For Podium Sports Journal by Stephen Walker, PhD, CC-AASP and Alec Baker, PsyD

What happens when you combine the speed of five great athletes in helmets and pads sprinting on ice skates straight at you? Oh yeah, they’re also bearing weapons. A simple collision, of which there are many, often sends metal blades and long sticks every which way. Their real target is you—the one thing keeping them from their objective—the one guarding the net. You are a goalie—and you must learn to thrive on stress.

The goalie has one of the most mentally demanding positions in any sport. When you combine the speed and mental skills required of a goalie with the danger of the sport, ice hockey is tops. Each goaltender has different strengths and triggers for both optimum and lackluster performance. Here are six mental conditioning skills that distinguish big time goalies….

Coaches can really help or hinder a goalie and there is no substitute for a coach knowing the right buttons to push. The problem is that many coaches rarely interact with their goalies because they don’t know how to coach them. Few coaches have actually played the position. With the emphasis on scoring and offensive play, some coaches minimize drills that emphasize defensive support. Goaltending is a solitary enterprise. When the team’s success is measured against your performance between the pipes, the stakes are undeniably high.

Many factors contribute to a goalie’s abilities and competence. Physical conditioning, preparation, nutrition and fueling, stretching, warm-ups, skating ability, shooting, passing, stick handling, rebound control, net location sequences, etc., are all important to the making of a great goalie. Every goalie at every level has great days and off days, but consistency is the hallmark of greatness in this endeavor.

Here are six mental conditioning skills that distinguish big time goalies. They are studied, practiced, and rehearsed on and off the ice, and instinctively integrated into the arsenal and mindsets that define greatness in goaltending.

Tip #1: Goaltenders must learn to be mentally alert, yet physically relaxed to enhance their speed, quickness, focus, accuracy and rebound control.

Arousal control is the key to developing optimal physical relaxation and mental alertness. This type of stress control involves the use of controlled breathing patterns that self-regulate the autonomic nervous system (see this article on controlling arousal and use of the centering breath). Neuromuscular bracing responses to stress often contribute to poor performance because they contribute to chronically tense muscles, fatigue, slow reaction time, lost precision and an inability to focus.

The centering breath, specifically, and breath control in general, is highly underrated. These skills are not easily mastered. Multiple practice sessions on a daily basis contribute to enhanced breath control in a variety of situations both on and off the ice.

Many mind/body practitioners are familiar with biofeedback and various monitoring systems for physiological functioning. Sometimes biofeedback can be used to improve the goalie’s awareness of both subtle physical sensations and different levels of arousal. Techniques like progressive muscular relaxation (PMR), threshold relaxation, autogenic training, yoga, tai chi movement, somatics and other disciplines can help an athlete relax and acquire expert arousal and motor control.

Speed and quickness can also be developed through certain neuromuscular mental preparation techniques designed to maximize fast-twitch motor unit recruitment. These mental skills are practiced and rehearsed daily if they are to be performed instinctively. (See: Ross, C, Journal of Sports Medicine 2001;31(15):1063- 82).

Tip #2: Goaltenders must learn, practice and employ routines for
pre-game preparation, net location sequences, focusing drills, and refocusing progressions that enhance consistency in performance.

Spatial ability and multitasking are crucial to the goalie’s performance. The ability to focus on and integrate several factors simultaneously separates the great goalies from the good ones. Positioning and efficiency are key at all times. Goalies must systematically develop the ability to keep track of where the men are off-the-puck. They must integrate how well their teammates are reacting to the attacks and positioning of the opposing team. Goalies are ultimately responsible for managing the efficiency of defensive play. Threat awareness is but one part of the many factors processed and accounted for by a competent goalie.

No one questions the role of a quarterback in directing play for a football team, but people often misunderstand the importance of a goalie directing traffic in and around the crease. Coaches with varying experience regarding goalie play can either facilitate or impair how each goalie prepares and practices the drills, routines and communication patterns that help establish their team’s cohesiveness and overall success.

Goalies, like athletes in many other sports, can create successful mindsets and pre-game routines. Sometimes these routines are regarded as superstitious. Certain routines that they believe contributed to a great game one time might become incorporated into that athlete’s standard operating system for game preparation. High performing goalies seeking consistency tend to employ refresher drills—on and off the ice. They do them to boost eye-hand-stick coordination, visual tracking exercises, spatial relations and efficient movements centering on the net. Some of these pre-game routines are physically practiced while others employ imagery, written reminders or sound files recorded on MP3 players. These may include:

* Pre-Game study—relaxing the “butterflies,” review of confidence boosters.
* Know Your Net Drills —Ritually performed net location sequence for every rink.
* Focusing Drills—Visual focusing, threat awareness, movement senses
* “Now” Practice —Analyze a mistake—Integrate (correction)—Forget
* Read —Read—React—Recover—Reposition
(From McDonnell’s Technogoaltending Vol. 1 “Cobra in the Crease.”

All athletes experience jitters before a game. Some may characterize this sensation as anxiety and find it unnerving. Some might say they are excited and happy to get on with the game. How an athlete defines that experience may dictate the proper structure of their pre-game preparation. Even if an athlete is jittery, don’t assume that he is mentally alert. Nutrition, blood sugar metabolism, emotional maturity, life balance, the ability to keep things in perspective, and the ability to manage distractions are key factors for readiness to play. Drills, routines, and rituals can be developed to enhance these factors. There is no substitute for daily practice of these mental skills!

Sean McCann, sport psychologist for the USOC states boldly, “Thoughts impact behavior…and consistency of thinking results in consistency of behavior.” If one seeks to perform reliably between the pipes, then his preparation should guide his thinking and game behavior accordingly.

Tip #3: Goaltenders must learn the art of letting go of mistakes. Perfection and shut outs are what we strive for, but they are never expected.

Perfectionism can be a good friend or your worst enemy, depending on how it is used. Any goaltender who expects to win by shutting out the opponent may be remarkably confident or just plain naïve. Shots ricochet off of traffic in the zone, teammates misplay a clear, power plays create position dilemmas, poor defensive support can leave you without backup, rebounds can bounce in any direction. All of these things and a dozen more happen to a goalie in the course of a game. In order to be effective, goalies must learn from their mistakes and disengage from the emotional angst that accompanies failing to protect the goal. A proper sequence for letting go of mistakes and implementing corrective measures will keep the goalie focused in the NOW—which is essential to success.

Coaches and teammates play an important role here, as well. Coaches often simply demand that the goalie keep the puck out of the net. This speaks to how little most coaches know about the position itself. It also illustrates that goals are frequently attributed to the goalie alone. In ice hockey, the goalie is often treated as a scapegoat.

When a head coach approaches goalies in this way, the goalie will have a much harder time shaking goals off. The goalie may be thinking about whether or not he will be pulled after letting in some goals; he will end up playing tentatively. This preoccupation can only impair his performance and increase the likelihood that he will let in goals.

A goalie’s response to giving up a goal reveals a lot about him as an individual and about the team as a whole. What lesson will they take away from the situation? Will it shake the team’s confidence? Will a teammate’s mistake erode the unit’s cohesion? How long will the mistake eat at the goalie, distracting him from his task? Robin Vealey proposed the use of “P3 Thinking” to keep the athlete focused on his purpose, productively engaged and striving for the possibility of success. A goalie schooled in this routine will be able to disengage from a mistake and reorient to competition quickly. Other tools for letting go might include the Thought Pattern Interrupt (see: http://www.podiumsportsjournal.com/2007/02/04/the-thought-pattern-interrupt-tpi/) or Target Thinking where an individual systematically reviews his intention, focus, and chosen attitude (optimistic vs. negative) following a mistake.

Tip #4: Goaltenders must learn how to keep their self-talk productive and positive—and exercise the discipline to keep their internal conversations centered on their performance, confidence and team focus.

Goaltenders have more than their share of surges and flats depending on how efficient their team may be offensively and defensively. Self-talk is a constant for almost every athlete. When productively engaged in the task at hand, and strictly focused in the moment, self-talk is characterized as a key component in the peak performance zone and is routinely helpful.

Problems occur when goalies engage in “could-a, should-a, would-a” self-talk berating themselves on a mistake made in the past. Athletes whose self-talk is focused unproductively in the future, as in “What if this happens?” or “What’s going to happen next?” put themselves at a disadvantage and can actually cause themselves to panic by anticipating the future. Some athletes think too much and engage in self-talk that reviews a thousand and one details on all the things to remember. Athletes who tend toward this type of internal dialogue put themselves at a disadvantage by analysis paralysis.

Overt criticism from teammates and coaches can often undermine positive self-talk. Even well-meaning coaches who don’t understand the role of goalie as quarterback directing defensive traffic in the zone may lose an opportunity to enhance team cohesiveness by ignoring suggestions and input from their goalie when developing defensive schemes.

Tip #5: Less is more: efficiency and positioning are key. Goaltenders must incorporate spatial integration, focus and anticipation in their mental preparation and execution.

Goalies are responsible for filling in the holes in their team’s defensive scheme. This is almost instinctual in goalies that compete at the highest levels. They always seem to be in the right place at the right time. These athletes appear to have a supernatural ability to anticipate the flow of the game. While they are rarely considered to be flashy or acrobatic in net, their success commands respect. Think for a moment about your favorite goalie. What do you notice about his efficiency and positioning? Spatial abilities combined with an ability to control, divide, and prioritize their focus is what sets these individuals apart and makes them masters of anticipation.

Efficient use of practice time is the best way for a goalie to improve in this area. Goalies must use the repetitive nature of practice drills to their advantage. This means observing the tendencies of the other players (e.g. how subtle differences in shooting angle and position of defenders influences an attacker’s decision making) and experimenting with different strategies for reacting to them effectively. It is imperative for coaches to help their goalies work on this skill. This means designing drills that incorporate three main elements. These are:

1) a variety of shot locations and pre-shot puck movement patterns
2) the recreation of a variety of game situations that involve different numbers of skaters
3) progressively increasing drill difficulty.

These elements speak to the power of exposing goalies to as many different and challenging situations as possible. Over time this exposure will help them learn to recognize and focus on what information is most important to their decision making—and use it efficiently to become masters of anticipation.

Tip #6: Develop teammate and coach communication skills: goaltenders must learn how to be a vocal team leader.

Great goalies recognize their role as quarterback in the defensive zone. They have to let defensemen know if they have men on them when they come back to get the puck, tell them to clear a screen in front of the net, and remind everyone when a power-play ends among other things.

Coaches need to encourage these behaviors and also tell their goalies how they want them to do things like handle the puck during breakouts or manage the clock and tempo of the game by covering the puck. Goalies should expect this type of instruction and solicit it if they are unclear about what their coach expects of them. It is also a good idea for coaches to make a habit of checking in with goalies about these things during period breaks and practices so that the goalie can continue to focus on them.

Coaches should look to their goalies to be leaders on the ice and initiate communication with their teammates. Goalies are the only players who have the opportunity to experience every minute of a game from the ice. This gives them a unique perspective on what is happening throughout the course of the game and puts them in the best position to make strategic adjustments on the fly. For goalies, maintaining this sort of communication requires solid knowledge of the team’s strategy and the confidence to be a vocal team leader.

About the authors:

Dr. Stephen Walker is a therapist, coach, athletic and personal performance consultant who has consulted with world record holders, national champion and All-American collegiate athletes, Olympians and professionals in IAAF, USATF track and field, USA Cycling, USATriathlon, UTI triathlon, USA hockey, PGA golf and other team sports. He has done considerable consulting with Mark Sample of GDI Hockey and continues to enjoy the special challenges goalies face. For more information visit his website: www.drstephenwalker.com

Alec Baker, PsyD is a recent graduate of the University of Denver’s Graduate School of Professional Psychology. In 2005 he earned a B.A. in psychology from the Pennsylvania State University. Since that time he has worked as a goalie coach in the Philadelphia and Denver areas. This work has been with goalies of all youth ages and skill levels from Mite to Midget AA. As a goalie Alec spent 4 years with the Philadelphia Junior Flyers and was a member of the USA Hockey National Championship Tournament quarterfinalist team in 2000. He was also a two time member of the USA Hockey NTDP Select Festival team from the Atlantic/Southeast Region (1998–1999). This team was awarded the bronze medal in the Select Festival in 1999.

by Stephen Walker, PhD, CC-AASP, USOC Registry of Sport Psychologists

In a previous article involving a “From the Field” interview with Dr. Stephen Walker, Podium Sports Journal answered several questions with respect to the mental conditioning these great athletes engage in prior to their competition performance.  Those questions focused on preparation under the best conditions.  However, the Women’s Giant Slalom event placed these great athletes in extraordinary circumstances.  Read on…..

Part 2 – Julia Mancuso’s Giant Slalom

The second run of the Vancouver Olympics Giant Slalom was run yesterday in conditions much improved over Wednesday’s fog, poor visibility and snow flurries.  In Part 1 of this article - we featured the trials and tribulations of the event’s defending Champion, Julia Mancuso, whose day included an aborted run, the death of her skiing buddy and friend, and innumerable other distractions that left her in 18th position when the event was suspended by Olympic officials.  We outlined WHAT she would need to do to recover from the debacle – and – suggested HOW Mancuso might do just that.  Not only did Mancuso recover, but she posted the 3rd best run of the day climbing 10 spots to finish in 8th place.

Adding to what was an already difficult day she found herself in the midst of a media frenzy over her purported feud with Lindsey Vonn – whom she allegedly blamed for her aborted run.  Vonn is America’s most decorated skier on the women’s team and long time rival on the tour.  Vonn had crashed on the course just as Mancuso took off from the start, but got tangled up in the netting and couldn’t get off the course in time for Mancuso to get a clean run.  “You know it’s really not her fault, of course.  Like I said before, the fact that the whole thing came across the media like an attention fight is just ridiculous.”

For her run on Thursday, the foremost difficulty Mancuso had to overcome came in the form of grief.  The loss of her good friend and Squaw skiing buddy CR Johnson was huge.  He was fatally injured in a crash on a run the two of them had skiied many times.  Johnson was no stranger to injury and had suffered a serious traumatic brain injury in 2005.  Mancuso was reminded of how he battled back from his head injury and returned to the mountains as quickly as he could.

“Just hearing the news and knowing …how much he loved skiing and being able to… overcome those battles, coming here today for me and after everything yesterday was just, like, go out there and love skiing, the way CR did,” Mancuso said, with her voice cracking with emotion.  She dedicated the run to Johnson.

The simplicity of Julia Mancuso’s goal can not be understated.  She decided to go out there and LOVE SKIING.  No expectation, no pretense, no pressure, completely in the “now” moment with her friend on her shoulder as she powered through her run.  Yeah Julia.  Mancuso ends her Olympic Games with two Silver Medals in the Downhill and Super Combined.  To learn more about CRJohnson, read about him in FreeSkier.com.

]]> http://www.podiumsportsjournal.com/2010/02/26/sport-psychology-at-the-vancouver-olympic-games-2010/feed/ 1 http://www.podiumsportsjournal.com/2010/02/06/poised-for-greatness-inspiration-and-opportunity-in-the-superbowl/ http://www.podiumsportsjournal.com/2010/02/06/poised-for-greatness-inspiration-and-opportunity-in-the-superbowl/#comments Sun, 07 Feb 2010 00:53:13 +0000 Stephen Walker, PhD http://www.podiumsportsjournal.com/?p=1634

by Stephen Walker, Ph.D., CC-AASP

Inspirational Stories – See What the Saint’s Use to Pump Themselves Up – Check out the Video “Finish Strong”

Saint’s Defensive Lineman Anthony Hargrove sets the standard for inspiration in this years Super Bowl.  As if the match-up between Drew Brees and Peyton Manning isn’t compelling enough, Hargrove gives us an underdog to root for (who’s Rags-Riches-Rags story is a saga in itself.)  A year ago Hargrove was out of professional football for violating the league’s substance abuse policy – for the third time! He was suspended by Commissioner Roger Goodell for an entire year.  It turned out to be a very long year for the big man in The Saint’s Defensive line.

Hargrove left Georgia Tech University early to enter the NFL Draft.  Like many others before him he dreamed of a good life, money running like water, and an end to the troubles of his youth – characterized by tragedy, poverty, and misfortune.  With a father who was MIA and a mother who died when he was 9 years old from HIV-AIDS – and a period of homelessness when his Brooklyn apartment burned to the ground.  Hargrove is no stranger to hard times.

So when his life turned around through the game of football and he was selected in the 2004 draft by the St. Louis Ram’s “Greatest Show on Turf” – Hargrove was looking at life through rose colored glasses.  That is….until he wasn’t anymore.

Hargrove didn’t know how to use the money, fame and recognition that he was achieving – and – as he said – he began making really bad decisions.  Smoking weed and using cocaine and other drugs, Hargrove began to lose perspective on life and purpose and the good fortune he had.  He studied urinanalysis rather than his game plans, and, although he contributed on the field – he wasn’t the player he could have been.  Getting busted once, then twice, then three times put him on the sidelines – possibly for good.

Hargrove will play the Super Bowl tomorrow night on a field not far from the drug rehabilitation center in North Miami Beach where he spent three months of mandatory treatment – and another 7 months on his own – “to really take in” – the message of recovery.  It was there he vowed to “finish strong” in his life.  Not only are the Saints reviewing tape of the Colts, they’ve produced “greatest hits” video of each and every starting player – illustrating perfect execution and great plays – but Hargrove and the rest of his teammates have watched this video produced by Simple Truths.com several times.  Check it out…the message is clear.

Click here to view the embedded video.

The Saints are focused on “Finishing Strong” – one could even say it is part of their mantra.  Like Hargrove, the rest of his teammates are focused on the process goals they will need to beat the powerhouse Indianapolis Colts.  They’re not chanting “Win” – they’re focused on “Finishing Strong.”  This is what they CAN control.  This is what they MUST DO TO PERFORM well enough to capture the world championship in professional football.  We will see how Hargrove and the Saints do.  I for one am hoping they do just that.  FINISH STRONG GUYS!

By Kristen Dieffenbach, PhD, CC-AASP – Coaching Educator – West Virginia University

The June 8, 2009 issue of Sports Illustrated features an article entitled “I Want My Body Back” by George Dohrmann. It is a long overdue look at the weight and health struggles of several post collegiate DI football players. The article focuses on football, but in reality, a similar article might be written about almost any high performance sport performer at almost any level. It got me thinking about the cost of playing and why we are so willing to let athletes pay that cost.

Sport = health right? Many people assume that because athletes are active, they are in fantastic shape. Unfortunately, for a wide variety of reasons this is often not entirely true….

Many sports require athletes to push the limits of their bodies and their training beyond good health and into the precarious realm of injury and illness. Often athletes at the peak of their conditioning are at their most vulnerable to colds and over use injury. I often tell my athletes that there is a fine line between ultra fit and broken, so we need to proceed with care.

And the very nature of performance sport demands that athletes learn to ignore pain and to push on. Playing hurt is a badge of honor and courage and many take that to an extreme. Additionally, like the young football linebackers in Dohrmann’s article, many players at both the college and high school level, pack on the pounds with empty calories and large quantities of food because their sport demands size as well.

This extra bulk often exceeds what is natural, let alone healthy for their frames. This health paradox in sport means bad knees, backs, elbows and shoulders that restrict the movement of many retired athletes long before their time. Couple this with excess weight that often continues to climb post career as athletes as physical activity level declines and eating habits don’t and you have the makings of some serious problems. The intense wear and tear and size adds to the physical stress and sets athletes up for diabetes, cardiac concerns and a whole host of other health problems. It is sad to see people that once lived in such a physical world, now unable to enjoy movement and burdened with poor health, particularly when it doesn’t have to be this way.

High performance sport is intense, it is punishing, and it takes it’s toll. For many this is just the price to play. I completely understand the drive to strive for excellence and I am not suggesting that athletes back off. I wouldn’t change a thing about my competitive days even if it meant my knees wouldn’t crack or old ‘itisis’ were gone. But certainly coaches, fans, and sport itself owes athletes more than just wringing out the talent while the athletes are fresh and healthy.

Certainly we can do better to support athletes in their quest for the top, while also preparing them for the inevitable day when they hang up the jersey. Shouldn’t being an athlete mean preparation for a lifetime of being athletic? All athletes age and all athletes will carry some battle scars off the field. But it seems that much more can be done to ensure that athletes are able to continue to be active and healthy in their post team days. From Dohrmann’s article, it seems that James Harris, the Oregon Duck’s nutritionist and assistant athletic director who has been helping his players adjust to post career athletics, is providing a great example for others to follow.

By Andrew L. Dieden, Esq., author
The Sports Lover’s Guide to Recovery
(Hazelden Publishing, 2008)

Sports by themselves are beautiful. They’re fun to watch and we receive many benefits when we play, including better fitness and lessons in virtuous behavior. However, as with many activities that are otherwise healthy and beneficial, sports can be dangerous in excess. It goes without saying that peak performance requires training, but athletes in increasing numbers are stepping over the line that separates dedication from addiction, discipline from disease. Which side of the line you’re on can mean the difference between reaching your performance potential and falling to a new personal low. If you haven’t crossed the line, educate yourself about preventing the disease. If you are addicted, don’t worry. Sports can help you recover. But how?

The Feeling

Have you ever been out exercising when you felt really strong and fit, excited that you were realizing the benefits of your training program? While cycling, your upper body was relaxed and your pedal strokes were strong, smooth, complete circles. You climbed hills in a bigger gear than ever, eating up large chunks of ground with good form and calm, measured breathing. Ripping down the back side of the hills you felt elation, tasting the sweet rewards of being in good shape. “Training is the key,” you told yourself. “If I train even harder, I will feel even better on the next ride and during my next race.”

Training, like just about everything, comes at a price. We find the time and energy to train at the expense of some other activity, such as rest. If you really want it, or need it, somehow you adjust your life and you train more. The fitness elation pulls you to further action. You have become motivated, consciously or otherwise, by the promise of an experience that truly satisfies you. What you may not realize is that you are potentially headed toward a mental, physical, and spiritual disaster. Depending on how far you take it, you could be on the chronic, progressively destructive path to addiction. The tricky thing is that you may not know or acknowledge it because addiction is the only disease that tells you that you don’t have a disease.

Exercise Dependence

Over-training addiction, known as exercise dependence, can occur in alarming numbers. In one study assessing the prevalence of exercise dependence published in the Journal of American College Health (Garmin, Hayduk, Crider, Hodel (2004), researchers found 22 percent of their sample (n=257) self-reported at least one “exercise dependent” response pattern. Similarly alarming is “the triad,” an exercise-related addiction involving 1) a clear pattern of over training and under recovery; 2) an eating disorder; and 3) amenorrhea. Research published in the American College of Sports Medicine Journal shows the triad occurring in 75-80% of women runners who compete at the collegiate or elite levels. Fortunately for addicted athletes, effective recovery programs have been developed for substance abuse, gambling, overeating, sex etc. These programs, especially those following a 12-step model with support groups, are successfully treating those with exercise dependence and triad sufferers, as well.

Many things make us feel good. We can become addicted to just about anything. Whether we become addicted and to what depends on the individual and the activity. There are some things that, once experienced, consistently take over a large number of people’s lives. They are classified as highly addictive. Working, for instance, can be addictive. Workaholics need control and success in order to feel contentment. Eating can be addictive. Overeaters are satisfied only by consuming large quantities. Addictive gamblers feel they need the excitement created by chance. According to Dr. Brigitte Lank, an expert in sexual addiction assessment and treatment, sex addicts are generally on a quest to satisfy unmet intimacy needs. Alcoholics and substance abusers find that ingesting chemicals provides relief from their naturally restless, discontented state. Some people can engage in these activities and walk away from them without the compulsion for more. Others become obsessed with “more.” The latter, including me, suffer from addiction. I am an alcoholic, an alcohol addict.

Addiction

Generally, when we experience things that make us feel good, we develop a drive to go back to them, to feel good again. We naturally want to repeat pleasant experiences. This is especially true when the experience in question makes us feel really good, so good that we want the experience as often as possible. If we can control what’s necessary to experience that pleasure, we may do it over and over until we grow to rely on the promise of that feeling. We now perceive the experience as a need. Our brains physically transform to accommodate our new high-priority activity. No longer is a choice made in our pre-frontal cortex, instead our inclination toward this experience becomes an instinctual reaction processed in our brains’ survival center, near the brain stem. This is addiction’s physiological progression.

What is addiction? A layman’s definition is this: addiction is a chronic, progressive disease characterized by a mental obsession and a physical allergy. In other words, we think about doing it a lot and doing it is a catalyst for doing it again. Addictions of every type are characterized by 1) compulsion to “use”; 2) loss of control during use; and 3) continuing to use despite negative consequences caused by the use. As I said, my addiction is alcoholism.

“Active” alcoholism affected me in a fairly standard way. I lived for many years in a cycle where my drinking caused poor, self-centered behavior and bad decisions that were mentally and physically taxing. I’d drink to find relief because I was convinced that I needed alcohol and I deserved it. One drink usually led to many more and I would end up baffled that I was in worse shape than before I started. That’s the disease. I knew something was wrong, but I was afraid to change. When I started thinking of my recovery program in terms of sports, I really understood what I needed to do. Once I understood my mission, I trained wisely and consistently in order to become a spiritual athlete. In any event, with my drinking and years of competitive sports, I can relate to the exercise dependent’s perceived need to train as much as possible.

Sports and the Cause

According to the standard model, exercise dependence is initially characterized by a compulsion to train, to exercise. Next, once exercising begins, it is difficult for the addict to stop. There is always something more that he or she can add to the workout that will make him or her better. Finally, someone who is exercise dependent will continue training despite negative consequences, such as repetitive and/or excessive use injuries, such as stress fractures and dehydration. In order to cover-up addiction’s negative consequences, an exercise dependent may even begin supplementing his or her diet with steroids and/or human growth hormone(s) (HGH). With steroids and HGH, the problems eventually compound and many cross-diseases come into play, including cancer and organ failure. An athlete does not need to take steroids to qualify as exercise dependent. The disease is usually much more subtle. Whether addictive behavior is overt or subtle is immaterial. The addicted individual needs help.

Sports and the Cure

The lessons and fundamentals of successful athletic performance are now being used to facilitate addiction recovery programs. Sports are friendly and familiar to a large percentage of addicts. As such, they help motivate and facilitate addicts’ understanding of addiction and the 12-step recovery process. It works like this: successful athletes, teams, and recovering addicts all need strength, flexibility, balance and endurance in order to succeed. In The Sports Lover’s Guide to Recovery, great athletes and coaches, from Mia Hamm to Vince Lombardi, teach how to acquire these attributes and apply them through 1) commitment; 2) training and conditioning, and 3) maintenance and passing it on. The book’s quotes and stories show that success in athletics and recovery is possible when we play the game correctly. Playing the game correctly means subjecting one’s behavior to others’ scrutiny.

Athletes who are at-risk of becoming exercise dependent will benefit from an open and honest assessment of his or her training regimen by a non-interested, qualified third party. Athletes that slip into addiction frequently keep their workout schedules to themselves. This allows denial about overtraining to foment, fostering an athlete’s subjective belief that addiction’s consequences will not happen to them, that negative consequences are for other, less-gifted or less-driven, athletes. A common characteristic of addictive behavior is compromised honesty, and humility, part of the price of overtraining.

The answer is for athletes to consistently tell a coach or an athletic peer honestly how much they’re training. A coach’s or peer’s objectivity will produce an accurate assessment, so it is equally important that the athlete listen to the response and take their advice. Then, planning and sharing daily training goals with someone else before and after workouts will make it more difficult to exceed the agreed-upon healthy, vigorous workout. Hopefully, by using these precautions an athlete won’t “go rogue,” exceeding that which is healthy and likely to improve performance and happiness. Finally, if an athlete doesn’t seem able to limit themselves to a lighter, modified training program, looking into a suitable addiction recovery program is a prudent next move.

In addition to workout monitoring, individuals suffering from any addiction, including exercise, need to find and participate in an addiction recovery program. The Sports Lover’s Guide to Recovery can help anyone understand that addiction has nothing to do with willpower. Instead, the book explains that recovery is a simple process that requires some concentrated effort. Eventually, an addict’s goal is regularly sharing with other recovering addicts about their problems. In recovery, we win with our teammates. I encourage anyone who thinks they might have a problem with addiction to start by consulting with someone they trust: a family member, a religious figure, a close friend, an employee assistance program, etc. Please also feel free to write to me at www.sportsrecoveryguide.com. We will do our best to point you in the right direction.

The important thing is to show dignity and humility and get help. As baseball legend Satchel Paige said, “Never let your head hang down. Never give up and sit down and grieve. Find another way.” Good luck in being a better athlete within a better life.

The Sports Lover’s Guide to Recovery is available in bookstores and online at Hazelden.org, Amazon.com, BarnesandNoble.com, and Sportsrecoveryguide.com.

Injury is among the most challenging experiences you can face as a cyclist. When you’re injured, you almost certainly can’t ride in the way to which you’ve become accustomed, and you’re often not able to ride at all. If you were injured in a crash, your mental fitness may have taken a hit; perhaps a big one. While you’re not riding, your physical fitness may be decreasing, and you may be starting to lose confidence in yourself as a rider as well. And if all that isn’t enough, nobody can reliably foretell the path and likelihood of your recovery.

What happens next?

(Please don’t answer, “I reach for [insert vice here].”)

Do you become depressed, demotivated, and down on cycling? Do you rush frantically to get back on the bike and your previous level of performance? The cyclist with sufficient mental training can navigate between these two extremes, avoid unhealthy vices, and manage the recovery process effectively. How? As with so much in life, living skillfully with injury begins with self-awareness, and most importantly, knowing the forces that can push you toward the extremes.

The above intro comes from an article by Marvin Zauderer that appeared on Pez Cycling News. Here’s the full article.

Christine Aschwanden wrote this article for Runner’s World. It discusses coping mechanisms and active recovery. The author interviewed Adam and Kara Goucher as well as our own Dr. Stephen Walker. Here’s a quote from the article.

“I had to realize that I’m not just a runner…I am a person who loves to run.”

- Kara Goucher

By J. Jordan Hamson, Ph.D., ATC

Have you ever wondered how the power of the mind could be used to help you recover from sport-injury?

Elite, collegiate, and even youth athletes use mental techniques, like imagery, to improve performance and to learn new sport skills. Due to the demonstrated effectiveness of mental imagery, athletes should be encouraged to transfer imagery use to situations outside of sport performance, such as return to sport following injury.

How can imagery be used to augment recovery from sport injury? When athletes become injured, mental imagery can be used to rehearse skills, to set rehabilitation goals, to promote healing within the body, and to relax when faced with the pain of rehabilitation. Time away from sport can be offset by substituting “mental practice” by visualizing sport skills, rehearsing strategic plays or game plans, and reviewing past successful performances. In injury rehabilitation, imagery aids the athlete to organize goals and provides the motivation to achieve those goals. Each athlete”s focus is productively channeled toward what they can do, as opposed to what they can’t.

Healing Imagery

When injured, the athlete may also benefit from using imagery to guide the healing process as it occurs within the body. This is commonly termed “healing imagery” and has been shown to speed up the recovery process in injured athletes (Ievleva & Orlick, 1991). Healing imagery guides the injured athlete to “see” healing occurring in the injured joint (e.g., seeing the blood stream bring damaged tissues away from the injury reducing swelling, and seeing the new cells repairing the damaged area) and to “feel” tissues getting stronger (e.g., visualizing ligaments feeling as strong as steel, or as many fibers linking together). Healing imagery may also be effective due to the relaxation component that often accompanies the use of imagery techniques. Consider these things to expedite your recovery from injury:

Relaxation Imagery

With injury, blood flow is increased to the joint or injured area causing swelling, pain, and immobility. Pain following injury is also produced by muscle spasms, which is evidence of the body’s attempt to protect the injured area from further damage. Relaxation can alter the injured joint/area by causing physical changes at the injury site. Relaxation imagery (e.g., imaging a pleasant scene such as a waterfall, a soothing stream, or a sunset) promotes physical relaxation of the musculature surrounding the injured joint, allowing for blood flow to return to normal and encouraging healing and rebuilding in the area. Relaxation can be helpful in the face of physiological stress and has been shown to aid in reducing pain associated with injury and injury rehabilitation (Dridiger, Hall, & Callow, 2006; Evans, Hare, & Mullen, 2006).

Phases of Injury Rehabilitation

If you are an injured athlete, and have used mental imagery for sport performance enhancement, you are ready to get started. If you have not used mental imagery prior to your injury, you can begin to refine your imagery skills with the strategies listed above and apply them to your injury rehabilitation when your images are controllable and vivid. To implement mental imagery into the recovery from sport-injury, first consider the phase of injury rehabilitation. There are three main phases and corresponding physiological components:

1. Initial injury, which is accompanied by swelling, muscle tension, pain, and lack mobility;

2. Strengthening, which is accompanied by return of mobility and reduction of swelling and pain; and

3. Return to sport, which is accompanied by near normal function and strength of the injured joint (Hamson 2006).

Mental Imagery for Each Phase of Rehabilitation

Each of these phases requires a different focus and function for mental imagery. In the initial injury phase, relaxation imagery is most useful to control the pain associated with the physiological and psychological injury response. In this phase, you are recovering from the physical injury response of swelling, muscle spasm, and pain and is commonly working on increasing range of motion of the injured area, causing additional pain once initial muscle spasms have subsided. Healing is the main focus of this phase and calls for the use of healing imagery; you should be directed to form positive images of the joint repairing and tissues healing together. Education about the injury that has occurred is especially important when healing imagery is utilized to facilitate the formation of accurate images of the healing taking place. Commonly, individualized verbal scripts (with background relaxation music) are created to guide your mental imagery to the specific joint and/or type of injury that has occurred. Relaxation music alone, such as nature sounds, ocean waves, or individually selected relaxing music, can also aid during this time frame and can be found at local retail outlets.

The second phase of rehabilitation, the strengthening phase, requires a different type of imagery. Athletes have moved through gaining full range of motion and are now focused on building strength, flexibility, and balance in the injured area. Goal setting becomes a main focus; the athlete will be striving to meet set rehabilitation goals relating to strength and dynamic movement of the injured joint. The key role of mental imagery is to direct the visualization of such goals and to act as a motivator. Healing imagery is also useful during this phase. Individualized scripts are often most effective and can be created for you by a qualified athletic trainer or sport psychologist (Hamson, 2006). Guided verbal scripts, as well as scripts that include pictures of the athlete completing rehabilitation exercises (all contained on an Apple iPod) can serve both the cognitive and motivational functions of imagery. Although pain is usually present in this phase, using music that facilitates the relaxation response can lessen it.

The final phase of injury rehabilitation, the return to sport phase, is characterized by making final improvements in strength and agility (measured by the performance of sport specific skills). Issues with pain and recurrent swelling are minimal during this final phase, where the main focus turns to reducing fear of re-injury and instilling confidence in the rehabilitated joint. Negative images, those that include replaying of the injury and negative past performances, can hinder your return to sport. The mental imagery used at this stage includes verbal guidance and visual images of successful past performances (positive cues) and improves confidence in the recovering joint that it can perform at 100% without limitation. An individualized script would be most beneficial during this phase, however, general retail audiocassettes are available that guide the athlete through the rehabilitation process and return to sport (Inner Sports: Mental Skills for Peak Performance, Lydia Ievleva, 1997).

Incorporating Mental Skills in Training & Recovery

Mental imagery is not the only psychological skill of use for the injured athlete. Using positive self-talk, effective goal setting (setting both short- and long-term goals), progressive relaxation, and systematic desensitization can also aid in the recovery process. As described above, different types of mental imagery are suitable for the phases of rehabilitation that each athlete goes through. The time spent in each of the three phases is highly variable due to injury type and severity, however, each individual injury can benefit from the use of mental imagery in some capacity. Furthermore, the goal of sports medicine professionals who work with injured athletes (e.g., athletic trainers and physical therapists) is to return the injured athlete back to the playing field as soon as they are mentally and physically ready. Mental imagery, as well as other psychological techniques, should be considered suitable treatments alongside traditional physical rehabilitation programs. Athletes are encouraged to ask their sports medicine professionals questions about potentially useful psychological skills and individuals who can aid the athlete in the implementation of these skills within the injury rehabilitation program.

Dridiger, M., Hall, C., & Callow, N. (2006). Imagery use by injured athletes: a qualitative analysis. Journal of Sports Science, 24 (3), 261-71.
Evans, L., Hare, R., & Mullen, R. (2006). Imagery use during rehabilitation from injury. Journal of Imagery Research in Sport and Physical Activity, 1(1), 1-19.
Hamson, J. (2006). The Effects of Mental Imagery on Recovery Time and Adherence to Sport-injury Rehabilitation Programs of College Athletes. American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance, Salt Lake City, Utah, April 2006.
Ievleva, L. (1997). Inner Sports: Mental Skills for Peak Performance, Human Kinetics.
Ievleva, L., & Orlick, T. (1991). Mental links to enhance healing. The Sport Psychologist, 5, 25-40.

About the author:

Dr. J. Jordan Hamson is a certified athletic trainer who gained her PhD in Experimental Psychology where she implemented various cognitive interventions with athletes rehabilitating from sport-injury. She has worked with athletes from all levels, including the United States men’s and women’s soccer teams and Olympic athletes at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs and the Pan Am Games in Santo Domingo (2003). Jordan is an assistant professor and director of athletic training master’s program at the University of North Texas, Denton where she continues her research on the use of mental imagery to augment the injury rehabilitation process.

Contact Information:
J. Jordan Hamson, PhD, ATC
Assistant Professor
ATEP Program Director
University of North Texas
Department of Kinesiology, Health Promotion, and Recreation
PO Box 310769
Denton, TX 76203-0769
940.565.3899 Office
940.565.4904 Fax
jhamson (at) coe.unt.edu