At a recent cheerleading coaches event, I posed the following question: What percentage of athletic success do you think can be attributed to physical/technical attributes and how much to mental/emotional factors? (more…)
Tomorrow morning I will be flying out west to be part of Pac West Spirit Group’s Annual Champagne Brunch and Coaches Conference. This event will be held at the beautiful Hilton hotel in historic downtown Vancouver, Washington on Friday April 30th 6-9pm, and Saturday May 1st 10am-5pm.
This event was nominated Best Coaches Conference for SITA and Inside Cheerleading Magazine Reader’s Choice Awards!
I am pleased to be this year’s keynote presenter for this award nominated conference. Of course I won’t be alone! The other esteemed presenters and the schedule are listed below. (more…)
Cheerleaders from all over the globe competed at last weekend’s Cheerleading Worlds competition. What an exciting event!
What impressed me, as a sport psychology coach, was the mental toughness I witnessed. Imagine what it is like to perform in front of thousands of people (plus a huge television audience). Then imagine what it is like to be in a collapsed pyramid in the first moments of a routine or to fall or to land on your face when you are throwing a full. What would you do? (more…)
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:
This is how it could work.
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Fear of failure is not uncommon in cheerleaders, as I mentioned in my previous posting. Excessive concern about making mistakes and perceived pressure to be perfect are associated with fear of failure. It can be a problem in that it may lead to sub-optimal performance, avoidance behavior and mental blocks.
What contributes to this dilemma?
Well first is the cheerleader’s basic temperament and personality style but then we need to consider the coach and the parents. A good coach wants his or her athletes to excel. A good parent wants his or her child to succeed. But how this is communicated can make all the difference between a cheerleader who has fun while learning and one who agonizes over every mishap.
A sport environment is an evaluative environment. The athlete is a learner who must be open to instruction and coaching. Ideally a cheerleader has or develops what I call a championship mind-set which means being open to learning, eager for feedback, and maintaining a perspective that every set-back and mistake is a wonderful opportunity to learn and grow and improve. (This is a life skill, too!)
Coaches and parents can nurture a championship mind-set or they can interfere with it. If the egos of the coach and/or parent are too closely intertwined with the success of the cheerleader, objectivity can suffer and emotions may run high.
If a coach/parent gets unduly upset when an cheerleader makes a mistake, this communicates to the athlete that mistakes are not ok, that they are a problem and are to be avoided. Patience and a sense of humor plus a championship mind-set on the part of the parents/coaches go a long way toward creating a healthy learning atmosphere.
Let’s not forget that this sport of cheerleading is supposed to be fun!
It is good to set high standards and strive for excellence in sport performance and it is imperative that coaches and parents never put down the cheerleader’s efforts, performance, and self worth when the results are imperfect.
To an athlete, the reactions and words of a parent and/or coach carry enormous weight. If coaches/parents pressure athletes (especially young beginners) to perform perfectly, to avoid mistakes, and to meet high (perhaps unrealistic) expectations, and if they criticize the athlete when he or she fails to meet those expectations, all this contributes to the athletes’ fear of failure.
Fostering a good work ethic with clearly defined and realistically high expectations, encouraging healthy team relationships, nurturing a spirit of curiosity and openness to learning where mistakes are gifts and not demons are all ways to contribute to the development of a happy, healthy cheerleader.
I’ve heard many cheerleading coaches use the term “perfectionist” when describing a (usually anxious) cheerleader. And just the other day a cheerleader wrote to me and said she was a perfectionist. Before that, a cheer mom told me her daughter was a perfectionist.
Ok, so what exactly is a perfectionist and is it really a problem? Turns out this is a more complex dilemma than you would think!
Now I admit that psychologists can be good at making things more complicated than they need to be but in this case, the research makes sense. Please bear with me and read on…
First, sport psychologists make the distinction between perfectionistic strivings and perfectionistic concerns. There is an important difference!
Perfectionistic Concerns are preoccupations with making mistakes, parental expectations, parental criticism, and coach’s expectations and criticisms. As might be expected, athletes who score high on this dimension have a high fear of failure. These athletes also tend to have problems with depression, anxiety and avoidance.
Coaches and parents communicate the standards of what is acceptable in performance situations. They provide feedback and evaluation to the athletes about their abilities and performances. Because of this, their criticisms and expectations are a source of pressure and concern for athletes.
For the athlete who has Perfectionistic Concerns, the words and behaviors of parents and coaches are weighed heavily. It’s important to note that these athletes might PERCEIVE criticisms and feedback as being harsher than it is objectively communicated.
Perfectionistic Strivings relate to a desire to excel and are accompanied by high personal standards of success. These athletes tend to be more self confident and have a positive approach to practice and goal-setting as long as they have some capacity to accept minor imperfections. When they demand perfection in all things, they fare less well.
Stay tuned for more on this topic…
By the way…it’s competition season! Learn all about the Mental Game of Competitions here! Don’t miss out!
Entirely Cheer is the name of the new online cheerleading magazine produced by cheerleading experts Debbie Bracewell and Anne Gorman. It is free!
The magazine is produced in a very cool format which appears right on your computer screen and which allows you to flip the pages like a book as you read the articles. Debbie and Anne plan to reach all areas of cheerleading – nationally and internationally!
Their goal is to bring in-depth training material that will help coaches and cheerleaders. Because it’s online, articles can be lengthier than they would be in a print publication plus it is possible to add hyperlinks, videos and audios for a more interactive experience.
I am pleased to be part of the inaugural issue. I wrote two articles for this issue – one is an introduction to sport psychology for cheerleading and the other is about the mid-year slump and how to get refreshed and revitalized for the new year.
I encourage you to subscribe to the magazine which will come out every two months. Remember – it costs you nothing!
Cheerleading coaches must work with a range of personalities. This is fourth in a series of articles on this topic. Today we look at the Overachiever – the person who lives at the gym, who hides or works through injuries because s/he does not want to miss practice or working out, and who is a perfectionist.
This cheerleader type may be looking for approval and love (which may suggest that it is not happening at home). You can encourage the cheerleader to engage in other activities while setting a limit on gym time.
The best approach is a gentle one; don’t be judgmental or too quick to set strict limits. A friendly conversation about establishing a training schedule that is reasonable or that gradually decreases the amount of time spent at the gym is best. You can also try writing a “contract” with the Overachiever’s input and asking the cheerleader to sign it (if the training is extreme).
Hiding or working through injuries is serious, obviously. Letting the whole team know that doing so is NOT heroic but is, frankly, dangerous and puts the whole team in jeopardy would be a good idea (these are discussions that should happen at the start of the season and periodically throughout the year).
In terms of perfectionism, I would ask him/her to come up with a list of 10 famous athletes and find out if they never ever made a mistake. Of course, she/he will discover that the best athletes failed many times but the difference is their attitude about mistakes and set-backs, i.e., that they view them dispassionately and as opportunities to learn and improve their skills.
Cheerleading coaches should be paid well for their hard work and their ability to manage a range of personality types.
Most cheerleaders are effusively extraverted but occasionally you might come across a cheerleader who is shy, quiet, and who seems to fade into the background.
I would recommend giving Shy Sally a job to do (taking attendance, over-seeing the equipment, etc.). Wallflowers are shy and insecure and also may be depressed. They feel invisible and contribute to this feeling by becoming invisible! By giving her a task to do, a coach can help build her confidence and her visibility. Shy Sally can also get to know the coach better and perhaps some of the coach’s attention and affection will also boost her sense of self.
Every cheerleading squad has some members who are – well – a bit difficult. They can be a challenge to coach and to manage. Let’s look at one type today.
The “Diva” is someone who likes to be in the spotlight. He (Divo?) or she might be a bit pushy at times. How to manage such a person?
It’s useful to remember that the Diva may actually be quite insecure. Her clamoring for the spotlight reflects her need to be loved and her wish for approval. Sure it can be annoying but this girl needs reassurance and guidance. A good overall approach is one of frank kindness.
As a coach I might say something like this to her: “Hey Kathy, you did a great back handspring at practice today. I want to be sure to acknowledge that. You are a very important part of the team but at the same time, I’d like to remind you that you are part of the team and sometimes I’ve noticed that you seem to set yourself apart from the rest instead of being a part of the rest. Do you understand what I’m getting at? Let’s talk about how we can resolve this. I worry sometimes that your behavior puts you at risk for being disliked by the other girls. Let’s figure out how we can avoid that from happening.”
Another technique is to ask Kathy to help out another cheerleader who might be struggling. Give Kathy a task that will feed her need to be important while also helping the team. This will help prevent Kathy from being ostracized for being such a Diva…it gets her more integrated with the team. It also redirects her attention from herself to another.
How do you handle the Diva? Please share your secrets!