LeMoyne Women’s Soccer

Mental Game Sessions

WHAT COMES FIRST, CONFIDENCE OR

SUCCESS?

ACTING CHANGES EVERYTHING

Fake it till you make it Body will mimic the mind Act differently than you feel Be an actor, not an athlete

Energy is a decision Energy is contagious

Train, play, even on the bench with high energy

GET BIG Body language, like energy, is contagious Use big body language to display confidence

BIG A.B.Cs ACT BIG BREATHE BIG COMMIT BIG

BIG BODY LANGUAGE TACTIC

Set an alarm on your phone for every 20 minutes

As soon as it goes off be aware of your body language – are you slouching? Is your mind wondering off?

Use the reminder to snap back into BIG body language and refocus

SELF TALK DICTATES FEELING

HAVE TO vs WANT TO/DESERVE TO You don’t HAVE to go to practice, you

WANT to You don’t HAVE to work out, you WANT to Using the right language will dictate how

you feel IN vs INTO

Are you IN the team or INTO the team?

DON’TS AND NOS Avoid using DON’Ts and NO in self talk DON’T and NO create a negative

image in your head that you can not avoid

MAGIC LETTERS: Y-E-T If you use negative self talk add Y-E-T

to the end If someone says “I am not good enough to

be a starter” they have already beaten themselves

If they add YET to the end, “I am not good enough to be a starter… YET” they are still giving themselves a chance

FAILURE IS POSITIVE FEEDBACK

Loser or Leaner? Do you only focus on the negative or

mope about loses? Use the set back as information and

motivation How can we improve? What did we do well?

Good OR Bad vs Good AND Bad Good OR bad creates too many ups and

downs Good AND bad keeps things in perspective

FAILURE SUCCESSFailure

Evaluation

Focus

Work

Confidence

Success

FAILURE IS UNAVOIDABLE Stick with routine

Over 100 changes of possession in a game It is how you respond Cannot lose focus/get out of routine

everytime Focus on excellence over perfection

No one is perfect, we will not play perfectly

Focusing on perfection creates negative situations

Focus on excellence

WHAT MAKES UP YOUR ROUTINE?

Staying in the present moment Playing every game one play at a

time Having high energy/ giving great

effort Making aggressive decisions Focus on what you can control

TRAFFIC LIGHT ANALOGY Green light

Composed, optimistic, confident, focused

Yellow Light Frustrated, questioning, doubts,

negative

Red Light Angry, pessimistic, overwhelmed,

hopeless

USE THE 4-RS TO GET GREEN

Routine

Recognize

Release

Refocus

PLAY VS YOURSELF AND THE GAME

The game does not change There is no “turn it on” button Treat every workout, practice, game

the same Train at the same tempo as you play

BE IN THE PRESENT SO WHAT NEXT PLAY

Being a champion is playing one play at a time

No time in game to dwell on past or look ahead

Verbalize “SO WHAT NEXT PLAY” to get back into present

NEXT 200 FEET Looking at the whole

day/week/month/season can be daunting Focus on the next task, the “next 200 feet”

then move on Segment your day into “200 foot” segments

Breakfast- 200 feet Classes- 200 feet Film study- 200 feet Warming up- 200 feet Practice- 200 feet Dinner- 200 feet Homework- 200 feet

W.I.N. – WHAT’S IMPORTANT NOW

Each successive play is the most important play of the game Focus on winning each play

WIN everything Warmups (intense, motivated) Bench energy (loud, positive)

IMAGERY The body doesn’t know the difference

between vivid imagination and the real thing Use visualization/imagery to train your body

and minds to perform how you want Focus on what you are trying to do,

not what you are trying to avoid Same concept of positive self talk Visualize positive plays

MENTAL WORKOUT 15 second breath (6 in, 2 hold, 7 out)

Centers you and prepares you for workout 5 second play thought

Positive phrase on how you want to play 3 minutes of personal highlight reels

Past success (1 minute) Recent training/games (1 minute) Predict future success (1 minute)

MENTAL WORKOUT In highlight reels

Correct mistakes Be aware of the feeling and process Use all senses

Identity thought I am _______, I will ______

Similar to play thought, more of a confident statement

15 second breath (6 in, 2 hold, 7 out) When?

Before falling asleep, when waking up, 1 hour before game- 4 x a week