RAQ Training

This is the last of the four part series where we looked at the newest and oldest fraternity/ sorority for athletes: The Recreational Professional Athlete. This fraternity and sorority has been in existence since the beginning of time before anyone thought to pay and watch athletes perform. This fraternal group started in the backyards, sand lots, cornfields, and empty lots in the neighborhoods way before ESPN and all the other major network television and sponsors started to televise and contribute to its mainstream efforts. We are a new breed of athletes designed and made from an old cloth that brings the commonality of man and/or woman together over nationalities, creeds, race, religions, and sex.

We looked at the definition of what a weekend warrior (recreational professional athlete) was as well as how one can train to become one. In my opinion anyone that has breath can and is a recreational professional athlete rather you are six to one hundred and six. We set the trends that people see on TV if you don’t believe me go to the Rucker’s Basketball tournament in New York, turn to ESPN during the little league baseball tournament or better yet go to Florida where ESPN has the Disney Sports Complex. Recreational sport rather its organized by a sanction organization or a couple of individuals getting together after Thanksgiving dinner and playing in the backyard fuels the sporting industry. If you go to any sporting good store, the store’s major purchasers aren’t Michael Jordan, Payton Manning, Derek Jeter, or David Beckam, it’s us the fraternity and sorority of athletes that enjoy the sport because it gives us something to escape to. We never abuse it, we always find ways of giving back to it either via through charity events to raise awareness of some disease out there i.e. Breast Cancer 10K walks, or bridging gaps between individuals with differences i.e. Grid Iron Gangs, or just for pure enjoyment i.e. stick ball pick up games in the Bronx on a hot summer day. Recreational Professional Athletes do not discriminate for you can find them through every walks of life (no pun intended) from the co-ed flag football leagues to the wheelchair basketball leagues at the local church.

This article sole purpose is to look at the mental aspect of training the recreational professional athlete. The mind-body connection is a very powerful one. For everything you think in your mind, your body has a reaction, regardless of whether it is real or imagined. For example, have you ever had a bad dream? Usually, you will wake up and your heart is racing, you are sweating and very agitated, even though all you were doing was sleeping. But, in your mind there was something bad going on and your body was reacting to it. Here’s another example: if you are home alone and you hear a noise and interpret it as the wind, you are fine; but if you interpret it as a prowler, your fight or flight response takes over and you become fearful, your heart begins racing a mile a minute, your eyes dilate and you are scared. These are just a few examples of how strong the connection is between your mind and your body. With this premise, it becomes unmistakable how necessary it is to train both the mind and body for peak performance.

In sports, so many things are left to chance. Sports are predictably unpredictable. Why let your mental mindset be one of those things? There’s no reason for your mental game to be your Achilles heel! Up until about a decade ago, a Sport Psychology professional was considered a person who athletes went to see only when they had a problem, not someone who was healthy and was a productive athletes and teams spent their time with. Luckily, this stigma is changing; the change is slow, but it is evident. You see Sport Psychology professionals working with everyone now; recreational athletes, colleges, professional teams, Olympic athletes, businesses, and corporations all seek them out. People are realizing that no matter how good you are, you can always improve, and one way to improve yourself is to become well-versed in performance enhancement techniques. There is no room for complacency; the complacent ones get left behind. This philosophy holds true not only in sports but in business as well.

Athletes spend so much time physically practicing to get an edge on the competition. Yet what teams and athletes can really do to get an edge is right in front of their nose, or more accurately, right above their shoulders! You hear the same thing all the time, “Sports is 90-95% mental.” Athletes and coaches at all levels say it, but how many of them do something about it? It may be common knowledge, but it is not always common practice.

Maybe they don’t have the time, maybe they don’t have the resources, or maybe down deep they don’t really believe it. Whatever the reason, the fact remains the same, they are not utilizing their most powerful resource, the mind. Most athletes fatigue mentally before they fatigue physically, due to the fact that their mind is not in as good of shape as their bodies.

Competition is tight, athletes are physically fit, and the margin for victory is slim. Managers, coaches and players are realizing that to get ahead they need an added resource, and that resource is a trained mind. When there are two teams that are physically equal, it is the team that works together smoothly and is mentally prepared and confident that will come out on top. Keep in mind, though: no mental training will compensate for ineffective technique. You need to be strong, technically and mentally. Unfortunately, many times one aspect of your game is magnified at the expense of the other. You should give equal attention to both; that is the ideal approach. You are given the talent, it’s your job to develop it and watch it flourish by combining physical and mental training with a great work ethic.

The zone is not a mystical place that only God selects certain athletes to possess while others are doomed to their own failures. The zone is a place that every athlete, if trained properly, can possess on a more frequent basis successfully. The first thing that I think one must do is go through the characteristics of what is the zone and the elements that an athlete must possess in order to get into the zone. Success in sports requires your mind and your body. As an athlete it is very important to have a clear mental picture of what it is you are striving for. By taking some time to think about peak performances you have had in the past, it can aid you in making sure they happen more often! It is important to also be aware of these characteristics so they can be addressed to help strengthen yourself and achieve peak performances on a more consistent basis. When one is in the zone they possess these seven characteristics:

1. Relaxed: The days of getting psyched up to play are over. Research has shown over and over that the best performances occur when you are just slightly above your normal state of arousal, not at the extreme end of the spectrum as once thought. You are energized, yet relaxed it’s a subtle balance of quiet intensity. Your mind is calm and your body is ready to go. You feel relaxed, but you are able to move with great strength and ease.

2. Confident: Not letting a lapse in performance undermine your belief in your overall abilities is at the core of this characteristic. When you are playing well, you feel confident that no matter what you are up against, you are going to come out on top. You just exude with confidence and pride, and it is evident in your performance. There is no fear. Confidence on the inside is outwardly shown by way of your presence, your walk and your facial expressions. You should expect to be successful, not hope or wish to be successful. You must adopt a confident, winning attitude. It is trusting your instincts and intuition to do the right thing at the right time; and if you are prepared, you can be confident that this will happen. This complete faith allows you to just know that you are going to do everytme and without the conscious use of reasoning or analyzing.

3. Completely focused: You are totally absorbed in the moment. You have no memory of the past and no qualms about the future; you are here now. The only thing you are concentrating on is the task at hand. You are oblivious to everything else going on around you, consumed by the moment. Like a child playing with his toys, you are so absorbed in the moment that nothing outside can affect you. You have no real sense of time, and before you know it, the game is over. The game seems to have flown by, and at the same time, everything you did seemed to happen in a slowed-down pace with great precision and concentration. Having the ability to stay in the moment is a gift that all of peak performers have.

4. Effortless: Things just sort of happen with little or no effort whatsoever. All your moves are smooth and for that time, your sport seems like the easiest thing in the world. You are in a state of mind and body where you can accomplish great things with little effort. Your mind and body are working with one another in perfect unison. The grace and ease that you display make everything you do seem like the simplest task in the world. You have a sense of finesse and grace, even when the task is very grueling and demanding. That sort of connectedness and moment of greatness is an awesome thing to both witness and take part in.

5. Automatic: There is no interference from your thoughts or emotions. Things are just happening, both without protest and without consent. You are on auto pilot – just reacting to whatever comes your way. Your body just seems to know what to do without any directive from you. There is no conscious thought involved; you’re going strictly on your instincts. If you think less, you will achieve more.

6. Fun: When you’re in the flow, the enjoyment is incomparable to anything else. You feel like when you were a kid enjoying your sport with pure and innocent delight. Anyone can see in your eyes the satisfaction and fulfillment the sport gives you. You feel like your sport is giving you back something that you can’t get from anyone or anything else. This is a key factor because if you don’t enjoy your sport, your future in it will be limited.

7. In Control: You feel that no matter what, you are in control. What you think and want will happen next is in your control. You have ultimate command over your emotions as well – you are controlling them, not the other way around. When you are in control, you are in charge. You govern your own destiny. When you feel this strong of a command over your game, great things are sure to happen. The authority is yours, and no one else’s. You believe that you have ultimate control over your performance as oppose to thinking that some external stimuli is responsible for your performance i.e. the magical socks or playing on a particular field or in front of a particular group of people.

Now a recreational professional athlete can take this four part series and work on becoming the best athlete possible. Likewise, if that person still does not think that they are able to do so, I myself am certified in the areas of performance enhancement and can work with that athlete in each area that has been covered in this four part series. I have programs that address each component of building the best recreational professional athlete and by contacting me via my website at www.raqtraining.net one can see the different programs that we offer at Alpha II Omega Sports Performance.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 15th, 2008 at 8:26 pm and is filed under Personal Training, Mental Training, Sports Hypnosis, Sports Psychology, sports specific workouts. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.