Mental coach

[PlayPerfect]

Ive coached kids since they were 9. I get calls from former parents of mine every six months saying their kid is failing at softball at their high schools or their travel league and they wanna quit and they cant hit or field and they are sick of it. Will I work with them? The answer is always yes, and the answer is always mental. Im an accountant for money but Im a coach for my passion. I put the kids mind in the right place and they go on to have a great season. Its softball. Make it fun and girls thrive. Its truly that simple. No pscychiatrists necessary.

 

[CoogansBluff]

Its softball. Make it fun and girls thrive. Its truly that simple. No pscychiatrists necessary.

Not that simple, IMO.

Some kids (and adults) have issues of anxiety or perfectionism or confidence that aren't going away just because they have coaches who make it fun. And there are many kids who have fun but still don't get the most out of their abilities because they don't handle their emotions well, or they worry too much about what other people think, etc.

Getting professional help is not always feasible, but I believe it can be very valuable. If I were an AD at a college that could afford that sort of thing, I'd definitely want it as part of the program. Also, psychiatrists are doctors who prescribe medication for psychological issues. I don't think the thread is about that. It's about mental coaches for sports, such as sports psychologists.

That said, I don't disagree that coaches and parents can play a huge role in alleviating some of these things, or do I doubt that you're doing a great job of that as a coach. That's a valuable part of coaching that is not as common as it should be. Just saying that it's not always enough to help a kid be as strong as she could be mentally on a softball field.

 

[chinamigarden]

A "mental coach" can be helpful to those who have problems with the mental part of the game.

For those who don't, I find that competition is the best mental coach. Always compete .... at practice, in games, on the bench, in the weight room, in the hitting cage. That will make you ready to compete when the game is on the line.

I agree. Too many coaches have easy practices where nothing is ever done under pressure, and then expect their players to perform under pressure. Make practices a competition, force the girls to learn how to play under pressure and they will be more ready when game pressure is on.

 

[redhotcoach]

My buddy and I were discussing a topic recently. His son who was in MotorCross had a "mental coach." Helped him prepare his mind mentally for races and practices.

Has anyone hired a "mental coach" or heard of anyone doing so? What were the outcomes?

Really wish I could have found one in our area last year. By the end of hs season, she said "I am scared to swing at pitches and scared to look at pitches". She got yelled at for every ground out or fly out for choosing the wrong pitch, and yelled at for not swinging at at pitches coach deemed good (which was NEVER EVER the first pitch...not allowed to hit first pitch. Funny, she started a new tb team and coach said to me "I wish she was more aggressive on the first pitch". I said "you can thank hs coach for that!"). Right now she is no where near the hitter she was 1 year ago before the hs season. She was mentally crushed, said "if I don't hit a hr, I am in trouble". Pretty sure that was the plan seeing as she doesn't have a brother playing football or parents that kiss butt. She was more successful then her "spot" in the system allowed. Not the first girl in this position, but paving some new roads for girls to come.
Back to the mental coach, we are going to start looking for one again.

 

[FP26]

Its softball. Make it fun and girls thrive. Its truly that simple.

By the end of hs season, she said "I am scared to swing at pitches and scared to look at pitches". She got yelled at for every ground out or fly out for choosing the wrong pitch, and yelled at for not swinging at at pitches coach deemed good (which was NEVER EVER the first pitch...not allowed to hit first pitch.

Making it fun is part of it, but in my opinion, it goes deeper than that. I believe much of it comes down to confidence, and more specifically confidence under pressure. It can be confidence in their ability, confidence in their teammates, confidence in their knowledge of the game, confidence in the coaches, etc. And there are a number of potential distractions to that confidence. It could be an overbearing coach that is forcing a player out of their comfort zone such as in RHC's example (That is really unfortunate, because I have no doubt she can really rake if permitted to do her thing.). It could be a parent constantly pushing for that D1 full ride expectation. It could be as simple as a boyfriend sitting in the bleachers watching.

Three years ago we had a pitcher on our team blessed with a great deal of natural athleticism and ability. One of my responsibilities before games was to get the pitchers ready. My goal with her was to build her confidence before heading to the circle. She typically started each game strong, but inevitably she would have one of those innings when a couple of base runners would get on. As soon as that happened, you could hear the dad start chirping at her. Immediately her head would go down and she became a completely different pitcher. No confidence. Less speed. No control. I would do what I could to take her mind off of it and refocus on the game, but as long as the dad kept yelling, I felt as though I was fighting a losing battle. She switched travel teams each of the following 2 seasons and gave up pitching last summer....

 

[Mike-Coach Q]

I believe in mental coaching, I've took several seminars from Tony Robbins , NLP and Dr. Richard Bandler the co-creator of NLP. Ever time I've learned something that has helped my coaching in some way, I am still trying to get it right. My overall goal with my current program is to create an environment where success can happen.
Fail-learn-and grow is our model we follow , failure is a key part of the process to growing. The more we understood this the less we failed because our players understood it was ok to fail. How different would you play if you didn't have to worry about failure, performance or the outcome of the game. We don't talk about errors, we talk about what we are going to do the next time were in that situation. Competition absolutely competition is a key to getting better, but you 1st have to learn how to compete with yourself. If you are deflating yourself after every setback you will spiral downward mentally. The better you communicate with yourself the better you will be as a athlete. The better you communicate as a coach the better the environment and team will become IMO.

 

[Mad4Ball]

UT used something more sports psychology related - https://vimeo.com/125536509

Thanks for posting this. I wanted to address the mental side and this gives good practical steps to try.

 

[JAD]

My buddy and I were discussing a topic recently. His son who was in MotorCross had a "mental coach." Helped him prepare his mind mentally for races and practices.

Has anyone hired a "mental coach" or heard of anyone doing so? What were the outcomes?

I remember John Smoltz using a "mental coach" during his slump with the Braves and it must have helped since he went on to a HOF career, but until my DD starts making MLB money she is going to have to get by with my profanity laced tirades while sunflower shells spew from my lips as motivation....