This past weekend I was in Halifax, Nova Scotia where I taught some classes at Cheer Expo.  It was fun to meet the cheerleaders, the coaches, the judges, and the other instructors.  

One of the classes I was scheduled to teach was on Mental Toughness and my travel experience provided a personal lesson for me on that very topic.  Here is what happened – what I refer to as my tutorial on the mental game of flying – in an airplane that is. 

I had to get up at 3:30 in the morning on Friday in order to catch a 6 am flight from Boston to New York (JFK airport).  Then I had to leave that terminal, walk about a mile and go to a different terminal where I had to go through security again.  So far, so good – I even got a walk in! 

The flight from New York was direct to Halifax however when we arrived in the skies above Halifax, we were told the weather had affected visibility so we would have to circle for a while until it cleared up.  Well, it didn’t clear up and the plane was running out of fuel so we had to fly to another city to refuel.  Guess where we ended up?  Boston!  (Which is closer than New York.) 

Once in Boston we refueled but we were not allowed to leave the plane.  We were then told the plane would NOT return to Halifax but instead go back to New York!  Of course by the time we got to New York (around 4:30 pm) there were no more flights out to Halifax that day.  We were re-booked for the next day and told we were on our own in terms of getting a hotel and meals. 

I was asked if I wanted to return to Boston for the night and leave the next morning on a direct flight to Halifax.  I agreed.  The flight to Boston was leaving at 6:30 pm but it was at New York’s other airport – La Guardia!  So I had to take a cab and pray that I would get there in time to make the shuttle back to Boston.  I did make it and met a very nice cab driver in the process. My confused husband graciously picked me up at the airport and took me home where I essentially fell asleep while I ate supper. The next morning I flew out of Boston again – but this time arrived in Halifax on schedule. 

Now, what does this have to do with mental toughness?  Well, mental toughness has to do with maintaining a positive attitude in the face of discomfort or adversity. At any time during my adventure, I could have whined and griped or bemoaned my fate or fretted about the situation.  When I found myself beginning to go there, I reminded myself that this was out of my control and a key tenet of mental toughness is – control the controllables!  The only thing I could control was my attitude so I proceeded to view the experience as an interesting adventure and used the time to read and listen to my i-pod. 

For cheerleading, there is so much that is out of your control – especially at a competition! Still, the most important elements are under your control: your poise, your attitude, your desire to perform well, and your commitment to your mental game. 

Oh – my return flight was delayed due to weather…but that’s another story!

Are any of you heading to Cheer Expo this weekend?  If you are, please stop by and say hello! 

Cheer Expo takes place this coming Saturday and Sunday in Halifax, Nova Scotia.  It sounds like it will be a grand time and a busy weekend.  Not only are there the National Cheerleading and Dance Championship Competitions but there is also an Expo/Trade Show for cheerleaders, dancers, gymnasts and of course…their coaches!

It is also a conference for coaches, the athletes and their parents

I will be teaching 9 different workshops over 2 days so I’ll be plenty busy! Here is the line-up of my workshops:

Saturday 10:05

Mental Toughness: The key ingredient to athletic success 

Saturday 12:05

Unlock the Block: How to resolve mental blocks in tumbling 

Saturday 2:05

Sport Psychology: How to use sport psychology techniques to make the most of practice 

Saturday 3:05

The Mental Game of training for competitions 

Saturday 4:05

How to create and use winning visualizations 

Sunday 9:05

Stress Reduction Techniques 

Sunday 11:05

The Mental Game of Safety: How mental game coaching can improve safety 

Sunday 1:05

How to train your brain to get your body to do what you want 

Sunday 3:05

How to identify and change negative thinking

By the way, one of the things I love to do is teach so if you run events like this, please keep me in mind for a keynote speech or a series of workshops.

Cheerleaders can get anxious about anything from an up-coming competition, tryouts, or nailing a tumbling skill.  I’ve written many blog posts about this topic and because it’s something that affects so many cheerleaders, I will continue to do so.

Today, I came across a quote from best-selling author Seth Godin and I immediately thought I should pass it on to you.

Here is what he wrote: “Anxiety is nothing…but repeatedly re-experiencing failure in advance. What a waste.”

Simple yet profound.  I like that he summarized the essence of anxiety in one sentence. Let’s look at this, ok?

If you are getting ready for tryouts, you are likely experiencing some anxiety.  But what are you anxious about? Taking a cue from Seth, you are anxious about failing and even more than that, you are anticipating failure; you are envisioning failure; you are seeing yourself fail over and over again and you haven’t even been to tryouts!

Remember – the body does what the brain thinks.  So, if you are thinking failure, what will your body do?  It will perform at a less than optimal degree.

How can you change this?  Well, first of all, review my many other blog posts on this topic.  In essence it’s a matter of awareness – noticing that you are filling your head with negative predictions and then learning how to neutralize the negativity.

Want to learn more?  My program – The Mental Game of Cheerleading: Tryouts! looks at all these issues in depth. It’s a 2-CD audio package plus a 50-page Action Guide.  If you order the digital version, your investment will be even less!  Plus I’ll throw in a complimentary coaching session.

Focusing is the most important skill associated with learning and high level athletic performance (any kind of performance, actually).  If a cheerleader is fully focused, he or she will be able to channeling everything into the performance.  A fully focused mind is one that is completely engaged with what is happening in the moment. 

 Here is a way to understand how focus works (from the research of Robert Nideffer). We can think of attention as occurring on various dimensions. 

It can be directed internally or externally.  It can also be directed narrowly or broadly.  And finally, it can be directed on a time dimension – past, present, or future. 

Different situations require different kinds of focus; if you should be focused externally but instead you are preoccupied with what happened yesterday, your performance will suffer.  If you are anxious, your focus will likely be on yourself and your feelings and negative thoughts.  This, too leads to poor performance. 

What to do?  First step, like always, is awareness.  Simply pay attention to where and how you are paying attention!  Periodically ask yourself, what am I focusing on?  Is this helping me learn better?  Is this helping me perform better?  This can be a good start. 

More to come… 

 Want some free peak performance tips?  Scroll up to the upper right side of this blog and insert your name and email and within a few minutes, you will receive my 10 annotated peak performance tips for cheerleaders!

Anyone who has been to a cheerleading competition knows that sometimes it’s the little things that count.  Very small differences can make the BIG difference between coming in first and placing second. 

Focus is the granddaddy of the small differences. It is the most important mental skill that is associated with winning performances.  Developing this skill is essential – not only for cheerleading, but for any endeavor. That’s why I recommend training for focus at all practice sessions way before the actual competition. 

Here are some reasons why focus is so critical: 

• Focus allows you to connect totally with what you are experiencing
• Focus frees you to perform without being disturbed by distracting thoughts
• You will learn better and faster when you are focused
• Where your focus goes, everything else follows

 If a cheerleader is proficient in his or her skills (technically and physically) and makes a mistake in execution, it is likely due to a focus problem.  Either the cheerleader is focusing inward (with thoughts such as “I hope I can do this…”) which happens with anxiety or is distracted by external factors. 

Managing distraction is a skill that can be developed and that should be developed.  More on that soon! 

Speaking of competitions, have you seen my training program?  It’s called The Mental Game of Cheerleading: Training for Competitions.  It’s a 2-CD audio program with a 40 page workbook.  You can order the digital version for less.  Order either one and I’ll give you a free one-hour consultation!

The March/April edition of Entirely Cheer is now available for your reading pleasure.  Entirely Cheer is a free on-line magazine which is the brain child of Debbie Bracewell and Anne Gorman. 

March is National Cheerleading Safety Month and to honor that, Entirely Cheer has several articles about safety including one by me – Psycho-Social Dimensions of Inuries.  Please take a look and let me know what you think about the magazine.

Cheerleading Competitons are still underway and Tryouts are heating up, too!  Want to perform at your best?  Take a look at my two training programs - The Mental Game of Cheerleading: Training for Competitions and The Mental Game of Cheerleading: Tryouts!  Both consist of a 2-CD package plus jam-packed workbooks!  Order the digital versions for extra savings.  If you order either program, let me know and I will give you one hour free consultation!

Most cheerleading coaches know the importance of establishing goals for their cheerleaders as individuals and as a team.  Typically these goals focus on improving cheerleading skills or physical conditioning.  These are certainly important but I encourage you to include mental game goals as well. 

Part of the joy of coaching is seeing your cheerleaders grow as athletes and as individuals.  You can enhance this process by teaching your squad some simple mental game techniques.  These techniques are valuable not only for cheerleading, but for life! 

Here are a few you can easily incorporate: 

• Maintaining a positive attitude
• Focus on present, not past
• Leaving distracting thoughts outside the gym
• Identify and change negative thinking
• Using more positive self-talk
• Be realistic in self expectations
• Change focus when you get frustrated
• Notice when your mind wanders from task at hand
• Think about what you can control
• See yourself performing well
• Think process not results
• Focus on strengths 

This is how it could work. 

1. Cheerleaders select goals from the above list.
2. To keep track of progress, choose a number that reflects current level of competence for each skill with 1 representing the least competence (weak) and 5 being the most competence (strong).
3. Each week or month, cheerleaders rate themselves again
4. The goal is to move that number to a higher level
5. Note where the most work is needed and focus on that!

Get your free Peak Performance Tips by typing in your name and email in the little box at the top right of this blog.  Go ahead…in a few minutes you will get your annotated tips!

I am pleased to tell you that Confident Cheerleading has an international flavor these days! 

Some articles from this blog have been re-published in two different overseas cheerleading magazines! 

One is called Cheer and Dance Coach Magazine and is an online magazine published in the UK.  (It’s free so check it out!) 

Cheer and Dance Coach Magazine

 The other is called Spirit das Cheerleading Magazin and it is the most popular cheerleading magazine in German speaking countries. I can tell you it looks lovely but because I do not speak German, I can’t tell you what it says!  I was told they were going to publish one of my articles on tumbling fears and I will have to take their word for it.  LOL! 

It is an honor to have my work recognized in this way and it’s rewarding to know that the principles of the mental game of cheerleading are getting some attention and generating some interest. 

If you would like to republish or reproduce any of my blog articles, feel free to do so as long as you agree to include my name and a link to this blog. And let me know if you do so I can blog about it!

In their quest to be perfect, some cheerleaders focus more on NOT making a mistake than on executing a skill well.  Ironically, this preoccupation makes it more likely that the cheerleader will make a mistake! 

Why is this? Well, think about it – if your attention is focused on what NOT to do, what is the communication between your brain and your body?  That’s right – your brain is telling your body to do what you don’t want it to do.  Your brain does not hear the negative, it only processes the instruction.  For example, if you are thinking, “don’t fall,” your brain experiences it as “fall.” 

Plus, if you are worrying about what not to do, your body will be tense and you will not be able to move as fluidly as you would otherwise.  In any kind of sport performance, it is always best to focus on what you want to do, not what you do not want to do. 

If you are afraid of falling, focus on what you need to do to execute the skill well.  It may be something like, “hold firm,” or “smooth and strong,” – something that conjures up a positive image that is consistent with how you want to execute the skill. 

Have you signed up for my free Confident Cheerleading Tips?  You can do it right now – simply scroll up to the upper right side of the blog and enter your name and email address and in a few minutes you will receive my 10 annotated peak performance tips! 

As always, please feel free to offer your comments or ask questions about any aspect of the mental game of cheerleading!

It’s not unusual for some cheerleaders to wrestle with negative thoughts that can undermine performance.  This is a topic I’ve written about many times before.  Here is another way to manage and transform negative thinking. 

Tip # 1 – Change a thought into a feeling.  This is the reverse of what is usually suggested.  Like many psychologists, I have told you that the way you feel is dependent on the way you think so if you don’t like what you are feeling change the thought! 

This is still true but here I am suggesting that when you are thinking something negative such as, “I am no good at tumbling,” change it to: “I feel like I am no good at tumbling.” By doing this you can give yourself room to step back and see that this does not necessarily represent the truth…it is a feeling, not a fact. 

So, try to get into the habit of identifying your negative thoughts and changing them from “I think” or “I am” into “I feel that…” 

Tip #2 – Add a “but” to your feeling statement.  When you say the word “but” as in, “I really like cheerleading but it’s a lot of work,” the “but” negates what came before it; it calls into question the truth of the first part of the sentence. 

You can use this to your advantage.  For example, you can say, “I feel like I’m no good at tumbling but I am working hard each day to get better.”  The “but” in this case weakens the first part of the statement. 

These may seem like small things but language can exert a powerful influence on how our brains and bodies work.  Try it and let me know how it works for you! 

By the way – it’s competition season!  Are you interested in gaining a competitive edge?  Check out my training program – The Mental Game of Cheerleading: Training for Competitions.  I will give a free consultation to anyone who purchases a program. Get yours now!