Get Your Sports Psychology Question Answered
Do you have a sport psychology or mental training question you would like answered? You’ve come to the right place!
Dr. Patrick Cohn provides answers to questions about sport psychology every day via the web. He’s answered 1000s of questions from athletes, parents, and coaches over the years.
The best way to contact Dr. Cohn about your sport psychology question, is to contact him via email. We might even feature your question and his answer on on one of our sport psychology podcasts.
When you contact us, please provide your sport, a few details about your background, and the one question you have about improving your mental game for sports. See the example below.
Ask Doc Example
How Can I Be Consistent with Pregame Confidence?
I’m a goaltender for a very competitive level of ice hockey. I plan one day to play at the professional level. Before every game, I visualize what I am going to do once I get on the ice. I see myself making great saves and all that other good stuff. But the thing is, certain things that get me focused and bring out the confidence inside me before one game, won’t do anything for me the next. This problem brings a lot of inconsistency to my game. Another problem that I face is that I’m not having fun. I love the game of hockey more than anything and I truly have a strong desire to see how far my God given talent will take me. But at the same time, I haven’t been playing well and I think in turn, I’m not having fun. How can I have more fun in my sport?
Dr. Cohn’s Answer:
Thanks for your sport psychology question. On the first issue about mental preparation, I would ask you if you are doing the same pre-game routine prior to each game. Consistent mental preparation will lead to consistent performance. The other idea to explore is to look at what may be affecting your confidence level. Certain situations may be deflating your confidence, such as the condition of the ice, the rink, or your opponents, for example. On the issue of having fun, it sounds like you are only happy when you are playing well. This indicates that you may have high expectations for your performance and when you don’t reach those expectations, you lose confidence. It could be that you are even attaching your self-worth to your performance.