I just had an ‘ahhaa”  moment while reading a Sport Psychology book that has a great chapter on how mood and emotion effects performance.

I used to listen to Whitney Houston’s I Want to Dance with Somebody before games and would get hassled by teammates (in a loving way of course) because it was different than the Eminem and Jay-Z  music blasting on their Ipods. I couldn’t explain it to anyone, let alone myself, but listening to peppy, sing along music while I got ready in the locker-room helped me in many ways. It would make me feel the way I needed to feel to tap into my “best athlete” mindset.

I would forget about whatever stress I was feeling related to school, family life back in Ohio, or drama with girlfriends/boyfriends. My endorphins would flow and I truly felt good. When I was in a good mood, feeling up, I would be excited to get out there to warm-up and play hard.

Just like self-confidence, our mood influences our mindset and behaviors. Understanding what triggers our mood is important. Working with young athletes and exploring their personal “mood changers” is exciting. I use specific techniques to help them discovery what gets them in the right mood for competition. It doesn’t take long before they realize everything we do together in my office can be applied on and off the field.

My true passion is in working with young people – helping them learn about themselves, apply techniques we’ve discovered together and watch them successfully tackle obstacles and challenges.  I am a happy professional!

 I am amazed by my clients every day.

I have a 14 year old dancer who, after a few weeks of therapy, has a goal to feel good about herself no matter what the judges write on her evaluation. She does not want to get down on herself and feel completely distressed if the judges do not like her performance, especially when she feels good about it.

To feel good about ourselves without relying on external things is important, especially for athletes if they want to make their careers last. Not every coach or judge is going to like your style of play and that’s OK; but, if we take to heart only the negative and forget why we are competing in the first place, the enjoyment and ability to stay motivated can be lost.

When I was playing in college, it was easy to only hear the things I needed to fix about my game, and it became draining. I found this quote and it really resonated with me. I put it up in my locker to remind myself about the “me” who is an athlete.

“Somewhere behind the athlete you’ve become and the hours of practices and the coaches who have pushed you…is a girl who fell in love with the game and never looked back…Play for her.”

My client, like many dancers and athletes, allow outside influences to be the dominant variable which gets in the way of their enjoyment and often their performance. How do you strike a balance between the external experience(performance, statistics, W/L) and your internal attributes(sense of pride, commitment, reliability, leadership, team player)?

I came up with an exercise to address this challenge and shared it with my client.  We started with the quote I used back in my “player days” and it prompted some insightful questions and answers. She started thinking about why she dances, what she loves (and doesn’t love) about dancing, how else does she define herself, separate from dance and together we created a more multidimensional picture of her AS a dancer and AS a person. To tell you the truth, it was really fun for both of us.

Next step, we create something together that reminds her of who she is. We both look forward to this next exercise.

http://www.podiumsportsjournal.com/2010/01/09/athletes-choices-can-help-or-hinder-the-development-of-confidence/

I get very excited about learning new things and luckily have a variety of professionals around me from whom I learn. One of those is a neuropscyhologist who presents to our practice and at various hospitals on the topic of concussions. Hearing about the latest research and information on the prevalent topic of concussions has helped me in my daily work with young athletes, performers and active people in general.

 

Like many people, I associated concussions primarily with football.  And, I definitely did not understand the significance of a client telling me they were having constant headaches after a fall.

I have been working with a top dancer in the Greater New York area. She recently had a fall where she hurt her back and hit her head on the floor. She was referred to me because she was struggling physically and emotionally after this injury.

We were working as a team – the dancer, her mom, the teacher, a physical therapist and me – trying to figure out the cause of her symptoms (headaches, fatigue, irritability, difficulty doing routine dance moves) so a treatment plan could be put in place to help her get back to “normal.” The dancer (I’ll call her Arielle) complained of headaches, but did not think much about them. Her back pain was of most concern and she dismissed the idea that she was anxious. Her dance teacher and mother felt the headaches were psychological, as it was coming close to performance time. The physical therapist was managing her back pain, so I wanted to know more about this long list of symptoms and what might be causing them.

When I looked more carefully at the symptom list and listened to Arielle’s complaints, I had an “ah-ha” moment. Arielle may have had a concussion. I remember hearing about post-concussive symptoms, hers fit the bill, and how they can linger for months. Bingo!

I spoke with the Arielle and the others and suggested they make an appointment with a neurologist to better assess whether she had a concussion and if her symptoms were a result of the mild brain injury. Everyone felt hopeful there might be an answer.

The neurologist was able to confirm Arielle had a concussion and the symptoms were a result of this “silent” injury. She had to stop all dance until she had 3 full days of no headaches. She is not allowed to watch TV or play on her computer, so her brain has time to heal. A concussion, in the simplest sense of the word is a bruise on the brain. It takes time and rest for it to heal properly. Although Arielle has a way to go before she is symptom-free, she is relieved to have a treatment plan that will help her feel better.

Link to more information:
http://www.hss.edu/conditions_concussion-in-the-athlete.asp

 

It’s worth discussing. As parents trying to be “Good Enough Sports Parents” we recognize the need to enroll our kids in organized sports to test out their interest in the sport and learn new skills. Our generation has ramped up this entry level experience to include sports camps, individual lessons, personal training, yoga, etc. mainly because we feel like being a good enough sports parent means enrolling our kids in everything available. To NOT do this almost feels like we’re letting our child down, depriving them of the chance to shine early… and often.

Much of the consternation among parents is about which programs to enroll her/him in to get the best sports experience to improve skills, gain an edge during try outs and improve the likelihood of their being recruited.

The discussion around the character evaluation of individuals who will coach our kids/teens/young adults is rarely top of mind. But, discussions about coaches do come up.

“Watch out for her, she is nasty to the girls. Her language – horrible! She singles out her players and let’s them have it.”

“I’ve had numerous parents tell me he belittles those boys to the point that they are in tears. I’m just glad my son got through it unscathed.”

“I don’t know if it’s true, but I heard he talks to the boys about his sex life and body parts. I think someone went to the A.D. to complain, but I don’t know what happened.”

“Because my daughter quit her team, she has taken every opportunity available to make snide remarks about my daughter, right in front of her! Most of these coaches are teachers so the kids still have to interact with them.”

All of these examples are troubling because they harm our kid’s sense of self. When a person in a position of power uses threatening language, shaming tactics to motivate or crosses a clear boundary, it effects kids in a negative way. The words and actions of our kid’s coaches may not be criminal, but they can certainly be harmful.

Joe Ehrmann has devoted his post-NFL life to helping coaches be the best they can be in service to improving their athletes’ lives. His “Coach For America: Winning In Life Is Everything” is a must read for parents and coaches. His books offer practical advise and real life insights for those working with or raising an athlete.

The Penn State abuse scandal has stirred up a great deal of pain. Thank goodness the media will elevate people like Joe, so we can learn how to heal and how to prevent this type of tragedy from occurring again.

 

It’s difficult to find a high school, or college, that does not require baseline ImPact testing for their athletes. And, facts about concussions – the symptoms, risks and recovery – continue to receive a great deal of press. We are still learning about how concussions impact athletes and do not have hard and fast rules on how to diagnose the severity of the concussion or how to best treat a concussed athlete. Thankfully,  dedicated medical professionals are working hard to address these challenges.

For those looking to get basic questions answered about the ImPact Testing, you can find the answers on the company’s FAQ webpage.

The Wall Street Journal (9/29/11) printed an interesting article “College Football’s Last Frontier: Better Food.” My heads up Mom brought it to my son’s (her grandson’s!) college football game.
After the game, she asked him if Cornell offered special meals and food to the team. Because there are no athletic scholarships offered, it would be against NCAA rules to have special meals for athletes. A level playing field, equal opportunity food choices for all!

For schools that can provide specialized nutrition offerings as part of their training program, we say, “YES!” Nutrition is a science and athletic success is part science, part coaching/skill building and part mental.

Here are some guidelines to consider when adding nutrition to your training program:

1 – If a product offers extreme promises – “build 20 pounds of muscle in 2 weeks”, “melts fat off your body”, “provides 5 hours of energy without any harmful ingredients” – athlete beware. These products (nutritional supplements) are not regulated yet by the FDA and can cause serious harm, not make good on their extreme promise and cost you financially.
2- Registered Dietitians (RD) who specialize in Sports Nutrition are trained to provide safe, accurate and helpful information to athletes. Relying on your favorite personal trainer , physical therapist or athletic trainer is risky. Although those people are trying to help, they are not professionally trained to give that advice.
3 – There are some Sports Nutrition books available. Make sure they are written by an RD. Some well meaning, nutrition enthusiasts are great writers, but do not have the science or experience to be considered experts in sports nutrition.

4 – To find an RD who specializes in Sports Nutrition, go to the American Dietetic Association web page and follow the prompts for finding a Registered Dietitian.

Should I Be Concerned About ‘THIS’? Part 2

Part 1 – Asking Questions to Get Answers

Alright, so you’ve done the best you can at gathering information about what’s going on and you do discover something. For example, your daughter  shares with you that she has been crying at night in the shower because she’s scared her athletic career is over because she has an injury. As a parent, your next steps would be to comfort your daughter, let her know you take her thoughts and feelings seriously and that you want to find someone to help her with these thoughts and feelings so she feels less burdened and worried. Your job would be to find the support person.

 

On the flip side, let’s  say you’ve asked the questions beautifully, listened perfectly and nothing was revealed. You have a choice: 1) maybe there is nothing wrong and you move on or 2) you still feel like there is something going on but your child has not articulated it to you.

If you are more in the #2 camp, here are some ways you can look at your “should I be concerned?” feelings more closely. Once you’ve explored the questions below, you’ll have to decide whether or not you need to reach out to someone for support.

– What is it that made you think something is not right? Was it a specific situation that triggered something inside you?  Did your sleep pattern change because you are worrying? Are you feeling you have to walk on egg shells around your child?

– How is the situation making you, the parent, feel? Yes, I want to know how you are feeling, not just your child. Are you feeling something different? I know a parent’s instinct can be strong and reliable. My parents seemed to know everything that was going on no matter how hard I tried to hide or cover up a feeling.

- How has your athlete’s behavior changed? Is he isolating himself from peers when he used to be social? Is he super snappy about answering certain question? Did her sleep pattern change?

My recommendation, if your answers pushed you in the direction of feeling more strongly that there is something not quite right with your athlete, it makes sense to talk to a support person about your concerns.