How a Mental Game Coach Can Help You
What can a Mental Game Coach do for you during the COVID-19 pandemic?
Many athletes no longer feel like athletes since they are not training or competing.
You may ask, “Why should I work on my mental game if I’m not competing?”
During the pandemic is when you need support the most, and a Mental Game Coach can help you through these tough times.
The coronavirus is still having a profound impact on athletes and competition.
Athletes have many concerns while dealing with the coronavirus pandemic:
* When will training start again?
* Will the coronavirus keep interrupting my season?
* Is competing during the pandemic safe?
* Will I lose out on a college scholarship?
* I can’t find any way to train from home.
* If I have to go to school, why is school not allowing sports to compete?
* I’ve been so anxious at home; I don’t know what to do.
* I can’t believe my parents won’t let me play when all my friends are playing.
All the unknowns you are facing can bring about a great deal of anxiety in your athletic and personal lives. Your self-worth, school performance, confidence, and personal relationships are all affected by the circumstances you are facing.
You feel out of control as if there is nothing you can do about your circumstances.
The truth is you can do something about your circumstances.
You can take control of your situation and seek advice from professionals trained to help athletes develop mentally and physically.
A Mental Game Coach can help you process these questions and improve your mental game so you will be a mentally tougher, more confident, and more empowered athlete when you return to competition.
You will gain mental toughness as an athlete to help you overcome future competitive challenges and you will gain mental toughness to help you manage future adversity.
Think of the difficulties facing Olympic hopefuls. Potential Olympians trained for the four years leading up to the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games, only to have the games postponed for a year. Now, in 2021, uncertainty still surrounds the Olympic Games.
USA hurdler Cortney Jones is hoping to compete in the 2021 Olympics and is facing similar unknowns as other athletes throughout the U.S.
* Will the Olympics be held in 2021?
* What safeguards will be in place?
* How should she prepare?
* Will she be properly trained?
JONES: “It’s like, how do you prepare for something if you don’t know it’s going to happen? So, you can try to stay on the same regimen, but at the back of your head, if you’re doing all this training and we don’t have any meets, how am I going to be properly prepared?”
You want a support group in times of challenges, obstacles, and crisis. Working with a Mental Game Coach can help you in a number of areas:
* To help you process the uncertainty that you are experiencing.
* To teach you to manage your time effectively and stay in physical shape.
* To evaluate your past performances and help set future athletic goals.
* To help build a strong mental game while experiencing a delay from training.
* To guide you in developing anxiety management strategies.
* To assist you to overcome future adversity and build mental toughness.
* To help you develop a well-rounded life.
* To teach you to become physically and mentally prepared for when sports resume.
You can regain a sense of control by taking firm action while faced with adversity.
Dealing with Adversity in Tough Times:
List the obstacles you are facing during the coronavirus. See if you can come up with 1-3 solutions to these obstacles. If you can’t seem to come up with any ideas, seek the help and advice from other sources/professionals that can help you navigate your circumstances.
Related Articles on Mental Game:
- The Mindset to Perform at the Next Level
- Expectations vs. Goals for Athletes
- One Strategy That Helps All Athletes While Self-Isolating
*Subscribe to The Sports Psychology Podcast on iTunes
*Subscribe to The Sports Psychology Podcast on Spotify
Download a free sports psychology report to improve your mental game!
Learn more about our one-on-one mental game coaching.
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