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As an exercise/sport psychologist consultant that also works as a strength coach/personal trainer, I have come to realize that everything in life is depended upon momentum. The purpose of this article is to identify what is momentum; identify when momentum has shifted from positive to negative; and what one must do to get back on track and towards positive momentum.

What is Momentum and how does momentum apply to exercise and sport?

Psychological Momentum refers to the perception that a player is moving toward their objective, thereby resulting in greater levels of energy, perception of control, enthusiasm, and motivation (Journal of Sport & Exercise Psychology). Another model within the sports psychology literature defines psychological momentum as a “positive or negative change in cognition, affect, physiology, and behavior caused by an event or series of events that will result in a shift in performance outcome.”

Most of us have experienced it in one way, shape, or form, that intangible feeling that makes us seem unstoppable in the moment rather in sport or when exercising; as if fate was on our side. In this highly aroused state we feel an almost supreme confidence in our ability to perform. During this psychological shift we feel in total control and enjoy every second. But how to obtain momentum and take advantage of its awesome power,… that is what individuals are seeking to obtain. Since momentum is a shift in our perception of a given situation, it follows that we do have some control over the experience.

The reason momentum is so powerful is because of the heightened sense of confidence it gives us — the most important aspect of peak performance. There is a term in sport psychology known as self-efficacy, which is simply a player’s belief in his/her ability to perform a specific task. Typically, a person’s success depends on this efficacy. During a momentum shift, self-efficacy is very high and people have immediate proof their ability matches the challenge. As stated earlier, they then experience subsequent increases in energy and motivation, and gain a feeling of control. In addition, during a positive momentum shift, a person’s self-image also changes. He/she feels invincible and this takes the “performer self” to a higher level.

What happens when one feels that they have falling into a slump (negative momentum)?

Self talk is key when one is dealing with momentum shifts and feels as if they have fallen into a slump of some sort. Sports psychology terms self talk as dialogue one has with one self. Patterns of negative or positive self-talk often start in childhood. Usually, the self-talk habit is one that’s colored our thinking for years, and can affect us in many ways, influencing the experience of stress to our lives. However, any time can be a good time to change it!

Notice Your Patterns:
The first step toward change is to become more aware of the problem. You probably don’t realize how often you say negative things in your head, or how much it affects your experience. The following strategies can help you become more conscious of your internal dialogue and its content.

Journal Writing: Whether you carry a journal around with you and jot down negative comments when you think them, write a general summary of your thoughts at the end of the day, or just start writing about your feelings on a certain topic and later go back to analyze it for content, journaling can be an effective tool for examining your inner process.

Thought-Stopping: As you notice yourself saying something negative in your mind, you can stop your thought mid-stream by saying to yourself “Stop”. Saying this aloud will be more powerful, and having to say it aloud will make you more aware of how many times you are stopping negative thoughts, and where.

Rubber-Band Snap: Another therapeutic trick is to walk around with a rubber band around your wrist; as you notice negative self-talk, pull the band away from your skin and let it snap back. It’ll hurt a little, and serve as a slightly negative consequence that will both make you more aware of your thoughts, and help to stop them! (Or, if you don’t want to subject yourself to walking around with a rubber band on your wrist, you’ll be even more careful to limit the negative thoughts!)

Replace Negative Statements:
A good way to stop a bad habit is to replace it with something better. Once you’re aware of your internal dialogue, here are some ways to change it:

Milder Wording: Have you ever been to a hospital and noticed how the nurses talk about ‘discomfort’ instead of ‘pain’? This is generally done because ‘pain’ is a much more powerful word, and discussing your ‘pain’ level can actually make your experience of it more intense than if you’re discussing your ‘discomfort’ level. You can try this strategy in your daily life. In your self-talk, turning more powerful negative words to more neutral ones can actually help neutralize your experience. Instead of using words like ‘hate’ and ‘angry’ (as in, “I hate traffic! It makes me so angry!”), you can use words like ‘don’t like’ and ‘annoyed’ (“I don’t like traffic; it makes me annoyed,” sounds much milder, doesn’t it?)

Change Negative to Neutral or Positive: As you find yourself mentally complaining about something, rethink your assumptions. Are you assuming something is a negative event when it isn’t, necessarily? (For example, having your plans cancelled at the last minute can be seen as a negative, but what you do with your newly-freed schedule can be what you make of it.) The next time you find yourself stressing about something or deciding you’re not up to a challenge, stop and rethink, and see if you can come up with a neutral or positive replacement.

Change Self-Limiting Statements to Questions: Self-limiting statements like “I can’t handle this!” or “This is impossible!” are particularly damaging because they increase your stress in a given situation, and they stop you from searching for solutions. The next time you find yourself thinking something that limits the possibilities of a given situation, turn it into a question. Doesn’t “How can I handle this?” or “How is this possible?” sound more hopeful and open up your imagination to new possibilities?

How does one get back on track?
It is one thing to be able to identify when one has shifted from positive momentum to negative momentum. The next step is to try to get back on track when the shift has turn towards a negative experience. Again as mentioned earlier in the article success breeds success. If a person has a plan of action to respond to the obstacles that awaits them then they will be equipped to deal with life’s difficulties that may arise such as sickness, lack of time, travel, and holidays. Life is never perfect, but full of limitations and constraints within which we must maneuver. Life is like a canoe trip down a river. We cannot change the river, but we can navigate its course with greater or lesser skill.

In addition, a person should protect themselves from being negative by doing the following:

1. Commit yourself to stop dwelling on the negatives. Shift your focus from negative thoughts to more positive.
2. Commit to stop revisiting things that went wrong in the past, whether performance or relationship. Shift focus to what went right.
3.If you find yourself shifting back to the negative thoughts, experiences, or performance again and again, tell yourself to stop! Then change the channels to something more uplifting.
4. If you look for the negatives in positives experiences, performances, or thoughts; start looking for positives in negatives.
5. If a negative thought or image pops into your mind, let it go, release it, erase it, and let it float away. Don’t let it consume you.
6. If you can’t let the negative thought go, then shift your focus to something positive-positive memory or uplifting experience that reflects a more positive reality (i.e. concentrating on a skill that you are really good at performing or have mastered in the past)
7. If the negative thought returns, shift back to a positive memory, a positive vision of the future, or a positive action in the present. Keep going back to positives every time that negative thought creeps into your mind.

Exercising and peak performance in sport is a difficult behavior to maintain because it takes a great deal of time and energy. The goal for anyone is to produce and maintain positive momentum.

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.

By Dr. John F. Murray taken from Tennis.com

I am often asked which mental skill is the most important in tennis. In many years of providing sport psychology services I would have to say that proper focus or “attention control” is the hands down winner. Unforced errors, poor decisions, and inconsistent performance can all be caused by any number of distractions in tennis. It is so important to know what to focus on, how to shift focus properly, and how to maintain focus or concentrate over a long period.

There are so many ways to lose focus. Even top ATP and WTA professionals struggle here. It’s actually natural to lose focus because our very survival in the past depended upon the ability of our senses to rapidly detect danger in the wild. Snooze while eating your afternoon snack and you would become the snack! While it’s no longer a life or death struggle in the 21st century, your tennis opponents probably would simply love to devour you. The fact is that winning and losing often comes down to which player focuses more effectively. You need strategies to overcome the impulse toward distraction.

In a typical tennis match, you are constantly bombarded by an endless array of internal and external stimuli, thoughts, and emotions. Given this abundance of information it’s amazing that you can make sense of anything. In varying degrees of efficiency, you’ve developed the ability to tune into what is truly important while blocking out the excess. This process of directing our awareness to relevant stimuli is called selective attention. Many believe this is the most important mental characteristic for successful performance.

Concentration, or staying on task over a period of time, might appear to require great strain and exertion, but once you get it, the reverse is actually true. Effective concentration has been described as “effortless effort,” being “in the zone,” a “flow” state. It’s a passive process of being totally absorbed in the present and fascinated by the object of fixation.

But learning to concentrate is a very difficult skill to master because, as previously mentioned, our minds tend to shift focus when presented with novel stimuli. Known as the “orienting response,” this bias toward new sights and sounds alerted our ancestors to dangers in the wild, but it devastates our tennis. A split second loss of concentration during a critical point can equal doom.

Careful planning and mental training help you gain supremacy over your focus faculties. I often tell my clients that they need to go into a “focus trance” in competition. Practice setting a mental habit of focus in motion when you’re in the calm of the office or on the phone, in what I call the “war room.” It is in these calm states that you have the ability to try new things and develop ideal mental habits for later use. In the heat of battle when so many things are going on, your reactions and habits will rule the day. The idea is to make sure the proper habits of focus emerge when you’re on court during competition.

Fortunately, selective attention, concentration, and focus shifting are skills that can be learned, refined, and perfected just like volleys and drop shots. Since few players invest quality time on attention skills, there is an immediate and tangible reward for those who do. I believe the struggle with yourself over focus is even more fundamental than the clash with your opponent. Only after preparing yourself for a match are you truly ready to take it to someone else on court.

Here are 10 specific ways of improving attention control and going into a “focus trance” more often:

1. Avoid negative thoughts and feelings, as these are needless distractions that rob you of limited focus capacity.

2. Remain focused on the present, attending to what is immediately important and blocking out past and future concerns and points. After a mistake, briefly note any changes necessary then move decisively to the next point.

3. Recite key words or phrases to yourself prior to the point to remind yourself to concentrate (e.g., “focus,” “control,” “good contact”).

4. Be task- rather than outcome-oriented. Thinking about the score or how you look are common distractions. The outcome only improves when you ignore it and attend to the task at hand.

5. Slightly relax between points while avoiding external distractions. Some players achieve this by staring at an object (e.g., racket strings) and visualizing the next point.

6. Keep to yourself and avoid talking to your opponent or spectators during changeovers. This is your time to recharge energies, sip water, and calmly regain your focus for the next game.

7. Add a ritual, or consistent routine, to your game (e.g., adjust footwork, bounce ball) to help fight off needless distractions and keep your mind from wandering.

8. Be particularly vigilant when fatigued. Players often lose their focus when tired.

9. Attention and energy levels are closely related. Avoid becoming overly excited while remaining focused on executing shots and implementing your strategy. Breathing and/or relaxation exercises can help lower arousal.

10. Coaches should make practices fun by frequently allowing players to choose which skills to practice and varying the routine. This increases motivation and leads to improved focus.