Welcome to my blog
Performance Blocks in Sport
“Target Panic” (archery, shooting), “The Yips” (golf, tennis, cricket, baseball), “Lost Move Syndrome”, “Flikikammo”, “The Twisties” (gymnastics), “Dartitis” (darts). These are just some of the many creative names given by athletes to the phenomena that is now being collectively called a performance block – a potentially debilitating and in certain circumstances physically dangerous situation that…
What do you want to be when you grow up?
Richard Fryer and Wayne Goldsmith “What do you want to be when you grow up?” This was the question posed to Richard’s kids by their primary school teachers last week. And come to think of it, each of them has been asked the same question multiple times already in their short lives. A simple question.…
Evolving approaches in performance psychology
Mental preparation for sport is a popular topic and one I’m sure every reader knows something about. A quick google search yields more than 64 million results, there are countless books written about it each year, modules delivered in coach training courses and, perhaps most interestingly, we all have a mind – so we consider…
Building confidence
I doubt anyone would ever say they want to be less confident. We intuitively know that confidence is helpful, for performance at the level we are at today and to help us develop towards our full potential. But how do you build confidence? What should you work on? C = P + S Or, in…
Transitioning to the new normal – advice for athletes
As athletes across Australia prepare for a return to training, here are some considerations to smooth your psychological transition. Going back to the new normal After spending several weeks training on your own and interacting with coaches via video calls, the prospect of getting back to some semblance of normality is exciting. However, our mental…
Why kids quit sport… and how to stop them
Youth sport is a subject close to my heart. As a parent of three school-age children, participation in organised sporting activities is already a big part of life. We like to think that encouraging participation now is laying the foundations for an active lifestyle throughout school and participation for many years beyond. Unfortunately, the research…
Beyond dualism for improved mental health
In the early 1600’s the French philosopher Descartes argued in his thesis on mind-body dualism that the nature of the mind is completely different from that of the body. This distinction that the mind is somehow separate from the body – despite it being a 400 year old idea – still pervades today, not least…
Designing leadership development that works
How much of our attitudes to development and self-improvement are centred around the concept of feeling good or feeling better? Ask a room full of leaders about their biggest challenges and ‘difficult conversations’ will inevitably make the list. When you ask them what improvements they want to make in this area, they will list things…
Ways to improve your mental health
Mental health is a critical part of overall health and yet is so often described by the absence of illness. Ask people what mental health is and they’ll likely say something like ‘less anxiety or depression’. This is like describing physical health as the absence of a broken leg – it’s not wrong, but it’s not…
Psychology and high performance sport
Psychology support has become a common, and important, element of the high-performance sport environment. Psychologists essentially perform two critical roles. First, they help athletes and teams develop strategies and skills to perform as close to their full potential when it matters most. Second, they help people within the sport environment (often, but not exclusively, athletes)…
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