Today I am making my first post. It's kind of exciting!
This evening I will present the benefits of imagery to the entire freshman class of athletes (and that includes cheerleaders...I've heard they enjoy the workshop most!) Sometimes I wonder why I sign up for these things, but staying in your comfort zone never yields improvement, so I will use imagery myself to calm those nerves before speaking. No, I'm not refering to imagining them all naked; I will imagine myself being calm and doing well. More on imagery later.
So tip #1: Get out of your comfort zone. Whether this means pushing past "practice pace" and attempting to hold a faster repeat or it means trying something new with your pre-performance routine or it means raising your hand to contribute to discussion in class, just do it. If you always prepare the same way, you will always perform the same way. In sports and in life, we need to push ourselves, make ourselves just a little bit uncomfortable, to improve.
Who am I?
I am student at Florida State University, pursuing my PhD in sports psychology. I have 20 years competitive experience in swimming during which I reached national and division one collegiate level (FSU). From 2000-2008 I was a coach for Maverick Aquatics, a swim team in the panhandle of Florida that caters to all ages and abilities. The elite group excelled at the regional level (Southeastern Championships) while I was there. From 2004-2008 I helped coach and taught sports psychology for the Niceville High School swim team. I have a masters in mental health counseling (and experience in community mental health agencies), a keen interest in writing (and a BA in it), and a passion for sports and how the lessons learned in sport can enrich our lives.
Streamlining...important to swimming, sports, and life
By learning mental lessons through sport, you learn skills that help streamline your life. Streamlining is one of the first and most basic skills taught in swimming, and yet it is one of the most important. As we progress through life, sometimes we lose sight of the basic things. Sports psychology can help bring awareness to things that have become so automated over time that we don’t pay attention to how askew they have become or how they can be improved. Swimmers are taught that each and every time they leave the wall, they streamline. Before you do anything, make sure you streamline! That means organizing material and mental processes so they are smooth and efficient. As a swimmer moves through the water, every part of the body is positioned in such as way as to reduce drag, promote lift, and increase the streamlining capacity of the body. As you move through life, every aspect can be positioned in such a way that you are not emotionally dragged down, but instead lifted up as you optimize your time and energy. Sports psychology teaches ways to enhance performance in sport, and the skills are immediately applicable to life. So streamline your life! Your life can be better streamlined through the lessons of sport.
Labelled topics
- tip
- imagery
- football
- mood
- physical health
- posture
- social facilitation
- book commentary
- breathing
- comfort zone
- confidence
- counseling
- deliberate practice
- eating/food
- gender
- identity
- in the zone
- life lessons
- nerves
- organized sport
- personal
- play
- power
- pressure
- psyching team
- public speaking
- reframing
- relaxation
- role-model
- routine
- specialization
- talent
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"Getting out of your comfort zone" is sound advice, but so few follow it. People look for reinforcement to stay in their own comfort zones. That reinforcement comes in the way of acceptance many times. The problem is, the only constant in the universe is change. IF one is to change and adapt, one MUST get out of the comfort zone. This means, by its very nature, that one must believe in constantly improving oneself, and as you said, improvement doesn't happen by staying in the comfort zone. "Change is the only constant in the Universe. One must be 'constant' to change.
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