02/15/2022
๐๐๐ต๐น๐ฒ๐๐ฒ ๐ค๐๐ฒ๐๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐ผ๐ณ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ช๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ธ: โ๐'๐ท๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ข ๐ด๐ญ๐ถ๐ฎ๐ฑ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ข ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ช๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ธ! ๐๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ค๐ข๐ฏ ๐ ๐ฅ๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฃ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐จ๐ณ๐ช๐ฑ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ?โ
Performance slumps are pretty common across all sports. While you as an athlete may feel helpless in the face of one, there are specific things that you can do to help you weaken the grip that this slump may have on you and get back on track!
๐๐ถ๐ฟ๐๐, ๐๐ผ๐ ๐ป๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐๐ผ ๐๐ป๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐ผ๐ป๐ฒ, ๐๐๐ผ, ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ป ๐บ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ฝ๐ผ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ๐บ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฐ๐ฒ๐ ๐ถ๐ป ๐ฎ ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ ๐ฑ๐ผ๐ป'๐ ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐๐๐ฒ ๐ฎ ๐๐น๐๐บ๐ฝ! They may form the seeds of a slump, but whether those seeds get โplanted and wateredโ depends upon how you respond to those bad outings!
The real culprit here--the thing that determines whether several bad performances turns into a slump--is how YOU respond to them. More specifically, it's related to what you say to yourself about the poor showings and then what you focus on both before and during the next competition.
So if you keep telling yourself โI'm in a slump,โ reminding yourself of the past poor outings, and then jump ahead to the future and start focusing on and worrying about โwhat if it happens again,โ then you are well on your way to creating the exact problem that you don't want to have happen.
๐๐ผ๐ ๐ฑ๐ผ๐ฒ๐ ๐๐ต๐ถ๐ ๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐ธ?
When you allow your focus to go back and forth from the past to the future, you'll make yourself anxious, undermine your confidence, and distract your concentration from the present, where it needs for you to consistently perform at your best! A past and/or future focus going into a competition always involves over-thinking, and thinking is hazardous to your performance health!
So if you want to loosen the tight grip that a slump may currently have on you, then ๐๐ผ๐ ๐บ๐๐๐ ๐ณ๐ถ๐ฟ๐๐ ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ผ๐บ๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ฒ-๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ๐บ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฐ๐ฒ ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฐ๐๐ ๐ถ๐! Are you hanging out in the past, replaying your last few terrible results? Are you then jumping ahead to the future and trying to prevent this bad result from happening again? ๐๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐น๐ผ๐ฝ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ฎ๐๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ป๐ฒ๐๐ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ป๐ฐ๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ฟ๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐ด๐ผ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ถ๐ป๐๐ผ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ฑ๐๐ฟ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ฎ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐บ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐๐ถ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐ถ๐ ๐๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐ณ๐ถ๐ฟ๐๐ ๐น๐ถ๐ป๐ฒ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ณ๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ฒ ๐ถ๐ป ๐๐น๐๐บ๐ฝ ๐ฏ๐๐๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด!
๐ฆ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ป๐ฑ, ๐๐ผ๐ ๐บ๐๐๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ป ๐ฑ๐ถ๐๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฝ๐น๐ถ๐ป๐ฒ ๐๐ผ๐๐ฟ๐๐ฒ๐น๐ณ ๐๐ผ ๐ถ๐บ๐บ๐ฒ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐น๐ โ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐โ ๐๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฐ๐๐ ๐ฏ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐๐ผ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ก๐ข๐ช ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐๐ผ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ฑ๐ผ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ถ๐ป ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐บ๐ผ๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐! It doesn't matter if you have to repeatedly bring yourself back focus-wise! The only thing that really matters is that each and every time you find yourself mentally โtime-traveling,โ you quickly return your concentration to the task at hand!
Dr. Alan Goldberg is a globally renowned Sports Performance Consultant with over 35 years of experience mentally training athletes of all ages, from Olympians to juniors, and recreational athletes alike. To learn more about Dr. G, please visit https://www.competitivedge.com/dr-alan-goldberg/
