It appears to be the case world-wide in sport that physical training is accorded more time and recognition than mental or emotional training : it’s an observable fact that coaches and athletes spend most of their time training physical fitness, and technical and tactical sports skills.
However, as most players, coaches and observers of sport would agree, the major obstacles to improved performance in sport are generally not physical at all, but rather mental or emotional obstacles – such as lapses in concentration; pre-performance anxiety; poor motivation; loss of confidence; negative mental attitude; ‘choking’ under pressure; and so on. It’s the person with the mental and emotional toughness who succeeds most often on the playing field.
Further, the focus of both the physical and mental preparation of athletes has been directed almost exclusively towards performance enhancement, and this, in my opinion, has resulted in many of the negatives we now see in sport: performance enhancing drugs; overtraining illnesses and injuries; athletes who are ‘fit’ but not healthy; eating disorders; and even depression in professional sportspeople.
However, it is our belief that the truly great sportspeople are those who have managed to enlist all aspects of themselves in an integrated way to achieve peak performance.
You don’t build physical fitness with a half dozen gym workouts – nor do you build mental and emotional toughness and confidence with an ad-hoc approach. What is needed is a holistic, structured personal development program designed for high achievers.
This is Sportsmind.
First established in 1980, Sportsmind is a consulting service in mental and emotional skills training for athletes. Essentially, Sportsmind is about modelling excellence: identifying the mental and emotional strategies of champion athletes, and teaching these skills to others.
Further, Sportsmind provides a holistic sports training approach which seeks not only to educate athletes and coaches in mental training skills, but also one which nurtures a positive attitude to competition; renunciates violence and over-aggressive behaviours in sport; and which addresses the ‘whole’ person in performance enhancement training, so as to encourage the attainment of an individual’s full potential.
Sportsmind training is directed primarily towards personal development goals as a means of achieving performance enhancement in sport, rather than performance enhancement as an end in itself.
It is our belief that you make better sportspeople by making better people – through personal development.
Sportsmind training not just about improving sports performance – we teach sportspeople to be self motivated, with high self esteem and a positive self image, to know how to handle stress and pressure, and to be self directed with clearly defined goals supported by strong values and leadership qualities.
True champions are those who holistically develop themselves – rather than just their bodies or sports skills. Learning success skills that are transferable to other areas of endeavour, so when their competitive days are over, these skills will benefit them in their new career, and their life.
The Sportsmind Institute has offices in Melbourne, Brisbane, Sydney, and the Gold & Sunshine Coasts, and provides a range of services for athletes, coaches and teachers :
* Mental Mastery performance enhancement workshops
* One-on-one performance coaching – both in person, and by phone
* Motivational presentations for sports teams and school groups
* Professional development programs and distance study courses for coaches
* Corporate training and personal performance coaching
* Books, audio tapes, CDs and other products for high achievers
The Institute is an international body which supports the Sportsmind network of licensed and accredited Sportsmind coaches world-wide, and provides coach training and professional standards to which all Sportsmind coaches adhere.
The Sportsmind Vision
The Sportsmind vision is to continue to expand the network of highly trained, licensed Sportsmind coaches providing personal performance coaching and motivational presentations for elite athletes, sports teams, and corporate clients world-wide. The people involved in the Institute and Coach Network have a practising sports background, a passion for personal development and coaching, great communication skills, and are superb facilitators able to create challenging and fun learning environments.
If this sounds like you, Sportsmind coach training can equip you for a career in performance coaching. Please consider the opportunities Sportsmind offers, and contact us for more details of our professional development programs for coaches, teachers, personal trainers, and management personnel.
