Mental training for sport
I can help you release more of your potential. Does it sometimes it feels like you have one foot on the gas while you got the handbrake on…?
In Northern Ireland during the 1990s, as a 15 year old naive youth, I was thrown into a world of serious professional football. Suddenly I was expected to perform and score goals against grown men, not my 15 year old friends. I had no idea what I was doing and mentally I was all over the place. I was afraid before the matches and sometimes so afraid during the matches that it went out over my performance on the pitch. The worst advice people kept giving me “it’s ok, be yourself…”
My own sporting experiences, knowledge from a lot of coaching books, and experience from coaching top athletes is basically what I have ended up with as a coaching package that can help others.
Some of my high-pressure experience:
- I have played table-socccer/foosball (the small players on metal rods on a table) at the highest level in the world cup while being streamed live on Eurosport TV. Playing against the worlds best player was fun yet my hands were shaking. What was going on?
- Playing Norwegian championship 9-ball pool. For some reason, pool always feels easy. I never get nervous and love the challenge. What was the difference from other areas where I was too nervous?
- I’ve performed live juggling shows in front of 10,000 people, held street entertainment shows across europe where I captivated audiences while juggling fire and balancing a burning bicycle on my head… yes at the same time. This wasn’t so much about nerves but I learned so much on to “own the room” and boost my social skills.
- I’ve played football at second highest level in Norway but never had any nerves while playing. It was always more of a “just give me the ball so i can score” voice in my head.
- Easier said, I have a load of tips for dealing with nerves, expectations and performance that I sorta wish I knew as a 15 year old 🙂
I’ve been working with:
- Football teams & individual players
- Handball teams & individual players
- Table tennis players
- Biathletes – skiing & shooting
- Taekwondo fighters and MMA fighters
- Skijumpers
- Playstation national team FIFA
Photo of Tiril Eckhoff (with our Å logo on her skis).
We worked successfully with Tiril over a 10 year period.
(Olympic gold medalist and World Cup gold medalist)
What is mental training for sport?
We can train both physically and mentally.
Mental training is about working with the brain, the mind.
My version of mental training is about getting you back to your core confidence in your sport.
It’s about removing blocks to success. I do not try to change you as a person.
Mental training is actual training. It requires awareness and repetition for benefits to be achieved.