Category Archives: Sports Psychology

Avoiding Psychological Meltdowns

Posted on July 4, 2011 by American Gymnast
Sports PsychologySports Psychology

The mind and body of the athlete operate as a very finely tuned system. When the system is in balance the athlete performs at a very high level. When the system is out of balance, performance suffers. If an athlete suffers prolonged struggles, and physical interventions are not helping, the inner world of the athlete is where we will find answers to performance struggles. There we can find how performance energy is being siphoned off to manage the life stressors the athlete is trying to manage.

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Mental Rehab After an Injury

Posted on November 6, 2010 by American Gymnast
AGTC-Update-LogoAGTC-Update-Logo

If you participate in gymnastics, or any sport long enough, chances are that at some point along the way you will experience an injury. The physical process of rehabbing the injury and getting back to normal training and competition level can be a long and difficult road. However, what is often overlooked is the mental rehabilitation that also needs to take place. Even when the athlete is back to 100% physically, neglecting the mental rehab can prevent the athlete from ever returning to pre-injury form.

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Sports Injuries: Throwing A Stone In A Pond

Posted on June 10, 2010 by American Gymnast
Fast Ball Injury PhotoFast Ball Injury Photo

Fantastic insight into the mind of an athlete after an injury occurs. This is a must-read for the parent or coach of any athlete going through or coming back from a significant injury.

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Goal Setting

Posted on October 6, 2009 by American Gymnast

How much success do you want? Many athletes achieve some success without using formal goal setting, but virtually every great athlete who consistently wins, uses some form of goal setting. The USOC Sport Psychology program believes that using goal setting is as necessary as having a coach.

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Performing without Fear of Failure

Posted on October 6, 2009 by American Gymnast

Many athletes that come to work with me hold back their physical ability because of the fear of failure. Fear of failure can motivate athletes to work hard and improve, but it also can become debilitating when the competition starts and it is time to perform your best when it counts. Typically, highly perfectionistic athletes have this syndrome.

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Self-Esteem in Gymnastics

Posted on October 6, 2009 by American Gymnast

Many athletes and performers I work with often wrongly determine their self-worth by how successful they feel about their career. When an athlete performs well or feels successful, he or she can feel good about him or herself. But the opposite is also true: despair and low self-esteem results when this person does not perform well or view him or herself as a failure.

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