Your Inner Coach – How to handle negative
thoughts
By Randy Bernard,
Coach at TRImyCoach.com
I know what you are
thinking, "Why should I read an article about handling negative
thoughts?" You would probably prefer some tips on the latest
"run-till-you-puke" mile repeat track workout or possibly a
"swim-till-you’re-dizzy" pool workout, but as Yogi Bera said, "sport
is 90% mental and 50% physical." While his math skills may need some work,
his point was well taken. Often times it is our mental outlook on training and
competing that is our biggest limiting factor for ultimate performance.
Most sports are comprised
of four basic components: technical, tactical, physiological and psychological.
The technical component is the actual skill necessary to play the sport (e.g.
dribbling in basketball, stroke technique for swimming, etc.) The tactical
refers to strategies used to implement those techniques (e.g. what
offense/defense to run in football). The physiological aspect refers to the
physical demands in a given event. Finally, the psychological component covers
motivation, handling negative thoughts, visualization, and self-confidence.
This article will focus
on some of the key points of the negative "self-talk" and how to
improve your positive mental picture. Let’s start with a key point: Negativity
will almost certainly guarantee that you’ll fail to reach your dreams. So
with that being said, let’s discover how we can manage the negativity.
What is negative
"self-talk"? It is that inner coach that is with you during training and
competing. When you say to yourself, "I hate hills, I can’t swim as well
as Sue, I really hate to run in the heat, Fred always beats me out of the
transition area, I was faster than this last year, etc." are all examples
of negative "self-talk". Any of this sound familiar? These thoughts,
and even some of the more subtle thoughts, can and will have a profound
impact on how you train and eventually perform during competition. It is
perfectly natural to have negative thoughts. It’s the ability to monitor our
"self-talk" and recognize the negative thought early and replace the
image with a positive and more productive thought.
How do I replace
the negative thought? The first step is to be aware of how often we have negative thoughts.
Try this exercise (most of us just had a negative thought right now, "I
don’t want to try this exercise") Take the next few days and jot down all
the negative things that you tend to think and say in relation to your sport.
You may be surprised at the number of negative thoughts that you actually are
having. Here are some ways of replacing the negative thoughts with a more
positive image:
There has been plenty of
information that has been published on the power of positive thinking.
Endurance athletes by nature are generally a very highly motivated group of
individuals. Utilizing some of these techniques you can reach the next level of
performance. I believe that these steps will allow you to persist in the face
of adversity and to challenge yourself to reach new heights. You will be more
inclined to "dig in" with an even greater resolve to prove that you
will shine at the next opportunity. Remember , even the great Michael Jordan
was cut from his Jr. High School basketball team. Luckily, he chose to view
that negative setback as a temporary occurrence and came back with a greater
resolve to prove his critics wrong.
Remember: Positive
practice will yield positive performance!
Good Luck,
Randy
For more information on the TRImyCoach.com training programs, you can visit our website at www.TRImyCoach.com or email Randy at Randy@TRImyCoach.com
Some of the concepts for
this article were provided by:
Dr. Colleen Hacker, Sports
Psychologist, Ezteam Article Feb. 2000
Dr. Alan Goldberg,
Psychologist, Triathlon Sports Psychology and Peak Performance, Sept. 2000