How Can Athletes Maximize Their Motivation?
Do you love or despise the Grind? According to Dr. Jim Taylor, the Grind is the point in your athletic training when things get tiring, painful and tedious. I struggled [...]
Is Perfectionism Good for Gymnasts?
In my mind, those words gave me permission to do whatever I had to do to hit my routine. It was reassurance that my teammates weren't expecting perfection from me, but that they were expecting to see me fight and scrap to hit my routine at all costs. It might be ugly, but I knew I was willing to give everything I had.
What is the Most Important Skill in Your Routine?
"It's the next one, not the past one" ... as Dr. Cohn points out in his interview below with well-known sport psychology consultant, Dr. Keith Henschen. This interview is a [...]
How To Keep High Confidence After Performing Poorly
Everyone can have a bad practice or competition from time to time. But, how do you regain your confidence and stop one bad meet from snowballing into a string of bad competitions. In this article, Dr. Patrick Cohn gives you examples and tips on how to keep your confidence high after a poor competition.
How to Perform with Trust in Competition
The ability for gymnasts to perform instinctively is critical to consistent execution in competition. The reason for practice is to provide a method you can trust when its time to compete. Dr. Patrick Cohn covers how to do this successfully in this article.
6 Fears that Haunt Gymnasts
Are You (or your gymnasts) Afraid to Fail? More and more athletes I work with on the mental game come to me with fear of failure. Fear and fear of failure is a constant source of stress or anxiety that sabotages athletes' mental game and performance. What Is Fear of Failure for Gymnasts? Read on to find out more
Avoiding Psychological Meltdowns
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.