Athlete's Mental Gym
Mental Skill: Use the Body Sensing Technique To Focus Your Mind
When you make an error in competition or feel under pressure, you may mentally and physically plunge yourself into what’s called a negative performance cycle. This cycle results from a continuous, three-step process: First, you make an error in competition or practice. Second, this causes you to start worrying and having negative thoughts inside your head which distracts you from the action. Finally, by being distracted, you make another error and start the negative performance cycle all over again.
To break free from this cycle before, during or after competitions and practices, you can use a technique called body sensing to re-center yourself. The body sensing method in sports was developed by the elite running coach Danny Dreyer and is a highly effective way for your mind and body to break free from a negative performance cycle that can cause errors. As Dreyer explains, body sensing is the act of feeling what’s going on with your body.
When you swing your leg while running, what does it feel like? Does it feel right? Could it feel better, easier, smoother, more relaxed? When you take any action, body sensing is the voice of your body.
When your mind gives a directive to your body, it will respond with a movement and body sensing will tell you the effectiveness of that response. Body sensing tells you when you’re working too hard or not enough. It can tell you when to add some muscle to what you are doing and when to take it away.
When things are not going well in competition or practice and you feel stressed, you can use body sensing to focus yourself on the one thing you can totally control—the way your body moves to maintain good technique. When athletes feel stressed, their technique usually falters because they are inside their heads worrying, breathing too shallow, and over-tensing their muscles. By focusing your attention on your body and checking to make sure you are using relaxed movements and breathing, you can link your mind and body to perform in unison.
You are also using the focus on your body to calm your mind. For instance, if you are running a race and get a cramp in your side, you can focus your attention on relaxing all of your muscles and joints from head to foot to maintain good technique. Relaxing your muscles and focusing on technique calms your body and mind and focuses your attention on things you can control. It can also keep the rest of your body from tensing up while you experience the pain and stress from your side cramp.
When things are not going well in games or practice, use body sensing to focus your mind on your body to perform key fundamentals and stay centered. This technique will help you refocus only on what you can control, and can result in you maintaining good coordination between your mind and body.
