Consulting with Competitive Athletes

CHARLES M. BONASERA, LCSW
Consultant, Author and Motivational Speaker
Website: http://www.charlesmbonasera.com

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I have worked with athletes from many different sports representations. I've worked with amateur and national competitor figure skaters, gymnasts, tennis players, track and field contestants, amateur and professional hockey players, Olympic skiers, equestrians, golfers, football players, swimmers and divers. The pressure and stress that comes with any competitive sport can result in the undoing of whatever technical ability and even longevity of experience that an athlete might possess. The pressure and stress of competition interferes with the mental and emotional controls necessary in order to compete satisfactorily. It can create an aura that makes the athlete lose track of the "game plan" that needs to be upheld in order to compete… in order to win.

The problem is the same for every competitive sport whether an individual sport such as tennis or figure skating or team sports such as hockey, baseball or football. The factors interfering in an athlete's performance is the same in all of them. If a competitor cannot control the manner in which they THINK, FEEL and ACT on the field of competition, something must suffer. Essentially, the need to focus is a universal "given" in all sports. Without focus, all of the technical and practice training is for naught. When I watch a sport, I watch competitors' eyes which tell me how capable they are in maintaining focus in order to execute plays. In this way a prediction can be made of the outcome. Of course, this method is not accurate 100% of the time but it gives a sense of the feel of an athlete's performance, thinking processes and focus ability. There's a sense that can be viewed through the athlete's body language that will tell the story.

In my work with athletes I go into several different aspects of what I call the Mental Side of their game. Their anxiety and fears around the possibility of their being "benched" resulting in problems focusing, the effects of their plight on their families, doubting their abilities, having lost the joy of playing their sport, of having lost their "feel for the game", thinking about what they were doing too much vs. their instinctive play … all of these are just some of the issues that are discussed. I train them to use deep relaxation and visualization of what they hope to accomplish before every practice and game. I also recommend using some of the same techniques after games or practices so that their relationships with their families will not be affected by negative influences. I work with them both as a group while some players are seen individually over a period of time determined as a result of preliminary assessments. Overall, my observations showed that there is a significant improvement in their attitudes, play and general performance which is usually substantiated by their Coach.

COMPETITIVE GOLFER
A competitive golfer came to me after spending considerable time taking lessons for a problem she was having with her putter in her inability to improve that part of her game. The problem was assessed by her professional coach as being in her grip resulting in buying new clubs, new grips and changing her putting grip. I asked her to shake my hand and her grip was very firm…much like a man's. I chastised her and said that she needed to be more "lady-like" and gentle. Naturally, she was insulted but I needed to get her attention because she was still on the track of needing more lessons and equipment. In talking with her I sensed that she enjoyed taking risks and was a bit of a "daredevil" as well as someone who needed to be in control all of the time.

Once her attention was gained, I told her that I wanted her to give me a putting lesson on her home course. She thought this to be strange but complied because she was curious as to what to expect and, certainly, she wasn't going to let me "win". In the lesson, she worked with my stance, head position, "reading" the green and, finally, my grip. I intentionally gripped the putter with a "death grip". I told her that this grip always tended to insure that I was going to succeed. She asked me to loosen it but I continued to ease up just a bit each time. She ended by chastising me indicating that I wasn't receptive to a necessary change. Clearly, she was very frustrated with me. I said that I was frustrated as well and asked that she show me how to do it. I set up five golf balls at different locations and distances from the cup and told her that I would watch while she stroked each of them into the cup.

She started off gripping her club tightly as she usually did but, because she knew that I was watching intently and wouldn't be put into a position of losing control, she began to relax so that by the fifth ball her grip, stroke, etc. was very relaxed. By the way, she missed three of the first five puts but interestingly holed the last two balls as her grip became naturally relaxed. She gave a big grin when she finished and said, begrudgingly, "OK, I get the message". We did some more work in the office around the use of relaxation techniques previous to her putting. Later on in the season, she wrote me a note of thanks indicating that she will always remember me (she didn't say in what way!) and that the techniques I taught her worked consistently.

NHL GOALIE
I was fortunate to have been able to work with a group of players from the Buffalo Sabres NHL hockey team while Scott Bowman was the Coach and General Manager. This group was identified as not performing according to what their capabilities were and were in danger of either being benched or traded from the team. The team was just weeks away from the beginning of the playoffs and it was vital that all of the players be playing at their peak in order to compete for the Stanley Cup.

I worked with both the group as well as some of the players on an individual basis. In many of the cases, players were experiencing some difficulties in the personal areas of their lives which were being carried over and interfering with their athletic performances. I call this the "the carryover effect". This has to do with thoughts and emotions associated with athletes' personal lives that interfere with their performance in their sport. This is one of the most difficult issues to identify and correct but once addressed and resolved, the effects are almost immediately noticeable.

One of the characteristics determined to be occurring for all members was their loss of passion for playing the game. In one of our sessions, I had them all go into a deep relaxed state where I asked that they visualize themselves going back to their childhoods when they played "pond hockey" for fun. At a certain point, I asked that they move out of their relaxed state to discuss their impressions. All of the athletes did so but one … the goalie. The rest of the group moved into discussion and after about five minutes, the goalie opened his eyes, looked around the room and announced "That's good stuff, man!" There was a noticeable improvement in all of the players' performances but most especially the goalie's ability to focus and make saves.

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