Why does competition matter? On Sunday night, I watched the closing ceremony for the 2016 Olympics. Afterwards, there was an incredible presentation of Olympic highlights showing one breathtaking victory or crushing defeat after another. I'll admit to tears pouring down my face as I watched these athletes push through pain, fear and exhaustion to reach their goal. So much heart. [...]
Why Train Mentally? I was asked the other day and not for the first time why do mental training? I have been an advocate for mental skills training for over three decades. I think everyone should do mental training and working with someone like myself can help give every athlete a new set of tools [...]
Sink or Swim Last month I wrote about “Why we train mentally”. Some of the feedback I got has prompted me to expand these thoughts, as some people are under the impression that the way we develop mental toughness is to basically apply pressure and hope that the person will find some inner strength to [...]
Invite em. Don't fight em. Huh? Letting that rush of adrenaline making you nauseous? Turn it into Rocket Fuel! TENSE?? Get MORE tense. Then try to breathe. Really. Try it! To figure out what the heck we're talking about. Read Erika Carlson's blog Managing the Butterflies for solid tips on what to do with those pre-game jitters. [...]
The best coaches know that having great information is only half the battle. The challenge is how to get that information to TRANSFER into the athlete so it stays! And then of course, get the athlete to USE the information when it's needed most. As former coaches ourselves, we've been really interested in refining the process so [...]
Frustrated all the time? This might be why.... Is this you? High expectations for yourself Very competitive Good student Talented athlete Work to please others (parents, coaches) Worry (excessively at times) about making mistakes Put A LOT of pressure on self Hard time mentally recovering from mistakes Easily frustrated If this sounds like you, [...]
Erika Carlson has worked for 13 years in the field of Sport Psychology. The number one thing she's learned is this. What you think, matters. So, here's the question. Is managing thoughts and emotions natural for a passionate, gifted athlete? There are a few common thoughts that get in the way of consistently good performance. To [...]
What if every player in your tennis academy had their own mental toughness program? And more significantly, what if the players could easily track their progress, your coaches could provide oversight, and they could all do it from their PHONES!? Sound too good to be true? It's not - we built it for the USTA (and now [...]
BIG Game Mentality Here's the skinny. Compete like you practice. AND…Practice like you compete. The urge to “do more” in BIG games will hurt you. Click here to learn the "Do's" and "Don'ts" for a Big Game. Erika Carlson, M.A.,CC-AASP [email protected] 510-331-0327
Fear of Failure or is it the Fear of Failing? Mike Margolies CMT® Fear of Failure The difference between Fear of failure and Fear of failing. FEAR can be scary; it can definitely hold athletes back from accomplishing many great things. Fear is failure can be about not wanting to fail at anything you do, [...]