Parents and others in the system are profoundly affected by these types of injuries. When they sit in the stands for the

first time and watch their son or daughter get back in the batters box they are a nervous wreck. Parents have reported experiencing sweaty palms, elevated heart rates, and high levels of anxiety.

I worked with a quarterback who suffered a serious concussion. I was talking with his father minutes before his sons first game back. His father said that he had talked with the coach and that they were going to start him off very slowly with a simple play book for that game. I asked him why? He said he was still coming along and needed to come back slowly. I looked him right in the eye and said “Your son is fine now and will play a great game. Whatever is going on with you about his injury is yours to deal with now.” After a pause he said “your right, I am terrified he is going to get hurt again.”

This is a very normal response for the parent of an injured athlete. After an injury parents usually treat their injured athlete differently. They might be overly concerned, watchful, and protective. Once an athlete has returned to play and parents continue to treat them this way it can have a very negative impact on the athlete. It serves as a constant reminder that they have been injured. Nothing is spoken, but the athlete senses the tension, fear, and anxiety that is humming inside of their parents. They unconsciously feel this when they are competing.

When parents come in to see me after their son or daughter is injured it is a very powerful experience for them. To download the horrific images they carry, and rid themselves of the fear, anxiety, and trauma that lingers is transformational for them.

They are able to sit in the stands and enjoy the game and watch their athlete play at a high level again. The waves in the pond have calmed down and they are at peace.

Next time you are at a sporting event and see an injury take place look at the situation through this lens of perception. The impact on the system is profound.

Filed Under: Sports Shut Down and the Mental and Emotional Impact on Athletes Tagged With: Sports Injury, Sports Performance

Balance – Redefining Your Definition of Success

April 19, 2010 by admin Leave a Comment

Urban Meyer RetiresThe college football world was shocked this weekend when Urban Meyer the hugely successful and popular head coach of the University of Florida Gators stepped down due to health related issues.

In his press release he mentioned two things that jumped out at me. He said “I have neglected my health for years” and “I have given nearly every waking hour of my life to Florida football for the last five years.”

Urban Meyer has done an amazing job of returning Florida to the top of the college football world. In his five years at “Gator Nation” he has won two national championships and coached a Heisman Trophy winner in Tim Tebow. But his comments make me think something was seriously out of balance in his life. His body has been screaming at him for years to make changes that might have enabled him to continue coaching, created a healthier life style, and prolonged his life.

Recovery is vital to athletes and coaches alike. Creating time and engaging in activities that help our mind and body recharge and revitalize is imperative. Going for long periods of time without recovery creates incredible levels of stress. The body will do everything it can to restore balance. Pain, anxiety, headaches, and low energy, are warning signs from the body. The body is telling us that we are out of balance. That it is time to make changes. If we ignore these warning signs they intensify resulting in serious physical and mental health related issues or breakdowns.

Years ago I worked with a Doctor on his golf game. He talked about how much he loved golf but he rarely got to play because he was always working. I asked him what his definition of success was. He told me he wanted to see so many patients a week, and make so much money. I asked why family, social time, and making time to play golf were not part of his definition of success. I saw the light bulb go off over his head. He had been living in a very narrow definition of success that only included work. He was missing out on time with his wife and kids, his friends, and golf. He started taking Fridays off to play golf in the morning and be with his family the rest of the weekend. Not only did his golf game improve, but his attitude, relationships, and health improved remarkably.

Urban Meyers daughter was quoted in his press release as saying “I get my Daddy back”. I felt sad when I read this. He has been enormously successful as a head football coach and mentoring the young athletes under his care. But I wonder if he had a broader definition of success, a definition that included balancing his time and energy to take care of his own health, spend time with his family, and create social relationships that filled him up when he was empty would he have needed to step down.

Some might argue that he might not have been as successful at Florida. I know that being a head football coach on any level is demanding on time, energy, and resources. To coach at an elite program like Florida must be overwhelming on some days.

As leaders those we lead look to us as models for how to do life. By being a leader who models balance, working hard, and taking time to recharge and recover we teach those around us the power of self care, and personal integrity.

I believe Urban Meyer and others in the world of sports who “are stuck on the treadmill” can still be effective coaches and leaders by learning how to redefine their definition of success. I hope he returns to Florida to coach next season. He is a great man, a great leader, and a great coach. He is a great man, a great leader, and a great coach. He is good for college football, and the young men he leads and mentors. I hope he returns with a new definition of success.  Download a pdf version of this post

Filed Under: Sports Shut Down and the Mental and Emotional Impact on Athletes Tagged With: Balance, College Football, Gator Nation, Recovery, Robert Andrews MA, Sports Performance, Success, Tim Tebow, Urban Meyer

Now That’s Olympic Glory!

February 24, 2010 by admin Leave a Comment

Every two years I am privileged to watch the greatest athletes in the world come together for the summer and winter Olympics. For me the stories of loss, overcoming injuries, and the strength and determination of the human spirit are the highlights of the Olympics.  The human side of performance is awe inspiring, and profoundly moving to me. Every Olympics has its own inspirational stories. Dan Jansen’s story of losing his sister to cancer hours before competition, falling, and finally winning a Gold medal after years of loss and frustration still moves me to the core. Raj Bhavsar and his “never give up” spirit helped him overcome two Olympic team rejections and win a Bronze medal in Beijing. Dan O’Brien faced Olympic disaster, stepped through his fear, and became an Olympic decathlon champion.

Last night I witnessed an Olympic moment that moved me profoundly, and inspired me to want to do greater things with my life.

Joannie RochetteJoannie Rochette of Canada skated in the women’s figure skating short program less than forty eight hours after her mother, Therese died of a heart attack. Her mother passed away Sunday evening after arriving in Vancouver to watch her daughter skate for Canada in the Olympic Games.

Her performance was spectacular. The crowd at the Pacific Coliseum gave here a thunderous ovation before she started her program and were with her at every turn and toe loop of her routine.

I watched in amazement as she gracefully skated, jumped, and glided her way to a third place finish leading into Thursdays freestyle program.

It was when she finished her routine that I lost it. Joanie held her emotions in check for the entire routine and when she skated to a stop her grief exploded to the surface. Not just crying but sobbing and heaving from deep within her body. Her coach held her for moments as the crowd erupted into a prolonged celebration of her strength, courage, will, and determination. It was the perfect honoring of her mother and everything she has meant to Joannie and her life as a skater.

So why does this touch me so deeply? In my work with athletes we always talk about keeping focused, learning how to manage distractions and maintain ideal levels of pressure to perform at their best.

Athletes get worked up about college coaches being in the stands, having a big competition to attempt to make a team, making an out on their last at bat, dropping a pass, and many other sources of stress and pressure that affects their ability to maintain focus in competition. One gymnast I worked with got upset because little kids in their Mom and Me class walked by the apparatus she was training on and she got distracted.

Now let’s put this in perspective. A kid drops a pass and it is the end of the world. A bunch of toddlers walk by and an athlete freaks out and loses focus. And Joannie Rochette skates the best program of her life less than forty eight hours after her mother dies and she is skating at the Olympics!

I have worked with Olympic athletes and a big part in preparing for the Olympic games is learning how to handle the pressure that comes with participation in the biggest sporting event in the world on the biggest stage the world of sports has to offer. The pressure in an Olympic venue is intense. You can feel it when you walk into the arena.

So if Olympic pressure is off the charts, how does an athlete like Joannie skate the routine of her life with all of the distractions going on around her? Her ability to manage her emotional shock, contain her sadness, sorrow, and grief that was trying to force its way to the surface, and maintain focus and composure was a moment of Olympic Glory that I will always remember. I am sure her story will be told during future Olympic broadcast.

I will find a copy of this story and show it to the athletes I work with to inspire them and show them that the human spirit can accomplish amazing things in the face of monstrous distractions and pressure.

I believe that Joannie transcended her ego, the part of our mind that measures pressure and expectation, and skated purely from her heart and her soul. She was able to step into a pure, clear, and centered place and allow her body to flow easily and effortlessly.

She skated the best routine of her life because it didn’t matter that she was at the Olympics. It didn’t matter that she was skating before her home crowd in Canada.

All of her past failures, mistakes, injuries and upsets faded away because she was skating from what I call a “centered” place. She was centered mentally, emotional, spiritually, and physically during her routine. She was able to let go and let her heart and soul show her body how to skate freely, gracefully, and effortlessly.

When she ended her skate she stepped out of this sacred space and into the deep and conscious realization that she has lost her Mother, the understanding of what has happened over the last two days, the power of knowing she was strong enough to contain the enormity of the event and grasp the magnitude of what had just happened on the ice.

Joannie showed strength, grace, dignity, humility, power, courage, and a tremendous ability to focus. These are all of the traits present when an athlete transcends the limits of the human body and reaches a peak level of performance. If you were to asked Joannie how her performance felt I am sure she would say ’surreal”.

It was a beautiful moment – a moment of true Olympic glory.

Filed Under: Sports Shut Down and the Mental and Emotional Impact on Athletes Tagged With: Centered, Freestyle Figure Skating, Joannie Rochette, Olympic Moment, Performance Pressure, Strength and Determination

Handling Performance Pressure: Keys to Understanding Your Peak Pressure Range

November 15, 2009 by admin Leave a Comment

Raj Bhavsar, 2012 OlympicsPressure is an internal or external force that can influence performance in a negative or positive way. How you handle pressure will be a key factor in determining how well you perform on the gym floor.

Gymnastics, perhaps more than any other sport, is executed under tremendous pressure. All eyes are on the competitive gymnasts, and the higher your level of competition, the greater the levels of stress and pressure.

Level five gymnasts will not feel the same level of pressure as a gymnast in the Olympic trials feels.

External pressure comes from outside sources like coaches, parents, and specific situations in competition. Internal pressure is self induced pressure that is the by product of negative thoughts and self talk, perfectionist attitudes, and self induced stress.

Pressure itself is not a bad thing. It is a necessary ingredient to achieve peak levels of performance.

Too little pressure and you are not mentally or physically ready to perform. Too much pressure and your mind creates negative and stressful thoughts. Your body tightens up and performance is hindered.

Every athlete has an optimum level of pressure that helps them reach their peak in performance.

By gaining an understanding of this “pressure principle” you can learn how to move your mind and your body into the peak range of performance pressure.

Here is How it Works

Make an L shaped line. Number it from one to ten under the horizontal line. Number it from one to ten to the left of the vertical line.

The horizontal line measures pressure. One represents little or no pressure and ten represents tremendous pressure.

The vertical line measures performance. One represents low levels of performance, and ten represents high levels of performance.

Somewhere on that continuum is a representative level of pressure that allows you to perform at your best. Just the right level of pressure creates the highest level of performance.

For example, Raj Bhavsar has an optimum level of pressure in the seven range. This means that to perform at his best, he has to get the internal pressure he feels to a seven on the pressure/performance scale.

If he is at a two or three he does not have enough pressure to perform at his best. He is not stimulated enough to reach peak performance levels.

At a nine or ten he has too much pressure and his body tightens, his mind begins to create stressful thoughts and his performance suffers.

In the team finals of the Olympic Games in Beijing, Raj had to hit his pommel routine to help keep the U.S. men’s hopes for a bronze medal alive. Raj hit the routine, Sasha Artemev followed by hitting his now famous anchor routine and the U.S. men’s team against all odds captured the bronze.

When Raj saluted the judges the energy in the arena was electric. It was absolutely quiet, but the intensity was beyond measure. My hands were sweating, my heart was racing, and I noticed I was not breathing. Keep in mind I was only a spectator.

Raj was an Olympic gymnast being asked to hit a critical routine on the biggest stage in sports, under enormous pressure. This moment could define his career as a gymnast.

At dinner after the Olympics I asked Raj if there was anything he did to help him stay centered and focused at that moment. With millions of television viewers, the entire U.S. gymnastics community at home, and twenty thousand spectators in the National Indoor Stadium watching, how did you do it?

Raj said, “That one is easy, I found the level of stress in my body, it was a twelve. I imagined myself on the medal podium wearing an Olympic medal. I took three deep breathes to move the stress level down as low as I could get it, and I started swinging.”

Raj utilized the pressure principle to move his stress level down as much as he could. He knew the pressure was not going to go away, but he also knew that breathing calms the mind and body, and lowers pressure.

Put this tool to work in your own training and competition routines.

Practice working with the pressure principle. See it in your mind. Visualize the graph and identifying your optimum level of pressure.

Begin to create awareness of this concept by working with mental imagery and breathing to move your pressure level to just the right place.

Filed Under: Sports Shut Down and the Mental and Emotional Impact on Athletes Tagged With: Competition, Gymnastics, Peak Performance, Performance Pressure, Pressure, Pressure Principal, Sports Performance, Stress

Energizing the Mind and Body: Keys to Obtaining Peak Energy Levels and Mental Focus

November 15, 2009 by admin Leave a Comment

Gymnastics Alicia Sacramone practices on Balance BeamAs a sports performance consultant I am keenly aware of the power the mind has on gymnastics performance. I am also aware that physical endurance is vital to competing at your best.

When a gymnast understands the connection between mind and body and integrates this concept into training, scores will increase significantly. Where your mind leads the body follows. What you see in your mind and think about will show up in the way your body performs on the floor.

There are a few key things to consider leading into a competition that will help you to show up for your meet with a clear, fresh mind, and plenty of energy to perform at your best.

By integrating these pre meet rituals you can enhance energy and power, and compete with a clear, fresh mind.

Get plenty of rest the night before the meet.

Many gymnasts have a habit of staying up late. I think this starts early when young gymnast get home from the gym late at night and then eat dinner and stay up late working on homework. They become conditioned to staying up late, and eating late. Get to bed early and give your mind and body time to rest.

Do not spend a lot of time on brain intensive activities.

I won’t win over many young gymnasts with this one but stay away from the television, the computer, and video games as much as possible the night before a meet.  This doesn’t mean stay away completely, but be reasonable with the amount of time you spend in these activities. These are activities that require a tremendous amount of energy from the brain. Spending too much time on these types of activities will create brain fatigue and will affect performance.

Don’t eat after 7:00 p.m. the night before a meet.

Digesting food requires more energy than any other bodily function. If you eat late, your body is burning energy and working all night long to digest that meal. Eat early if possible. Your body will have the meal digested before you go to bed. Your body will have only one task at night, to recharge your energy system. You will wake up feeling refreshed and ready to compete.

Eat low stress foods at night.

Low stress foods are foods that are easily digested. Chicken, fish, cooked vegetables, and light pastas are examples of low stress foods. Red meat, pork, and heavy fat dishes are high stress foods. High stress foods take more energy to digest causing your body to work hard at night to digest the meal.

Give yourself plenty of time in the morning to prepare for the meet.

One of the most stressful things a gymnast can do is rush to the gym late. This can throw off the whole day and lead to tremendous increases in stress and pressure. Get up early enough to allow for a slow, comfortable pace the morning of the meet. Try to arrive a half hour before your warm up even begins. This ease in pace will carry over into the days competition.

Eat a good breakfast.

Eat a balanced breakfast the morning of the meet. This breakfast should include fruit, and some source of protein like a smoothie, eggs or whole grain toast with peanut butter. This will give the body plenty of fuel to break down over time and will not cause a spike in blood sugars. I don’t recommend eating a high sugar breakfast in the morning.

Eat during the meet.

I am amazed at how many gymnasts don’t eat during the competition. Many gymnasts have a fear of feeling heavy the day of competition so they don’t eat during a meet. If you eat breakfast at 7:00 a.m., leave the house and arrive at the gym early for a 9:00 a.m. warm up you won’t eat again until lunch time. That is too long to go without putting more fuel in the body. Towards the end of the meet your energy level and brain power will begin to drop off. Eat small bites of energy bars, bananas, apples or other easy to digest energy sources during the meet and sip low sugar energy drinks. Your energy will stay consistent and your mind will stay focused on your routines during the entire meet.

Each of these suggestions will have a positive impact on performance. When utilized together you can expect more energy and a clearer sharper mind. When the body and mind feel right at the same time we reach peaks in self confidence. It is the confident gymnasts who are usually on the medal podium at the end of the meet.  Download a pdf version of this post

Filed Under: Sports Shut Down and the Mental and Emotional Impact on Athletes Tagged With: Gymnastics Performance, Mental Focus, Mind and Body, Peak Energy Levels, Physical Endurance, Robert Andrews MA, Sports Performance

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

A Parents Guide to the Sports Shut Down

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stevemagnessSteve Magness@stevemagness·
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Distance coaches shouldn't weigh athletes.

The 'data' coming in doesn't actually tell you much worthwhile and it isn't worth the potential psychological harm or message that comes from it.

Still astonishes me how frequently this occurs in the college setting.

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Talk about Peak Performance! Go team #SpaceEx #Splashdown

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Laurie Hernandez on Twitter: "this is heart breaking. sending Catherine lots of love - i hope she knows her bravery in sharing her story doesn’t go unnoticed." / Twitter

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this is heart breaking. sending Catherine lots of love - i hope she knows her bravery in sharing her story doesn’t go unnoticed. https://twitter.com/itvnews/status/1280195998732759040

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Parents Guide to the Sports Shut Down https://tinssp.com/a-parents-guide-to-the-sports-shut-down/

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The mental game of Olympic Champions. http://www.championsmentaledge.com

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