Performing Mind

When in chasing sports accomplishments you lose sight of basic human rights and a duty of care:

When she was younger, Naomi was abused by her coaches at the AIS. Now she's receiving compensation Naomi Lee was abused by her elite gymnastics coaches between the ages of 11 and 14. The Australian Sports Commission will now compensate her for the psychological harm she suffered.

https://themindroom.substack.com/p/do-unregulated-psychologists-pose

Do unregulated psychologists pose a problem for English football? What does a ‘mind coach’ do? It’s a question that was raised in June, when Bath Rugby Club announced that Don Macpherson - known as the ‘Monkey Whisperer’, according to Macpherson’s website - had joined their management team. The appointment sparked something of a social media backlash, ...

Nice little summary of a very common discussion in companies today: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/intentional-insights/202110/creating-competitive-advantage-when-returning-the-office

Creating a Competitive Advantage When Returning to the Office Forward-looking leaders should adopt a hybrid-first model for most staff.

Unfortunately this resonates with quite a few stories I've heard over the years...

NZ swimmer tells of ridicule, pressures and mismanagement International NZ swimmer Jane Copland tells of the ridicule, pressures and mismanagement of young people's lives rampant within competitive sport in this country.

The Covid lockdown has allowed for some interesting research comparing home team performances with and without the presence of their fans. In short, it seems that home teams accrue significantly fewer points, score fewer goals and are generally less dominant when spectators are absent. https://www.medicalbrief.co.za/fans-matter-effect-of-empty-stadiums-on-home-advantage-11-country-15-league-analysis/

Fans matter: Effect of empty stadiums on ‘home advantage’ — 11-country, 15-league analysis - Medical Brief The elimination of so-called “home advantage” because pandemic restrictions meant games were played in football stadiums empty of spectators meant fewer goals, fewer points and less favourable refereeing for the home team, found a large European analysis. However, the lack of crowds made very li...

In recent years there has been so much good written about the practice of Mindfulness. Like with everything though, there are potentially also a few 'cons'. This quote from the attached article underlines that there are no absolute panaceas:

'Practicing mindfulness when you're not mentally ready, or when you actually need a nap, to eat, a massage, to work, or an important conversation with a loved one, can clearly create more difficulties than it's meant to mitigate'.

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/mindfulness-insights/202107/the-danger-mindfulness

The Danger of Mindfulness The facts about mindfulness no one's talking about.

Every single pro footballer should have the ability - from the penalty spot - to slam a ball into either top corner. And be able to do so consistently, even under pressure. The potential to do that now already exists.

The fact that this is not currently the case is simply down to a lack of the right kind of preparation, including of course mentally. Ever increasing precision is however the direction in which sport is headed.

There will undoubtedly come a day when penalty-taking accuracy has indeed increased to the point where it is no longer a viable way of settling games, and thankfully we'll then finally have to find a more engaging solution. 😏

This piece of research raises a few interesting questions on possible differences in the manner in which males and females respond to pressure: https://www.medicalbrief.co.za/archives/elite-athletes-react-differently-to-an-audience-german-biathlon-study/

Elite athletes react differently to an audience — German biathlon study - Medical Brief Having an audience has a different effect on men compared to women, found a German study on biathlon athletes, reports MedicalBrief. In the presence of an audience male biathletes improve their performance in conditioning tasks (skiing) but deteriorate in co-ordination tasks (shooting), while female...

I'll be doing little cameos in a new TV series called Virtual Drive, which focuses on sim racing. Here are the broadcast times (on Ignition TV) for the first Episode:

20201107 10:00 ATK E-Sports
20201108 16:00 ATK E-Sports
20201109 00:00 ATK E-Sports
20201110 04:00 ATK E-Sports
20201111 20:00 ATK E-Sports
20201112 08:00 ATK E-Sports
20201112 17:00 ATK E-Sports
20201113 14:00 ATK E-Sports

The production company will also be broadcasting the premier directly on their social media channels:
WEBSITE - www.virtualdrive.co.za
YOUTUBE - https://bit.ly/3jGeuSo
TWITTER – www.twitter.com/VirtualDriveTV
INSTAGRAM – https://www.instagram.com/VirtualDriveTv/
FACEBOOK - https://www.facebook.com/VirtualDriveTV

Interesting piece of research pointing to psychological factors being more predictive of marine training dropout than physical factors. I do believe that sports academies should also be taking psychological / leadership factors into account more than they typically do. eg In South African rugby - perhaps proportionately too much emphasis on size at a young age...? https://www.medicalbrief.co.za/archives/key-factors-in-elite-military-training-are-psychological-us-marine-study/

Key factors in elite military training are psychological — US Marine study - Medical Brief The biggest determinants of success in elite military training are not physical factors but psychological factors, according a small study conducted among US Marine Corps trainees. The US military has a constant need for service members who can serve in elite and specialised military units, such as....

Many people are currently struggling more than normal with anxiety. Fortunately there are practical things that we can do to moderate our anxiety levels. I'll be discussing these on Friday the 10th - see attached flyer.

A little clip off Cape Talk this morning. Clinton's piece comes in at approx 4:30...
https://omny.fm/shows/early-breakfast-with-abongile-nzelenzele/various-ways-you-can-maintain-a-healthy-brain-thro

various ways you can maintain a healthy brain throughout your lifetime - Early Breakfast with Abongile Nzelenzele - Omny.fm All this physical fitness, but are you stretching your mind? The brain is just like every other muscle or organ in your body: if you don't use it, then it won't perform at its peak. At any age, our brains can benefit from mental exercise. Abongile & Liezel explore the various ways you can maintain a...

Contributed last week to a Sports Science Institute discussion on building resilience, also featuring featuring Dr Phathokuhle Zondi and Dr Gilbert Dennis. (My contribution starts at 21:30).
https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/share/4_MuA42v2UBOcK_v-nDYVKgQGqjneaa8hCdLq_ZezUgOlFoMIzXnrkw8g5UFAQLh

Video Conferencing, Web Conferencing, Webinars, Screen Sharing Zoom is the leader in modern enterprise video communications, with an easy, reliable cloud platform for video and audio conferencing, chat, and webinars across mobile, desktop, and room systems. Zoom Rooms is the original software-based conference room solution used around the world in board, confer...

In the last video I recorded, I should have suggested that if any of you have any specific topics / questions you'd like me to address, please PM me and I'll consider another short clip on the topic.

LOCKDOWN SPECIAL: The next email-based mental skills training programme starts next week. We will add a free 30 minute virtual consultation, with every registration that is confirmed by the end of this weekend. To register: www.performingmind.co.za

Just a quick update: Skype / online consultations continue as per normal, individual face-to-face bookings for now as well, but all our group seminars are suspended.

Such trying times for so many people. Both with and without having contracted the virus. In future we will look back on this time as one to have pushed and tested our humanity, like few in our lifetime.

But don’t let anyone tell you that human beings cannot change. We are in fact better able to adapt than any other species on this planet - if it’s important enough to us. We’re seeing that now.

All crisis presents both danger, and opportunity. I don't know how to say this without sounding cheesy, but I really hope that how we respond in this time, will mark it in history as one of our most challenging, but also finest moments.

Sterkte to all.
Clinton

Did the following interview on professional footballers and coping with pressure. In the podcast below, the piece starts at about 24:30...
https://www.slradio.co.za/all-episodes/condoms-booze-and-inner-demons-teko-and-roberts-tell-it-like-it-is

SL Radio - Condoms, Booze and Inner-Demons - Teko and Roberts Tell It Like It Is! 🎧 Condoms, Booze & Inner-Demons - Teko & Roberts tell it like it is on the 10th episode of the Carwash! Listen to it now, only on ! 👉🏾