How does mental coaching boost your performance?
Strength, endurance, technique, and tactics are still the focus of training, even in top-level sports. All performance values are meticulously documented and analyzed, and, in addition, nutrition plays a significant role today.
On the other hand, the mental aspect of sporting success still needs to be addressed. But we athletes know only too well: body, mind, and emotions are inseparable and equally involved in every sporting best performance! And that is why the optimal use of one's resources - including mental resources - is indispensable for every sporting success!
Similarly high level
In modern elite sports, performances are very close regarding physical fitness, technique, and tactics. However, winning in a crowded field often comes down to the athlete's mental strength. Thus, it can make all the difference with the right exercises and techniques paired with proper attitude training.
Regeneration
Mental training methods can also promote the ability to regenerate. Often there are only short breaks between training sessions as well as competitions. Mental training can shorten the regeneration time. It reduces the risk of fluctuating training performance or losing performance from competition to competition. The risk of injury is also reduced.
Defeats
Competitive athletes must cope with disappointments again and again. Therefore, I accompany you as a coach through stressful phases, defeats, or setbacks so that your positive inner attitude and self-confidence continue to work for you.
Conflicts in the environment
As a professional or competitive athlete, you are surrounded by people with a stake in your sporting success. But where people work together, there are always disagreements that, if left unaddressed, can inhibit performance, or reduce motivation. I'll show you ways to deal with conflicts in your team, with coaches or training partners, and turn them into productive energy - so you always enjoy your sport.
Scientific background
Mental refers to cognitive and mental processes localized in the brain. The term mental is closely linked to the so-called executive functions. These are processes organized in the frontal brain or prefrontal cortex that regulate our thoughts and actions. They include basic functions such as inhibition. It enables us to suppress disruptive stimuli and consciously regulate our concentration. And it also comprises working memory, which we use to compare alternative actions and set goals. With this part of our brain, we also practice cognitive flexibility, i.e., adjusting to new things and changing perspectives. These are all things that are part of everyday life in sports.
The executive functions thus primarily serve our self-regulation. They comprise all the mental mechanisms we use to regulate our attention, emotions, impulses, and actions. They enable us to act in a situation-appropriate and goal-oriented manner - which is essential for success in sports. Well-developed executive functions are synonymous with mental strength. Like a muscle, we must therefore train mental strength.
The theoretical foundations of mental coaching are the latest findings from exercise science and neurobiology, supplemented by practical principles for brain-friendly teaching and learning.