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Posts Tagged ‘sports psychology’
Friday, April 23rd, 2010
The term intensity covers a wide spectrum of areas in performance psychology. I like to consider this term intensity in sport psychology as the fine balance between stress, arousal and anxiety. Each individual sports performer or business member has a different optimal intensity level from the next person and this is why as sports psychologists we need to help the individual understand the issues and find their level of intensity that is right for them.
The process then has to be self managed by the athlete or executive. Too much intensity and the performance is destroyed with poor judgement, decisions and loss of control and too little and the performer is lethargic, unconcerned and not focused.
So this is my tip for you. Recall a past performance when everything went well and just happened automatically. See and feel how your anxiety levels were. Were you able to control the nerves to help rather than hinder your performance? Did your muscles feel loose and relaxed and your mind concentrated and were you excited for the up and coming challenge? If so this was your optimal level. When you are visualising this past feeling you will know how your muscles and breathing felt. Are you experiencing that feeling now prior to the event. If not and you are too lethargic then stand up and shake out your body posture. Stand up straight and stamp around the locker room, shout a little and enjoy some motivating music and breathe shallow and fast from the top of your chest. If you are feeling too tight and quite ill then you need to manage your anxiety levels urgently. This will help you enjoy the performance and remove the risk of injury due to tight muscles. Practice some deep breaths low down in the stomach area. Breathe in slowly through the nose and hold for 6 and gently allow the breath out of the mouth in a slow controlled way for the count of 12. Continue this 10 or 12 times until some of the physiological symptoms subside. Remember we want some anxiety to help us perform well so learn to enjoy the feeling and work with it.
There are many more intensity control techniques that we can discuss at a later date. Visit www.geoffgreenwood.com/sports_psychology
Geoff
Sports Psychology
Tags: anxiety, arousal, intensity, mental skills, mental skills training, mental strength, mental toughness, sport psychologist, sport psychology, sport psychology for sports performance, sports psychology, stress
Posted in Performance Psychology | No Comments »
Tuesday, December 8th, 2009
I am always asked when I tell people what I do, How can sport psychology be used in a business setting? Simple I say because in today’s competitive environments it is the same in the boardroom as it is on the sporting field. First is first and second is nowhere!! To win at sport needs the same skills as to win at work.
Firstly, sports psychology teaches athletes the power of using mental skills for performance enhancement and to acquire the competitive edge. These mental skills range from self-confidence to concentration to emotional control to mental toughness. We work on 12 mental skills to develop this psychological edge.
Secondly, sport psychology incorporates these mental skills into the training regime alongside physical fitness, nutrition, strategic sporting approaches and technical sporting skills.
Finally, sports psychology develops the individual or team to become the best that they can become but at the same time to embrace other parts of their lives for a balanced viewpoint on all other areas and for fulfilling enjoyment on an ongoing basis.
Business psychology needs this same approach; the ability to defeat an opponent; the determination to respond to setbacks; the substance to stay the course and the control of their personal lives away from the workplace. This makes for a productive and satisfied winner.
Yes but how do you know it works? Lets consider this…if we believe that a business person is an athlete in a suit then if we can show that psychological skills training improves athletes then we have the evidence. Take a look sometime at the sporting scientific literature and you will discover that there are controlled experiments all over the world in all sports covering all performance areas, every day of the week and it has been like this for over 100 years. The scientific evidence is there coupled with a wealth of empirical and anecdotal evidence.
Hope that answers your question
Geoff
www.geoffgreenwood.com
Tags: business psychology, mental skills, psychological skills training, sport psychology, sports psychology
Posted in Performance Psychology | No Comments »
Friday, August 7th, 2009
Hi Guys
It seems that everybody is now catching on to the ultimate power of developing their mental skills to achieve more and succeed in their performing lives whether on the sporting field or in the boardroom. I refer to an article in the Financial Times dated Friday 31st July 2009 penned by Rhymer Rigby in which he discusses the incredible benefits and the major organisations that are now using meditation in the workplace.
In sports psychology we have used relaxtion techniques for hundreds of years because with the practiced technique comes less injury, less tension and less anxiety leading to better performance. Interventions we use range from progressive muscle relaxation to mediation to hypnosis and allows the performer to practice in their own time and before during and after performance to bring their intensity levels to the optimal point ideal for them. Interventions can be divided into cognitive approaches (thoughts) and behavioural (breathing and muscle relaxation) ones.
The article highlights its use at the Massachusetts head office of Reebok the sports manufacturer. The company explains that the technique helps the individual by reducing stress, improving focus and strengthening the mind. Other contributors talk about the ability to clear the mind and to step back to become more productive and decisive.
The article goes on to talk about Google whom we have all heard of, as they offer meditation to their staff to improve clarity of vision. Employees unwind in the midst of busy days to refresh themselves and become quite innovative in their thinking. The author goes on to talk about Twitter’s head quarters which includes a meditation room in their building.
Business psychology meditation is a technique to clear the mind by becoming focused on a specific object even for as little as 2 or 3 minutes that declutters the mind, lowers heart and blood pressure rates, reducing body tension and produces deeper rhythmic breathing and much more. The technique can be used on the tube, at your desk, toilet in fact anywhere that it is needed on demand.
If you or your organisation is interested in introducing business psychology mediatation to your team or staff for better productivity then please contact us to hear what we can help you achieve.
Geoff
Mental Toughness
Tags: business psychology, meditation, mental toughness, sports psychology
Posted in Performance Psychology | No Comments »
Saturday, July 11th, 2009
Just a quick note to update everyone on our very special workshop “An Introduction to psychological skills training for business performance”. The workshop is set in the beautiful Cheshire countryside located in the middle of a PGA championship golf course. On hand are speciality teas, coffees, lattes, pastries along with a beautiful 3 course cooked lunch. The facilities are second to none for total peace, tranquility and relaxation.
The workshop is an introduction to mental skills training and how it can help achieve peak performance. Each of 12 areas are covered and are thought provoking, interactive and merged with some practical demonstrations. The metaphor of sports psychology is used as we have 100 years of scientific research that demonstrates the improvement to performance by the use and practice of mental skills training. The business world is ultra competitive as is sport where seconds or inches can mean the difference between success of failure, wealth or bankruptcy etc.
Full information about our workshop for business psychology is available by clicking this link Workshop for business psychology
I am looking forward to welcoming you on our workshops very soon. Remember that we are creating more all the time and also we can deliver the workshop at your premises for your organisation, with areas specially tailored for your needs.
Geoff
Business Psychology
Tags: business psychology, mental skills, psychological skills training, sports psychology, workshop
Posted in Performance Psychology | No Comments »
Friday, July 10th, 2009
I have been asked constantly for sports psychology tips, strategies or interventions that can be introduced very quickly and have an immediate impact. This is a very difficult thing to do because we are all individual and have specific idiosyncracies along with different needs at different times.
However, the beauty of sports psychology is that there are common problems with all sports performers and certain interventions can apply across the board to differing degrees. For instance, if an athlete or business person does not set written goals and pursue them then there is an immediate impact if a system is installed. Whereas if someone wants to turn the mental toughness switch on overnight then I am afraid that will only follow after a detailed plan is introduced for more the medium or long term.
So my tip for today is a concentration tip. In sports psychology everything can be lost if we are unable to concentrate at the right moment. We lose the point, miss the corner coming over or have a car crash if we are a driver. So what I want you to do is to create some verbal cues such as the word “Focus” and some visual ones such as bouncing the ball or looking at the laces on your trainers. Add some physical ones such as taking a deep deliberate breath between points. These should be used whenever you need to re-centre yourself back into the moment following disturbance or periods of deep concentration and you wish to rid yourself of internal or external distractions.
Sports psychology introduced by mental skills training will build mental toughness and deliver peak performance.
Geoff
Sports Psychology
Tags: mental skills, mental toughness, sports psychology
Posted in Performance Psychology | No Comments »
Monday, July 6th, 2009
Sports psychology is the study of performance enhancement withing the sporting field through the use of psychological skills training. In an ultra competitive world where first is first and second is nowhere, all athletes of all standards are looking for the slightest edge that will propel them to victory. In the past many have focused upon their technical skills, which involves perfecting their technique such as shot making, touch, co-ordination, vision, an example would be Roger Federer whilst others have looked for the edge through supreme fitness in which many great victories have been achieved. If we think about the transfer of court dominance from Chris Evert to the power of Martina Navratilova. Other paradigm shifts have been seen in strategy such as spoiling tactics, sledging and sheer determination to win and all these elements have their position within sports psychology. However, we are now within the next phase of victory development and that is the use and practice of mental skills. Mental training focuses on what is going on above the shoulders whilst our other strategies are operating at the sub-conscious level.
Sport psychology has a century of scientific and anecdotal evidence to prove the existence of performance enhancement and there are books and books of quotes to support this training regime. Sir Clive Woodward said prior to the 2003 Rugby Union World Cup in Australia that this competition would be won in the head. Sally Gunnell who is a champion runner stated that the mental side of her performance made the difference between silver and gold. Ellen MacArthur the celebrated yachtswoman states that you can have the best boat in the world but if you do not have the determination to finish the race, you may as well not start it. The quotes go on and on from the greats of professional sport such as Tiger Woods who has worked with a sports psychologist through to removing the tantrums on court with a certain British tennis player.
Sports psychology can make the difference and every sporting and business person owes it to themselves to access every conceivable advantage that they can.
Geoff
Mental Skills Training
Tags: mental toughness, sport psychologist, sports psychology
Posted in Performance Psychology | No Comments »
Thursday, July 2nd, 2009
In sports psychology and business psychology we are continually running into this term mental toughness, but what is it and have I got it? Unfortunately, there is no clear definition of what mental toughness is and there needs to be to avoid misunderstanding. Three years ago I was invited to quote for a coaching contract in a major insurance group in the city of London. Others bid their coaching style for the company and what it could achieve and when it was my turn my emphasis was on psychological coaching and the performance enhancement that would bring for them in turns of results. Not quite understanding I was asked to expand my coaching style and it was at this stage that I emphasised that the introduction of psychological skills training would develop mental toughness within the coachees. They were horrified that I should even contemplate such a “macho term” as they put it. It was clear that they did not understand what it really meant and it wasn’t their fault.
Many sport psychologists and sports scientists have listed what the outcome of mental toughness can be, such as the ability to reverse the situation if things are going wrong; the ability to perform at their best at the point of greatest pressure; their ability to hang in there and endure the stress and pressure to come out the other side with victory in their hands and the skill to determine the best moment when to take the calculated risk and when not to. Universally, anybody engaged in sports psychology or business psychology will agree that mental toughness can deliver these qualities in an individual.
I have identified 11 other mental skills that can be improved which when mastered will produce a mentally tough performer. Select the link here mental toughness
Geoff Greenwood
Sports Psychologist
Tags: business psychology, mental skills, mental toughness, sports psychologist, sports psychology
Posted in Performance Psychology | No Comments »
Wednesday, July 1st, 2009
If you are a business owner or corporate member of staff then be prepared for the next supply of tools for your kitbag. Psychological skills training practiced, researched and used all over the world within sports is being packaged up and delivered into corporate world. As a sports psychologist we deliver these skills with a passion. If we use sport as a metaphor then performance enhancement is as vital to the business world as it is to the sporting world. Athletes are striving for that extra inch or that extra burst of speed that will deliver them the gold medal, and many of the world’s great champions use the services of a sport psychologist. If they use it and scientific research proves that performance can be enhanced with it, then you are missing out on that edge within the workplace, with customers, suppliers and even shareholders.
There is plenty of information on sports psychology and business psychology by clicking the links which explains the challenges facing individuals in business and business owners especially through these very difficult times. You should consider the issues facing you everyday, issues such as competition, pressure, professional attitude, control of emotions, delegation and leadership, change, motivation and many many more. These issues and much more can be identified, practiced and perfected for optimal performance. If we consider what is at stake; promotion, money, prestige, fame, expansion, wealth and more then you owe it to yourself to develop your mind for the winning mentality.
Geoff Greenwood FCCA MBA MSc LCA (Distinction)
www.geoffgreenwood.com
Tags: business psychology, sport psychologist, sports psychologist, sports psychology
Posted in Performance Psychology | No Comments »
Monday, June 29th, 2009
Hi guys
Just a quick post to let you know about the navigation around our site for your assistance. You can click the following links to go straight to the subject matter that you want.
Sports psychology
Business psychology
Testimonials
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Hope this helps and look forward to sharing our performance enhancement tips with you very soon.
Geoff
Sport and Business Psychologist
Tags: business psychology, executive coaching, sports psychology
Posted in Performance Psychology | No Comments »
Saturday, June 20th, 2009
Welcome to our new performance psychology blog which will cover all performance enhancement tips, ideas, strategies and successes both in the sporting world and the corporate world. As you know sport is an amazing metaphor for business and what is proven to work in sport is successfully copied and transferred into the business world generating winning results for all those enlightened enough to learn and practice the mental skills.
Tags: business psychology, sports psychology
Posted in Performance Psychology | No Comments »
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