athletecontents

Table Of Contents

Preface

Chapter 1: Life-Long Lessons From Sports

The role sports plays throughout your life

Carrying lessons forward

What they learned on the playing field

Robin Roberts, TV News Anchor

Question to ask yourself

John McCain, United States Senator

Question to ask yourself

Traci Des Jardins, Chef and Restaurant Owner

Question to ask yourself

Bernie Mac, Comedian and Actor

Question to ask yourself

Lisa Caputo, Corporate Vice-President

Question to ask yourself

Robin Williams, Actor and Comedian

Question to ask yourself

Donna Shalala, University President

Question to ask yourself

James Brown, Television Sports Anchor

Question to ask yourself

Your successes and challenges as an athlete

Chapter 2: The Brain-Body Connection

The brain-body connection in sports

The brain-body loop

How your senses help you navigate your sport

Chapter 3: Athletes’ Vision: Your Brain’s Window To Your Sport

Vision on the playing field

Vision motor skills

Tracking

Focusing

Vergence

Vision perception skills

Eye-hand and eye-foot coordination

Visualization

Directionality

Sequencing

Developing your sports vision abilities

Book: SportsVision

Chapter 4: Mental Performance Basics

Mental factors that affect performance

Focusing your attention

Shifting your attention

Controlling your behavior

Processing information

Following rules and taking risks

Speed of decision making

Chapter 5: Filling The Emotional Tank

Using communications to fill emotional tanks

Communicating support and encouragement

Communicating criticism and anger

Communicating ideas

When people use ideas to keep other teammates down

Effective leadership fills emotional tanks

Team leaders have a need to control others

Team leaders have self-confidence

Criticism impacts emotional tanks

Chapter 6: Mental Performance Under Pressure

Effect of pressure on performance

Three ways to respond to pressure

Staying centered helps control your arousal level

Arousal levels needed for different sport skills

Over-responding to pressure causes errors

Distracted by things going on around you

Distracted by thoughts inside your head

Distracted by focusing on one thing too long

Conquering the negative performance cycle

Breaking free from the negative cycle

Preview your performance

Guide to good previewing

CD that helps you improve your previewing skills

Body sensing

Controlling your arousal level through relaxation

CD that helps improve your relaxation and stress control

A system designed to cope with pressure and stress

Chapter 7: Mental Success During Practice

Your mental approach to practice

Developing resilience—the key to sustained success

Know why you are practicing

Give yourself time to practice

Practice mental skills

Evaluate your mental performance before and after competitions

Understanding your mental tendencies in competition

Chapter 8: Importance of Self-Care

Taking care of yourself

Create your own athletic gameplan

Assessing your mental performance

How well do you perform up to potential?

What improvements are needed to play up to potential?

Do you have a mental or physical performance problem?

Importance of setting skill development goals

How goals affect your self-confidence

Skill goals have big effects

Creating Your Goal Gameplan

Your season goals worksheet

Top priority skill (level 3) goals worksheet

Game evaluation form

References

About A Talented Mind