BLOG 5

Training week 8^th- 15^th April 2014

Hi X, how are you this week? I am glad that we have been making lots of progress over the past few weeks which has made me very pleased and I am glad that you can feel a difference by using the skills I have told you about. This week I will be introducing you to a new skill called positive self talk. This skill X will keep you positive about competitive situations and help you stay motivated for example when you’re team is losing or your performance isn’t the best it could be. It’s an important skill which can be learnt as it helps dismiss negative thoughts which creep up on the mind, which can have consequences on your actions and emotions.

Understandably when an athlete is losing they will think negative thoughts such as ‘I’m rubbish’ and ‘I give up.’ These types of thoughts can have a negative effect on performance as they don’t try as hard and feel as though they shouldn’t make the effort. If the athlete changes the way they think, their actions will follow along with it. The following five steps will make you feel a lot more confident and hopefully help you X in becoming more positive when the situation is negative:

1.       Eliminate your negative chatter! A common one of this is telling yourself ‘I can’t’ or ‘it’s impossible’ by saying this you are creating a resistance, your actions are going to reflect on your low self esteem. If you want to be successful then you need to start saying ‘I can’ more often.

2.       Positive affirmations! Positive statements of your desired outcome, something short, believable and focusable.

3.       Positive script! Think of a story with an uplifting message, you will then work off a positive outline, the more you think of this story the better.

4.       Replace negative influences with positive ones! It’s important that you identify negative external factors that are holding you back from positivity such as certain friends. If you are not vigilant you will start to grasp their negative thoughts.

5.       Focus on enjoyable moments! Choose to fill your mind with positive images and thoughts, make it a habit.

What are the benefits? – there are many other benefits from positive self talk apart from an increase in performance such as:

·         Lower rates of depression

·         Lower levels of distress

·         Better psychological and physiological well-being

·         Better coping skills during hardships and times of stress

 

When you say negative things to yourself about your own ability X it can have a huge impact on your confidence and anxiety levels when playing netball. This is why it is actually very important skill to get to grips with as you can then enhance your performance.

During this week X I would like you realise what things around you are negative. I would like you to try your best and block them out so you can focus on the positive things around you. Whilst training I would like you to be positive about your ability and the way you perform. When your coach explains a new drill which you have never done before which has some difficulty to it don’t be negative and tell yourself you can’t, practise and get better at it as it won’t be impossible. When you find yourself time when you’re not doing anything, think about positive things which you have and about your outcome goals. When you find yourself pondering on a negative thought I want you to dismiss it and think of something positive instead. During your match this week even if you’re losing the game I would like you to focus on the enjoyable moments such as playing with your team mates, thriving a challenge, keeping fit and doing something you enjoy. I hope this week’s skill increases your confidence on and also off the court. Let me know how you get on this week, I’ll look forward to hearing about it, good luck!

I have just finished speaking to my athlete X about the psychological skill I gave her to practise this week, positive self talk. X said that this skill was easy to get to grips with off court, but then as soon as she hit the competitive play it got a lot more difficult as her team was indeed losing. She said it was just difficult to maintain the positive talk whilst she was upset that they were losing and she also got frustrated. She told me about how it took around 4 days to get to grips with the five steps I had explained to her previously. X said that this skill was very helpful just during her daily lifestyle, she has noticed a change in her attitude towards different things and hopes that it continues as do I! When speaking to her she explained that she didn’t notice how some things she does daily can have a negative effect on her self esteem and confidence such as her diet, college work and some of the friends that she has have had a negative influence on her. She said she will try to keep up the skill, but it won’t be as easy on court as she can’t help but think negatively when she loses. Mixed ratings about this week but I am still pleased that X gave the skill a try.