Sport Psychology Tactics - Volt Athletics & Motivation
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, Sport Psychology & Motivation
Staying motivated through rough patches in training is something everyone deals with regardless if you are a collegiate athlete, professional athlete, or just a casual weekend warrior. Sport psychologists and mental performance coaches are constantly on the lookout to find the best techniques and strategies to help their clients maintain and enhance their motivation
So in the spirit of trying to help everyone find strategies they can lean on during difficult moments in life, I recently wrote about sport psychology tactics in motivation for Volt Athletics, which is one of the premier online training platforms available. Go ahead and use the link below to read my post on their Human Performance Blog!
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!
Sport psychologists & mental performance consultants are constantly looking for new interventions to help athletes improve their mental performance. For this Training Report I am going to explore how Neurofeedback can help athletes create flow states…
Athletes, coaches & sport psychologists are constantly looking for ways to speed up recovery & increase performance outcomes. For this Training Report I want to review how Sensory Deprivation Tanks can help elite performers achieve those goals…
Combat sport athletes may be involved in one of the most grueling forms of competition. There is no question that these types of repetitive stress tests can shorten a combat-sport athlete’s career. For this Training Report I want to discuss approaches these performers can use to enhance their career longevity…
Back in January of 2020, I was afforded a rare opportunity to observe flight operations aboard the USS Nimitz. This was an invaluable experience to be able to watch some of the world’s most elite tactical athletes prepare for their ‘sport’. For this issue of the Training Report, I want to discuss the sport psychology lesson on being process focused and how I saw this on my trip…
In my work with athletes, a common issue that arises is that athletes have trouble understanding why they perform so well in practice, but cannot get those same psychological skills to translate towards competition. We will explore these concepts in this issue of the Training Report…
When athletes go to work with sport psychologists, often times they are looking for ways to deal with anxiety in sports. For this Training Report I want to discuss why athletes need to address anxiety first before working on mental toughness training…
When athletes come to work with me, they are usually seeking my services to either overcome a mental block or find unique ways to enhance their psychological performance. For this Training Report, I wanted to provide information on imagery, and how this simple approach can yield powerful results…
When athletes study the traits of their successful counterparts within their field of performance, they are doing so with the hopes of replicating their success. For this Training Report I want to take the time to explore psychological characteristics of elite golf athletes…
Ice Baths are becoming a popular sport psychology tactic for athletes. For this Training Report I am going to review the science behind ice baths for athletes and why this type of process can help athletes improve their mental performance through body recovery…
Many athletes seek the services of sport psychologists to help manage their anxiety. One reason anxiety levels are so high in athletes is due to their perception of time. For this Training Report, Ben has linked an article that illustrates this issue…
NASCAR drivers have psychological features that are required to be successful in their sport. But there are also mental characteristics that have universal application. For this Training Report I am going to discuss what those features are and how they can create mental flow states…
Many golfers experience mental blocks during competition and performance. There is still a lot of misinformation on this topic and how golfers can fix this issue. For this Training Report, I want to explore how golfers can efficiently work through mental blocks (aka the yips) and create flow states…
When athletes experience sport-related injuries, they are often shuttled through an entire industry that is exclusively focused on providing only physical rehabilitation services with no consideration for the psychological impact on elite performers. For today’s Training Report I want to review the neuroscience behind sport injuries, the interplay between the mind and body, and how Brainspotting can effectively treat these issues…
When athletes consult with sport psychologists and mental performance consultants, they are usually encouraged to use mainstream sport psychology approaches such as imagery, deep breathing, goal setting, etc. While these approaches can be very helpful for some individuals, there are still a plethora of techniques available that are underutilized. I recently wrote about a new technique where athletes can use their eyes to beat mental blocks…
I have found in my work with elite athletes that one area where athletes need to significantly improve in skill development is through energy management capabilities. For this Training Report I want to discuss why athletes need to invest more time into developing their energy management skills and how they can do this through different strategies such as coffee naps…
Traditional sport psychology approaches such as cognitive behavioral therapy & motivational interviewing are incredibly outdated when we consider the new resources that are available within the sport psychology space. For this Training Report I will cover one of these new resources which is called Neurofeedback. This technique incorporates the use of unique computer hardware-software applications that can measure brainwave activity…
Whether I am working with musicians in Nashville, or other artists within the field of music performance, one of the most common issues that I am sought after is how to help these types of artists deal with mental blocks. For this Training Report I want to discuss the neuroscience of mental blocks for musicians and common mental blocks that are experienced within the musical performance population…
Sport psychologists, mental performance specialists & other experts within the field of human performance have begun to utilize bilateral stimulation to help athletes achieve peak psychological performance. For this Training report, I am going to discuss one form of bilateral stimulation which is known as 8D audio, and explore how elite performers can benefit from using this tool…
Through my work with endurance athletes, I have seen firsthand what has helped them succeed at the highest level of their craft. Interestingly, when working specifically with this population I’ve noticed that there are very distinct yet common mental characteristics that these individuals utilize to help them achieve their level of success. I recently wrote about these athlete traits for Tailwind Nutrition…
An elite level athlete preparing to compete at the Olympics recognizes that they need to be just as committed to training their mind as their body. For this edition of the Training Report, we will discuss sport psychology tactics that Olympians & Paralympians frequently use to enhance their psychological performance during training and sport competition.
One area I believe cycling athletes should focus their mental training on is overcoming mental blocks. Through my work as a performance coach and psychotherapist, this is the most common issue athletes seek consultation for and is arguably one of the most complex problems to work through within the field of sport psychology. For this Training Report I will focus on strategies that can help cycling athletes train through this issue…
Elite performers and athletes recognize that sleep is a vital part of their performance, but may not necessarily understand ‘the why’ or how sleep quality can have such a significant impact on their performance. For this Training Report, I want to focus on exploring the science of sleep, why sleep is so important for elite performers and athletes, and how to develop a routine to potentially enhance your sleep performance…
In Baseball, many pitchers are referred to sport psychologists because they are often susceptible to what is known as The Yips. The Yips is a psychological phenomena where baseball players randomly lose their ability to execute standard sport performance movements despite being physically healthy. For this Training Report I will review the neuropsychology behind the Yips & promising treatment interventions that have shown to be highly effective…
Understanding why you chose to be involved with your given sport will help you get through the rough patches in competition. When things become overwhelming it can be easy to forget these foundational reasons and before you know it, you may not even be sure why you are continuing to grind through the hard work. I recently discussed this in an article I wrote for Tailwind Nutrition.
Top performers enter flow states at will, not by accident. Unfortunately, I find that many athletes are under the impression that it is a matter of luck being able to experience a ‘flow state’. Fortunately, there are many techniques within the field of sport psychology that can help athletes enhance their access to this state of mind. I recently wrote an article for Training Peaks discussing how a certain type of deep breathing can actually slow down an ‘over-active’ mind during high pressure situations.
Many people have the misconception that a one rep max only requires brute strength. Experience has taught me that successfully completing a one rep max is a process that involves precision and focus. I recently wrote an article for Volt Athletics exploring how athletes can use imagery to help enhance their experience and performance during a one rep max.
The field of sport psychology has developed many cutting edge techniques that have been used to help athletes overcome psychological issues during sport performance. Biofeedback, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, & recovery monitoring devices such as WHOOP have helped athletes improve sport performance. However, Brainspotting is a new clinical intervention that is getting ready to take the sport psychology field by storm…
When athletes and coaches begin planning for how they will train over the course of the year, they use a variety of different strategies. One thing that is usually absent from designing training programs is how to track psychological health effectively. It is absolutely critical that coaches and experts within the field of sport psychology promote the idea that mental health is directly tied to mental performance…
Staying motivated through rough patches in training is something everyone deals with regardless if you are a collegiate athlete, professional athlete, or just a casual weekend warrior. Sport psychologists and mental performance coaches are constantly on the lookout to find the best techniques and strategies to help their clients maintain and enhance their motivation…
Often times people have the misconception that sport psychologists and mental performance coaches exclusively work with athletes, when in reality many professionals within the field of sport psychology actually work with a variety of performers such as musicians. For this Training Report I am going to discuss how musicians can enhance their creativity through specific Brainspotting interventions…
LCSW, Performance Consultant