Iowa HEAT WorkshopCathryn Lucas-Carr

About Me! PhD student in Health & Sports Studies Working toward AASP certification as a Sport

Psychology Consultant Runner & triathlete!!!

Why Mental Skills for Triathlon?Triathlon – 3 sports (or 4 if you count the

transitions!!!) in one Do you have a discipline that you’d say is your

weakness? You might find that mental skills will help!

Lots of time out on the course stuck inside our own heads!!

“Maintain your strengths, train your weaknesses”

Mental Skills for Physical Activity & Competition Focus & Concentration Negative Thought Stoppage & Positive

Self-TalkOvercoming Mistakes or Setbacks Relaxation, Visualization & Imagery Controlling Emotions & Anxiety Goal Setting

Training Strategies Race Strategies

Focus & Concentration Internal, Narrow External, Narrow(Rehearse) (Act/React)

Internal, Wide External, Wide (Analyze) (Assess)

Focus & Concentration • Workshop Practice

– 99s – Walkabout

Which were you able to better concentrate during?

During periods with “no distractions,” did you find your mind wandering? What did you think about?

Focus & Concentration• Practice at Home

– Counting breaths w/ and w/o distractions – Word searches w/ and w/o distractions

• Practice while training – Think about a specific topic for 30 seconds

without interruption (build from there!) – Bring your focus to various parts of your body,

and complete “status checks” – Play “I spy” games while training

What happens when the workouts are just really tough??? Internal Thoughts

Focus specifically on how your body is feeling or technique

Control breathing, count strides, strokes, RPMs External Thoughts

Turn your attention away from screaming lungs/muscles

Have a “go to” thinking subjectPlay internal decorator to the houses you pass

Other Strategies Break the workout/race into do-able sections Mantras

MantrasShort, self-affirming phrases to help you stay

focused and/or get you through the tough spots Keep it Short & Simple

One sentence or lessKeep it Positive

Moving toward a goal or challenge Keep it Energized

Use action verbs or adjectives Provide Instructions for yourself

Get up this hill!

Negative Thought Stoppage & Positive Self-Talk Self-talk is a way we internalize our

environment, thoughts, and behaviors. Our self-talk often reflects our mood, and can

often spiral out of control. This is called negative self-talk.With negative self-talk, many athletes talk

themselves out of a good performance.We can develop positive self-talk

Negative Self-TalkHow can we stop negative self talk?

We can learn to recognize our triggers and intercept negative self-talk before it begins!

We can create positive affirmations to reinforce our confidence!

We can replace our negative thoughts with positive ones!

Learning positive self-talk can keep us relaxed in a variety of situations!

Negative Thought Stoppage Specific strategies for reversing

negative self-talkRecognizing when we are starting have

negative thoughts Thought stoppage w/ physical or verbal

cue Replacing a negative thought with a

positive affirmationPerformance reviews and achievement

reminders

Visualization & Imagery What is Imagery?

Seeing yourself performing & rehearsing a skill

Imagining yourself competing in a specific situation

Not just seeing: Incorporate sounds, smells, tastes, & feelings

Reproduction of ALL sensory information that produces a skill

How do you do visualization? Maintain a positive approach. Picture yourself

completing the skills well, the perfect pass or shot.

Image in ‘real time’. Imagine yourself completing the skill at the speed you would normally complete it. Timing is a critical part of sport, and getting your body prepared for ‘real time’ situations will help you when those situations arise.

Feel the movements. Focus on how all the muscles involved feel during that skill, how your equipment feels. You should really feel as if you are in the situation.

Practice Transition Visualization

1st: visualize the set-up of your transition 2nd: visualize yourself going through the

transition, from the swim exit, to your transition space, and out the bike start.

Visualizing a problem or setback can help you stay calm and deal with it when it happens Taking care of a flat tireYour reaction to “dead legs” on the run

Relaxation Staying relaxed is a good way to ensure a

good performance. As with the other mental skills we must

PRACTICE relaxationProgressive Muscle Relaxation (PMR) is a

good way to learn how to feel when your muscles are relaxed Then you can do “targeted spot checks”

Thank You!!!!