Athletes Who Train When They Compete
Often in our work, athletes get stuck in a training or practice mindset, which means they don’t stop “working” during competition. They train when competing…
Why is this a problem when athletes train during competition?
The purpose of training is to develop confidence in skills and repetition provides confidence. Competition is a time to trust in skills.
When athletes are practicing during competition, they focus on improving for the future instead of playing to play great today!
Here’s a questions I answered during the MGCP course this spring:
“I see a lot of coaches who continue to coach technique during competition or continue to be in a training mindset themselves. How do you coach athletes to handle that?”
First, I think coaches need to understand to just let athletes play and not over coach or work on technique during competition.
Trust in Muscle Memory
You want your athletes to be athletic and trust in their motor memory. This allows them to react intuitively when competing…
You would not want your ball players to be focused on making a perfect swing at-bat, for example. Reserve that for the batting cage. Instead, you want them to trust in their practice and focus on the ball.
So I, (Dr. Patrick Cohn) help my athletes simplify their performance when they go into competition…
Less is better than over thinking their game. You can help your athletes simplify by helping them understanding that practice is complete–behind them–when they start competition. No more fixing what might not be broken!
Want to learn my entire system for doing mental coaching with athletes during the Fall MGCP certification course? Now is the time (I don’t know how much longer I will be the instructor for the MGCP course).
Apply today to reserve your “seat.” Early registration ends September 6, 2024. Save 10 percent with early enrollment. You can learn more about the MGCP course here:
Here’s What a Participant said About the Course:
“I want to be sure you know how much I appreciated being able to be a participant in this past fall’s class. As I remember the class from 2015, along with this class, were filled with impressive, bright people (yourself, Jaclyn and Georgia included of course). It was good for me to be around. Thank you.”
~Keith Brush, MGCP
Contact us if you have any questions about the MGCP certification course or the self-paced course.