This article was provided by The Junior Volleyball Association

By Mary Gonring (Bizzie)

A volleyball coach is all too familiar with the dread that can affect a player in serve receive during a tight match. Coaches see it on the athlete’s face and the athlete certainly feels it.  The face seems to be saying, “Please, don’t serve it to me. I can’t pass it.”

Now picture a serve receive drill during practice in which everyone gets to serve and to pass. How often do you see that look of dread? Hardly ever. In both instances, though, the task and skill are the exact same – serve receive. So why does this become more challenging in games?

This is the difference between an anxious player and a confident player. Anxiety happens when our thoughts drift from positive and realistic to negative and imaginary. Simply, we start to convince ourselves that we do not have the skills to complete the task at hand.

Go back to the thoughts of the anxious players in serve receive during a tight match, “I can’t pass it.” Their confidence is so low, they are convinced their passing skill suddenly has been taken from them, even though it is the same skill they have demonstrated hundreds of times in practice! And as coaches and players know, this anxious mindset is not restricted to serve receive; it also occurs, for instance, when serving during close matches, and in general for athletes struggling overall to perform well; what is commonly known as a “slump.”

Is it possible, then, for an athlete to feel confident in these instances as well?  Of course it is.

When an athlete’s perceived skill level matches the perceived challenge at hand, then the athlete is confident. For instance, in the first example, confident athletes would see a serve receive pass as a simple task, and view their serve receive skill as high. They know the serve can be passed.

How does an athlete get to this confident state? By changing his or her mindset.

Here are 3 ways to instill confidence in your athletes:

• Encourage Positive Self Talk: Most anxiety stems from the things we say to ourselves. In order to feel confident, an athlete needs to reject negative thoughts when they occur (I’m going to miss my next serve), and turn the negative thoughts into realistic and positive thoughts (I know how to serve and I’m going to make it).
• Have Your Athletes Write Down Positive Thoughts: Athletes can work on confidence simply by physically writing out things they tend to say to themselves during matches that are negative, crossing those out and writing the positive version of those thoughts instead. For instance, “I can’t pass this serve” becomes “I will pass this serve.”   Then, in practices and games, this thought-changing process becomes habit, with the mind “crossing out” the negative thought.
• Give Specific, Positive Feedback: Coaches can help the confidence process by giving players specific, positive feedback. Point out the things that all players are doing well by telling them specifically what you saw them do well. A general phrase such as “nice hitting” can be improved by saying, “That was a really nice swing”. A negative phrase such as “Don’t drop your elbow when you serve” can be improved by saying “Make sure to keep your elbow high”. These more positive phrases help athletes achieve greater confidence on the court.

For related reading on mental toughness and mental training, click HERE. For additional reading for coaches click HERE.

About the Author

Mary Gonring (Bizzie) has been around the game of volleyball for 17 years. She played 8 years of club volleyball for Milwaukee Sting Volleyball Club, 4 years of high school volleyball for Dominican High School, and 4 years of college volleyball for NCAA DII Assumption College. She holds a Master’s Degree in Psychology, with a concentration in Sports Psychology, from Boston University.  Currently, Bizzie is the assistant coach for Milwaukee Sting 12 Gold and works full time as a school therapist. She also works as a mental performance consultant for athletes striving to improve their total athletic outcomes. In her spare time, Bizzie loves to watch sports, eat pizza, and hang out with friends in Milwaukee. To contact Bizzie about your team email her at [email protected]

This article can also be found on Coaches Toolbox, a collection of free resources for coaches of all sports

Every coach would like their players to perform better in the clutch.

One of the things we must first recognize that performing in pressure situation is a skill that can be practiced.

You can coach your players to be better in the big moments.

As coaches we can help them if we embrace some of the many things that we have learned in the field of sports psychology.

The clip below deals with arousal regulation (helping players stay calm in stressful situations).

For more ideas about how to help your athletes perform in clutch moments click the link Winning the Mental Moments: Developing Team Toughness in the Clutch!

The YouTube video has sound, so please make sure that your sound is turned on and that you have access to the site ( many schools block access to YouTube)

By John O’Sullivan, founder of Change the Game Project

Is your child a great practice player, but one who struggles to perform in games? Does she score at will in easy games, but cannot the competitive ones? Does your team play great in meaningless games, but tense up and play poorly when the result matters? Does your team always play great until they build a lead, and then sit back and let the other team back into the game? If any of these sound familiar, then you are likely dealing with athletes who at times play to win, and at other times play not to lose. The effect upon performance of these two mindsets can be a massive one.

The excellent new book Top Dog: The Science of Winning and Losing by Ashley Merryman and Po Bronson delves into fascinating research on the mindset of performance. Recent research in neuroscience and psychology tells us that athletes who view specific scenarios as a threat perform vastly different then athletes who view a similar scenario as a challenge. Take for example penalty kick shootouts in professional soccer, which are used to determine a winner in knockout competitions such as the World Cup. Researches Gier Jordet and Esther Hartman studied the conversion rate of penalty takers who were kicking the final shot of a penalty shootout. They compared the following scenarios:

• The shooter’s team was down by a goal and he had to make the kick to tie; if he missed, the team would lose
• The shooter’s team was tied, and he did not have to make the shot, but if he did, the team would win the game

Jordet and Hartman found that in the first scenario, when missing the kick would cause the team to lose, professional players only converted 62% of those shots. However, when conversion would result in a win, kickers were successful 92% of the time! Same kick, same distance, same target, but a 30% improvement when the player was shooting to win, and not shooting NOT to lose.

Other studies have found similar results in basketball, where players will consistently shoot above their career free throw percentage when the game is tied, but below it when they are a point up or a point down. The point is that when athletes are challenged to rise to the occasion, they perform better then when they are threatened to not blow it. Challenged athletes tend to focus on the prize for success, while threatened athletes focus on the consequences of failure. Neuroscience tells us that these two different reactions to the same situation cause vastly different responses in our brains, and thus the results we see above.

As parents and coaches, in order to combat this the secret then is to change the situation for our athletes from a threatening one to a challenging one. Researchers Adam Altar and Joshua Aronson administered a test to Princeton undergrads, whereby they present half the group with a test of their ability – a threat – and half of them with a “Intellectual Challenge Questionnaire” where nobody was expected to solve all the problems. The result: threatened students got 72% correct, and challenged undergrads scored an average of 90% correct!

Next time your athletes take the field, ask yourself “Have I framed today’s competition as a challenge to be aspired to, or a threatening test where the consequences of failure are grave.” As coaches and parents, we have to asses every specific situation and frame it appropriately as a challenge. When we do, my guess is that your athletes will perform much better!

If you would like, please share with me any situations where you have successfully challenged your athletes versus threatened them, and how they have played as a result.

(For more, please see Po Bronson and Ashley Merryman’s fantastic new book Top Dog: The Science of Winning and Losing.The examples cited here can be found in the chapter on “The Difference Between Winning and Not Losing” p 136-138. This book has been a huge eye opener for me, and I will be writing a lot more about the material I have found within it in the future.)

Changing the Game Project  is a site that is your one stop shopping for  the latest and greatest information, research, and best practices regarding high performance, motivation, Long Term Athletic Development, fitness, nutrition, college recruiting, and more.

This article was provided by Inner Drive and is part 2 of a two part series. You can click here to read part 1

Are our emotions something that help us when it comes to sport, or do they hold us back? The answer? Both. Learning how to balance and control your emotions is what matters.

In our first part of this two part series,  we covered five strategies to help regulate emotion ranging from facing your fears head on, to listening to inspiring music to get you in the zone. This was based on research by Professor Marc Jones at Staffordshire University on how athletes can better manage their emotions when competing. In this second part, we cover tips 6-10.

Relax Your Body: Try tensing your muscles for a few seconds and then consciously relaxing them to feel a sense of calm, physically as well as mentally. Research shows that this leads to a reduced heart rate, lesser feelings of physical exhaustion, and diminished anxiety. 

Learn From Others: Try to emulate athletes that deal with emotionally difficult situations well; this is an effective strategy to manage anger and stress. For instance it has been shown that Role-playing exercisesoff pitch reduce angry behavior on pitch. The ability to learn from others is a hallmark of developing a growth mindset and a very important life skill.

Develop Self-Awareness: Keep a journal or review film of situations where strong emotions arise during play and how you dealt with them. This allows you to identify which emotions are healthy, competitive ones for you and which are not. This is important to know so that you can get the best from your emotional state. Keeping a diary to improve self-awareness is a simple and effective way to improve metacognition.

This can be incredibly effective when combined with challenging self-handicapping thoughts (check out part one of this blog), as your newfound awareness can help you identify which thoughts and emotions need challenging.

Reframe The more important you believe the situation to be, the more likely you are to have a strong emotional response to it. Research suggest that reminding yourself that “it’s just another match” can help reduce the noise and intensity that emotions can bring.

Reframing our ideas of failure and success can also be effective. In the earlier mentioned research by Professor Jones, he details an example where a Premier League striker was struggling to score goals, and feeling down because of it. Helping him reframe his definition of success to include all the other things he was doing well helped raise his spirits and find his goal scoring form again.

Take Deep Breaths: Much like muscle relaxation, focusing on taking deep slow breaths can be an important factor in regulating emotion. These breaths increase feelings of relief and lead to lower physical symptoms of negative emotions such as muscle tension.  It also provides a sense of control of the situations, slows things time and gives you space to consider how best to proceed.

Final Thought: Every athlete no matter their level needs to learn how to balance their emotions. There is no perfect formula. What works well for someone else is no guarantee that it will work well for you. Using some of the techniques described in both parts of this blog series will provide a strong platform to explore what works best for you.

If you would like to see Part 1 click here

This article was provided by InnerDrive, is part 1 of a two part post.

What does it take to really excel in the world of elite sport? The ability to deliver your best when it matters the most is a fundamental part of performing under pressure. Can this ability be taught, learned and developed?

We have previously explored why some athletes perform better under pressure than others and what it takes to thrive in a pressurized environments.  However, what makes emotions in sport so complicated is that no emotion is truly good or bad during competition. For example, anger can make you try harder, but it can also make you lose focus on the task at hand.

Even two people experiencing the same emotion can react in different ways. So a  footballer who is embarrassed about missing too many shots may shy away from receiving the ball, whereas another might react by calling for it more to get a chance to redeem themselves.

Research by Professor Marc Jones at Staffordshire University offers fascinating insight into how athletes can better manage their emotions when competing. In this two part blog series, we are going to look at 10 tips to control emotions in sport based on his research.

Music: Listening to music is a great way for an athlete to get into the zone. Upbeat or inspirational music for example improves an athlete’s confidence and motivation, leading to better on pitch performance. Music acts as a way to boost arousal levels whilst also helping to block out distracting thoughts.

Self-Talk: Negative self-talk leads to a poor emotional state, which in turn hurts athletic performance. Replacing it with positive self-talk such as “I played really well in my last match” or “I’ve succeeded at this before, I know I can now” counters negative emotions and creates positive ones too.   This positive self-talk creates helpful emotions such as happiness. As many as 76% of elite level figure skaters utilise this technique to cope with the stress of competition. For more tips on how to talk to yourself, check out our blog on it here and how self-talk is linked to growth mindset.

Relaxing, Positive Imagery: If you find yourself stressed out over competing or are worried about failing,  try imagining positive scenarios like scoring a goal. As a young athlete, Wayne Rooney used to lie in bed imagining himself scoring goals and dribbling around defenders.  He uses these visualization techniques this day and credits them for his accomplishments.

It has been found that Imagery focused on toughness, control, and confidence leads to increased motivation, emotion regulation, and self-belief. This is a great technique to do the night before a match or just before you go out to compete.

Challenging Self-Handicapping Thoughts: It’s important to consistently review your behavior both on pitch and off to ensure it is helping, not hindering your performance. If you are exerting energy and focus on behavior that is hurting you, you’re wasting energy.

One elite tennis player in this study was asked how many times in her career she argued with the referee and how often it had actually resulted in a call being changed (very rarely). The massive difference in the energy wasted compared to the result she gained, helped her realise there were better things to choose to focus on.

Face Your Fears: As discussed in our blog on The Fear of Failure, psychologists believe that there are three ways people cope with situations. These are Avoidant, Emotional and Problem Focused. Let’s say you are worried about snakes in your garden. You could decide to never go into your garden again (avoidant focused), or convince yourself that having snakes in your back garden isn’t that bad (emotion focused) or go into your garden and get rid of the snakes (problem focused).

Whereas avoidant and emotional focused coping may provide a short relief, problem focused coping addresses the issue head on, allowing you to make long term gains. Don’t be an ostrich and bury your head in the sand. If something is worrying you, work out how you can make it better.

Make sure to check back in a few weeks for part two of our blog on how athletes can better manage their emotions. We would like to massively thank Professor Jones for allowing us to blog about his research.

If you’d love some more great sports psychology tips to keep you going until then, check out our another great post from Inner Drive:  What to Think About Before a Match.