1. PAGES 1-35 - Texas Track & Field Coaches Association

A MENTAL PLAN
INCLUDING POSITIVE SELF-TALK IN A PRE-COMPETITIVE ROUTINE
Incorporating concentration, composure, and confidence
into an athlete’s training and competition regimen will maximize
the opportunity for positive self-talk. The pre-competitive
routine is a necessary element of the training and competitive
plan (Reardon & Gordin, 1999). The biggest challenge
that competitive athletes and their coaches face is how to put
the continued development of psychological skills into the
training program (Judge et al., 2010). The way you practice is
essentially the way you will compete. The process of mental
skill acquisition begins in the preparation phase with the
emphasis on proficiency in concentration and composure.
This encompasses skills such as deep breathing and relaxation,
focusing techniques, developing the skill of breathing
control and arousal management. Also, skills such as attentional
control and attentional endurance as well as transitional
flexibility are necessary in the early stages of skill
development. These fundamental and specific skills, encompassed
by concentration and composure, lay the base for the
development of higher-level skills such as visualization,
imagery, and self-talk management. The concentration and
composure skills seem less directly related to performance,
but what becomes apparent when viewing high-level performance
or performance breakdown is that breakdown
32 techniques AUGUST 2011