Exceptional Athletic Talent Versus Non-Exceptional Life Decisions

In professional athletes, sport psychologists often observe what has long been known as delayed adolescence.  It is simply a term for athletes and others who have, by no fault of their own, found adulation and financial gain for their athletic skills, to the detriment of their complete self development. 

When athletic development becomes the entire focus of anyone's life, other developmental tasks can drop by the wayside. Essentially, life choices might never be anchored in cause and effect thinking. 

Some athletes can begin to believe that the rules of life do not apply to them, as they have, by virtue of their athletic talent, never experienced the consequences of poor life choices.

This is not a blame or a shame thing in any way.  It is merely a perfect storm of talent, circumstances, and organizational focus.  Organizations are focused on talent development and winning.  They are not inherently set up to develop other aspects of human development.

Granted, most professional athletes are well anchored in a set of core beliefs about personal responsibility on and off the field of play.  Identifying athletes that require more life skill training and providing proactive programming would go a very long way in keeping the talent on the field and away from the agencies/entities in the outside world that grant no exceptions for non-exceptional life decisions.          

Motivation

What does the research say about positive versus negative motivation? For some of you reading this, my comments may be pretty intuitive but for others this will be a substantial paradigm shift.
Negative motivation is essentially based on fear and anxiety.  The idea behind it is that athletes and others will achieve more and more when their weaknesses are reinforced, when they are trained to be afraid of failure, and when an atmosphere of competition and mistrust becomes the norm. Negative reinforcement however, does not create optimal performers.  It creates athletes/performers who are afraid to fail...which is the main ingredient for failure. 
Positive reinforcement is based on focusing on the positives of performance and expanding on them.  Human beings respond to praise and challenge.  Optimal performers want to know how they can get better, but the focus needs to be on framing the conversation in positive terms.  And...the athlete/human being must be directly involved in the conversation.  In other words...optimal performance happens when the athlete sets their own achievement goals.  The coaching/mentoring becomes about helping them get there.    

Building the Elite Athlete Brain

The human brain is still, in this year of 2012, a mystery of somewhat epic proportion.  Yes...we have made huge strides in the past decades and will continue to do so, but we still have a long way to go in our understanding and treatment of many devastating mental illnesses.

And on the reverse side, we are moving deeper and deeper into the territory of understanding, educating and training athletes the science of optimal mental performance.  Sport and Performance Psychology is not "positive self talk" (although that never hurts).  It is an ever-evolving blend of what we continue to learn from brain research using such cutting edge technology as  functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI), mindfulness research and utilizing other applied work based upon volumes of research on optimal human performance. 

Sport Psychology is a decades-long study of why athletes blessed with optimal genetics, coaching and training fail, while the "genetically physically inferior" thrive.  We study micro and macro techniques that when built into an athlete's daily routines will make huge differences in optimizing individual performance.   

And, at the end of the day, Applied Sport and Performance Psychologists teach athletes, coaches and support staff the essentials of maximixing and maintaining optimal performance states, which translates into greater success, however measured.  And yes...we are the builders of neurons and synaptic connections in our brains.  Optimal performers, in any form, have different brains.  They are organically superior and effectively light up differently in fMRI studies.  

And that... is the enormously abridged version of Building the Elite Athlete Brain.          

Hockey Enforcer's Descent

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/04/sports/hockey/in-hockey-enforcers-descent-a-flood-of-prescription-drugs.html?smid=pl-share

More information on Derek Boogaard, one of hockey's enforcers, and his tragic death. 

Exercise and Brain Power

Exercise and Brain Power

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/22/magazine/how-exercise-could-lead-to-a-better-brain.html?pagewanted=1

Jonathon and Charlotte

...speaking of optimal performance...scroll down to the bottom of this blog..click on the first You Tube block...and prepare to be inspired beyond belief.

McMaster study may have found the exercise gene - Health - CBC News

McMaster study may have found the exercise gene - Health - CBC News

Why are hockey players dying? | Hockey | Sports | Toronto Sun

Why are hockey players dying? Hockey Sports Toronto Sun

Lessons from Rypien tragedy | Hockey | Sports | Toronto Sun

Lessons from Rypien tragedy Hockey Sports Toronto Sun

Words fail.  My thoughts are with Ricks' family and his friends.

Flow

    "There's rare times as an athlete where things start to slow down a little bit," Boesch said, "and you kind of seize the moment, and I really felt like that was one of those times."

      Brennan Boesch, Detroit Tigers, after hitting the go ahead home run in the eighth against the Texas Rangers.

       The good news is Brennan, that those Optimal Performance moments don't have to be rare.  Sport and Performance Psychology is focused on teaching athletes the mental skills to maximize the potential of those magic moments, where time slows down (a real physiological phenomenon) and success is expected, not just hoped for.  Call me...

Not Knowing What We Don't Know

Okay...this is just an exercise in stating the obvious...but strangely enough I believe we kind of need to hear it...constantly.  Here's the gist of this little nugget of wisdom.  We seriously do not know poop from applesauce (quote from the cat in the movie Stuart Little) when it comes to most of the wisdom of the ages. Yes, it's true there are those trivia geniuses who will dominate on Jeopordy and kick anyone's butt in Trivial Pursuit.  But, I guarantee you they know only the surface concepts of a ton of random stuff.  I guarantee you that they wouldn't be able to give a detailed schematic on how Enrico Fermi went about developing the first nuclear reactor.  My point though, is a lot simpler than Fermi's unique genius.  Each of us is a specialist of sorts.  We each know a lot about one or two areas.  We sport psychologists, know a lot about about our field and our task, I believe, is to educate our clients in the complexities of the hard and soft science behind the resaerch and practice of sport and performance psychology.  To start with, here's a short list of what sport and performance psychology is not.  It is not a series of positive affirmations.  It is not the skill of giving good pep talks.  It is not coaching.  Sport psychology has been heavily researched for more than three decades and we are entering a new and exciting age in understanding how elite performers essentially have developed very different brains.  Their brains, as viewed on functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) machines, light up differently under stressful situations.  In fact, they function at optimal levels under the stress of competition.  Volumes have been written on this stuff.  I've personally been studying peak performance for over a decade.  Elite athletes, surgeons, people who need to maintain peak performance levels over time...do yourselves a huge favor..work with someone who will take you to levels unimagined.  The brain and the mind have the inherent power to make magic happen...peak performance is transcendant...people who have found the zone, however briefly, know this.  People who have learned how to spend most of their lives in the zone have found the key to creating optimal performance and optimal living.

Power and Character

"Power corrupts.  Absolute power corrupts absolutely".  John Acton wrote those words in 1887. Seems that these past few years have pulled the curtain way, way back on how we human beings handle power.  With power comes privilege and with privilege comes great responsibility.  The problem is that when we attain power, many of us lose our bearings.  It is a huge character test.  Do we hold fast to our ideals about fairness and  democracy, setting in place an environment where people without power can speak their truth?  Or, do we impose our will on others, listening only to those who agree with us.  In psychology we refer to this as group think.   We see it in Washington, on Wall Street and yes, sports venues around the world.  Group think occurs when people who passively nod approval are promoted while those who respecfully disagree are disenfranchised and excluded.  I would suggest to Pat Bowlen as he searches for his next head coach, that he take a long hard look at the character card.  Players do not perform at peak levels under the leadership of coaches who use their power to belittle, threaten, or intimidate their players.  Don't get me wrong, fear based leadership can work to a point, but people/athletes will only truly excel in environments where there is abiding respect, trust and value placed on individual opinions (even when those opinions differ from the coach).  At the risk of being repetitive, negative reinforcement and fear will only take you so far.  Positive reinforcement and respect will create an environment where magic can happen and where players become empowered, players that will go to war for you. Great coaches and great leaders know this truth.  Put me in a locker room where there are crickets chirping after the coach asks for input and I'll make a prediction on where that team is heading.  Put me in a locker room that buzzes with the energy of a hundred unique and valued voices...and you've got my attention.       

Dr. Stephen Ross

Dan Hawkins

Dan Hawkins.  Colorado Buffaloes football.  Head coach.  The latest casualty in a never ending string of firings.  Hawkins tried to accomplish something that was a set up for failure...he brought his son Cody with him.  Cody Hawkins.  Quaterback. Team leader...the guy who takes the rest of the blame after we question the coaching.  In life, we realize anew that perception often rules the day.  Dan may have been able to step outside the hard wired drive to see his son succeed...theoretically...maybe he was that one in a million that was able to draw some kind of invisible boundary and see his son as just another player. But the only chance Dan...and Cody...had was to win and win big.  CU didn't...and nepotism...in football and in life... can be a set up for failure.  Would Dan have survived as CU Head Coach if Cody had gone elsewhere?  Who knows.  What is always true however, is that coaches have to be perceived as fair...beyond reproach.  As in life, we look to our leaders for inspiration, for vision, and for doing the right thing...always...no matter the cost.  Dan Hawkins may be a great father...a great human being even...but he came into that program with an extra layer of expectation.  He had to prove he was a great coach...and he had to prove that his son was just another player.  That was an impossible task...research bears out the fact that we are hard wired in our very DNA to favor our children.  And...great coaches , like great parents, know their players and gain their respect and their trust by their words and their actions.  Athletes will go to war with these coaches.  Sadly, these guys are rare.  As has always been true, respect must be earned...can't demand it...or expect it.  Humility...broadly defined...is power under control.  Find that guy with character, humility, and vision and you'll change a culture.  Better yet, you'll create an environment where magic can happen.   

Sport Psychology and Greatness

I have often said that sport psychology in its applied form, is about taking athletes, performers and others from good to great.  Health and wellness in past generations has been focused on taking people from bad to good...or at the very least from bad to better.  This generation however, is moving more fully into a much more holistic awareness of personal responsibility in decison making that optimizes opportunities for having a rich and full life.  As a sport psychologist, I am definitely drawn to the field because of the focus on the positive.  The high performance brain is functionally and organically different from the low performance brain. It is quite literally wired to succeed, wired to push past obstacles, wired to turn any experience into an opportunity to test its limits.  In my field, I am in the business of showing people how to plant, fertilize and reap the amazing harvests of great brains....what a cool job.

It's Not About the Score

Study after study has confirmed that elite athletes (professional, olympic and collegiate) are more performance oriented than outcome/score oriented.  They are focused on attaining moment-by-moment optimal performing states.  The score, the stats, the system of measuring the outcomes is relevant only after the competition is over.  Elite athletes are not looking at the scoreboard and their focus is not on winning.  They are mindfully focused on personal excellence at every moment.  It's not at all surprising then, that a performance orientation is directly connected to greater self-confidence and a higher sense of personal control....which leads to better performance.  Over-emphasizing winning at any level is an idea that not only doesn't work well, it has been associated with higher levels of frustration, anxiety and depression in athletes. 

Life Enhancement

Sport psychology in a nutshell is about optimizing performance.  Any performance.  The foundations of sport psychology have the broadest applications imaginable, hence the title, Life Enhancement.  Maslow talked about self actualization and how we have the capacity to move toward higher and higher levels of being.  And if you speak with anyone on that path, they will share a common theme.  The journey to self actualization is about compassion, positivity and an internal compass set on giving away more than you take.  Great athletes become role models when they not only actualize in their sport but also in their lives.  They understand the burden of celebrity and create lives focused on giving back, paying forward and living by example.  We all know the tragic tales of sports heroes who have lived lives of selfishness, self involvement and self destruction.  History is littered with such train wrecks.  Life Enhancement is about optimizing opportunities to be better, to do better...and once again has nothing to do with a statistic or a final score...but has everything to do with the purity and passion of the pursuit.    

Lucid Living

Lucid living is a concept that has been floating around in psychology circles for a while.  It plays off the term  lucid dreaming, the dream state where the dreamer realizes they are dreaming and is able to take control of the dream.  Lucid living is based on the idea that each of us creates our own reality.  Two people can go through the same event, but perceive it very differently.  Toward that end, our perception of a given environment informs how we will respond to it physically, intellectually, emotionally and psychologically.  Achieving  optimal performance states  then becomes a matter of optimal perception.  Lucid living means I become fully aware of my ability to enter into a performance state that I can control, unaffected by the environment over time.  The environment becomes a waking dream, and merely a backdrop for peak performance.  For athletes trained in sport psychology, crowd noise can be dialed in or dialed out as needed. Momentum shifts can provide an extra gear or can be as benign as a drop of milk on a white piece of paper. 

A Light in the Darkness

 Led by players such as Ian Snell, Baseball is taking the lead in pro sports in addressing depression, anxiety and other mental health problems.- SI Vault

Lessons From Hockey

I pretty much take it for granted that most people view sport and performance in a holistic way.  Namely that athletic pursuits are about a whole lot more than wins and losses, and statistics.  We learn life lessons in sports.  Yes, we learn what it feels like to win and to lose, but we also have opportunities to learn that most achievement in life comes from some mystical combination of hard work and luck. The sports that have most captured my interest, as an athlete, have been boardsailing and hockey.  Living in Colorado, boardsailing has been relegated to the category of something I used to love...it was about waiting for perfect storms to blow across Lake Erie...and knowing what 30 knot and 40 knot winds looked like on the water...it was a huge adrenaline rush...and about being with friends that were as passionate about it as I was.  Anyway, that is the past...the life lesson being that many gifts from the universe can be pretty rare...pretty transient.  They are there for a season perhaps...and then gone. With hockey, I still get to play, and to learn about the game and about life.  Last night we played against a team that was kind of short on skill but big on smack.  This team represented the proverbial "like to dish it out but not big on taking it".  After some pretty mild contact (for hockey) the player I hit said, "Keep that up and you will get hurt".  Now, that is part of the game....for better or for worse.  In the past I might have responded with some equally dumb remark.  But, these days, I say nothing...make eye contact...stand my ground...and then play even harder.  I like the version of me that takes that approach to hockey...and to life.

Jabulani and the World Cup

First, I definitely want to preface my observations, by stating that I am coming to my conclusions from a sport psychologist's perspective.  That being said, here goes.  Unless you've been quarantined somewhere, or could give a rip about sports in general or soccer/football specifically, you've heard some whisperings about the Adidas Jabulani World Cup ball.  I'm ready to be corrected on this, but soccer is the only sport I'm aware of that is constantly changing it's object.  Hockey pucks, basketballs, volleyballs, and footballs are somewhat iconic...they never change...ever...not even open for discussion.  Golf may be the only other sport that has been open to modifications...somewhat.  Soccer, on the other hand, seems to be constantly tweaking the ball, presumably making it better, faster, more responsive.  The iconic 32 panel, black and white, spherical polyhedron soccer ball has been replaced with the new Jabulani, a ball that will, at the very least, survive this 2010 World Cup.  This ball is an eight panel, bonded (no stitching), 11 color object with tiny raised grooves.  Psychologically, this is a big deal.  If I'm a world class soccer player, I have created an entire set of complex synaptic connections, over more than a decade, grounded in the look and feel of the "old" ball.  If I'm a goalkeeper, playing at altitude, I've heard and now have experienced that this ball is faster.  I'm also used to the black and white pattern, using the 32 hexagons for reference on spin and movement.  Psychologically speaking, this is new territory.  If I'm a striker, my brain is wired for black and white not eleven colors.  Not a big deal?  Tell some NHL players that the league is switching to a multi-colored puck with some added design changes...it's a big deal....psychologically speaking at least.  All that being said, these athletes at this World Cup, could play with a peanut and make it look like magic.   
    

CSU Baseball

As someone who follows sports, there are some dynasties that go unnoticed, maybe underappreciated at least.  They're athletes and teams that are under the mass media radar, not usually on ESPN, don't have huge fan bases or huge marketing campaigns.  Rocky Mountain High School is one, right here in Fort Collins, Colorado.  Four straight Class 5A baseball state championships....rare as hen's teeth.  And awesome for the fans of RMHS and others who just appreciate seeing lightning in a bottle every now and then. 
And then again, this past Thursday night in Fort Myers, Florida, the Colorado State University Baseball club won their sixth NCBA championship in seven years.  Unheard of on the national stage.  And yet probably won't get the recognition they deserve...primarily because they're a club team.  They pay to play here.  They're not funded.  They do, very much, play for the love of the game.  I feel an extra bit of happiness for these guys.  Maybe because stories like this one will never travel far.  Family, friends and fans will know of course.  But these athletes I'm sure, know that they have touched an esoteric prize that was built on teamwork, hard work and a core belief in themselves and their teammates.  Congratulations guys...drink it all in...this is the stuff of life lived to the fullest!!

Children and Sport Psychology

 

A study by Frank Smoll and Ronald Smith, published in the journal Motivation and Emotion, confirms that the mastery motivational environment is more effective in the retention of young athletes.  Mastery coaching essentially creates an environment that is about positive reinforcement.  Young athletes are trained in the micro skills of the game, and are reinforced as they move through the developmental stages of learning new skills, successively honing those skills, and ultimately mastering those skills.  It focuses on teamwork and building an environment that views failure as a neccessary part of the growth curve.  Players are coached to stay in the moment and stay focused on reacting and responding.  
In contrast, Smoll and Smith discussed the less successful, ego oriented environment.  This coaching style stresses outcomes, the value of winning at all costs, and delivers the message that one's sense of self is derived in large part from the scoreboard.  This environment has been shown to increase anxiety and self-doubt in young athletes, two factors that have a negative impact on optimal performance.  
Athletes who embrace the mastery mindset say things like, "I'm excited to see what happens today". Ego oriented athletes are focused on the end result...winning at any cost.           

Strength-Based Coaching

What in the world makes good coaches great?  What is that intangible something that sets great coaches apart from the rest?  A lot of people would say that coaches need to be tough.  Others would say they need to be feared by their athletes in order to be effective.  These notions however, run up against decades of research that says fear based learning produces fearful people.  It often creates athletes who are afraid of making a mistake, of disappointing people.  This mental framework is the absolute worst for creating an environment for optimal performance.  Primarily because because the mind-body connection is quite direct.  If I'm worried about failure, I create failure. It's almost more a law of physics than of psychology.  Namely, what we think about expands.  Garbage in, garbage out.  Strength-Based coaches know how to infuse practices and performances with an ongoing reinforcement of all the things that their athletes are doing right.  They focus on the positives, on the strengths. Clearly, this does not mean leaving an athlete's growth edges unexamined.  It does mean however, that coaches need to recognize and reinforce those micro-skills that successfully move their athletes toward optimal physical skills.  It's in fact called Successive Approximation.  When an athlete can feel the desired mechanics while laying down the corresponding muscle memory and attach this to a positive mental state, the environment for optimal performances is in place. 

Success Breeds Success

I've recently realized that my ancestors in Scotland seem to have stumbled upon a truth that survives to this day.  Sometime around 1160 AD, in Balnagowan, Scotland, Clan Ross was first recognized by King Malcolm IV.  And, around that same time, the clan motto was first recorded.  The motto or pledge was, and is, Spem Successus Alit (Latin).  The English translation is Success Nourishes Hope. It made me smile to think that 800 years later I'm preaching exactly that, to athletes and others in the work that I do as a Sport Psychologist.  The latest research from Simon Fraser University utilized MRI scans of Olympic athletes to test the science behind the notion that Success Breeds Success. The athletes were shown video of past successful performances and unsuccessful performances, while an MRI captured their brain activity.  Activations in the pre-motor cortex showed motor responses being heightened when viewing successes, and suppressed when viewing failures.  Concurrently, re-experiencing winning produced higher testosterone levels and lower cortisol levels.  Cortisol is known as the "Stress Hormone" as higher levels trigger the "Fight or Flight" response and can dramatically impair optimal cognitive and physiological performance.
For athletes and others interested in achieving and maintaining optimal performance states, we show them how to train their minds to expect success.  And, success not only nourishes hope, it activates the pre-motor cortex which in turn increases testosterone, decreases cortisol and prepares the athlete to succeed... again, and again, and again.  

Athletes Are People Too

We seem to have certain mythical, magical, even supernatural ideas about elite athletes.  It is a mythology that survives in spite of almost weekly reminders of their humanity. We want them to be more than human perhaps.  Role models even.  In truth, athletes are people too.  They suffer from eating disorders, depresssion, anxiety, addictions, self doubt and a world that seems singularly focused on their most recent performance. Sport and performance is most often reduced to stats; ERA, RBI, GAA, Handicap, PB...you fill in the next ones...the list is endless.  The numbers might reference wind speed, temperature and altitude, but I guarantee that you won't find information on what a particular athlete was dealing with on a particular day.  Fans don't want to hear excuses.  That's our language for denying that anything an athlete is dealing with on a personal level could possibly be blamed for failure.  They have it made after all.  The truth is that professional athletes and elite athletes do have some privilege.  The lie is that they don't also suffer.    

Detaching From Outcomes

We all do it.  We all get overattached to the thing or things we want.  The mental script often goes something like this.  If I get this job,house, car, money, status, I will be happy and all will be well.  For athletes, the script attaches them to outcomes like a time, a score, a game winning basket a clutch field goal.  Living for outcomes though, is living backwards.  Living for outcomes is an attempt to force one's way into some desired result.  Living for outcomes just does not work.  Athletes who realize this do not get pulled emotionally and psychologically when the desired outcome seems to be slipping away or even when it seems within reach.  In each case the mind is working overtime to create the desired result, which disrupts optimal performance.  Optimal performance athletes have very, very quiet minds.  They are fully in the moment, fully in the game, fully engaged.  They are not living in the past (beating themselves up for a missed shot) or in the future (overthinking).  They are in that state referred to as mindfulness or flow.  It's that place where great performances happen, when the athlete is trusting muscle memory and the thousands of hours spent honing his or her skills.  Sounds like a simple concept, but it takes effort over time to build this core mental skill.     

Mental Toughness

Mental toughness. A term that gets bounced around sport circles pretty widely. But what does it actually mean to be mentally tough? Physical toughness we can see. Mental toughness is a term that most often gets used to describe athletes who do better as the challenges increase. The ones that consistently bury the three pointers in the finals. The ones that want the ball in the final seconds. The ones that feed off the energy from the stands...loving the power to quiet the crowd or raise the noise level to deafening decibels.
So here's the question. Do athletes come to the planet with mental toughness? The field of psychology makes a pretty good argument that this is at least partially true. And, we've all seen those kids who are fearless. The ones that seem oblivious to the fact that they could get hurt...badly. The ones that just love the challenge of testing themselves...ever higher, ever faster, ever riskier. The ones that give their parents nightmares and their peers a view of where the bar is set.
In sport psychology, we call this x-factor resilience. A great deal of research has been done on this in twin studies and the prevailing wisdom is that about 50% of resilience comes to us through our DNA. And from studies in Positive Psychology led by Dr. Martin Seligman at the University of Pennsylvania http://www.authentichappiness.sas.upenn.edu/ , about 10 to 15% can be added to our baseline resilience through the awareness and practice of some core positive principles that elevate mind, body and spirit.
So, can mental toughness or resilience be taught and/or learned? We definitely have a little wiggle room to add to our baseline resilience in sports and in life. And, it needs to be stated that it definitely is not true that tough coaching makes mentally tough athletes. The resilience rock stars generally come to the planet with a big chunk of resilience hard wired in. And, they maximize that other chunk through mental skills training, healthy relationships, mindfulness (an upcoming blog) and looking for meaning in everything they do.

Chemistry

Why is it that teams that should be great aren't, and teams that shouldn't be great are? Why can't the business of putting together a winning team be more of a science? An equation perhaps, like, "talent multiplied by active roster equals championship rings". Anyone who has been on any team of any size knows that a single negative person can infect an entire team. That person may be brilliant, maybe even a rock star but they can destroy team chemistry.

I thought it was a stroke of genius when Team USA put together a hockey team for the recent Olympics based on talent and chemistry. Most of them knew each other, many had played together, and all of them knew that "the x factor" in sport and performance was chemistry. A shared vision, a desire to contribute in whatever way necessary, egos left at the door, and a singular desire to pull ones' weight and carry someone elses' weight when needed. Chemistry happens when each players' strengths and talents are recognized and maximized. Chemistry happens when you look around the locker room and realize that these are people of character. To use a war metaphor, people you would go to battle with.

Stick and Carrot

 

For me, I never cease to be amazed...but more than that bothered by the sheer number of coaches who have not read the literature on positive reinforcement (carrot) versus negative reinforcement (stick). When I find myself helping athletes block out their coaches' game time critiques, I always wince inside. Not only are stick coaches less than helpful to elite athletes, they get in the way of optimal performance. A field goal kicker does not need to hear what he did wrong after a missed attempt. Research shows that, based on that missed attempt, he is already perceiving the posts to be narrower than they actually are. He needs to be reminded of the last successful kick, and he needs to visualize a perfect kick. Reminding him of the missed one is training his mind to fear missing again. The mind is pretty simple in this way. What we think about expands.
And for the record, just to be clear, carrot coaches, are not soft or mushy. They help athletes build on their strengths and develop the muscle memory to achieve greatness. Then, during the game, they focus on the positives, however small or however few.