Mental strategies to improve confidence and performance

[klinder]

[h=2]Mental Strategies to improve confidence and performance[/h]

How do you teach young athletes to be more confident, to maintain their focus, to take control of their emotions, and to play with a relaxed intensity?

Helping them understand how mental state impacts physical action and teaching them how to control their thoughts and emotions is the key. Athletes can learn mental strategies and actions to help them become more relaxed, confident, and able to perform better. There are strategies that pro, college, and Olympic athletes use to achieve success.

Aspire Higher Sports is offering 5 week Advanced Mental Sills Training & Hitting Classes in Columbus at Mannino's Grand Slam and at AB Pitching, Hitting, & Fitness in Akron

For more information go to www.aspirehighersports.com or www.grandslaminfo.com.

This class is filled with activities and discussions that allow the athlete to examine their own thoughts, feelings, emotions, and performance and then we apply the strategies to hitting.

The first half of each class will be devoted to mental training activities that include goal setting, understanding focus, improving confidence, relaxation with routines to develop consistency, use of visualization to train your subconscious mind, dealing with fear or doubt, and ways to improve self talk and focus. The second part of each class will focus on implementing mental strategies to help the athlete become more confident in their hitting skills and to develop a mental approach at the plate. These techniques are proven to help the athlete relax and improve confidence leading to better performances.
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Recommended for 14U, 16U, 18U, and High School age athletes.
This is a great class for the high level travel ball player who wants to improve their hitting and become more confident in their total game.

Athletes will:
Create a vision of the player they want to be
Set goals, intentions, action plans to improve skill level
Become more confident
Identify and learn to focus on strengths
Become disciplined in thought process
Learn to control emotions that impact performance
Improve mental focus through use of routines
Eliminate self-doubt and replace with more powerful confident action
Turn negative self-talk into positive direction
Use visualization to program the subconscious mind
Understanding hitting counts and pitch locations
Develop a mental approach to hitting

Questions call Karen at 330-221-5197 or email at klinder@aspirehighersports.com.​

 

[klinder]

One of the topics we are going to discuss and teach is the use of routines. Teach your athletes to develop routines that will give them control of their focus and emotional state. One of the keys to success is the athlete being aware of what she is feeling and where her focus is for the next pitch. Having a routine with specific thoughts combined with action can help them play with a relaxed intensity. Have a positive feeling combined with right focus and self-talk. Goal is to be clear minded, with intent and trust and to eliminate anxiousness, doubt, or fear.

A hitting routine can be developed for pre- at bat, being on deck, stepping into the box, in between pitches, and letting go of a bad swing and reset.
Routines help develop trust, confidence, and consistency through proper focus.

3 steps
1. Check in and scan, make sure you are in the green zone
2. Make a plan for the next pitch based on the situation
3. Commit to act or react with trust

My class will teach them how to put together routines that will help them be more successful. Each athlete is different in what words and actions they use. The goal is to develop a plan that gives clear concise direction with thoughts and images of the positive results they are seeking.