Sport

My ultimate aim when working with athletes is to facilitate performance enhancement and athlete wellbeing.

I take a holistic approach to performance enhancement ensuring there is an increase in self-awareness and personal development rather than simply providing athletes with a set of mental tools and techniques. While mental skills techniques prove useful and are utilised within my work, simply taking this discrete approach doesn’t account for sustained performance enhancement. I therefore take a longer term approach aimed at developing the person as well as the athlete as the relationship between us grows. Developing a greater understanding of the way you think, feel and behave can provide a great insight into the way you perform. For example, facilitating an athlete to understand what they do when they perform well can ensure they have the ability to repeat successful performances. Equally if an athlete is not performing well, understanding possible reasons for dips can ensure the athlete makes a quicker recovery to performing at and beyond their expected level.

Some common areas which may be addressed with athletes include:

• Confidence and self-belief
• Preparation (e.g. pre-competition, pre-shot, pre-delivery routines etc)
• Identifying and understanding your ideal performance state
• Focus and concentration
• Relaxation
• Emotional control
• Dealing with pressure
• Dealing with distractions
• Coping with success and failure
• Recovering from injury
• understanding relationships – with coaches; team mates; competitors
• Understanding you, the person; Understanding you, the athlete

Equally when working with teams, common themes may include:

• Understanding individual roles and responsibilities
• Appreciating individual differences and group strengths
• Identifying and utilising team vision
• Developing and fostering team spirit
• Communicating effectively and working together for performance

When involved within a team set up, I would look to work with those involved at both an individual and team level. Equally I take an integrated approach ensuring I work closely with other professionals because I believe working in synergy is far superior to professionals working in parallel.

My role as a Sport Psychology Consultant is not just a reactive one. While I do work with athletes who are struggling with performance lapses, psychology is not here just to solve a problem. It can and should also be used to propel those athletes who are already performing to a high standard. At an elite level, one of the major differentiators is athletes’ psychological mindset. I look to work in a proactive way to get the best out of the athlete.