How To Select A Sports Psychology Coach

What do you want out of a sport psychology coach?

You want to build more confidence, make a positive impact in your sport, have more fun and satisfaction and unleash your full potential.

Sport psychology is one of those cutting-edge disciplines poised on the edge of art and science. The mind game is one of the most important, yet often most elusive and ineffable elements in all of sport. Having a strong mental game is the Make-It-Or-Break-It skill that separates the winners from the You-Came-So-Close crowd.

Athletes, coaches and parents choose an expert sport psychology coach, or mental game coach, to help navigate the learning curve, pressures and pitfalls of a sport. This mental game advisor provides guidance in building a mentally tough, peak performance mind tool-kit that top-performing champions possess. In learning these mental lessons, the mental training coach acts as a teacher, motivator and mentor. The sport psychology training relationship is a collaborative, confidential, professional one that supports the client in reaching more of their sports performance potential.

HERE'S WHAT ANY SPORT PSYCHOLOGY COACH SHOULD OFFER TO BOOST YOUR CONFIDENCE

1. Assessment of your current sport psychology skills.

2. Review of and suggestions for upcoming competitions.

3. A deep and extensive level of analysis and feedback about your sports performances.

4. Proprietary, detailed checklists that help you become aware of yourself as an athlete.

5. Worksheets and exercises that bring the concepts to life.

6. Coaching for your upcoming competition.

7. Help you overcome performance issues such as fear and low confidence.

8. Show-You-How-To-Practice sessions.

9. Advice on managing yourself under pressure.

10. Dress rehearsals of competitions.

11. Review of your past competitions.

12. Create custom pre-game mental routines.

13. Post-game reviews and follow-up.

14. Email support anytime you want it.

HOW SPORT PSYCHOLOGY COACHING CAN HELP YOU BE A BETTER, MORE SUCCESSFUL ATHLETE

1. Improve your self-confidence in your sport.

2. Teach you new and better mental approaches.

3. Coach you to improve your sports performances under pressure.

4. Provide you with new awarenesses about yourself as an athlete.

5. Counsel you in the "big-picture view" of your sports career.

6. Help you transfer the many mental lessons from sport to the rest of your life.

And, perhaps most important of all to athletes, the sport psychology coach should teach the science and art of MENTAL TOUGHNESS.

This article covers only one small part of the mental game. A complete mental training program includes motivation and goal-setting, pre-event mental preparation, post-event review and analysis, mental strengthening, self-regulation training, breath control training, motor skill training, mental rehearsal, concentration training, pressure-proofing, communication training, confidence-building, breaking through mental barriers, slump prevention, mental toughness training, flow training, relaxation training, momentum training, psych-out proofing and media training.

For a comprehensive overview of your mental abilities you need an assessment instrument that identifies your complete mental strengths and weaknesses. For a free, easy-to-take 65-item sport psychology assessment tool you can score right on the spot, visit http://www.mentalgamecoach.com/Assessments/MentalGameOfSports.html This assessment gives you a quick snapshot of your strengths and weaknesses in your mental game. You can use this as a guide in creating your own mental training program, or as the basis for a program you undertake with Bill Cole, MS, MA to improve your mental game. This assessment would be an excellent first step to help you get the big picture about your mental game.

Copyright © Bill Cole, MS, MA 2006 All rights reserved.

Bill Cole, MS, MA is one of the world's leading mental game coaches who consults with athletes of all levels including children, amateurs and professionals. Mr. Cole is the founder and President of the International Mental Game Coaching Association, the global leader in certification of mental game coaches. Read over 400 free articles on sports psychology at http://www.mentalgamecoaching.com/index.html or call 408-294-2776 for more information.