Rick Hadwick

I want to share one example of how mental skills training helped a young athlete who was having difficulty in high school, and who had high aims for college and beyond. Morgan (not real name) was clearly a very talented and dedicated soccer player, she loved the sport, and was incredibly focused on improving her game. As I got to know Morgan better, it was clear that her situation at home was unstable, and she was also having difficulty with grades and the demands of academics as she approached her senior year. As we went in to more detail, Morgan spoke of the expectancy and high hopes of her parents and how she would panic at the thought of failing them and letting them down. They had spent so much time and money, for Morgan to play throughout the years, one night she even tried to calculate exactly what they had spent on her soccer experience so far. Needlessly to say, it further added to the weight of pressure on her shoulders. During our first session, we discussed how Morgan had never actually spoke to her parents about this, and realized she had created a lot of this pressure herself. So in our first session, we decided that Morgan would speak with her parents about this. During the conversation with her parents, Morgan understandable became very emotional as her parents explained that there was no expectation for her to play college or pro, but they simply loved watching her play and enjoying sport. They did realize that because Morgan was so talented, that they had created some pressure, by making statements such as 'Morgan is going to be such a great college player!', and while this sounds very positive, it made several assumptions. In our next session, Morgan explained how much better she felt about the situation, and that the conversation with her parents immediately took a huge weight off her back. The next step was to talk about academics, and specifically, time management and relaxation techniques. Morgan was never 100% focused on her academics due to fatigue or feeling rushed, and so managing time better and winding down would help significantly. With practice, Morgan learned to spend 10 minutes focusing on breathing and slowing her mind down. She recalled being able to retain information better and by keeping a schedule of her day, she could also manage time and prioritize. Morgan was surprised to also find that, simply by paying attention to her schedule, she also had more free time to socialize and do her own thing. The stresses were slowly and surely being lifted and Morgan stated how this translated in to her game, as she felt free when playing and could focus fully on the game, instead of being tethered down with thoughts of academics or whether her parents would be happy with her playing. Needless to say, Morgan made varsity, and achieved her dream of playing college soccer. There was no doubt in anyones mind that Morgan had the ability achieve this, but with the techniques learned, Morgan is better equipped to handle the challenges ahead, and she could go in to college with confidence in her ability to handle stress and a very demanding schedule.