le moyne women’s soccer
TRANSCRIPT
LeMoyne Women’s Soccer
Mental Game Sessions
WHAT COMES FIRST, CONFIDENCE OR
SUCCESS?
ACTING CHANGES EVERYTHING
Fake it till you make it Body will mimic the mind Act differently than you feel Be an actor, not an athlete
Energy is a decision Energy is contagious
Train, play, even on the bench with high energy
GET BIG Body language, like energy, is contagious Use big body language to display confidence
BIG A.B.Cs ACT BIG BREATHE BIG COMMIT BIG
BIG BODY LANGUAGE TACTIC
Set an alarm on your phone for every 20 minutes
As soon as it goes off be aware of your body language – are you slouching? Is your mind wondering off?
Use the reminder to snap back into BIG body language and refocus
SELF TALK DICTATES FEELING
HAVE TO vs WANT TO/DESERVE TO You don’t HAVE to go to practice, you
WANT to You don’t HAVE to work out, you WANT to Using the right language will dictate how
you feel IN vs INTO
Are you IN the team or INTO the team?
DON’TS AND NOS Avoid using DON’Ts and NO in self talk DON’T and NO create a negative
image in your head that you can not avoid
MAGIC LETTERS: Y-E-T If you use negative self talk add Y-E-T
to the end If someone says “I am not good enough to
be a starter” they have already beaten themselves
If they add YET to the end, “I am not good enough to be a starter… YET” they are still giving themselves a chance
FAILURE IS POSITIVE FEEDBACK
Loser or Leaner? Do you only focus on the negative or
mope about loses? Use the set back as information and
motivation How can we improve? What did we do well?
Good OR Bad vs Good AND Bad Good OR bad creates too many ups and
downs Good AND bad keeps things in perspective
FAILURE SUCCESSFailure
Evaluation
Focus
Work
Confidence
Success
FAILURE IS UNAVOIDABLE Stick with routine
Over 100 changes of possession in a game It is how you respond Cannot lose focus/get out of routine
everytime Focus on excellence over perfection
No one is perfect, we will not play perfectly
Focusing on perfection creates negative situations
Focus on excellence
WHAT MAKES UP YOUR ROUTINE?
Staying in the present moment Playing every game one play at a
time Having high energy/ giving great
effort Making aggressive decisions Focus on what you can control
TRAFFIC LIGHT ANALOGY Green light
Composed, optimistic, confident, focused
Yellow Light Frustrated, questioning, doubts,
negative
Red Light Angry, pessimistic, overwhelmed,
hopeless
USE THE 4-RS TO GET GREEN
Routine
Recognize
Release
Refocus
PLAY VS YOURSELF AND THE GAME
The game does not change There is no “turn it on” button Treat every workout, practice, game
the same Train at the same tempo as you play
BE IN THE PRESENT SO WHAT NEXT PLAY
Being a champion is playing one play at a time
No time in game to dwell on past or look ahead
Verbalize “SO WHAT NEXT PLAY” to get back into present
NEXT 200 FEET Looking at the whole
day/week/month/season can be daunting Focus on the next task, the “next 200 feet”
then move on Segment your day into “200 foot” segments
Breakfast- 200 feet Classes- 200 feet Film study- 200 feet Warming up- 200 feet Practice- 200 feet Dinner- 200 feet Homework- 200 feet
W.I.N. – WHAT’S IMPORTANT NOW
Each successive play is the most important play of the game Focus on winning each play
WIN everything Warmups (intense, motivated) Bench energy (loud, positive)
IMAGERY The body doesn’t know the difference
between vivid imagination and the real thing Use visualization/imagery to train your body
and minds to perform how you want Focus on what you are trying to do,
not what you are trying to avoid Same concept of positive self talk Visualize positive plays
MENTAL WORKOUT 15 second breath (6 in, 2 hold, 7 out)
Centers you and prepares you for workout 5 second play thought
Positive phrase on how you want to play 3 minutes of personal highlight reels
Past success (1 minute) Recent training/games (1 minute) Predict future success (1 minute)
MENTAL WORKOUT In highlight reels
Correct mistakes Be aware of the feeling and process Use all senses
Identity thought I am _______, I will ______
Similar to play thought, more of a confident statement
15 second breath (6 in, 2 hold, 7 out) When?
Before falling asleep, when waking up, 1 hour before game- 4 x a week