Gilmore's take: Westerville North

The toughest part of wrestling is the fact that you are out there all alone. When things get tough, you are the one that has to step it up by yourself. There isn't any room to doubt yourself. If you do, your opponent gains confidence and things start to steamroll. We have to get to the point where we don't step away from the challenge, but welcome the challenge and truly battle the entire match. No one remembers the matches where you pinned in 20 seconds. Everyone remembers the matches where two warriors went after it for six straight minutes. Be one of those warriors. Talk is cheap, but actions make history. Sometimes the one with the most guts wins. The one who is willing give his all every time will be victorious. You can't expect to just turn it on during the match. A warriors attitude is developed in the room everyday and on every move. You have to hate losing more than you like winning.

Gilmore's Take: Stow and Fitch

      The Bees won two hard fought matches last night against Stow and Austintown Fitch, despite some less than adequate officiating.  I have not been that fired up at an official for quite some time, but when I feel our guys are being treated unfair I will fight for them to the fullest.
      I was very proud of the fight, and attitude that our guys showed last night.  We were very aggressive on our pursuit for pins, and did a lot better not giving up too many bonus point.  Some of our new guys are still getting caught in unfamiliar situations, but they are getting better every week.  We are only 5 weeks into a season, and we have greatly improved week to week.  We need to learn from every win and every loss, and correct little mistakes that are made.  If we can do this throughout the season, we will be competing for another NOC Championship in February, and another top 10 state finish come March. 

Stow and Fitch Dual Itinerary

When: Thursday Dec 15^th @ 5:00

Where: Medina High School

Who: Varsity and Jv

Schedule:

-         3:30 meet at the High School and Set up Mats

-         4:00 Weigh-ins

-         5:00 Medina, Stow, Fitch Jv wrestle on mat 1

              Medina Varsity vs. Stow Varsity mat 2

-         6:30 Stow varsity vs. Fitch Varsity

-         8:00 Medina varsity vs. Fitch Varsity

What to bring:

          Singlet, warm-up, bag, head gear, mouth piece

          Shower supplies, change of clothes

          Food for after weigh-ins

          Make sure you are shaved and all finger nails are cut

Gilmore's Take: Sparta Kilted Klassic

What a difference a week makes. After a hard week of practice the Medina Wrestling Bees walked into Sparta High School today with a different mindset. The Bees came ready to compete and expected to win, and win is what we did. We scored 275 points and had 10 wrestlers earn top 4 honors We had 3 champions in Ryan Hornack, Matt Hammer, and Mike Kopacz. Zach Getto, Zach Priebe, and Trevonte Morman all earned runner-up honors. JJ Koenig and Jame Duke place 3rd, while Cody Heronimous and Austin Peak placed 4th.
The team really pulled together this week at practice, and it continued through todays tournament. It was great to see everyone cheering each other on and supporting the whole team through all the wins and losses. It was very nice to see that the team really listened and corrected mistakes that were made last week. Our intensity levels, physicalness, and conditioning were vastly improved. This tournament was a great turnaround. We need to continue getting better every week. as our competition gets better throughout the season, we need to make sure we are prepared to compete. Great weekend and be ready to do work starting Monday.

Highland Sparta Tournament Itinerary

When: Saturday 12/10

Where: Highland Sparta High School

              6506 St. Rt. 229  Sparta, OH 43350

Who: All varsity and Jv

Schedule:

          -6:00am meet at the wrestling room

          - 6:15am bus leaves

          - 8:00am weigh-ins

          - 10:00am- wrestling begins

          - 6:00pm estimated conclusion of tournament

          -8:00pm estimated arrival back home

What to Bring:

          -All Wrestling Gear- singlets, bag, warm-up, head gear, shoes, mouth

           piece

-         shower supplies

-         Change of clothes after the match

-         Food for after weigh-ins and during the day

-         Make sure you shave

-         Cut your finger nails

Gilmore's Take

     The Wrestling Bees took it on the chin tonight against NOC rival North Royalton, and Battle of 18 rival Highland.  This was a very humbling tri-match tonight after seeing so much success in the last several years.  With so many new faces in the line-up, there were many of our wrestlers not really knowing what to expect.  After tonights matches many wrestlers now understand what we have been trying to teach during our 1st weeks of practice.  Looking on the bright side, it is not until someone realizes their mistakes that they can improve on them.  I know that there are many hungry wrestlers on the team that want to succeed.  Sometimes a loss is not always a bad thing.  Even though it hurts at the time, if you can learn from a loss and improve from it, then it was worth it.  Our goal is to improve every week and to peak at the end of the season.  No one likes to lose, especially me, but now we know where to focus and we will become a better team beacause of it.
      We had two wrestler's go 2-0 on the day, in Ryan Hornack and Matt Hammer.  Also winning for the Bees today were JJ Koeing, Josh Quesenberry, Trevante Morman, Mike Kopacz, and James Duke.  
       It is time to do work.   "The will to win is not nearly as important as the will to prepare to win" 

Battle of Route 18 Itinerary

When- Saturday 12-3-11@ 1:00pm

Where- Highland High School-
                3880 Ridge Road Medina OH 44256

Schedule-

-         11:00am Meet at the high school wrestling room

-         11:30am load the bus and leave for Highland

-         12:00pm weigh-ins

-         1:00pm varsity and jv will wrestle North Royalton

-         2:30pm (about) Highland wrestles North Royalton

-         4:00pm (about) Medina Jv and Varsity wrestle Highland

What to bring- wrestling shoes, Singlet, Team Bag, head gear,

                         warm-up, shower supplies, food for after weigh-ins

A PHILOSOPHY OF WRESTLING

BY TWO NATIONAL CHAMPIONS

TOM AND PAT MILKOVICH

Achievement in sport comes in all shapes and sizes as do wrestlers, from winning points, to games, matches, meets, tournament and championships. The level of success can be measured in the degree of dedication and perseverance.

Can be, but not necessarily, the expenditure for winning a point is different from that for a game and the step from a game to a championship is far greater. In wrestling, a competitor dictates his own level of achievement from mediocrity or worse to good or better. There has never been a question of how far my sons or other great wrestlers were willing to go, which is why Tom and Pat became state champions and later national champions.

“One thing you can’t ever do in wrestling is cheat the clock. You have to put in your time. If you don’t put in your time, somewhere along the line, it is going to catch up to you, ” Tom says. “You have to live, eat and sleep wrestling during the season.”

Pat adds, “It’s not a 3:00 to 6:00 deal. You have to put in your time, from September to March.”

” You look at any businessman who’s at the top of the executive ladder. He didn’t get there by just putting in his hours from nine to five. He missed lunch and coffee breaks. He put in overtime. He exerted a lot of energy to get where he finally is. It’s the same thing in wrestling. It’s not just 3-6 that you train for wrestling. During the season, you try to train 24 hours a day. You get the sleep that you need. You do your running. You do your wrestling. You don’t do it half – heartedly. You do it. You wrestle hard. You run hard. All day long. It’s something you think about. It’s got to be done. You have to do it, the suffering, the pain of getting hurt or running until it hurts and you just want to quit. It’s so easy to quit. You can’t quit because once you do you’ll quit again and again.”

“If you want to be good at anything, I know how much suffering, sacrifice and discipline that it is going to take to get to the top, whether it be a job or wrestling or anything else.”

“”In order to beat mediocrity, you have to go beyond what everyone else is doing,” Tom says.

Both men travel nationally, giving clinics in wrestling, showing some of their many moves and imparting lessons they have learned in their climb to the top. “I think clinics are great for enlightening kids but I think you should take time out to tell kids, ‘I don’t think you understand what is going to be required of you in this sport if you’re going to be successful in it or if you are really going to accomplish anything in wrestling.’ It is not the kind of sport where you put on a uniform, run a little bit, work a few holds and that’s it, because wrestling has such a small margin of error while you are performing. If the slightest thing goes wrong on this move or that move, then the good boy will have you and it’s the good boy you want to beat not the fish,” says Pat.

“You are going to have to sacrifice some things here for what you want over there. Some of the parties and other good times are going to have to wait.”

“It’s like guys on my team. They party all year long . They don’t lose much weight. They don’t have to because they wrestle close to weight. So, they supposedly can afford to go out late at night. Smoke. Drink. Party. Have a good time. But while these guys are wrestling throughout the year they are not winning  or having a mediocre season, at the end of the year, I’m the only guy who comes home with a national title or a Big Ten title, and these guys are the ones who also ran. They start thinking, ‘If i had only done what he did six or seven months ago.’ But they don’t because it’s too easy to have a good time. It’s too easy to say, ‘Bag this wrestling. It’s too hard. This dieting. Cutting out beer and partying.’ Get your partying over at seven or eight. Eleven or twelve are not the only times to party.”

“The reward you get, if you do that, is special,” Tom says. It’s not like you are on a football team that wins a national championship. You feel big and tough, all right, because you’ve won a football championship, but in wrestling you’ve done it all by yourself. You went out there by yourself  and the whole crowd saw it. You made the show. You controlled the tempo of the match. You were the one who won the match. You were the one who won the title. You were the one who did the extra work.”

Besides work, Maple Heights also depends on pride. “Our own philosophy is you can’t ever quit on the mat and you can’t ever give a man anything, even in the practice room. You want to be the toughest man, even in the practice room. When I was at Michigan State, I wrestled 134 and 142 pounds in college and I wrestled anybody from 134 all the way up to heavyweight,” Tom says.

“When we were in high school, we went through a practice session and we couldn’t stand to be taken down. I went to Michigan State and I couldn’t stand to let those guys take me down in practice. That’s just another feather that they stick in their hat and say, ‘I took down a Milkovich today,’ ” Pat says.

Work will get you physically prepared but the mental game, the pride, is just as important. It serves as the driving force. As Tom put’s it, “We were always taught at Maple Heights that we were scrappy kids, tough hardnosed kids. When I got to Michigan State, I had some close matches as a freshman. I had to pull some of them out in the last seconds, but I always managed to do it because I had a little more heart in me than the other guy did. Some of these guys were as good as me technically and I couldn’t figure them out and I didn’t have the horsepower yet to wrestle with these college kids, but I had to beat them in my heart.” Pat adds, “What it comes down to is everyone has a quitting point and the guy who quits last is going to win. In eight minutes (the length of a college match), someone is going to quit.”

But neither of them started his career in the same frame of mind of course. Wrestling came more naturally for Tom than Pat. As high school sophomores, they were lacking in confidence. In Tom’s case, it was during that year that it all came together for him. As the stubborn one, Pat caught on as a senior.

“All I knew is that I had to wrestle for the varsity as at Maple Heights and I’d better be ready. As a sophomore I didn’t know enough to be scared. I had tough kids to wrestle, real tough, but we were conditioned that way that when you walked out on the mat you didn’t have time to be scared for yourself. You had to worry about the whole team,” Tom says. “We were programmed so well at Maple Heights. You could be as scared as you wanted to be off the mat, before you wrestled a guy, but when you got into the match, when the ref blew the whistle and you walked across and shook hands, there were only two men on that mat who were important. One was my opponent, the other was my father sitting on the side. All you had to do was your job. We were like machine. We didn’t have to sit there and think and think and think. We just hit moves because we were drilled so well. Not only were we well drilled, but we had the conditioning. I was never worked harder than in high school. I’ve seen practices at Maple Heights where kids had to crawl out of the room.”

Tom’s junior year in high school was affected by his weight problem, cutting from 130 to 112. “It was a tough year, but the thing that saved me in preparing for the match, was not letting my weight jump up. The thing you don’t want to do is let your weight fluctuate. Because I held my weight within five pounds, I got better and better, ” he says.

“If you can’t work your weight right, how are you going to wrestle right.” You see a couple of kids come into the room in rubber suits or extra sweatpants, bundled up so badly they can move or wrestle the way they want to in practice and they are drained. Then they get down in the dumps. If you keep your weight within five pounds, you walk into the practice room, you know you are going to be able to compete. That’s a big thing in wrestling.”

Tom breezed through his senior year at Maple, determined to be a rare three time state champ. He didn’t have any problems until the end of the season when he injured his knee. It was left for Tom to put on a gutty performance in the tournament but he realized his goal.

Pat took up wrestling because it was the family tradition. His pride measured accordingly. “Before I built up any confidence, I just said, ‘I hope I go out there and just not lose. To not dumb it up, do anything stupid.’ That was my goal. There are certain basic rules that you should follow. Like give a guy one point when you have a choice to give him one or two. You give him one. Or if you’ve got a choice of being taken down or put on your back, you want to just be taken down. Just simple things.

“I’d go out there trying to wrestle a smart match, doing just my favorite moves, the one I knew that I could get. When I started out, I usually stuck with the one that I had confidence in. I didn’t want to try anything that looked too fancy, that didn’t have more than a 50% chance of succeeding- getting a score. In fact I don’t think I used many that were under 80%. I was always afraid but Tom always told me not to be afraid to use these moves. Just go out there and wrestle. If you see it, set it up. You get it in practice you’ll be able to get it out there. I didn’t believe him until I was a senior. Things started working, ” says Pat.

Tom explains,”If you hit something hard enough, if you work on it in practice, you drill it everyday, hard enough and fast enough, you could be wrong on it and still be right because you hit it so hard. We’re talking about safe moves, 50% moves or better.” Whatever you do, you do it fast because wrestling is a fast game. You can be wrong but if you go twice as fast as the other guy that neutralizes a good counter.

Stubborn Pat was not one to profit from the experience of others. What other family could have been better prepared for a trip to the state tournament? Still, Pat admits to being awed, saying, “I overreacted in defensive ways, being overly impressed with everything. By my third year, I finally decided it is not what everyone makes it out to be.”

He credits his late blooming to the way he, however innocently or naively, approached the sport. “At first, I didn’t enjoy wrestling. I think that is one advantage I had over the other guys in college. They are so intense about it in eighth, ninth, eleventh and twelfth grades but I thought of it as a job. The last part of my senior year I was really enjoying it. I just got to a point where I really liked it. When I got to college, I was excited to come to practice everyday to sell all these big time guys running around here and here I was just this little freshman, smiling away, ‘I want to wrestle.’ I really enjoyed it, seeing how I could do against guys that were supposedly better. I just went in there, used my high school style and attitude, and guys in college couldn’t keep up with it. It’s just too fast for them.”

Pat came to Michigan State as an upstart, ever with the name Milkovich. Tom had been struggling his first years there suffering the first defeat of his career, a heart breaker, in the national semifinals, a loss which shattered his entire sophomore year. But when his younger brother arrived, along came the natural boost inherent in sibling rivalry.

“It was just a matter of pride. When I’d go out and win, there was no way Tom was going to lose and let me out do him. He’d say, ‘This guy has had it. I don’t care who he is, where he’s been or where he’s going. This is one match he isn’t going to come off and say he’s won.’ Then when I lost , he’d get so tickled because I lost that he would just take it out on the next guy he had to wrestle, ” Pat says.

“No matter what he did, he was an inspiration,” Tom recalls. “If he won and he looked bad, I would be angry because he looked bad. I just didn’t think that Pat Milkovich should wrestle like that. Or if he won big, then I would have to win bigger.”

Since neither would let the other have the bragging rights to himself, they each won a national championship that year.

Individual pride is one thing; team pride is another. Maple’s record indicates that there were not too many clock cheaters. “There’s a preseason where everyone gets his head together. We run, climb ropes, do pushups. The good wrestlers are all there. From then on, it’s like an army. All those guys are together. Whenever you see one you see two or three. They live and talk wrestling too. A good wrestling team cares about each and every one on the team. It will always stick together in school,” Tom says.

Pat adds, “There shouldn’t be one leader on the team, there should five or six.”

“If there is one kid that they can’t depend on, the kids will get on him. Our father said he can’t do it all. He’s got to be honest. The kids have to help you out. Instead of one coach, you have three or four. But one boss, ” Tom says.

In practice at Maple Heights, the good wrestlers paired off with each other, having nothing to do with the ones that were mediocre. “The way our practices were, we took partners two weights above us. You made those guys tough and they made you tough, ” Pat says. That is why Maple’s state championship had state place winners in bunches.

Not only are they geared alike, they also think alike. The very basis of the match strategy is built around three points. “It goes back to a simple thing like a take down and escape. If you have a good take down and no one in the practice room can stop you with that take down, and maybe two or three after that, and a good escape, no one can beat you as long as you don’t give up two points. You can give one but no one can beat you. It’s that simple,” Tom says.

Preparing for a match is a week long effort. Most of it is concentrated on yourself rather than the opponent. It is predicated on the idea of being offensive instead of worrying about the other guy and getting defensive.

“The first thing I want to do is make sure I’m down to weight a least a day ahead if time so I can have something to eat that night,” Pat says. “And if I know anything about my opponent, if there is anything  in particular that he does, I’ll work on it in practice. Like if he had a good single leg, I’ll have my partner do nothing but shoot singles.

“The day of the match, assuming I’m down to weight, I’ll have some pancakes and toast. Maybe some orange juice. The first couple days of the week I’ll eat a lot of protein. Protein is the least efficient form of energy. The first thing your body is going to use for energy is going to be the carbohydrates you ingest during the day. Second thing it’s going to use, when it’s done burning up the the carbohydrates is the fat tissue. When there is no more fat tissue, it uses up the protein. I eat the protein to cut down on my carbohydrate intake. I’ll use my carbohydrate stores real quickly and start working on the fat, which will help me lose the weight. And it depletes the carbohydrate stores in my tissue so that on the last couple of days of the week, I’ll stock up on a lot of carbohydrates. Your body super-re compensates. I’ll absorb the carbohydrates that you’ve eaten the last two or three days two or three times quicker than I would out of season going through a regular day of eating, because I’m so deprived during the week.”

“I get something to eat the night before, check my weight, then try not to worry about wrestling. I go to a movie, watch television, go visit a friend- anything to keep my mind off it. Then I’ll go to sleep, wake up, check my weight again, eat my training meal which consists of carbohydrates and liquid. Between the time we eat and wrestle, I go for a walk to take my mind off worrying about wrestling. Then I get it in my head that I’m just going to go out there and not let up for eight minutes. By the time I go out there, that’s what I’m working up to. I think of wrestling intermittently during the day. I keep thinking he’s got a good single leg or a good high crotch and I’ll tell myself he’s not going to get it. I’m just going out there and keep the pressure on for eight minutes of wrestling.”

“You get to the point where you don’t spend the whole day thinking about it, worrying about it, getting shook about it. Watch television and relax, you’ll enjoy it more. You find a way to control yourself. You’re getting more experienced. You know exactly what is required of you. You know what you have to do. You know when you are peaking. You know how to reach you peak instead of blindly going after it.”

“It comes along with maturity when you start to form ideas about things instead of having them programed into you. That’s why I started liking it my senior year. I sat down at the end of the day my junior year and started thinking what wrestling has done for me.”

It boiled down to this-wrestling can give you everything and not take a single thing away from you. It can give you a good body, strong mind and free college education. IF YOU WANT IT.

Spirit Wear Order Form

Please print off the order form below if you are interested in ordering Medina Wrestling Spirit Wear.  If you are a wrestler you do not need to order the short sleeve t-shirt, our youth team have graciously ordered these shirts for all Medina Wrestlers.  All orders must be in by Friday Nov. 18th. 

Athletic Injuries and Mental Distress: Sports Leadership for Success

Thursday, October 20th, 2011

by Dr. Chris Stankovich

Nearly every athlete who competes in sports understands that injuries are always possible, especially in contact sports.  Interestingly, sport psychologists note that when athletes experience injuries almost all focus is directed toward the physical aspects of the injury, while the mental (or emotional) aspects of injury recovery are typically overlooked.  That’s both ironic – and troubling – as most athletes actually suffer far more from the emotional aspects of injury than they do the physical pain and discomfort they experience (Sport Success 360).
Interestingly, the physical pain associated with injuries usually subsides within the first 24-48 hours of the injury, yet the emotional anguish associated with injury rehabilitation can last days, weeks, months, and sometimes even years.  When athletes first learn that they will likely miss a good number of upcoming games, this news is often met with shock, disbelief, denial, anger, and/or depression.  These emotional responses can, in turn, lead to poor coping strategies (i.e. drinking or recreational drug usage), unusual behavioral patterns (i.e. isolating from teammates, friends, and even family), and even risky behaviors (over-spending on credit cards, gambling, speeding, etc.).
If you are a parent, coach, or other helping professional involved in youth/interscholastic athletics, be sure to take a wide lens view of all the issues the injured athlete may be experiencing – physically and emotionally.  Some of the more common issues injured athletes experience are listed below:

• Loss of Personal Identity – When athletes experience injuries, especially long-term injuries, they often experience a loss of their athletic identity.  Not only do others temporarily stop viewing them as athlete (the athlete’s social identity), but their self-identity is also impacted where the role of being an athlete fades into the background of the person’s overall personality.  This change in perceived personality can cause distress for athletes.
• Isolation – Injured athletes often miss out on practices and other team-bonding experiences, leaving them to feel as though they are no longer an important part of the team.
• Fear of Losing Starting Position - In the old days injured athletes never lost their starting position because of an injury, but this old-school coaching mentality may be an antiquated way of thinking anymore.  Unfortunately, some coaches today don’t hold starting positions for injured athletes, making the injury recovery process that much more stressful.
• Ambiguities About the Injury – While most sports injuries are well understood to team physicians, athletes do not always understand their injuries and/or the length of their rehabilitation, making the recovery that much more difficult.
• Sport Retirement - Athletes who experience a career-ending injury are by far the most at-risk for future psychological issues.  Unlike other traditional jobs where retirement is planned for, with sport retirement the transition can be quite abrupt and unexpected, leaving the athlete to deal with a host of problems related to personal identity, future career plans, and overall self-worth.

Improve Sports Mental Toughness with a Solid “Pre-Game” Routineby Dr. Chris StankovichMonday, October 10th, 2011 - 5:45 pm

Improve Sports Mental Toughness with a Solid “Pre-Game” Routine

by Dr. Chris Stankovich

Monday, October 10th, 2011 - 5:45 pm

 

For many athletes, the most anxious time they experience in sports is just moments before game time when their nervous energy spikes, oftentimes resulting in debilitating anxiety, poor focus, and scattered thinking.  In these instances mental toughness quickly goes out the window and the athlete is left in a very challenging position – either quickly regain focus and confidence, or deal with the negative symptoms of anxiety that usually lead to choking. It is for this reason that pre-game routines are vitally important to mental toughness and athletic success (Sport Success 360).
Fortunately, athletes almost always have control over the unique things they do before games, whether its stretching, using imagery to see the first few plays in their mind, or listening to a specific song that helps them with focus and confidence.  The key for athletes is to leave the locker room as they head out to the field having the best, most positive attitude that they can possibly create. While some athletes do in fact take control of their surroundings and engage in a proactive, positive pre-game routine, many others do not and instead succumb to the pressures of the unknown (i.e. the opponent, the crowd, etc.).
When I work with athletes I remind them that attitude is a choice, and by being proactive and doing things pre-game that make them feel good is a huge first step toward athletic success.  Unfortunately, many athletes do not develop a pre-game routine, and instead leave themselves wide open to react to situational variables, which not only negatively impacts focus, but also elevates nervous energy.
Remind the athletes in your life the importance of developing a unique pre-game routine that helps them with their attitude, confidence, and focus.  Keep in mind there is no “wrong” way to do this, the key is to go through an individual plan that helps with body and mind preparation.  For many athletes, having specific music ready to listen to, goals to review, and some sort of stretching/muscle relaxation techniques are ideas that have been proven to work.   Also, remind them that since their pre-game routine is an experience that they create, it is inexcusable to leave the locker room unprepared and with a poor attitude.  While they may not have the most talent, they can always be ready to play with confidence, sharp focus, and a positive attitude!

Improve Mental Toughness & Sport Success by Controlling Anger

Improve Mental Toughness & Sport Success by Controlling Anger

by Dr. Chris Stankovich

Wednesday, September 7th, 2011 -

When athletes allow anger and frustration to manifest into full-blown outbursts while playing their sport, they almost always end up playing far below their potential (The Parents Playbook).  While it is obvious that athletic performance suffers when athletes completely “lose it” (the ones who break equipment, start fights, etc.), did you know that even the smaller, more controlled anger disruptions can still negatively impact athletic potential and success?  Controlling emotions is a big part of mental toughness development, and can be the difference between success and failure if not dealt with in a healthy way.  Sport psychologists know this, and so should you.
So just how does uncontrolled anger directly impact athletic performance?  The answer is in two, inter-related ways:

• Cognitively – When an athlete becomes angry about the last missed or bad play, focus is usually the first thing to go.  In other words, rather than doing what he should be doing (focusing on the next play), he will likely instead continue to dwell on the previous bad play.  Naturally, this only compounds the problem, as it becomes that much more likely that with poor focus will come more bad plays – and more uncontrolled anger!
• Behaviorally – When we become upset and angry, our bodies respond in a number of physiological ways (i.e. increased heart rate, more rapid breathing, and constricted muscles).   When these body changes occur, the athlete is usually left to deal with a higher arousal level that will need to be controlled and tempered in order for perfect mind-body synchrony to once again develop.  In sports where precise muscle movements are paramount (like golf, pitching a baseball, or shooting free throws), the increased tension athletes feel when over-aroused can dramatically throw off the synchrony needed between the message the brain sends to the body and the ways in which the body carries out the brain’s instructions.

Many athletes deal with anger, frustration, and poor coping when it comes to sport stress (Mind of Steel).  Unfortunately, most athletes (and coaches) do not properly identify and accurately frame the problem, and end up doing what they think will help – simply practicing more. Of course, extra practice will never hurt an athlete, but it is an example of working harder rather than smarter if we are talking about controlling emotions, improving mind-body synchrony, and developing better mental toughness.
To further illustrate this point lets use the following example — if an athlete struggles in games with frustration on the basketball court, prompting her to simply “practice more” in typical practice-situations will likely not solve the problem (the most obvious reason is because it’s not a real-game situation).  Instead, the athlete will benefit far more by learning simple coping skills that can help during games, like learning how to moderate breathing, using imagery, or having a cue word to revert to when times are tough.  Learning how to respond to failure and frustration is the key, and can only be fully developed by learning skills designed to help combat negative emotions experienced in games.
Negative emotions, especially anger, can rob an athlete from reaching his or her full athletic potential.  Learning how to channel negative emotions into competitive, healthy emotions is key – and the good news is every athlete can improve in this area!

A Wrestler's Mentality

by: Unknown
Many people think I’m crazy…crazy about the sport of wrestling, but those of us that know better know it’s more than being a sports fanatic. Someone said once that “wrestling is not a sport, it’s a philosophy – a way of life”.
In the sport of wrestling you and your adversary are matched by weight but not necessarily as “equals”.  Both know why they are there facing each other, both have the same goal.  The goal is to put the opponent to their back for the pin, “the ultimate win !” At the very least you want to score more points for yourself so that it is your hand that is raised in the end, to be victorious in this meeting of skills. Sometimes the match is easily won, sometimes too close to call; but one fact remains, only one will win. Each wrestler desires to have the edge. The “edge” is what I call the “wrestler’s mentality ! “
Having the “edge” is much more than physical prowess, training or the body and stamina. To be a great wrestler, it is the mind and spirit that needs to be developed and trained. To be victorious the wrestler must push past pain, deny the body and tap into the spirit. He must be willing to give more than he thinks is possible and when he he’s given 100% to give even more! The wrestler must disregard the “clock”, score, every possible gauge he has that defeat may be possible, erase all self doubts and continue to the end. When the referee taps him, only then does he return to his physicalness and cease in his efforts.
Sometimes it can take several moments before he realizes the match has concluded. The mind of the wrestler must be so in tune with his opponents’ than he can become one with him and anticipate his every move; and in the same split second determine his own strategy and direct the opponents body where he wants it!
There can be no room in his thoughts for fear or doubt. To win there can be no mistakes and there is often little time for correction when one is made.
However, there is always the one who who does not win. I did not say the loser, for to go out on the mat alone to face an opponent already constitutes a winner. To return to the mat, again and again, wiser, stronger and keener is his ongoing quest: no matter how big the defeat, how beaten, or ragged, to persist! The wrestler returns again for another match, sharpening his skills, drilling for mastery and then taking what comes with courage!
This training, this discipline and will are the components of the challenges of life. When he leaves the circle, he is tired, spent, glorified or downtrodden. He smiles, or he cries, because he’s done his best and returns again and again.

Help for Families Looking for Athletic Scholarship Opportunitiesby Dr. Chris Stankovich

Help for Families Looking for Athletic Scholarship Opportunities

by Dr. Chris Stankovich

Friday, September 2nd, 2011 - 4:46 pm - 

Now that school is underway and fall sports have begun, many families are once again invested in trying to help their son or daughter gain the attention of college coaches so that future athletic scholarship opportunities may come their way.  While only about 7% of all high school student athletes will ever play at the college level (this number includes walk-ons and partial scholarships), there are still a lucky few that will earn scholarship money through athletic accomplishments.  The following are a few quick tips to think about as your family looks into athletic scholarships:

• Play your best. Obviously the fastest way to earning a college athletic scholarship is to excel in your sport.  This is especially true for premier Division I college athletic programs, so if you aren’t exceptionally talented it may behoove you to look at DII, DIII, or NAIA options .
• Test early. For many kids these days it makes sense to take the ACT and/or SAT as early as the start of the JR. year of high school (especially if the child has taken a heavy college –prep course load to that point).  The advantage in taking these tests early (assuming the child is prepared) is that it will be one less thing hanging over his or her head, and if the score is a strong score he or she can include it in college applications and discussions with college coaches.
• Promote yourself! Most parents don’t realize that college coaches only have limited windows when they can speak directly to recruits – however, families can communicate and send information whenever they like.  Be sure to turn every stone and make it a point to promote all your athletic abilities in different ways, including traditional correspondence, Youtube video uploads, and any other social media that can help!
• Multitask and try new things.  While it may not be easy to do, it is important for kids to balance their lives as much as possible and sign up for clubs, activities, and volunteer efforts.  Student athletes who show responsibility, leadership, and discipline usually get extra-long looks when compared to their peers, so be sure to help your child round out his or her schedule.
• Keep options open. While it would be great to receive that full-ride DI scholarship, the reality is that very few student athletes are able to do this.  Therefore, it is important to keep all options open – which might include small DIII private schools who offer really great opportunities as well!

Why Does Your Kid Play Great in Practice, but Not in Games? Overcoming Sports Anxiety by Dr. Chris Stankovich

Why Does Your Kid Play Great in Practice, but Not in Games? Overcoming Sports Anxiety

by Dr. Chris Stankovich

Wednesday, August 31st, 2011 - 2:57 pm -

Why is it that so many kids play their sport really well in practice, but fall short of playing to the best of their ability in games?  Probably not a day goes by where I don’t get this question from a parent or coach, suggesting that most people involved with sports have seen this happen.  Why do kids show mental toughness, focus, and confidence in practice, then show none of those qualities in games? (Sport Success 360)
So what makes a real game situation any different from practice?  In most cases kids play on the same field with the same dimensions using the same ball and equipment – so what gives??  While there are many different factors that contribute to the inability to perform sport skills in real games, all of these factors eventually trace back to one, single, omnipresent variable in sport competition:  PRESSURE!
How Anxiety Impacts Performance
Parents often become very frustrated when they see their child excel in practice and then completely choke in games (side note – this reaction accounts for a lot of parental outbursts at games).  They are often bewildered at the change they witness in their kid’s athletic ability, sometimes becoming quite emphatic when telling me how they “cant believe it’s the same kid out there.”  When I mention to them that anxiety is the big difference maker, they usually agree with me, yet still downplay and minimize just how debilitating anxiety can be when it comes to athletic (and life) success.
Any time we practice something, be it sports, music, public speaking, or anything else, we usually do it in a low-pressure environment where there is not much, if anything, to lose.  Who cares if you drop a pass in practice, or stumble over your words while giving a practice speech in front of a mirror – no harm, no foul, right?  But what happens when we do something for real?  Now all of a sudden we may have something to gain (i.e. in sports possibly a win for our team), or something to lose (i.e. we might feel stupid in front of a group of people if we flub up a speech).  In either case, whether we have something to gain or lose (or both), this is precisely the time when pressure enters the picture and almost always changes the way we perceive, handle our emotions, and behave.  Sport psychologists know how debilitating sports anxiety can be, and so should you.
A Simple Test
Take the following example – if you were to place a gymnastics balance beam in your living room and try to walk across it, odds are you would successfully walk from end-to-end (even if you did wobble some).  But what would happen if you elevated the balance beam 10 feet – would that change anything?  It’s the same balance beam, only now it’s 10 feet higher and presents a new risk of falling down and hurting yourself.  As you might imagine, far fewer people can successfully complete this challenge even though nothing in the task itself has changed.
The previous example is one that added a real danger to the equation (falling off a balance beam from 10 feet), but did you know that even in situations where there is no real physical danger athletes still routinely “choke” when doing the same things in games that they successfully do in practice?  Take a baseball example – thousands of young pitchers each year regularly throw strikes in practice, but once they get in a game seemingly forget about how to get the ball over the plate, and as a result pitch far below their ability.  In this situation the pitcher doesn’t fail because he is in fear of being physically hurt, but instead he has allowed irrational fear to cloud his thinking and negatively impact his performance.  Irrational fear is the type of fear that doesn’t hurt us physically, but instead operates on our ego and self-pride.  When athletes begin to wonder and worry about what others will think if they fail, it is irrational fear operating.
Overcome Anxiety – Play Better Sports!
So to sum all this up, it is very common for kids to play with confidence in practice but with anxiety in real games.  Athletes who are able to overcome their fears usually play at higher levels, while athletes who succumb to pressure usually get tabbed as “athletes with great potential.”
The important thing to note is that playing in games the same as playing in practice can only occur through mental toughness development – in other words, it doesn’t usually just happen without dedicated effort.  So while it may seem to parents that it’s easy to just “play the same in games as you do in practice,” it is anything but this easy to do for many young athletes!  The answer is to invest efforts into helping young athletes develop mental toughness skills to help them overcome irrational fear, anxiety, and issues with confidence — not only will these skills help with sports, but they work quite well in life, too.
Don’t let sports anxiety slow down your young athlete — Master mental toughness and confidence development by checking out Mind of Steel!

Using Imagery for Athletic Success!

Most athletes have heard of the term visualization, but did you know that visualizing success is just one aspect of imagery?  While it is important to “see” in your mind your future athletic success, you also have many additional senses you can use to make the imagery experience that much more real, including your sense of touch, smell, sounds, and even body motion (like how it feels to follow through on a swing when you hit a baseball).  Imagery is a vital skill when it comes to mental toughness, and sport psychologists regularly encourage athletes to develop imagery skills to help with confidence development (Sport Success 360).

Imagery helps athletes prepare for competition and is actually a very easy tool for you to develop and use.  First, there is no wrong way to use imagery – some athletes like to think about their athletic success the night before games, while other athletes prefer spending a few moments thinking about what they need to do that day while dressing in the locker room.  The truth is just about any way you can incorporate mental preparation will ultimately help your athletic performance.

The key with imagery is that by repeatedly “seeing” in your mind your future athletic success, you are actually strengthening your neural connections in your brain – leading to better muscle memory.  Why is this important you might ask?  The simple answer is that when you are competing the best mindset to be in is when your mind and body are inperfect synchrony – where you don’t have to “think” about what to do next, but instead simply react to the situation.  Keep in mind in most sports you do not have an unlimited amount of time to think through situations, making muscle memory a very important aspect of athletic success.

Below are some quick tips to help you begin using imagery as part of your pre-game preparation:

• Using imagery regularly will help with muscle memory, which will help you with those important in-game reactions needed for athletic success
• Try to make your imagery as real as possible by using all your senses.  For example, while you can “see” the field, can you “feel” the ball in your hands?  What about when you run on the field – can you feel the grass beneath your feet?  There’s also a type of imagery called kinesthetic imagery – this is when you can feel the movement in your body as you release the ball or follow through on a swing.  Some athletes can even “hear” the sounds of their sport, or smell what it like when they compete (like the smell of freshly cut grass).
• Make it real, vivid, and positive.  The more real the imagery experience the better, and when you can make it vivid and the outcomes positive that’s the best way to use imagery!  Since you control the imagery experience, you never want to see yourself failing or coming up short – instead, always see success!

History Channel's Top Shot

www.history.com/shows/top-shot/bios/grary-quesenberry

2x NCAA Champion Kyle Dake-1 Day Clinic

When – Friday August 5^th 2011

Where – Medina High School Wrestling Room (Old Kindergarten Center)

739 Weymouth Road, Medina, OH 44256-2037

Who – All wrestlers 6^th-12^th grade

Cost - $ 40.00 (Please make checks payable to Medina Youth Wrestling)

Cost includes two 2 ½ hour sessions and lunch

Schedule – 8:00-9:00 Check in

                   9:00-11:30- Session 1

                   11:30-12:30 – Lunch

                   12:30-3:00- Session 2

If you have any questions please contact

Jon List - 216-548-2086

Chad Gilmore - 330-461-5511, stingerwrestlingclub@gmail.com



Does Summer Training Really Make Winners in the Winter?

Written on June 24, 2011 by Anthony Flatt in Wrestling Resources

I took a much different approach to wrestling in high school then most high school kids. Since I hadn’t really started wrestling until end of my 8th grade year I knew I had a lot of catch up work to do. My way of playing catch up was to wrestle year round.

Now many people may be surprised that in my first 4 years of wrestling I became a 3 x high school Florida state finalist, a 2 x Florida State champion, a 2 x Florida Outstanding wrestler, as well as become a runner-up in Freestyle Nationals my senior year but I owe my success to Summer wrestling.
You see everyone who wants to become a successful wrestler, wrestles the grueling season and gets between 30-50 matches on average but you could double those amount of matches by wrestling Greco and Freestyle as well as getting matches in many of the major summer and spring national competitions.
It isn’t hard to make progress getting 8 years of wrestling in just 4 years plus mixing things up between folk style and freestyle/greco also helps kids overcome burnout because it is almost like having a new sport to train for every six months.
However, their are 2 very important additions to just wrestling year round. First, a solid year round lifting schedule and regular conditioning is very important to becoming a successful wrestler.  You can change this up every six months just like switching from folkstyle to freesyle/greco. During the summer months lift for strength and size and take nice long runs to stay lean. During the season lift for endurance and core strength and condition fast and short to get your lungs ready for those hard fought overtime battles.
Lastly and most importantly, always keep improving yourself on the mats. If you drill the same moves every day you may get better but if you want to improve fast and steady you must attend camps and clinics. I made all of my progress every season by learning the new techniques and improving my old ones.
Now you can pick up a lot of great wrestling during the season but you need a productive summer to incorporate your new techniques that you learn from summer camps and clincis so that you can use it at the highest level by the end of each season. So summer training does make winners in the winter but it is what you do over those summer months that separate the goods from the greats!
As a division I college coach for the past 11 season at The Citadel I know I always look for year round wrestlers in my future recruits because I know they will make the best college wrestlers some day. I wasn’t the greatest wrestler to ever walk into the Oklahoma State Wrestling room my freshman year but when I graduated in 2000 with over 100 wins as an All-American, Big XII Champion, Freestyle National Champion,  and FILA World Team Member I was proud to call my self a Cowboy and I owe it all to my year round wrestling regiment.
Since graduating in 2000 and becoming a Division I college coach at The Citadel I have tried to help thousands of wrestlers become champions through my many camps and clinics that I put on around the country and my many summer camps at The Citadel every July.
If you would like to attend a great camp this summer check out our camp dates at www.bulldogwrestle.com we still have some openings at our 7 different great camps.
Best of luck with your summer training and hope it all pays off for you next season.

Coach Ragan

 Mike Kallai Sr. left a major footprint on Ohio wrestling

Filed by Brad Bournival May 25th, 2011 in Sports.
  

The late Mike Kallai Sr. will receive the Al Thomas Award at the Medina County Sports Hall of Fame induction ceremony on June 16 at The Galaxy Restaurant in Wadsworth. (GAZETTE PHOTO BY RON SCHWANE)

All questions have been answered, and Mike Kallai Sr. is undeniably this year’s Al Thomas Award winner.

A member of the 26th Medina County Sports Hall of Fame class, some were confused as to what the award meant when asked for tidbits for this story.

When told the winner was selected for his tireless behind-the-scenes contributions to high school sports without expecting anything in return, the praise poured out.

“Yep, that’s him.”

“Without a doubt, it’s Mike.”

“Well, it’s about time.”

“That describes Mike perfectly.”

Those were just some of the responses.

Perhaps no man was as revered in wrestling as the late Kallai, who was seen by many as an ambassador for the sport. That belief doesn’t just resonate in Medina County, it is shared across the state.

“There are a lot of things that typify him. He didn’t just start getting compliments after he died (last summer),” Wadsworth wrestling coach John Gramuglia said of his former assistant, who will be honored at The Galaxy Restaurant during a June 16 banquet sponsored by The Gazette and the Medina Breakfast Kiwanis Club.

“He loved wrestling so much that he made you love it. It was hard not to get into it because of the way he treated it, talked about it and put back into it. It was natural for him to do it. He was always involved.”

Kallai’s locker still sits untouched in the coaches office. The “M.K.” with the Wadsworth logo underneath rests on every headgear worn by a Grizzly.

Because if you knew Kallai, you knew how much the former Barberton police chief loved the mats.

A wrestler for Coventry High School, Kallai began his assistant coaching career at Barberton before coming to Wadsworth in 1991.

It was there that “Chief” made his mark.

A catalyst for the sport, he dipped his toes into every aspect of wrestling to see how things could be improved on all levels.

Not just from a competitive standpoint, but issues involving safety and friendliness. There wasn’t an avenue Kallai didn’t walk to bring awareness to wrestling.

“Mike was a giver,” said Bob Pruesse, a longtime writer for Amateur Wrestling News. “He was the guy that shunned any personal recognition, but he was a bedrock guy in Ohio wrestling.

“He was doing the dirty work, the details that most people don’t want to be involved in. He was low key, but you could always count on him.”

Ohio surely did, as Kallai ran the Division I State Duals for 14 years. He also was the glue that held the Grizzly Invitational Tournament together, letting Gramuglia coach while he did the “little things.”

Kallai was also the president of the Ohio High School Wrestling Coaches Association and Greater Cleveland Coaches and Officials Association.

“Mike not only came to Wadsworth, but to the Northeast Ohio Coaches Association, the state board and the district board and gave them his hours for the betterment of the sport,” state rules interpreter Ray Anthony said. “What he did for us was tremendous. I’m not sure one guy can fill his shoes. It’ll take awhile to get back to that position.”

Kallai leaves behind an undeniable footprint, as he was the catalyst for the new format for the state duals starting in 2012-13.

A complex formula used to determine the top eight teams from each division in the duals. Now, every school will be eligible to participate in a tournament format that will conclude weeks before the individual state tournament is to take place.

That typified Kallai. When it came to wrestling, he wanted everyone involved.

“You knew you could count on Mike,” Wadsworth assistant coach Larry Kaufman said. “He was always ready to go, always under control. He had that levity to take a tense situation and make it easy.

“He is a good example of what it means to sacrifice for a sport and to make it a priority, to get involved and not be afraid to make changes that needed to be made.”

Winner of the Sportsmanship, Ethics and Integrity Award by the OHSWCA in 2009, Kallai embodied everything the honor bestowed.

Kallai was also the rock everyone turned to when things got tough. Medina coach Chad Gilmore wrestled for his former assistant coach, but also turned to him in tough times.

That’s possibly where he’ll be missed the most.

“He meant a lot to me and still does,” Gilmore said. “The character he had as a dad, police chief and coach showed wherever he went. When he talked, people listened. He was a true leader no matter what he did. People need that in their lives.”

Added Anthony: “Our sport is a fraternity. Without him here, we’re missing a key part of the puzzle. Whether it is something to talk about or someone to bounce something off of, he’s a big part of the family that is missing.”

Mental Preparedness for Training and Sport

Written on March 1, 2011 by admin in Mind Training

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INTRODUCTION
Recently, I wrote an article pertaining to the theoretical Training Hierarchy Pyramid (THP) that provides a conceptual model for the development of an athlete.  Similar to Maslow’s psychological hierarchy of needs model, the THP suggests that certain athletic capacities need to be attained prior to others being addressed.

In reality, some or all levels of preparedness in this pyramid will be trained or practiced congruently during certain times throughout the year.  So, I prefer to think of this model as an interconnected, 3-dimensional pyramid, where deficiencies in lower levels will have an adverse affect on performance in the upper levels.
The last article focused on defining and establishing the importance for athletes of all sports to build big athletic foundations or “bases” through GPP and SPP training.  This article will focus on mental and emotional preparedness or “mind training”.  Mind training can and should play a vital role before, during and after all training or competition.  Assuming same or similar base physical and sport preparedness, mind training IS what separates the best from the rest.  More importantly, it is the developmental ingredient that will determine if an athlete realizes his or her own potential.
It is well documented that most athletes who have made the Olympic team in their sport practiced some form of mind training, while those athletes that failed to make the team did not.  Mind training is now a part of nearly every successful program because of its documented success and impact on athletic performance.  However, chances are still good that your next opponent is less than optimally prepared mentally and emotionally.  This presents an opportunity for you to gain a competitive advantage!
There are many forms of mind training.  What works best is largely dependant on the individual.  My recommendation is to try all of them before deciding which methods/tools you will regularly practice and eventually master.  These are presented in no particular order of importance of effectiveness.  The method or methods that work best are the ones that you put into practice!
#1  SELF TALK
I feel comfortable saying that every athlete ALREADY uses self talk as a method of mental preparedness, but self talk can either be extremely beneficial or extremely detrimental to performance.  Becoming aware that self talk can be used as a tool to improve confidence and performance is a positive step in itself.  Self talk is that little voice inside your head that is you coaching yourself.  The internal dialogue of thoughts directly affect feelings and emotions, and ultimately, athletic movement and performance.  Negative thoughts lead to negative feelings and poor performance, while positive thoughts lead to feelings of confidence and high performance.
It is not uncommon for many athletes to engage in negative self talk.  Negative self talk often times creates feelings of nervousness, anxiety, fear of success and fear of failure.  These feelings will most certainly have an adverse affect on athletic performance.  This can be easily remedied by first becoming conscious of it, then replacing the negative self talk with positive affirmations.  Every athlete is capable of doing this, but it takes practice to master.
SELF TALK BEST PRACTICE:

Find a verbal cue that turns your attention away from negative thoughts and feelings to the task at hand.  The verbal cue or reminder can be one word or a phrase that helps you focus on the present moment, encourages focused relaxation or acts as a self pep talk.  You may have one or more verbal cues for different situations, but this should be decided and practiced before competition, so that it becomes automatic.  Examples of verbal cues include:

“Focus”
“Breathe”
“Stay present”
“Be ready!”
“Let go”
“I’m exceeding my own expectations”
“I feel good”

The list could go on and on.  The verbal cue or cues that you choose should be very personal and address those specific situations that have led to negative feelings, emotions and poor performance in real or imagined events.

#2  BREATHING/MEDITATION
Deep breathing and meditation (relax the mind) is a skill that is mostly practiced before competing or anytime anxiety or nerves have taken over.  Proper breathing relaxes the mind and the body.  It oxygenates the blood and energizes the brain, nerves, and muscles, allowing for optimal performance.  Proper breathing could easily be the most important aspect of staying focused during sports or any athletic activity. Inefficient breathing consists of short, shallow breaths that never reach below the upper chest.  Proper breathing consists of large breaths that are pulled deep into the lungs using the diaphragm.  Think of filling up your lungs with air from the bottom up.  Breathing this way will help to reduce anxiety, improve focus or encourage relaxation, whether you are training, competing, or lying in bed having trouble falling asleep.
BREATHING/MEDITATION BEST PRACTICE:


The best way to practice and master deep breathing is through meditation, which is performed separately from any physical activity (preferably in solitude).  Meditation is a self-directed process for calming the mind and body using deep breathing.  Meditation should be practiced in a quiet room or setting, with your body situated in a comfortable position.  Your job during meditation is to calm the mind through deep breathing:

• Start by closing your eyes and taking in a deep breathe, filling your lungs from the bottom up.
• Hold your breath for a period of 10-30 seconds.
• Release the breath, releasing all feelings of anxiety and muscle tension.
• Repeat this procedure, focusing all of your attention on your breathing, until your mind chatter slows down or stops or until you feel calm and relaxed.

With practice, you will reach a state of relaxation quicker and quicker.  There is no time limit for meditation.  Meditation sessions can last from 10 minutes to 1 hour or longer.  You meditate and breathe UNTIL.  Once you have trained your body and mind to relax through meditation, you can use self talk (“Breathe” or “Deep Breath”) to calm yourself down before or during stressful competitive events.

#3  MENTAL REHEARSAL/VISUALIZATION
Visual motor behavior rehearsal (VMBR) is a process of creating a mental video of a particular event, before training or competition.  Athletes can use this mental video to:

• Analyze and correct errors that have occurred in real or imagined situations.
• Imagine turning individually specific fears or anxieties into positive situations and improved performance.
• “Experience” the event before it happens.
• Desensitize athletes from stressful situations or environments.
• Imagine perfect sport skill and technique
• Prepare positive reactions to unforeseen situations that “go wrong”.

The main objective of VMBR is to remove unwanted and undesirable movements or situations that could adversely affect performance.  This is time set aside before training, an event or a competition that allows an athlete to overcome fears and anxieties prior to the situation.  This is a critical component of mental preparedness!
MENTAL REHEARSAL/VISUALIZATION BEST PRACTICE:


Step 1:  Pick a quiet, comfortable and tranquil place to sit, in a chair or on the floor.  Practice some deep breathing to get focused and relaxed (see “Deep Breathing/Meditation”).

Step 2:  Once you are relaxed, turn your attention to your upcoming event or competition.  Picture yourself as the participant, not the observer.  Visualize and take in all of your surroundings (internal and external); the sights, the sounds, the smells, the temperature, the feelings and the emotions.  Create a mental video, from start to finish, of the entire event or competition.  See yourself arriving to the venue, getting dressed, warming up, starting the event or competition, executing perfect technique and staying present in the moment.  Imagine everything going exactly as planned, ending with the outcome you desire.

Step 3:  Repeat step 2, only this time, imagine every possible situation that could go wrong.  This is the time to experience the worst case scenario, and control your reactions to it, before you are placed in that situation.  See yourself addressing all obstacles with calm and ease, turning negative situations into positive outcomes.  Visualize yourself using the other mind training tools (self talk, verbal cues, deep breathing) to stay calm, focused and positive during adverse conditions.  DO NOT SKIP THIS STEP!!

Step 4:  Repeat step 1 to complete your VMBR session.

#4  RITUALS
Many successful athletes incorporate pre-competition rituals or idiosyncrasies that get themselves into a full state of readiness.  Rituals allow athletes to take control of their environments and filter out distractions.  Rituals are very specific to the individual and may include:

• Any of the mind training tools mentioned in this article (self talk, deep breathing, mental rehearsal)
• A specific song or playlist of songs that amps up an athlete’s energy level (be careful not to wear yourself out or get amped too early!)
• A specific warm-up routine
• A specific dressing routine or clothing item
• Performing a specific movement or getting into a specific position before certain situations (think of a basketball player’s rituals at the foul line)
• Any thought, gesture or activity that an athlete does every time he or she is getting ready to perform an athletic movement or compete in a sport event

RITUALS BEST PRACTICE:


Depending on the sport or nature of the activity, some of the mentioned rituals may get interrupted by external situations that are outside of an athlete’s control.  So, the best ritual is to regularly practice and master the mind training tools mentioned in this article, so that you are prepared to handle anything that might interfere with your other rituals and knock you off course.  “Ritualize” self talk, deep breathing/meditation and mental rehearsal/visualization, so that you are mentally and emotionally prepared for circumstances that are confined only by your imagination.

CONCLUSIONS
Mental/emotional preparedness plays an important role in all training and competition.  The most successful athletes regularly practice one or more of the mind training tools mentioned in this article.  If you want to separate yourself from your competition, and more importantly, KNOW your potential as an athlete, you will begin to consciously practice and master the mind training tools that best prepare you mentally and emotionally to perform at your best.  Through trial and error, you will develop rituals that will allow you perform or compete with a healthy level of “focused relaxation”.  Winning and losing or succeeding and failing will become side effects of your level of physical, mental and emotional preparedness instead of what defines you as an athlete.  If you have any thoughts or questions about mind training or mental/emotional preparedness, please post to comments