I would like you all to meet a cheerleader who really defines what mental toughness is all about. Her name is Lexus Kline and she cheers for the Wheeling All Stars in Follansbee, West Virginia. Her birthday is coming up soon; she will turn 11 on July 7th.
If you read my blog you know that I write a lot about persistence, courage, commitment, and dedication. Well, Lexus has it all! Here is her story: (more…)
As a cheerleader, you know that to excel at your sport requires countless hours of practice, conditioning exercises, and focusing on the details. Along the way you will enjoy the exhilaration of success and probably the pain of defeat. You will make mistakes and some of these will be public. Some missteps may cost your team a first place standing at a cheerleading competition. Some mistakes may be embarrassing.
And yet – it is the making of those mistakes that you have your best opportunity to shine. You have the chance to show people that you are a good sport; that you are gracious and accepting of your blunders; that you view mistakes as opportunities to learn and grow. You also can become more empathic and compassionate towards others who slip up.
Remember, it’s up to you to determine how you will respond to set-backs and mistakes. Show the world what you’re made of – good stuff.
Although she was not a cheerleader, Mia Hamm, a star member of the U.S. women’s soccer World Cup 1999 winning team, knows about good days and bad days as an athlete. Here is a quote from Mia that any cheerleading squad can relate to:
“As players, when we are having a bad day, we tend to think in melodramatic terms, that we’ve lost it, that everything’s gone wrong, but usually all you have to do is correct one small element of your game and everything else will fall into place.”
Does this happen to you? If you have a cheerleading practice session where you just aren’t hitting it, do you get discouraged and start thinking that it’s all over? (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…)
The Burlington Patriots, a Massachusetts Pop Warner Cheerleading Team (Junior Midgets), has won 11 national titles and want to win another one. Will they do it? Watch the movie and find out!
Film makers Laura Molta and Al Ward follow the Patriots Cheerleading team over the months of preparing for their national cheerleading competitions. From the first practice of the season in August through the many long hours of grueling preparation to the final test of their skill and expertise at Nationals, this film will attract and hold your attention as you root for the home team.
I highly recommend this riveting movie to anyone who is involved in cheerleading. This means all cheerleaders, all cheer coaches, all cheer parents, and everyone in the cheer industry. If you’re new to the spirit world, this is a perfect introduction to the reality of this exciting sport. If you’re a veteran, you will appreciate the story of this team and its leaders as it moves towards its exciting finish.
There is so much to like about this film that it is hard to know where to begin! The cheerleaders themselves are superb athletes who dedicate countless hours perfecting their skills. The coaches pull out all the stops to devote their time, energy and love to the girls in their quest for a title.
If you think winning a title is just a matter of practice, then this film will be a revelation to you. Sure, the physical and technical preparation and practice are important, but the mental preparation is what makes the difference between a championship team and a runner-up. Co-directors Darlene Tierney and Carolyn Shannon and Coach Jennifer Currie know this well and their passion, wisdom and psychological astuteness help the team overcome setbacks and forge ahead. Perhaps without their knowing it, these ladies are teaching valuable mental toughness skills to these girls.
At one point, Carolyn says, “It’s a lesson in life…you don’t have power or control…” True! One of the key principles in sport psychology is to recognize the things you can and cannot control and to devote your energy to those things you can control. These women know this instinctively.
Right before the National competition, one of the girls has to have an appendectomy and cannot perform. Then, the night before the big event, the team is told they have to change one of their moves. One girl has the flu and another has a painful ovarian cyst. What do they do? They work fast and hard to change the routine and the girls pull it all together in a remarkable fashion.
I found myself rooting for the Patriots, feeling the excitement and the tension as they competed. (I even had tears in my eyes.) You can’t help but get involved in this story!
In addition to the main story, there are special features that are like a mini-course in cheerleading. These features include behind the scenes interviews with 10 of the top ranked Pop Warner Cheerleading teams in the country; more than 10 full length competition performances and live critiques of cheer routines by judges. Surely the last feature alone makes this video worth buying. Where else can you hear a judge assess a cheer team’s performance – in the moment?
Do yourself a favor and go to www.Cheerleadingfilm.com to purchase your DVD of Blood, Sweat & Cheers!
To be a good cheerleader, you have to be physically strong. To be a great cheerleader, you also have to be mentally strong. I’ve written about mental toughness before and I’ve identified 8 qualities connected to mental toughness; I call them the “8 C’s” and here they are: 1) Championship mindset; 2) Concentration; 3) Composure; 4) Come-back from mistakes: 5) Clarity about motivation; 6) Commitment: 7) Confidence; and 
Courage.
A good example of a mentally tough athlete is 17 year old tennis star Melanie Oudin who won her first match at the US Open on Monday (she lost on Wednesday but not before winning the hearts of an international audience).
From all accounts, Melanie Oudin demonstrated mental toughness from the beginning of her tennis career.
One of Melanie’s coaches, Noel Wadawu said that everyone saw that mental toughness in Melanie from the day she first walked onto the courts (in Sandy Spring, Ga.). “She was nine year old…not too many kids come out her and, when you say, okay, let’s try to hit 200 balls in a row, and you’ve got ot do it until you get it-she did it every single time.”
Wadawu went onto to say, “It’s always been a mental game (for Melanie); she is simple focused entirely on her game. Mental toughness. You just don’t see too many kids that focused.”
By the way, Melanie wears custom designed yellow and pink shoes with the word “BELIEVE” inscribed on the heel. What do you think this says about her? Belief in your ability to perform well contributes to mental toughness.
You might wonder why I’m writing about the Army for a cheerleading blog! Well, there is a connection. The Army has begun an emotional resiliency training program to help soldiers deal with the terrible impact of combat and the interventions they are using are quite similar to what I write about on the blog.
They will be learning how to identify and change negative thinking. They are learning how to reframe their thoughts from something that is disruptive to something that is neutral or positive. They are learning how to identify cognitive distortions. They are learning how to handle challenging situations.
Does this sound familiar? Well, if you’ve been reading this blog for a while, it should! And by the way, the Army is spending $117 million dollars on this program and you get it here for free!
At first glance, this video of cheerleading “bloopers” (well, they’re not all cheerleaders) is kinda funny but the video doesn’t show the aftermath such as the trips to the hospital or people hobbling around on crutches and casts.
If you look closely at the video you’ll see the common denominator in almost all of the bloopers is that the participants were not thinking clearly. They were not focused on their task. They were distracted by the crowd, the excitement and who knows what else! This can happen to anyone of course and it does but in these cases the results could’ve been (and perhaps were) dangerous and painful.
Developing laser focus is a skill taught by sports psychologists and it is the hallmark of mental toughness. Stay tuned to this blog for more on enhancing your focus skills.
Stay tuned for an exciting new development! In the very near future, I will be launching a new product – an information-filled CD (maybe 2!) and workbook on the mental game of cheerleading competition preparation.
Many elite athletes work with sports psychologists to improve their performances, so why not cheerleaders? Many pro athletes in most sports, including baseball, football, basketball, and soccer either work directly with sports psychologists or have coaches who are well versed in sports psychology strategies. And virtually all Olympic teams have a sports psychologist on board.
Seems to me it’s time cheerleaders reap the benefits of what sports psychology has to offer!
In high level sports it is estimated that 50 – 90% of success can be attributed to mental factors such as confidence, composure, and concentration, to name a few. These are known collectively as mental toughness. Mental toughness skills can be strengthened and taught in order to ensure consistently and excellence in performance. That’s what I do.
I will be offering excerpts from the CD in future posts so be sure to check in regularly and please feel free to ask questions!
Think of some of the best athletes of all time. Who comes to mind: Gold medal winner, Shawn Johnson? Tennis stars, Serena and Vanessa Williams? NASCAR racer, Danica Patrick? Swimming ace, Michael Phelps?
Well, each of these stars didn’t get to the top alone. They all had coaches through the years who worked with them, observing their every move and giving them valuable feed-back to improve their performances.
Do you think any of them ever told their coaches, “Don’t tell me what I’m doing wrong because you’ll hurt my feelings,”? Of course not!
Having a Championship mind-set means being open to hearing and using feedback that can improve your performance. It means, seeing feedback as useful, not as a personal attack.
(Now, it is true that some coaches deliver critiques in a less than helpful manner but generally speaking, a good coach will know how to communicate in a way that is clear, understandable, useful, and respectful. More on that in later postings!)
So, hearing feedback as information, not an attack is essential. A champion is eager for feedback because he or she knows that it is valuable information that will make the difference between winning and placing second.
In addition to working with your coach, another feature of the Championship mind-set is a strong dedication to continually improving your performance by honestly assessing your performance in practice and in competition.
Here are a few questions to ask yourself (or for the team to do together):
It’s important not to beat up on yourself! Be as cool-headed as you can be in the self-assessment process.
Observing your routine on video is hugely useful! Again, assume an objective stance – it’s information, remember?
Okay, champions….onward!