Letting Go of Tension

Sit in a chair with your feet touching the floor, breathe deeply into your abdomen while thinking

“breathe in relaxation” (become aware of tension)

Breathe out of your abdomen while thinking “breathe out tension” (let go of tension)

Reduce or Eliminate Negative Self-Talk

Identify your self-defeating thoughts

Say “stop” out loud or to yourself when you identify the negative thoughts

- You can also pair this with a painful or unpleasant reminder (snap yourself with a rubber

band)

Turn Worrying Into Problem Solving

Write down one situation that is really worrying you

Brainstorm for a solution

Evaluate each idea

Make a contract with yourself to complete each idea working from the easiest solution to the most

difficult

Techniques to Train the Mind

From the Neck Up

“The mind is a terrible thing to waste.” Through the years, teachers, parents, and coaches have stressed the

importance of being mentally prepared. Being mentally prepared will increase your levels of production in any

arena. Mental training is a system of using psychological techniques and mental exercises that improve con-

trol of emotional stability, concentration, mental toughness, and stress tolerance. Having the unique ability to

control these factors can separate people who obtain great success and those who are average.

Though being technically prepared is very important, being mentally prepared is essential in any sport or pro-

fession. People who are mentally prepared understand that physical preparation will only take them so far be-

fore their body begins to fatigue or breakdown. Hall of Fame NFL running back Jim Brown once said, “If every-

thing is equal – each man has all the techniques, and the conditioning – it is the one with the mental attitude

that is going to win.”

Some of the best entrepreneurs, general managers, coaches, and athletes, stake their careers on the impor-

tance of being mentally prepared. The biggest question is how do you develop a winning mental attitude?

Sports psychologist have shown that mental training works best when tightly integrated with physical train-

ing. Both forms of preparing athletes for competition complement each other and will lead to peak perform-

ance. A person can only reach their full potential if their mind allows them to do so. The best conditioning can

be negated in an instant if you have any doubt or hesitation during competition.

Athletes, who cannot control their mind, cannot control their bodies. Listed below are some valuable exercises

to condition a strong mind that is conducive to winning.

I’ll Have the Three Piece: Nutritional Nuggets

Tip #1) With the weather being much cooler lately, do not forget to

continue practicing proper hydration habits. The Performance

Diet Handbook recommends 1.5-2.0 gallons of water per day.

Tip #2) Early morning workouts are back! Wake up with enough time to

consume a light breakfast prior to training.

Tip #3) It is very important to consume snacks between your three daily

meals. A mid morning and mid afternoon snack will help improve

your physical preparation and mental focus throughout the day!

Building Blocks of Success – Friendship

Faithful are the wounds of a friend; but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful. – Proverbs 27:6

Every day we interact with people on different levels. Being a

student-athlete you will be presented with the opportunity to

develop many relationships, perhaps much more than the aver-

age student. People want to associate with you because you

represent something big, you represent not only Baylor Univer-

sity but you represent your sport. In our culture, sports are ex-

tremely popular thus making its participants celebrities in their

community. Some people want to be you while others envy the

opportunity you have earned. For this very reason, many people

will try to associate with you. What are their true intentions?

Will these people respect the sacrifices you have to make to be-

come a better person or teammate?

Friendship comes from mutual respect and devotion to each other that cannot be taken for granted. Look at

the most successful teams; they have a friendship amongst them that is genuine. This friendship is developed

by working together to accomplish common goals and is nourished by respecting your teammates’ responsibili-

ties. Friendship is something that is not developed over night, it takes time to form the true foundation. As a

teammate, you must be willing to take that initial step of offering your friendship to another teammate in or-

der to set the process in motion. When offered openly and sincerely it is almost always accepted and through

common tasks and goals will spread throughout the team.

As you apply this block to the foundation, it will drastically increase the stability of the pyramid. True friend-

ship is something that cannot be replaced and will last a lifetime. As the verse above mentions, the words of a

true friend are genuine; they will not tell you a lie for comfort. True friends will make sacrifices for each other

that are geared to help reach your common goals.

FOLLOWING THE BEARS

SUN MON TUES WED THUR FRI SAT

          15   16  17  18 

                    

                    

 19  20  21  22  23  24  25 

    SOCCER vs.      VOLLEYBALL vs.      EQUESTRIAN    VOLLEYBALL vs. 

   Prairie  View 

A&M      Iowa State      All Day Meet   Nebraska 

 26  27  28  29  30  31    

    FCA                

    6:00pm                

SUN MON TUES WED THUR FRI SAT

                1  2  

                SOCCER vs.   FOOTBALL vs. Kansas 

                Nebraska VOLLEYBALL vs. Okla‐

homa 

 3   4   5   6   7   8   9 

 SOCCER vs.   FCA                

 Colorado   6:00pm                

 10  11  12  13  14  15   16 

          VOLLEYBALL vs.      SOCCER vs.    

          Kansas       Seattle University    

SEPTEMBER

OCTOBER

** NOTE: ALL LISTED EVENTS ARE HOME EVENTS ONLY **