Mental health is just as important as physical health when training for a sport. Four factors contribute to this health: mental, emotional, social and meta-mental (reflection and discussion). Each factor works together with the rest to influence performance.
- Do you have trouble staying motivated?
- Do you struggle with your confidence or belief in yourself?
- Do you find it difficult to deal with pressure?
- Do you have a hard time staying focused or dealing with distractions?
- Do you wish you could perform more consistently?
If you answered yes to any of these questions, then mental skills training may be something you should explore.
What is Mental Skills Training?
There are numerous strategies individuals can learn to improve performance and personal development in sport (and in life).
The goals of mental skills training:
- To prepare individuals to consistently perform at their optimal level for that day and for that context.
- To assist individuals in refining their mental strategies and in overcoming obstacles that may be preventing them from reaching their optimal level.
- To help individuals deal with pressures and unexpected events that arise during training or competition.
- To encourage reflection and awareness regarding performance and personal improvements.
- To improve the sport experience overall.
How do I Train Mentally?
A Mental Performance Consultant trained in Sport Psychology and with experience in high performance sport will teach you how to use specific strategies and techniques to help you develop mental strength.
Contact me to get started!
[templatic_contentbox type=”normal” title=”Working with Natascha Wesch”] “Working with Natascha has helped me increase my confidence level so that I can relax and play while coaches and scouts are watching. I learned to use imagery to go through all the possible scenarios in my mind before performances, which helps me perform at the highest level possible. Before working with Natascha, if I made just one mistake I would lose my focus and struggle to recover. I didn’t realize how much that was holding me back until Natascha taught me techniques to erase errors from my mind and move on to the next play. The biggest benefit of all is that I can transfer the mental skills that I‘ve developed to my everyday life. By using relaxation techniques, I am able to calm myself down before tests and not get so anxious, and I use imagery to prepare for exams.” — Christina Buttenham (Iowa Hawkeyes, NCAA) [/templatic_contentbox]Natascha Wesch is a Canadian Certified Counsellor (CCC) and a Mental Performance Consultant in private practice who works with individual athletes, coaches, teams and performing artists of all levels and backgrounds. Natascha has over 25 years of high performance sport experience as a former international athlete and coach. As well, Natascha is highly trained in the fields of Sport Psychology and High Performance Training. To learn more and to contact her, visit her website: www.elitemindperformance.com or find her on Facebook www.facebook.com/elitemindperformance
Submitted by Natascha Wesch, PhD
