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Category: Performance Anxiety

Beating the Odds Against Chronic Injury

It was a chilly October night in downtown Boston. I looked around as I walked onto the field for one last time. The leaves on the trees ruffled as the cool crisp air blew through them. The lights of the scoreboard caught my eye as I read off the names of my teammates as they appeared. I looked back and saw my teammates walking behind me listening to their music, laughing, and smiling. Across the field, our bench was filled with posters with the seniors’ names on them and other decorations. I caught myself reminiscing on all I had overcome to get to this point in my soccer career. I thought to myself, “I really made it against all odds.”   As a child, I, like so many others, had big dreams of becoming a professional soccer player. I wanted to be the next Mia Hamm; I was a good athlete that might have been able to make it if not for my unfortunate circumstances. Even...

Mentality Makes the Difference

As a kid who grew up in Mason, Ohio, I have always eagerly and impatiently waited for the month of August to approach — a time of year when the Cincinnati suburb fills with energy and excitement as the world’s top tennis professionals flock to the area for the ATP World Tour event. I have had the privilege of watching these elite athletes perform on court for numerous years at the Western and Southern Open tournament, which is hosted within just a five-mile radius of my house. As a young, novice tennis player sitting in the stands, I remember watching in awe hoping to acquire their skills, strokes, and strategy — it was not until my more recent years that I realized it was actually their mentality that I should have been striving for.   Every sport has its unique physical challenges, but there is one challenge that all athletes face: the mental game of sports. This sports psychology component is critical,...

How Modern Neuroscience Research Can Help Athletes Perform Under Pressure

As athletes, we’ve all experienced a high-pressure situation at some point in our careers. For some, the stress of the situation has no effect on their performance. But for most people, these situations can lead to athletes choking under the pressure. One type of situation that specifically leads to athletes choking is when there is a significant amount of time leading up to a routine play, shot, or throw that gives the athlete time to think. It may be a birdie putt to stay alive in a golf match, a serve on game point, or maybe a game-winning field goal attempt after the other coach attempted to ice your kicker with a time out.  Whatever the sport, there are always going to be situations where things slow down and you can start to think about the upcoming situation.  Time to think, you may say, is a good thing to have. The pre...