Keeping calm under a huge amount of pressure in highly competitive situations is tough, whether you are a business executive or a competitive athlete.  Athletes face pressures, high expectations of success and distractions that can affect their ability to perform. It can break their concentration, hurt their confidence and even cause them to engage in negative self-talk.

One of the most important tools is concentration. The pressure is high in competitive games and events, particularly at the highest levels such as that at the Olympics, national meets and tournaments, etc.  It’s easy to get distracted by all the pressure, demands, and action. Athletes must also know how to set appropriate goals for themselves, use imagery, control their self-talk, relax or energize themselves on command and, of course, be self-confident.

Another factor sport psychology helps athletes control is motivation. A common misconception among sports fans and the casual athlete is that athletes who don’t win simply didn’t want it badly enough. In many instances, though, motivation problems stem from over-motivation. The athletes want to win the championship or earn the gold medal so badly that “their fire is burning too hot.”  The solution is to find the optimal level of energization and stimulation. 

The Peak Performance System is ideally suited and particularly useful in the coaching and development process as applied to athletics and sports performance.  This program is based on the latest and best practices in mental conditioning techniques.  This program is designed for those individuals who seek excellence and maximization of potential in the world of athletics and sports performance.  As individuals and teams seek excellence and personal satisfaction, Peak Performance Coaching can assist in installing the Peak Performance System into a program for athletes and sports participants of all performance levels and aspirations.   

The Peak Performance System is a mental and behavioral conditioning program that educates, evaluates, and individualizes a plan for each organization, team, and athlete.  The benefits of participating in this mental conditioning program include:

• Increases an athlete’s mental and emotional capacity to learn and overcome performance challenges in the mental game.
• Maximizes athlete’s understanding of their mental qualities to improve sport performance.
• Improves practice and game routines, preparation and ongoing feedback.
• Reinforces the fundamentals of the mental game.
• Develops maximum goal-setting, motivation, enjoyment.
• Strengthens athletes’ mental capacity to handle and overcome performance setbacks and challenges.
• Decreases mental game errors and increases insight into the mental game.
• Provides an individualized mental game program and workbook.

The effective application of advanced sports and performance psychology equips athletes mentally to perform at the highest level. These mental tools and techniques include goal-setting, imagery, self-talk, relaxation and "energy optimization."

The Peak Performance System also focuses on other key mental skills, which include confidence, concentration and control over emotions.

Concentration - If the athlete lacks concentration, their athletic abilities will not be effectively or efficiently applied to the game. Mental focus on the task at hand is critical to dealing with common distractions such as anxiety, mistakes, fatigue, weather, public announcements, coaches, managers, opponents, negative thoughts etc., are blocked out effectively and become irrelevant to the game.

Confidence - Confidence is based on one's mastery of skills as well as the assurance of a positive outcome.  It includes the cognitive assessment of one's ability to affect performance results (i.e.,  from the comparison that an athlete makes between the goal and their ability). If an athlete is confident they still persevere even when things are not going as planned. They gain energy and enthusiasm, are positive in their approach and take their share of the responsibility in success and failure.

Control - is an athlete's ability to remain positive and manage their emotions in the face of adversity. A sports psychologist's help in identifying an athlete's particular set of emotion and understanding the root causes and self-talk associated with their feelings is an important stage of helping an athlete gain emotional control.

Commitment - full commitment to the sports' goal over many years integrated with and supported by other aspects of the athlete's daily life will define the athlete's performance. To quote Vince Lombardi, "Mental toughness is essential to success."

To obtain an online mental conditioning tool, click on Peak Performance eCoach and request access.

For more on Performance Psychology, go to:  The Handbook of Peak Performance.  

 Coaching for Performance Excellence focuses on:  

Performance Under Pressure

•     Emotional Resilience

•     Mental Conditioning

Attention Management

•     Concentration

•     Focus

•     Self-Awareness

•     Motivation

Energy Management

•     Time

•     Relaxation

•     Activation

Cognitive Management

•     Self-Talk

•     Confidence

•     Attitude

Team Relationship Management

•     Group Dynamics

•     Communication

Peak Performance System Installation Management

•     Transfer to Sport

•     Transfer to Career

•     Transfer to Life

Peak Performance Coaching tailors its approach to the vision and the goals that the individual establishes in conjuction and consultation with his/her coach.  

404-357-7335

To schedule a consultation with your PerformanceVertical consultant,  call 404-357-7335. 

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