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From Coach Traub:
Today?s Mental Skills Tip ? Tension is literally the contraction of muscle fibers. Relaxation is the absence of tension. Awareness is necessary for adjustments to happen. Therefore, if an athlete doesn't realize he's too tight, he won't fix the problem. Learning to relax is a three step process (like learning anything, really): know where you want to be, know where you are, and figure out how to get from here to there.
How do we know where we want to be? Ask the right questions constantly, including "What was I doing when I played great?" Odds are that in sports, you were relaxed. Paying this much attention to life's details, including muscle tension, is too much trouble for a majority of people, but it can become normal stuff for champions like you!
How do we know where we are now? Check. Try it now. Scan the back of your neck for muscle tension. You probably are carrying more than you need to keep your head from flopping, but without checking, you probably didn't realize this. Does this mean we should check for tension before a football play, a free throw, a pitch or any other performance? It depends... if tension has a history of keeping you from giving your best effort, then yes. Is this making your preparations to perform too difficult and complex? No. The goal is to keep everything simple during the performance, not before it. Besides, if you add this check for tension into your pre-performance routine and practice it over and over again, it becomes routine, or no big deal.
How do athletes get from tight to relaxed? There are many ways so make your best guess, test it out, and then if it's not working, try something else. Here are some ideas to accelerate this process:
Nancy Lopez, "The first thing I do after losing is forget it."
Carl Hubbell, "I had no chance of controlling a ball game until I first controlled myself."
Coach Wooden Quote: "Be poised by just being yourself."
Today?s Mental Skills Tip ? Tension is literally the contraction of muscle fibers. Relaxation is the absence of tension. Awareness is necessary for adjustments to happen. Therefore, if an athlete doesn't realize he's too tight, he won't fix the problem. Learning to relax is a three step process (like learning anything, really): know where you want to be, know where you are, and figure out how to get from here to there.
How do we know where we want to be? Ask the right questions constantly, including "What was I doing when I played great?" Odds are that in sports, you were relaxed. Paying this much attention to life's details, including muscle tension, is too much trouble for a majority of people, but it can become normal stuff for champions like you!
How do we know where we are now? Check. Try it now. Scan the back of your neck for muscle tension. You probably are carrying more than you need to keep your head from flopping, but without checking, you probably didn't realize this. Does this mean we should check for tension before a football play, a free throw, a pitch or any other performance? It depends... if tension has a history of keeping you from giving your best effort, then yes. Is this making your preparations to perform too difficult and complex? No. The goal is to keep everything simple during the performance, not before it. Besides, if you add this check for tension into your pre-performance routine and practice it over and over again, it becomes routine, or no big deal.
How do athletes get from tight to relaxed? There are many ways so make your best guess, test it out, and then if it's not working, try something else. Here are some ideas to accelerate this process:
- Take a deep breath (down in your belly) and just let the tension go during the exhalation.
- Contrast strategy: tighten the muscle group as tight as possible, breathe in, and then release the air and the muscle fibers together.
- Massage
- Shake it out
- Postitive self-talk to take the pressure off and increase confidence (all mental skills training is designed to help with this)
- Affirmations, such as "Have fun," "Yes," "Trust it," or "I got this."
- Use your routine to promote full preparedness and comfort.
- Yoga
- Pay attention to your body during stretching
- Progressive Relaxation
Nancy Lopez, "The first thing I do after losing is forget it."
Carl Hubbell, "I had no chance of controlling a ball game until I first controlled myself."
Coach Wooden Quote: "Be poised by just being yourself."
