Mental Training

Not to brag, but i didnt have a mood swing in like 6 minutes

You take your first freediving course having never dived before and in a few days you find yourself sitting on the bottom at 10 or 20m having the time of your life. What changed in the two days since you were a beginner?

Well physically nothing, there simply isn’t enough time to change your body on a 2 day intro course….the only change is mental. You arrive on day one with the ability to freedive, you just don’t know it yet.

This is an important principle that I instil in my students, your body knows what to do but our minds get in the way. It is our job as freedivers to give our bodies the freedom to let us go deeper.

Training Method

Opportunities don’t knock, they whisper. So shut up and listen.

There is no secret to how people learn, we need gentle, regular input, something challenging but not too challenging, drills repeated until they are second nature. Once learnt we then introduce ‘stress’, this is not a bad word. We need a task to be moderately challenging in order to achieve ‘flow’ in our dives. Theory, practice, repetition. In applying these principles I will give you structure and a sense of progress, you will never again enter the water without a clear goal for the session. First step is to establish some goals, some long term and some short term. Then we look at the areas you need to work on the get there. You need to break the dive down into component parts, train them individually then once engrained in your subconscious we put it all together for amazing dives.

The Nine Mental Skills of Successful Athletes

You don’t have to be a professional athlete or an Olympic champion to be a successful athlete. Nor do you have to have a room full of trophies, win a state championship, or make the front page of the sports section. Successful athletes that I’ve worked with include an eleven year-old figure skater who has not yet won a competition, a high school golfer with a zero handicap, a middle-aged runner whose goal is to complete her first marathon, a weight lifter who holds several world records, and an Olympic medalist.

What these athletes have in common is that their sport is important to them and they’re committed to being the best that they can be within the scope of their limitations – other life commitments, finances, time, and their natural ability. They set high, realistic goals for themselves and train and play hard. They are successful because they are pursuing their goals and enjoying their sport. Their sport participation enriches their lives and they believe that what they get back is worth what they put into their sport.

There are nine, specific mental skills that contribute to success in sports. They are all learned and can be improved with instruction and practice. At the Ohio Center for Sport Psychology we work with serious athletes of all ages and ability levels to help them learn and sharpen these important skills.

We believe that our work is worthwhile because the same mental skills that athletes use in achieving success in sports can be used to achieve success in other areas of their lives.

Mental Skills Training

These nine mental skills are necessary for performing well in sport as well as in non-sport performance situations. At the Ohio Center for Sport Psychology:

We believe that these skills are learned and can be improved through instruction and practice.
We begin our work with each individual by assessing his current proficiency in each of the skills.
We develop a plan for teaching and enhancing the specific skills that need improvement for the individual.
We periodically reassess the client’s proficiency in each of the skills in order to evaluate our progress.

A Brief List of the Nine Mental Skills

Successful Athletes:

Choose and maintain a positive attitude.
Maintain a high level of self-motivation.
Set high, realistic goals.
Deal effectively with people.
Use positive self-talk.
Use positive mental imagery.
Manage anxiety effectively.
Manage their emotions effectively.
Maintain concentration.

The Performance Pyramid

Although each of the nine skills is important, its primary importance will occur during one of three phases: long-term development, immediate preparation for performance, and during performance itself.

Level I – These mental skills constitute a broad base for attaining long-term goals, learning, and sustaining daily practice. They are needed on a day-by-day basis for long periods of time, often months and years.

Level II – These skills are used immediately before performance to prepare for performance. They maybe used just before competition begins, or immediately before a specific performance action, such as a golf shot or a free throw in basketball.

Level III – These skills are used during actual performance behavior.

The pyramid below represents the relationship of the nine skills to one another. Each of the higher levels incorporates and is based upon the skills of the preceding levels.