Demystifying Mental Toughness

This discussion dives into how control and challenge shape mental toughness, drawing on Danielle Collins’ clever use of heckling as motivation during matches. Expert guests share self-care strategies to improve emotional regulation, especially for perfectionists. The conversation also touches on the significance of understanding one’s motivations and the benefits of mindfulness. Insights into managing anxiety beyond sports and the power of positive reinforcement for children provide valuable takeaways. Finally, the host’s personal break underscores the need for mental health.

The "Demystifying Mental Toughness" podcast episode #273, hosted by David Charlton, features insights from various team sports coaches and athletes, on commitment and confidence.  Key points include the importance of individual motivation in team sports, maintaining a balance in life, and the necessity of standing out in training and matches.  Guests emphasize the need for authenticity and surrounding oneself with positive influences, as well as many other great points. Key Learning Points: ·         Prioritize your own performances and progress, saying no to activities that are incompatible with your development. ·         A combination of confidence and commitment characteristics can lead to optimistic and challenging goal-setting. ·         To overcome fear and procrastination you could chunk down, planning goals in small steps towards your larger goals. ·         Cultivate a brave and determined mindset when it comes to goal-setting, where failure is not an option. Connect with David Charlton Join David @ The Sports Psychology Hub Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIN Relevant Podcast Episodes To Help You Improve Your Commitment and Confidence Levels as Relayed in Episode 273 Ep104: Seb De Chaves –  The Psychological Demands of Elite Professional Rugby Ep091: Jarrod Leathem -  How to Transfer Your Cricket Skills to Matches Ep077: Danny Thomas – Before, During and After Professional Football Ep072 Tom Jones: Mastering the Mental Side of Cricket Ep043: Jamie Forrester – Thriving in Professional Football Ep029: Lome Faatau – How to Play Professional Rugby with Confidence Ep018: Kieron Brady – From Professional Football to Alcoholism Consultant Ep007: Toby Flood –  How Elite Athletes Mentally Prepare Ep003: Peter Ramage – Developing a Premier League Mindset Other Valuable Resources To Improve Your You Improve Your Commitment and Confidence Levels Podcasts for Sport Coach Development Cricket Psychology Resources Goalkeeping Psychology Resources Hockey Psychology Resources Rugby Psychology Resources Soccer Psychology Resources

Today’s podcast episode #272, focuses on helping coaches develop themselves and improve their relationships with their athletes, in turn, positively influencing performances.  Many different guests from the Demystifying Mental Toughness Podcast emphasize the following points when considering self-improvement: sport coaches should be open-minded, focus on continuous learning and film themselves frequently.  In developing their athletes: the importance of high support in coaching, understanding athletes have lives outside of sport, adapting their communication to athletes different learning styles and process-oriented coaching are also touched on, as well as a lot more. Key Learning Points: ·       Develop a psychosocial plan for your athletes/players and consider how to deliver it in a language they can understand and engage with. ·       As a coach, start where you are, considering your skills and personality and look to make the environment better. ·       When coaching focus on developing all aspects, including the psychological, biomechanical, technical and tactical, to help athletes fall in love with their role. ·       When coaching film yourself regularly and review the footage to understand how you are interacting with athletes/players. ·       Focus on the process, not just the outcome, and help athletes stay committed to the process, especially under pressure. Connect with David Charlton Join David @ The Sports Psychology Hub Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIN Relevant Podcast Episodes To You Help You Become A Better Sport Coach as Relayed in Episode 272 Ep249: Dr Edward Hall – Understanding Workplace Collaboration In Coaching In Team Sports Ep209: Felix Lehmann – How To Create Better Decision Makers On The Football Pitch Ep166: Mark Bennett MBE – How To Help Athletes and Coaches Reflect On Their Performances Ep165: Andy Elleray – How To Master the Mental Challenges Goalkeeping Throws at You EP147: Aaron Walsh – The Application of Mental Performance Coaching in Elite Professional Rugby Ep105: Hannah Bromley – Overcoming Psychological Challenges in Professional Women’s Football Ep096: Gary Curneen – Developing Mentally Strong Footballers Ep094: Professor Adam Nicholls – How to Develop Mentally Strong Rugby Players Ep093: Dan Abrahams – How to Overcome Mental Blocks in Football Ep087: Carl Bell – From Professional Football and Goalkeeping to Physiotherapy Ep039: John Fletcher – How to Develop Fearless Athletes Ep027: Natalie Henderson – How to Develop Mental Toughness with Young Footballers Other Valuable Resources To Improve Your Level Of Sport Coaching Podcasts for Sport Coach Development Cricket Psychology Resources Goalkeeping Psychology Resources Hockey Psychology Resources Rugby Psychology Resources Soccer Psychology Resources

Kickstart your year by boosting your mental toughness with powerful insights! Discover the importance of your self-narrative and how authentic connections can propel personal growth. Learn to identify and adjust your routines and habits, using fear as a stepping stone to greatness. Understand and navigate your character traits that may be holding you back while embracing vulnerability. Finally, reflect on your experiences and make impactful habit changes to enhance your well-being!

Discover essential tips to build mental fortitude for 2025. Learn the art of recovery and the crucial role of rest days in enhancing performance. Explore hydration's impact, the benefits of nasal breathing, and how cold exposure boosts recovery. Strategies for nurturing mental well-being are discussed, alongside the importance of maintaining a training diary and understanding circadian rhythms. Personal challenges faced by guests highlight the significance of self-care and kindness on the road to resilience.

In episode #269 David addresses the question, “What Can I Expect When Working With A Sport Psychologist” for the final time as this episode marks the end of an 8 part series.  This time he focuses on the following statements “Performance Enhancement: The sports psychologist will help you identify and overcome mental barriers that may be hindering your performance” and “Feedback and Reflection: Expect regular discussions about your progress, experiences in training or competition, and adjustments to your mental training plan.”  David highlights that a high percentage of athletes who contact sports psychologists are reactive often acting on emotion seeking to deal with challenges they are going through.   Whilst proactive clients, especially top performing elite athletes, contact sports psychologists when they are in a good place, seeking continuous improvement and looking to embrace a marginal gains approach.  He concludes by encouraging listeners to reflect on their 2024 achievements, failures, and lessons learned, offering a blog post with additional questions for self-analysis so that you can make 2025 a great year. Key Learning Points One typical challenge athletes bring to sports psychologists, link to not performing at the level that they train at, which can be caused by the need for social approval, perfectionist tendencies, questionable culture and processes at a club or organisation, with fear then kicking in for the athlete. Sharing surprising statistics about elite athletes such as Harry Kane’s goal scoring success rate and Trent Alexander-Arnold's cross accuracy can help perfectionists recognise how many times elite performers do actually miss or fail, forcing athletes to revisit their own expectations. He shares a case study of a proactive top cricketer who used detailed performance profiling to benchmark and measure progress, therefore challenging them to get out of their comfort zone. A skill of a sports psychologist is to ask athletes great questions so that they go on to assess how they can continually strive to improve their methods and performance levels. Connect with David Charlton Join David @ The Sports Psychology Hub Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIN To Listen to Related Podcasts To Help You Improve Your Performances Next Year Ep264: David Charlton - How to Enhance Focus, Motivation and Confidence Ep260: David Charlton - What Can I Expect When Working With A Sport Psychologist Ep144: Jon Watkins – Mental Strength: What You Can Learn About Resilience From The Special Forces Ep106: Amy Rowlinson – Why is knowing my WHY important? Ep086: David Charlton – Observations: How to Learn from Setbacks Relevant Blogs and Resources To Help You Make Next Year a Great Year Blog: How To Learn From Last Year  Blog: What Did You Learn From Last Year?  Motivation for Sport Quiz Blog: Make Better Decisions to Help Your Sport Performance including VALUES LIST David Charlton, Sport Psychologist: Why I Do What I Do

In today’s episode David explores the importance of confidentiality when working as a Sport Psychologist when supporting clients.   He discusses how various environments, such as cafes, public spaces, and formal meeting rooms, can impact a client's comfort and confidentiality.   He also emphasizes the need for tailored settings, considering factors like social anxiety, neurodiversity, and the client's familiarity with the space.   The episode also covers the ethical considerations in working with athletes, including transparency with coaches, the involvement of parents with young clients, and the use of well-known names.  David underlines the significance of confidentiality in building trust and facilitating effective behaviour change development. Key Learning Points: ·         Reminding yourself who is your client when you work as a Sport Psychologist is important especially in organisational settings or when supporting children. ·         Obtain written consent when using well-known names or client reviews for marketing purposes. ·         Establish clear processes when working with clients in an organisational setting. ·         When training to become a fully accredited sports psychologist the importance of maintaining ethical practices is covered in depth. Connect with David Charlton Join David @ The Sports Psychology Hub Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIN To Listen to Related Podcasts To Help You Improve Your Understanding of Sports Psychology Ep260: David Charlton - What Can I Expect When Working With A Sport Psychologist Ep249: Dr Edward Hall - Understanding Workplace Collaboration In Coaching In Team Sports Ep166: Mark Bennett MBE – How To Help Athletes and Coaches Reflect On Their Performances Ep138: Nick Littlehales – Why do the Mentally Tough see Sleep and Recovery as Important Ep065: Dr Amy Izycky – Encouraging Mentally Healthy Cultures in Sport   Relevant Blogs And Resources To Help Your Understanding of Sports Psychology Blog: How Mentally Healthy is Your Clubs Sporting Environment Blog: Does Your Warm Up Influence How You Perform? Blog: Using ACT and Mindfulness to Improve Your Sporting Performances Blog: How to Stay Calm as a Coach in Big Matches Blog: 5  Reasons Why Being Released from a Football Academy is Difficult

In episode #267 of Demystifying Mental Toughness, David discusses the role of a Sport Psychologist in helping coaches manage anxiety. He differentiates between state anxiety, which occurs in specific situations, and trait anxiety, a personality trait influenced by factors such as childhood, genetics, trauma and environment.   David goes on to share to insights to aid the understanding of coaches on the topic, with some solutions discussed too. Key Learning Points: ·       State anxiety can be managed through understanding triggers and subsequent thoughts, and behaviours. ·       Trait anxiety may require referrals to clinical or counselling psychologists. ·       Understanding and managing bodily experiences of anxiety, such as heart racing and tension, can help coaches navigate their emotions better. ·       Techniques associated with Self-Compassion Focused Therapy, Acceptance Commitment Therapy and Mindfulness can help coaches stay present and manage their anxieties better. Connect with David Charlton Join David @ The Sports Psychology Hub Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIN To Listen to Related Podcasts To Help You Improve Your Coaching Methods Ep266: David Charlton - How to Help Sports Coaches Cope With Pressure and Stress Better Ep265: David Charlton - How to Help Sports Coaches Self Regulate Their Emotions Ep260: David Charlton - What Can I Expect When Working With A Sport Psychologist Ep249: Dr Edward Hall - Understanding Workplace Collaboration In Coaching In Team Sports Ep166: Mark Bennett MBE – How To Help Athletes and Coaches Reflect On Their Performances Relevant Blogs And Resources To Help You Improve Coaching Methods Stress, Appraisal, and Coping Book : Lazarus PhD, Richard S., Susan Folkman PhD Online Course for Sports Coaches developed by Professor Sophia Jowett – Empowering the athlete: The coach-athlete partnership Anxiety and panic attacks - Mind The Mental Edge - Enhancing Coach-Athlete Relations Blog: How to Stay Calm as a Coach in Big Matches Blog: Helping Confident Coaches Progress

Today David considers the statement: “Coping strategies: You’ll develop tools to manage pressure and stress” where he focuses on supporting coaches to improve themselves, and in turn, improve their athletes.  This is a continuation of his examination into ChatGPT and its response to the question “What Can I Expect When Working With A Sport Psychologist.” David shares many insightful thoughts about the topic to be able to support coaches.  With some great questions for coaches to ask themselves. Key Learning Points: How do you want your athletes to behave around your club? Do you as a coach help your athletes mind and body to work in harmony? How can you activate your parasympathetic nervous system more to influence your athletes?  Coach pressures come from managing athletes, senior management, coaching colleagues, sport science staff and parents goals, expectations and personalities and much more. Fear can play a big part and influence coaches; fear of failure, fear of judgement, fear of pain, fear of regret and fear of rejection. Connect with David Charlton Sign Up to The Mental Edge Join David @ The Sports Psychology Hub Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIN To Listen to Related Podcasts To Help You Improve Your Coaching Methods Ep265: David Charlton - How to Help Sports Coaches Self Regulate Their Emotions Ep264: David Charlton- How to Enhance Focus, Motivation and Confidence Ep260: David Charlton - What Can I Expect When Working With A Sport Psychologist Ep249: Dr Edward Hall - Understanding Workplace Collaboration In Coaching In Team Sports Ep166: Mark Bennett MBE – How To Help Athletes and Coaches Reflect On Their Performances Relevant Blogs And Resources To Help You Improve Coaching Methods Stress, Appraisal, and Coping Book : Lazarus PhD, Richard S., Susan Folkman PhD Online Course for Sports Coaches developed by Professor Sophia Jowett – Empowering the athlete: The coach-athlete partnership The Mental Edge - Enhancing Coach-Athlete Relations Blog: How to Stay Calm as a Coach in Big Matches Blog: Helping Confident Coaches Progress

Professor Sophia Jowett’s has conducted a lot of research into understanding the interpersonal dynamics between coaches and athletes and is instrumental in raising awareness and changing attitudes around the reciprocity of the relationship and the importance of relational qualities including mutual trust, respect, appreciation, commitment, loyalty, co-operation and collaboration. In today’s episode, part 4 of David’s investigation into ChatGPT’s and its response to the question “What Can I Expect When Working With A Sport Psychologist” he goes on to discuss supporting a coach who receives negative feedback from athletes or players.  The aim is to aid your understanding of applying psychological skills training (PST) techniques such as self- talk, relaxation and visualisation to improve the quality of the coach-athlete relationship, and in turn, positively impact both coaches’ and athletes’ performance and wellbeing.  There are connections between the points discussed and Jowett’s work.  Enjoy tuning in! Key Learning Points: Coaches can benefit from being supported by Sport Psychologists too, not just athletes. As a coach understanding your own emotions and why they occur can benefit your relationships with athletes or players. When you experience negative emotions as a coach does your self-talk become judgemental? Instructional self-talk can benefit coaches to manage situations better. Allowing your self some space to breathe as a coach is useful and can help your behaviour management, as can improving your visualisation skills. Connect with David Charlton Sign Up to The Mental Edge Join David @ The Sports Psychology Hub Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIN To Listen to Related Podcasts To Help You Improve Your Understanding of Sports Psychology Ep161: Paul Phillips – How to Create a Culture of High Performance in Professional Rugby Union Ep166: Mark Bennett MBE – How To Help Athletes and Coaches Reflect On Their Performances Ep180: David Charlton – How To Work With Team Units To Improve Culture In Teams Ep209: Felix Lehmann – How To Create Better Decision Makers On The Football Pitch Ep249: Dr Edward Hall - Understanding Workplace Collaboration In Coaching In Team Sports Relevant Blogs And Resources To Help You Improve Coach Athlete Relationships Online Course for Sports Coaches developed by Professor Sophia Jowett – Empowering the athlete: The coach-athlete partnership The Mental Edge - Enhancing Coach-Athlete Relations Blog: Why You Should Recognise The Power of Your Words Blog: How to Stay Calm as a Coach in Big Matches Blog: Helping Confident Coaches Progress