Sports Psychology

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Interesting report in the Sunday Mail this morning

RICHIE FORAN revealed dressing-room crisis talks inspired Inverness to this crushing victory that fires them back to the top six.

The Highlanders romped to victory over a lacklustre Well side who looked a shadow of the unit that humbled Celtic 2-0 last week.

Caley Thistle boss Terry Butcher couldn't have been more proud of his troops after he had slaughtered their "wretched" display in the midweek home defeat by Dundee United.

And Foran, who got on the scoresheet along with Shane Sutherland and super sub Alex MacDonald, revealed a team meeting was the inspiration behind this win that sees them leapfrog United into the top half.

Foran said: "We did a lot of talking. Eight or nine guys spoke out and weren't afraid to upset other people.

"We got our frustrations off our chests and felt refreshed afterwards.

"The gaffer wanted to know where we thought we were going wrong. Terry Butcher is willing to listen to our views because he has respect for us.

"Training picked up from Thursday onwards and this was one of our best performances of the season.

"I haven't enjoyed a game like that for a while - and it is because we had 11 players on song.

"We had the hunger and the desire. It was Terry's side that turned up with guys throwing themselves in front of shots, willing to work for the cause."

So how do we maintain this momentum ?

Tiger Woods has one. So does Andre Agassi. Almost every college pro team, major league pro sports team and Olympic team has one. Virtually every pro golfer and pro tennis player has one.

What do they have? - A Mental Game Coach.

These top sports stars are smart. They're good already. Even great. Some are all-stars and superstars. Why do "they" have a mind coach? They want to maintain their excellence. And, they want to get better. They want every edge they can get, because they know their opponents have this mental advantage.

Mental Game Coach

The broadest and deepest level of training, background and experience of coaches in this class. Assists people in learning, training, coaching, preparing, performing and any other discipline related to peak performance. This person probably has degrees or certifications but is not licensed. Has a strong mental game background

Mental Game Coaches are particularly skilled at helping you with these critical performance issues:

Anxiety ; Choking ; Focus ; Sales Rejection Issues ; Telephone Call Reluctance ; Goal-Setting and Achievement ; Perfectionism ; Procrastination ; Mental Preparation ; Mental Practice ; Self-Discipline ; Getting In The Zone ; Slumps and Confidence ; Hecklers And Psych-Outs ; Performing Under Pressure ; The Fear Of Success ; The Fear Of Failure ; The Imposter Syndrome

And I know just the man to fit the bill

[Yngwie]

And I know just the man to fit the bill

Brewster?

[PullMyFinger]

They need one who'll still be in the stadium at half time so that rules one candidate out.

[alternative maryhill]

Moving away from this shameless piece of soliciting by the kilted headshrinker for a moment, Terry Butcher's post-match comments, reported in the Sunday Herald today, were interesting:

'What came out of that meeting was that everybody wanted to work hard for each other. There are one or two who are not the best of pals, as you would expect, but they put that aside and work really hard. We haven't got any problems in the camp, but there was a real collective spirit.'

Obviously on one level he's absolutely correct: you don't expect to be close friends with everyone you work with. However, before now, the message that has consistently come out of TCS in the Butcher era has been about the unity, team spirit and lack of egos in the squad. This is the first time there has been even a hint of discord - and the subtext of the phrase 'but they put that aside' is clearly that some sort of disagreement or resentment between some players, or players and management, has developed. It'll be interesting to see if the midweek meeting, and yesterday's result, really has resolved any problems there have been. On a completely prurient level, I'd like to know who he was referring to.

[lukemackay]

everyone vs innes im guessing

[GMD]

the metal game is a big part of alot of sports, Alot of MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) fighters do sessions in visualization techniques and work as much on their mindsets as they do any other part of their game.

whatever they're doing worked this past saturday, lets hope we can overcome a big hurdle of the unwashed masses coming up the a9.

[+DoofersDad]

Moving away from this shameless piece of soliciting by the kilted headshrinker for a moment, Terry Butcher's post-match comments, reported in the Sunday Herald today, were interesting:

'What came out of that meeting was that everybody wanted to work hard for each other. There are one or two who are not the best of pals, as you would expect, but they put that aside and work really hard. We haven't got any problems in the camp, but there was a real collective spirit.'

Obviously on one level he's absolutely correct: you don't expect to be close friends with everyone you work with. However, before now, the message that has consistently come out of TCS in the Butcher era has been about the unity, team spirit and lack of egos in the squad. This is the first time there has been even a hint of discord - and the subtext of the phrase 'but they put that aside' is clearly that some sort of disagreement or resentment between some players, or players and management, has developed. It'll be interesting to see if the midweek meeting, and yesterday's result, really has resolved any problems there have been. On a completely prurient level, I'd like to know who he was referring to.

Yes it is interesting. It does sound as though there are some relationship issues within the team and whilst it is good if the meeting has helped clear the air, it is perhaps a bit worrying that some issues appear to have been left to fester and are only being addressed now after a prolonged run of poor performances and results. It is probably nothing too serious but it is always best to address these issues as soon as possible so that what might be minor misunderstandings don't develop into feuds and things aren't said or done which would make reconcilliation harder. Hopefully there's nothing amiss which a good gubbing of Celtic won't put right.

[CaleyD]

You'd have to be extremely naive to think that you can have a squad of 20+ testosterone fuelled blokes all vying for a starting place in a team of 11 without there being any kind of issues....even if they were all the best of friends.

I also think it's dangerous to try and read more into it than a couple of guys perhaps getting a little frustrated at not being selected or being played out of position or whatever. It's Butchers job to encourage anyone in that boat to channel the energy in a more constructive manner and make it work for the benefit of both the player and the team....and whilst it may have been allowed to get beyond being "healthy" it seems he's now identified the problem, confronted it and can now better manage it in future.

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As Harry hill would say - there is only one way to sort it out - FIGHT - but stop - unfair - Innes and Eric against the rest !!

I am reliably informed that this was not purely about dressing room and training ground relationships but also about being in and out of the team and playing out of position. There was that feeling of loss of "togetherness" seeping through fer the first time since the Brewster era - but it was met face on this time in what sounds like an open and potentially amicable manner - It could well be that some players - even the more experienced ones - blocked this out or did not feel comfortable getting it off their chests in a group situation - it is also wholly feasible that Terry and Mo may have noticed the loss of that "togetherness" feeling and may not have been privvy to all the "facts" - The way it was done was exemplary and should augur well fer the future.

[ictchris]

On a completely prurient level, I'd like to know who he was referring to.

Who's been shagging someone elses burd?

On the subject of sports pyschology, it's all pish. I prefer sports phrenology.

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Are you out of yer feckin skull ?