Let’s say you’re a cheerleader and you just heard this feedback from your coach: “You’re getting better and better with your toe touch jump.  I’m happy to see the improvement.  It will be even better if you can keep your arms level in a T position and bring your feet closer to your hands.” 

Ok, now what did you hear?  Did you hear it all?  Would you rate it a favorable critique?

If yes, you’re on the right track and you have no need to read further.  If you saw it as a negative critique, please read on! 

As I mentioned in a previous post, cheerleaders and cheer coaches can benefit from knowing about cognitive distortions which can adversely affect the overall performances of cheerleaders. 

Overgeneralization is the most common cognitive distortion and Mental Filtering is one type of Overgeneralization.  Using the example from above, the cheerleader who saw this as a negative critique filtered out the positive and only focused on what was wrong with the toe touch jump.  Do you see how the filtering can work to the cheerleader’s disadvantage?  The cheerleader might spend the next several hours feeling bad because he or she is convinced that the coach disapproves of the toe touch jump! 

Lesson: If you filter out all the positive and focus only on the negative, your performance will suffer. 

Coaches!  Knowing that this scenario is possible, be on the lookout for your cheerleaders using Mental Filtering and engage them in a conversation that might sound like this” “It might be useful for me to hear what you think I just told you so we can be clear we’re on the same page.”  Then, if the cheerleader has seemed to focus on what was wrong with the stunt, you can gently help them see the whole picture.

We are what we think.  So, what are you thinking?  

For cheerleaders who want to perform well, the ability to quickly identify and change your thinking is key to success.  I’ve written about this topic in previous posts but this one provides a different slant on the topic. 

Cognitive distortions are so common (not just for cheerleaders) that psychologists have devoted books to the topic.  Because I believe this topic is so important, I plan to devote a series of blog postings about it. 

Much of the time we take our feelings for granted.  We don’t consider that we are responsible for how we feel, not others.  We too quickly blame circumstances or other people for how we feel and yet the truth is we can choose to feel one way or the other – if we want to! 

Remember, feelings follow thoughts so if you can work on changing your thoughts, you will be able to change your feelings.  You don’t react to an event itself (although it may seem like you do!), you are really reacting to your interpretation of the event. Your interpretation of an event precedes your emotional response to it.  Usually, your interpretation will be automatic and you will not be aware of it.  In other words, this is an unconscious process. 

Your job is to actively keep track of your thoughts so you can begin to catch the automatic thinking that leads to painful feelings. Remember, these are habits of thinking that seem to pop out of nowhere; they are not the result of reasoned thought.  

There are 4 categories of cognitive distortions: Overgeneralization, Mental Filters, Jumping to Conclusions, and Emotional Reasoning. 

Stay tuned as I look at each category and provide examples and tools of transformation.