“Self Talk” Giving You Wings To Fly!

Self-Talk: Managing What you Say to Yourself Can Give you Wings to Fly!

Thanks to  Guest Contributor Dr. James Bauman for sharing this insightful and helpful article to help your youth athlete be the best he can be.

Everyone has there own way and place. In our house we have a room that is the quite ,reading praying room. It’s the place that I mostly  but sometimes , Lauren and Henry go to think and prayer in quite and peacfulness.

“Self Talk” Wings to fly

Dr. Jim Bauman

Self-talk includes all random and/or purposeful thoughts that run through our head…all the things we say quietly to ourselves and even those we say out loud.  Self-talk can be positive…it can encourage us to action…it can tell us what and where to focus…it can motivate us (”I can do it!”).  And, if channeled in the right direction, it can result in countless other benefits.  Unfortunately, when self-talk is left untrained, it often becomes negative (”I just suck!”  “No way can I do that!”).  When self-talk is negative, in most cases, it probably hurts our performance.

COMMON SELF-TALK ERRORS (see if any apply to you)

Focusing on the past or the future: “I can’t believe I just missed that simple move” (past) or “Now I have to be perfect to win” (future).  Not letting go of a mistake or “poor” performance takes our thoughts and focus away from where they need to be - on the present!  Physiologically and bio-mechanically these past, present, and future self-conversations clutter up the connection between body and mind.  Our body functions in the present only…so our thoughts must align with that time zone (not the past or future).  This kind of self-talk often evolves into a string of errors…keep the string short…how?  Competing is about RIGHT NOW…and that is where our thoughts belong…RIGHT HERE and RIGHT NOW.

Focusing on weaknesses during competition: “I am the most inexperienced athlete here” or “I’ve never beat him/her before” or “I should have trained harder”.  We can agree that it is necessary to work on skills that aren’t currently assessed/perceived as strengths…but, we do that only during training.  During competition, dwelling on skills or shortcomings that we may still need to improve will immediately reduce our confidence and concentration on the task at hand.  Competition is a time when we occupy our thoughts with being technically and tactically as good as we can be, at this moment and staying with your game plan.  If you are 80% of where you think you can or should be athletically, then give 100% of that 80%.  Trying to make it more will simply cause the opposite effect.

Focusing on “ultimatum” outcomes:  “I must win” or “I have to finish in the top 3″ or “I have to beat him/her”.   Make no mistake, in sport, like any business…there is something at “stake”!  However, the relationship between what is at stake and how important that is to you is most clearly found in “how healthy your perspective is about why you compete.”  No doubt, every business must be profitable to stay in business, but if profit is the bottom line or the reason you are in the business…profits will be hard to come by and lean in many of the years you compete.  Truly understand and revisit the real reasons that you compete.  If it is only about winning…you will always be one step, one stroke, one point, or one measurement behind those who understand this relationship.   Focusing on the end product takes us out of the moment (see past or future above) and negatively effects our performance.  When you focus on the process…the outcome (”profit” or success) will take care of itself.  Focus on the outcome and the road just gets rougher.

Focusing on uncontrollable factors:  “I don’t like this track” or “The weather is really bad today” or “I hate these delays”.  Thoughts such as these are simply a waste of our precious emotional energy.  Factors out of our control are just that…out of our control.  We really only have control over what we do…and that is your job…manage yourself and do your job!   No matter how much we complain about the course, weather, delays, equipment, wax, bib number, etc…it doesn’t change anything except your attitude and energy level.  Expect things to not be perfect…that is the business of performance and life…don’t expect anything more.  Get over it and get back in the moment.

Demanding “Purfecshun” from ourselves: “I have to have a perfect race” or “I have to go exactly the right splits” or “I have to look perfect”.  Sport is about pursuing perfection.  But, that is all we can really do…pursue it…we can approximate perfection.  That is why every sport has the “built-in” flexibility of not being perfect.  The size of a hoop is bigger than the basketball, a golf cup is bigger than the golf ball, etc.  Striving for perfection is a great attitude, demanding it is not!  Just demand that you strive for it.

Black and white thinking:  “My performance is either great or terrible” or “I succeed or I fail” or “They love me or they hate me”.  In reality, most of your performances are somewhere between your worst and your best.  The more you compete, the more they slide toward the best on this continuum.  Be realistic about your training and competitive performances.  Allow yourself to have a true picture of your performance.  Most athletes have had performances where they have “won” but weren’t really very satisfied with their performance, as well as performances where they did not win, but felt very good about their performance.  In the end, how you performed and the actual outcome…don’t always match up.  You be the judge of your performance, rather than fall into the trap of only listening to others or the media.

JBauman, PhD - GravityPerformance - 8/05

***************************

About Dr. James Bauman

In his 10^thyear as the full-time Sport Psychologist for the US Olympic Committee working out of the Olympic Training Center in San Diego, CA.  He provides ongoing and elite performance consultation for Summer and Winter Olympic athletes, teams, Olympic and International coaches, and individual Para-Olympic athletes.  Specifically, he has  worked directly with a hundreds of athletes who have competed and medaled in  three Winter Olympic Games (Nagano, Salt Lake City, Torino), five Summer Olympic Games (Barcelona, Atlanta, Sydney, Athens, Beijing), as well as National Championships, Pan-American Games, Goodwill Games,  World University Games,  World Cups, and World Championships. Currently working with athletes and teams preparing for the 2010 Games in Vancouver, Canada.

His expertise and emphasis is in sport and human performance with athletes, coaches, entertainers, performing arts, and businesses.  To date, I have worked with more than 60 different sports from the youth to the highest national and international competitive levels, as well as multiple entertainers, stage performers, and businesses.

A member of   the American Psychological Association and the International Society of Sport Psychology.  For more than 19 years of providing applied sport and human performance services, on a daily basis, over the widest possible range of athletes, sports, and competitions.

N. James Bauman, Ph.D.

619-307-0775

gravityperformance.biz       

Related posts:

1. Pre-Mentality
2. So What’s The Difference?
3. Rakim Coyle Throws Like He Means It….
4. Something New At TrackMom.com
5. Angela Williams A Youth Track & Field Icon