Cheerleaders are not immune to experiencing mental blocks which can interfere with cheerleading performance.  In my last post, I responded to a question I saw in the forum on Allaboutcheerleading.com  in which a cheerleader asked for help in overcoming her mental block about throwing a full during a practice routine. 

I encouraged this cheerleader to become more objective in her assessment and to embrace mistakes as opportunities for learning and not something to be avoided.   I then reminded her that she clearly is capable of throwing a full under some circumstances so she needs to determine what factors are interfering with her execution some of the time. 

Here is more of what I would say to this cheerleader: Good execution follows good thinking, clear thinking.  Emotional upset creates fuzzy thinking so it’s important to step back and assume an objective stance – as if you are evaluating someone else who is seeking your help. 

Take a few moments and clear your head.  Close your eyes and exhale slowly 3 times.  This will calm you down and when you are calmer your thinking will be more focused and clearer. 

Now, with your eyes closed, think about the times you really hit it with throwing your full.  With your mind’s eye, see yourself executing this move and nailing it. Allow yourself to see yourself doing this successfully over and over.  Now, recall how you felt when you threw your full successfully. Notice every detail – how you focused just prior to execution; how you held your head, your arms, your stance; how you moved; how you were breathing; where your focus was – everything! 

Next, still with your eyes closed, combine the whole thing – see yourself with your mind’s eye and experience yourself kinesthetically (your felt sense) executing the move over and over.  Good.  

Now assign a label or cue word or phrase for this successful execution. It can be anything.  For example, you could simply call it “success” or “good move.”  Once you have your label, visualize and feel the whole successful routine again only this time say your cue word to yourself. Repeat over and over.  Each time you do this, you will be creating brain and muscle memory so that the next time you actually throw a full, you will be able to reconnect with this positive experience and success will be more likely! 

More on this topic in my next post!

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Tags: cheerleader, cheerleaders, Cheerleading, confidence, focus, mental blocks, Visualization

This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 17th, 2009 at 2:34 pm by Dr. Pam and is filed under Championship Mind-set, Cheerleading practice, Mental Skills Training, Visualization, mental game. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.