A certified mental game coach at Everest Strong Coaching helps athletes improve their performance by helping our clients develop strong mental skills. By having strong mental skills, an athlete can set themselves apart from those who only focus on the physical aspects of being an athlete. Certified mental game coaches will often show athletes how to identify their strengths and mental barriers to develop methods to overcome their mental blocks to maximize their abilities.
Not only does sports psychology help you identify and deal with your issues or problems, it also helps you figure out how to achieve your most stable psychological state of mind. Our certified mental game coach can help alter how you talk to yourself and think about yourself so that you have the confidence to perform your sport both mentally and physically. Having a certified mental game coach will help you develop self-awareness, improve your pre-game prep, increase motivation, help you manage your emotions, improve your overall well-being, improve confidence, teach skills to cope with negative emotions and thoughts, sharpen concentration skills, teach relaxation skills, and help you manage any stress or anxiety.
A common misconception with a certified mental game coach is that we only help when things go wrong. However, it is important to realize that certified mental game coaches help establish a foundation of self-awareness so that the client can better regulate themselves on their own over time. So, there is no doubt how beneficial a certified mental game coach is for athletes as they move through life as employees, family members, and leaders.
Manage Stress and Boost Energy Levels
Life can sometimes be so stressful you do not even know how to cope. Luckily there are many ways you can help yourself alleviate your stress and boost your energy levels so that you can be the best version of yourself every single day. Below we have listed nine tips to help you manage your stress and find a new sense of energy.
- Control your stress.
Controlling your stress is the most effective way of saving energy. By releasing your stress through hobbies, talking to a friend, or seeing a therapist, you are setting yourself up to live a much more fulfilling life.
- Lighten your workload.
If you find yourself overwhelmed by your professional, family, and social obligations, you may need to prioritize your time and set aside things that are not as important to complete.
- Exercise is the best way to guarantee you will get a good night’s sleep. By allowing yourself to exercise, you are also increasing dopamine levels which elevate your mood.
- Try to avoid smoking.
Smoking has many health threats, but the most important is knowing how it can affect your sleep schedule. Because the nicotine in tobacco is a stimulant and will keep you up, it will make it harder for you to sleep at night. Therefore, you will feel sluggish and have lower energy levels throughout the day.
- Try not to sleep too much.
While this may seem counterintuitive, it is important not to oversleep throughout the day. By taking naps you do not necessarily need, you will probably feel more sluggish and tired than you would if you were to stay awake.
- Eat nutritional foods for energy.
While it is easy to grab on-the-go snacks, it is best to avoid food with a low glycemic index. Instead, opt for foods you know will give you energy throughout the day and leave you feeling more full of life.
- Use caffeine to your advantage.
Use caffeine to help you stay more awake and sharpen your concentration. However, be aware of its effects on your sleep schedule so that you do not stay up all night and feel sluggish throughout the day.
- Limit your alcohol consumption.
While a drink or two is okay once in a while, it is vital to ultimately limit your alcohol consumption as it is directly linked to making people feel more tired. Therefore, if you want to have energy, avoid any alcoholic beverages.
- Stay hydrated.
Staying hydrated is the most effective way to stay more energetic throughout the day and manage your stress. A lack of water can make you feel sluggish, more irritated, and less energetic. Be sure to drink enough water throughout the day so that you feel a boost of energy.
Anxiety or Energy Management
It is not uncommon for athletes to feel so much stress that it interferes with their performance, and it is not uncommon for athletes to feel unusual energy levels that also negatively affect their performance. Therefore it is imperative to manage your anxiety and energy levels to feel the most equipped to perform the task at hand. Anxiety and energy management is focused on helping athletes control their physical and mental energy. From energy levels ranging from a night of deep sleep to intense excitement, it is essential to manage the way your body handles this arousal so that you can perform at your best.
In addition, athletes can manage their performance anxiety by speaking to a certified mental game coach or sports psychologist to help them understand their thoughts and feelings. Once they do this, they can then create a plan or strategies to alter the way they deal with this anxiety to perform more effectively.
When a person is overstimulated, they may experience changes in their body that affect their performance levels. For example, the fight or flight response may increase an athlete’s heart rate, breathing patterns, and adrenaline. Therefore, it is crucial to know how to manage these arousals so they do not interfere with your athletic game. In other words, you do not want too low of arousal, and you do not want to have too high of arousal since the most optimal energy zone falls at a moderate arousal level. Because athletes experience different optical energy zones, it is best to speak to a professional to understand where you performed best and what your energy levels look like when you are at your most optimal performance.
Improve Sports Experience
Being an athlete, you probably understand the importance of raising your game and improving your abilities. The best thing you can do for your athletic career is to outperform the person you were yesterday so that you can continually get better over time. Here are some steps you can adopt to help you improve your sports experience.
- Understand who you are as an athlete.
By understanding who you are as an athlete, you will have a better idea of what you need to improve your skillset both physically and mentally. You can also speak to your certified mental game coach and get their insight to see where you can improve and focus when improving your sports experience. Once you understand your strengths and weaknesses, you will be better positioned to create the most effective training program.
- Create a plan and set your goals.
The next most important thing you must do is set goals for yourself and create a plan. Without a plan and goals, there is nothing to strive for and no way to track your progress. Take the strengths and weaknesses from step one and tailor your goals to make yourself a more well-rounded athlete. Once again, your certified mental game coach is an excellent resource in setting up a plan and helping you understand what must be done to get you on the right track.
- Condition for your needs.
No matter how physically prepared you are, you need to condition for your personal needs. Depending on your sport, you need to find the best workout plan to optimize your physical abilities for the sport at hand. For example, gymnasts will not train in the same ways baseball players will. Therefore, it is essential to find what works for you.
- Practice as much as you can.
There is a reason the phrase “practice makes perfect” is so famous. As clichéd as it sounds, there is no better way to improve your skill than to practice drills and techniques that you will use in your sport. The more comfortable you feel in these motions, the better you will perform in an actual game. Doing so will also boost your confidence and make it that much easier for you to perform at your highest abilities.
- Train individually.
Even if you play a team sport, it is vital to train individually to work on your specific needs. Try to get private time with your team’s coaches so that they can help you improve your individual game.
- Build your confidence.
Build your confidence so that you do not doubt yourself on the field. The more confidence you have in your abilities, the less stress you will be in when the time comes to perform. The more you practice your skills, the more you will replicate them in an actual game. So continue practicing to build your confidence.
- Do not undervalue your preparation.
Do not undervalue your pre-game preparation. For example, if you are on your off-season, do not take this as an opportunity to slack off. Instead, consider what you need to do next season to keep your body in its best condition and improve your own game.
- Understand the game better.
No matter how long you have played the game, there is always more to learn. The best athletes watch videos to analyze the pros, listen to coaching advice from other coaches, and even find details of their sport they never noticed before. The more you understand your sport and game, the better you will play.
Improve Exercise Experience
Anyone who has ever exercised knows how difficult it is to keep your motivation and improve your exercise experience. Therefore, it is essential to find your motivation to keep going so that even when you do not feel like exercising, you will still do so knowing the bigger picture. Below we have listed three tips to help you reach your exercise goals and improve your overall exercise experience.
- Set Goals
Setting goals is the most effective way to ensure you continue exercising over time. By having goals and a plan, you can track your progress and see how you have achieved them every day. In addition, it is essential to set outcome goals. Outcome goals essentially focus on what you will achieve at the end of your experience. By making sure these types of goals are specific, measurable, and time-bound, you set yourself up for a better chance of achieving them. It is also essential to set goals small enough to achieve the bigger picture. Smaller, more attainable goals will help you stay motivated and track your progress while also pushing you forward to the bigger goal in the end.
- Find Intrinsic Motivation
Studies have found that intrinsic motivation, compared to extrinsic motivation, is much more successful in motivating people to exercise. In other words, those who have intrinsic motivations to exercise will more likely exercise for more extended periods compared to a person who is motivated by extrinsic factors. It is also shown that those who are self-determined and are motivated from within build a foundation in which they exercise more consistently than their counterparts. More specifically, a person who enjoys exercising for how it makes them feel will be more likely to stick to it than a person who begins exercising because a doctor told them they needed to. Once you have found your intrinsic motivation, you will have a much easier time exercising consistently and, overall, improve your exercise experience.
- Find Exercises You Enjoy
While this may seem like an obvious tip, you will be surprised by how many people exercise by doing things they do not enjoy. Unfortunately for most people, this leads to giving up and falling out of their exercise routine early on in their journey. Therefore, the most effective workout is the one you enjoy. In enjoying it, you will be more likely to continue doing this exercise over time. It is also important to remember that you do not need to struggle or have a hard time at every workout. In fact, you should be doing exercises that keep you feeling energized and more motivated to do them the next day.
If you’re interested in hearing more about sports performance sessions, call our team at 1-847-778-3997.