| We are always thinking about things and working to protect ourselves. The trick is to move away from negative and to focus on what you feel you need to do. If problems occur, find the solutions. Successful athletes learn to control their self-talk. They focus on the positive or on getting the job done!
Enhancement Dialogue
Some athletes have developed a set of words or phrases they use that helps them focus on what they want to do, or on technical ideas they want to remember. Common cues you may already use are: "head" for keeping your help up in the right position, "focus" to remind yourself to be ready and alert to the next situation, a baseball hitter may say, "elbow high" to remind him to be in the proper stance to hit the pitch. It is interesting to note that athletes often use the same words their coaches use as cues!
Cue Words
Make a list of the mental cues you use during your competition. Describe the time when you would use them. Are there any other reminders or thoughts that you would want to build into your competition dialogue?
Write up your list of cue words:
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Problem Recovery Dialogue
There are common problems that can occur during a competition. We know that these problems might occur. Many athletes learn to build a self-talk dialogue to use when these predicable problems arise. Examples: bad call from the official, missed shot - poor shot, bad pass or throw, mental error or judgement, etc. These situations arise and can cause a total disruption in your thinking. By designing a coping statement and then practicing it, you can train yourself to overcome the mental effects of a bad break.
Problem Solving Self-Talk
What are some common problems that might occur during your competition? What have you thought in the past? What do you want to say now?
List your predicted problems, and the self-talk you can use to combat them.
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The key to using this method is to practice. Learn to think the thoughts that would first enter your mind when you hit a negative situation. Then practice shifting to your solution dialogue. Once you have completed this first assignment, you are on the road to understanding how to plan and implement a winning approach.
Gold Medal Approach
Kurt Angle, the 1996 Olympic gold medalist in freestyle wrestling gives a good example of problem solving. Kurt wanted to start scoring earlier in his matches, so he thought about what he needed to do. "I wanted to become more intense, because I didn't want to be caught behind. I wanted to have the lead. European wrestlers are hard to play catch up with."
"I developed that approach (score quickly and get an early lead)...but at first, I was too eager and was stepping into stuff. So, I started having an aggressive, but controlled approach. I accomplished it by consistency, always working on it, and believing it would happen even if it didn't work for a while. I stuck with my plan."
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