Category: Focus

A New Start: Being Your Best During Tryout Week

Exciting opportunities. An unpainted script. A new start.  Whether it be this transition into the winter sport season or any other time of the year, the dawning of a new season brings a plethora of excitement, anticipation…and nerves, particularly for tryout week.  Whether a team or organization is cut or no-cut, the first week of practice means that athletes  will receive a decision at the end of the week based on performance and evaluation of coaches.  All athletes strive to be their best during tryout week, yet internal expectations, the pressure of being watched/judged, and fear of the worst often prevent them to.  It doesn’t matter whether an athlete is a returning star or a bubble player trying to make the roster, harnessing the mental side of sport can help an athlete be th...

ADHD in Athletes: What We See, What to Do

It’s no secret that athletes diagnosed with Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) can still reach the top of the athletic pyramid in today’s world.  Just look at the successes of Olympians and outspoken mental health advocates Simone Biles and Michael Phelps.  In fact, there’s a strong correlation between athletics and ADHD…yet many athletes with ADHD don’t actually know that they have it. Sport can serve as an incredible vehicle for humans with ADHD, and getting tested and receiving a diagnosis is the first step towards creating a blueprint for success in sport and life. 

The Correlation

The strong correlation between ADHD and sport may sound puzzling, but in reality it makes perfect sense.  Read Full Article

It Doesn’t Take a Lifetime

Sport Psychology can help an athlete transcend from good to great in both sport and life for a lifetime, but it doesn’t take a lifetime for an athlete to use the skills learned from sport psychology to improve.  In fact, many athletes notice a difference after just a few sessions.  The before-and-after portraits of sport psychology success stories can conjure the perception that these mental skills apply only to performances years down the road.  Quite the opposite is true.  While athletes have goals in the near and distant term, sport psychology sessions target tangible skills that athletes are encouraged to rehearse quickly, often as soon as the next practice, to improve performance.  The accumulation of these skills can indeed take time, but the objective of each session, and each skill, is to elevate performance and mental wellness in the here and now.

Charting the Course Read Full Article