Cheersport. Last year was our first time and CP's team lost by 0.01! It was a hard loss but to a very good team. This will be our first time at NCA and I have no idea what to expect other than what I've read here. I wasn't expecting NCA. I am working to just go with the flow.
That's the thing, they did get blamed and this is the same team that eventually won the last all levels championship. They had the skill.
That's great! Video is a great way to enhance your imagery and useful for someone who isn't picturing the skill as clearly as they want to.
I can definitely understand the frustration! Sometimes is can be useful to take time from practice to work on the mental aspects if you can't add extra time. What's important is that the cheerleaders are working with someone who can help them integrate it back in...so maybe it's a quick image of a skill right before the full out; or, in the prep, the flyer imagines the skill. There's all sorts of great ways to integrate mental skills training and sometimes it's not done as well as you'd hope.
Yeah, not the best timing for this. Maybe one mental run through while waiting to go, or even the morning of on the drive in, or during make-up. Timing of mental skills is often as important as what you are using!
Yes! This is great- and you're right, it should be as long as the routine or skill takes. Imagery is also great for skills as an individual and then he or she can determine (or work with their mental toughness coach) on the times to integrate. Imagery can be done in and out of practice but athletes/teams sometimes need assistance to figure out appropriate times to do it.
OK, that's insane.
We should have a thread for $&!? You just can't make up.
Start it!
My CP had a coach that did this for 2 straight seasons. It is no fun. It had gotten to the point that if she had been her coach again this year she would not have cheered.
Yeah- cheerleaders definitely need to find what works for them. I generally agree that people will ask for help when they need it, but I find that a lot of cheerleaders and families don't know that there is support specifically for this. So, I think it's important to build awareness for parents,athletes, and coaches that there is something you can do if you want to work through fear/block/build confidence, etc. because then they really know to ask for help when it's needed.
I can understand your concern, but keep in mind mental skill building is not a quick fix either. In fact, mental skill building is a lot like physical skill development in that it takes time, practice, and effort. Also, mental skills are great for life as well, so can help when things outside of cheer are being brought in. And, working through fears and blocks does require actually doing the skill and hopefully the appropriate mechanics/execution are addressed. When I work with cheerleaders individually, part of what we do is talk about what's going on and if it becomes clear it's more of a physical challenge and/or that the physical aspects need to be addressed more in addition to the mental aspects, then we may work on how the athlete can communicate this to the coach. Hopefully good coaches (physical and mental) can help the cheerleader determine what kind of support is needed. And, cheer coaches don't always know, or have time to help their athletes work through the mental aspects of fears and blocks.
