Mental Edge Athletic Performance Consulting & CoachingCase Studies / Success Stories

“Mary”

Mary is a fifth grade student-athlete who plays soccer, basketball, and softball. In school

and sport, she feels she must be perfect. She gets upset when a score isn’t perfect on a quiz or

test and makes a mistake in a game. To Mary this is an attack on her identity and a blow to her

self-image. She tries avoiding mistakes at all costs in her effort to maintain her self-image. This

makes it hard for her to take risks. In class, she doesn’t raise her hand or volunteer to answer a

question if she isn’t absolutely positive she has the correct answer. In sports, she avoids risks by

being conservative in her play. Mary also has problems with criticism or correction from

teachers, coaches, or her parents. Mary has a strong desire to please others. So, when a coach or

teacher points out a mistake, she has an extremely difficult time accepting it. Mary appeared

“uncoachable” and her parents requested my help.

I was reluctant to work with Mary. I was concerned she may be too young to benefit from

what Mental Edge has to offer. I agreed and was able to develop very good rapport with Mary

during our first meeting. We met weekly until I was able to get an understanding of the problem

from Mary’s perspective. Mary identified a problem with her self-talk. Whenever Mary would

make a mistake in class or during competition, she directed negative comments at herself inside

her own head. She would call herself “stupid” or “no good.” This played right into her self-image

problem. Over the next two weeks, Mary paid attention and tracked her self-talk. I discussed

several strategies with Mary and she implemented the one that sounded best. Mary began

recording the situations that created her negative self-talk, the use of her intervention, and how

effective she was in stopping the negative self-talk.

With the proper mind set in place, Mary learning the strongest weapon in any athlete’s

arsenal; the power of her mind! I trained Mary in the use of progressive relaxation. Once relaxed,

Mary learned the use of mental imagery / visualization. Mary used this tool daily before practice

and before going to bed. Mary gained confidence, prepared for overcoming adversity, and

improved her focus. Mary flourished by all accounts; her coach, her parents, and her self-report!

This was accomplished with 4 face to face sessions followed by a few brief (30 minute or less)

phone conversations. Now, Mary has a Mental Edge tool few her age possess and she is using it

to outperform the competition and raise her game to a new level.