Mental Training Program Everyone has a favorite pastime/sport activity that they cannot get enough of. However, sometimes the pressure of performing in front of an audience or peers can get the best of you. For example, take my client Tommy Lipscomb. Tommy approached a few months ago about an issue he was having during his games in varsity basketball. He told me that he was having trouble concentrating while shooting his free throws because of the audience noise during his shots. This noise was causing poor Tommy to miss his free throws and consequently lose his self-confidence. Afterwards, his performance would then decline the rest of the game and he would then ride the bench. I have developed a mental training program that involves using imagery to work on Tommy’s concentration and ways to boost his self-confidence. The training program will consist of four weeks, each week will work with Tommy on different subjects/skills in order to help him regain his self-confidence and concentration. Hopefully by the end of the program Tommy will be able to pick up on some of the skills I will teach him. He shall then be able to use these skills during practice, his game, and throughout his daily life to not only improve his mood, but regain his confidence and earn his spot back on the varsity basketball team in time for playoffs. In the first week of this program I will meet with Tommy every day during his lunch period for twenty minutes and discuss confidence and imagery. On the first day, we will discuss what exactly confidence is and how it can impact you. In order to remain confident, you need to show it, think it, and breathe it. Instructing him that for the next twenty-four hours I want him to be one-hundred percent confident in everything he does. He needs to keep his head up, shoulders back, and have good posture not only in practice, but in everything he does. Always remember that a positive attitude is essential for reaching your potential. On the second day, I will discuss how he feels about his confidence levels and help him with any questions he will have. The third day is when Tommy and I will move onto Imagery. I will teach him about imagery and all the benefits it has. Imagery can increase your awareness during games, contribute to faster decision making, and improve execution of individual performance. Tommy too can achieve these benefits, for example by imagining himself remaining compose and confident on his next step or play when missing a free throw. I will also instruct him to try imagining himself executing a perfect free throw shot every single time before he lines up to take his actual shot. Then again on the fourth day I will review all these steps and answer any questions that Tommy may have. Now, once Tommy and I have completed the first week of the program and he has learned about acting confident and using imagery, it is time to move onto phase two which is optimizing his performance/training. Moving onto the second week of the mental training program, I will instruct
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Not only will he be working on staying confident constantly throughout the day/during practice, but I him to use imagery during his regular practice with his team. For example, if during practice, Tommy messes up a play I want him to use imagery to imagine himself staying confident and nailing the play on his next go around. On top of this, I will instruct Tommy to spend thirty minutes on three separate occasions to use his imagery skills to work on his free throws. As I said before, I want Tommy to imagine himself perfectly executing a free throw every single time before he lines up to take his shot. While also using self-talk throughout the session by saying things like, “You can do this Tommy” and “I believe I can nail this free throw.” Tommy and I will only be meeting this once at the beginning of the week, this is because he needs to learn these skills on his own as I will not be with him during game times. After the second week of the training program is over, we will then move onto phase three which is our focus on performance
Not only will he be working on staying confident constantly throughout the day/during practice, but I him to use imagery during his regular practice with his team. For example, if during practice, Tommy messes up a play I want him to use imagery to imagine himself staying confident and nailing the play on his next go around. On top of this, I will instruct Tommy to spend thirty minutes on three separate occasions to use his imagery skills to work on his free throws. As I said before, I want Tommy to imagine himself perfectly executing a free throw every single time before he lines up to take his shot. While also using self-talk throughout the session by saying things like, “You can do this Tommy” and “I believe I can nail this free throw.” Tommy and I will only be meeting this once at the beginning of the week, this is because he needs to learn these skills on his own as I will not be with him during game times. After the second week of the training program is over, we will then move onto phase three which is our focus on performance