Sport Psychology Tactics - Athletes, Big Picture Concepts & The Reality Of Time
About the Author
Ben Foodman is a licensed psychotherapist & performance specialist. He owns his private practice located in Charlotte North Carolina where he specializes in working with athletes to help them overcome mental blocks (the yips), PTSD, ADD / ADHD and achieve flow states through the techniques of Brainspotting & Neurofeedback. If you are interested in services, use the link here! Enjoy the article below!
Athletes & The Negative Consequences On Single Performance Over Focus
Whenever I am working with athletes on mental health issues or psychological performance enhancement, one of the most common misconceptions that athletes report to me is their perception of time spent in their sport. Oftentimes athletes focus on the wrong aspects of how much time they actually have to experience their sport versus how much they don’t. This often leads to athletes worrying about trivial matters and not big picture issues.
I recently read a blog post written by Tim Urban, that I believe all athletes would benefit from. It’s my belief that if we truly understood that an athlete’s career in sports is VERY short, we might stop worrying about things that are not important in the grand scheme of things. PLEASE use the link below and read the post by Wait But Why!
Note To Reader:
If you are an athlete reading this segment of the TRAINING REPORT, hopefully this content was helpful! I put the Training Report together because I felt like many of the discussions on issues such as the Yips/mental blocks, strength training & other subject matter on athlete performance concepts were really missing the mark on these ideas (e.g. how trauma is the direct cause of the Yips). If you are interested in learning more, make sure to subscribe below for when I put out new content on issues related to sport psychology & athlete performance! Also, if you are looking to work with a mental performance specialist, you are in the right place! USE THIS LINK to reach out to me to see if my services are the right fit for your goals!
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Check Out The Previous Training Reports!
When golfers go to work with sport psychologists, they are trying to fix what is commonly referred to as the golf yips. For this issue of the Training report I want to explore the neuroscience behind this issue and what golfers can do to fix this problem…
Athletes need advanced recovery methods if they are going to keep up with the competition and obstacles associated with sports. Because Float Tanks are becoming a popular tool that helps athletes with these challenges, I wanted to use this issue of the Training Report to review the science behind float tanks…
When athletes work with Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialists (CSCS), their goals will usually match what their sport demands are. For this issue of the Training Report, I want to discuss one area of training that all athletes focus on which is building muscle mass, AKA hypertrophy…
Some athletes like NASCAR and Formula 1 drivers will work with sport psychologists to do biofeedback training. While this intervention is used to help athletes increase calm mental states, there are other applications that may be more important for racecar drivers and sport psychologists to consider…
Athletes experience conflict when coaches tell them to be ‘more aggressive’ yet society at large looks down at the behaviors associated with aggression and discourages exploring this emotion. For this issue of the Training Report I want to review how athletes can tap into aggression in ways that are both therapeutic while also enhancing performance…
When athletes get sick, there is a significant debate amongst exercise science professionals on whether athletes should rest or train through the cold. For this issue of the Training Report I want to review Precision Nutrition recommendations on this topic…
If you are a psychotherapist, sport psychologist or healing practitioner interested in receiving Brainspotting training, check out the information in this issue of the Training Report to learn more…
When therapist are trying to decide if they are going to receive additional training, they need look no further than pursuing Brainspotting certification. Therapists should also consider becoming more specialized working with athletes too. For this issue of the Training Report, I explore why they should evaluate these two factors into professional advancement…
When AASP CMPC candidates choose mentors, one attribute they need to consider is how knowledgeable is the mentor when it comes to marketing. For this issue of the Training Report I want to provide an introduction as to how I am different from my peers on this issue…
Many athletes struggle with depression but are often told by sport psychologists that this is a mental health issue and not a performance issue. For this issue of the Training Report I want to explore what depression is and how seeking mental health treatment is part of the performance enhancement process…
NASCAR athletes and professional racecar drivers in motor sports experience intense physical, psychological and sociological pressure that can create the Yips. For this issue of the Training Report I want to talk about how the Yips affects drivers and what they can do to overcome this issue and ‘get out of their head’…
Industrial and Organizational psychologists are frequently tasked with helping teams in athletics and the private sector create better problem solving mechanisms to enhance their productivity. For this issue of the Training Report I want to review some of these strategies, specifically those that can enhance creativity…
Endurance athletes have begun to rely more and more on state of the art strength & conditioning programs to help them peak at the right time for competitions. For this issue of the Training Report I want to review some of the exercise science behind endurance athlete periodization strategies…
Many athletes suffer in silence dealing with anxiety and panic attacks. Because the field of sport psychology has largely failed to establish the connection between mental health issues and sports performance, I want to take the time to review how seeking assistance for these issues will enhance performance outcomes…
When American football players go through physical therapy to recover from a sports injury, they will often report symptoms of muscle guarding during and post recovery. For this issue of the Training Report I want to review why muscle guarding can be a trauma response…
Sometimes the busy schedules that athletes have can make it difficult to maintain nutrition and fitness demands for their sport. For this issue of the Training Report I want to review a Precision Nutrition infographic that provides strategies on how to deal with these issues…
Athletes will often seek services from sport psychologists to overcome PTSD and sports trauma. For this issue of the Training Report I want to review what psychological trauma looks like in sports and how sport psychologists can actually help athletes with this issue by using Brainspotting…
Oftentimes, strength & conditioning coaches underestimate how human psychology impacts physical performance. For this issue of the Training Report I want to review the psychology behind Olympic Weightlifting…
Actors, musicians, dancers and other professionals in the performing arts are susceptible to a common issue that also plagues athletes: mental blocks (AKA The Yips). For this issue of the Training Report I want to review how mental blocks affect this performance population…
Athletes sometimes have nuanced questions about nutrition performance selections. Because nutrition is a complex subject, I like to refer athletes to Precision Nutrition for high quality nutrition science questions. This Training Report provides an infographic on nutrition strategies…
Athletes will inevitably experience traumatic moments in sports such as injuries, sports humiliations, and conflict with others. Because this is a general feature of sports performance participation, athletes need to use trauma-informed psychotherapy help them deal with these issues…
Most athletes don’t put much thought into how they can or why they should maximize on their sleep performance. But new emerging neuroscience research shows us that there is a direct connection to sleep performance and sport performance outcomes…
Sometimes athletes will have busy schedules that actually prevent them from staying in shape for their performances. Precision Nutrition has created this infographic with strategies that all athletes can use to stay in shape when they are busy…
Olympic-style weightlifting athletes will occasionally experience mental blocks commonly known as the Yips. For this issue of the Training Report I want to review what the Yips looks like in Olympic Weightlifting and what can be done to solve this issue…
Sometimes athletes are under the false impression that they need to spend excessive amounts of money to eat healthy. For this issue of the Training Report, we will review a Precision Nutrition infographic that provides strategies for eating healthy on a budget…
When athletes are focused on their strength & conditioning, there are different approaches they can use. For this Training Report I want to focus on Prehab-style approaches that emphasize core training development and the benefits that come with these exercises…
When athletes go to work with sport psychologists, sometime they will try to address issues such as burnout or the Yips. However it can be difficult to tell the difference. This Training Report will explore the difference between the two and what athletes can do…
When golfers experience the Yips (AKA mental blocks), they will seek the services of AASP CMPCs and sport psychologists. However, many of these athletes are beginning to discover the power of Brainspotting and how it can help with the Yips…
When Major League Baseball players work with sport psychologists they are usually trying to clear mental blocks. Recently, there has been a increasing interest amongst these athletes at using Brainspotting to help players deal with mental blocks (AKA the Yips)…
Equestrian athletes face many psychological challenges in different events such as hunter jumper or dressage. Once common psychological issues these athletes face are mental blocks (e.g. flight, fight, freeze). This Training Report explores what mental blocks are and how Brainspotting can help clear this issue…
LCSW, Performance Consultant