Alison Arnold Ph.D. is a sport psychology consultant for USA Gymnastics, a former gymnast.
Her site is Head Games.
One of their online offerings is called Web Camp ($99/month). There you can get video tutorials on mental toughness training.
They have free trial sessions, as well.
Jami Sims of GymMeet did an interview with TV star Janae Whittaker Ali, former captain of the Penn State gymnastics team:
So, we’re here to talk about the Head Games Web Camp. What is it exactly?
JW: A chance to train your mind ONLINE with a LIVE mental toughness trainer, like myself. There is nothing like it. You can get mentally tough this summer from anywhere in the world as long as you have internet access! It is designed to have you grow in confidence, overcome fears, and be able to perform your best.
Why is it important in sports to be “mentally tough?”
JW: As we say at Head Games, “Out of control thinking leads to out of control performance.” Who wants to have an out of control performance? Sports are mentally challenging. It comes down to the one who can be confident and consistent…in training and competition. Your mind either makes you or breaks you. We all have fears and inconsistencies. It is important to learn [not how to be fearless], but how to have fear and do it anyway. This is called courage. And, being mentally tough makes sports a heck of a lot more fun! It is fun to be in control of your mind, it is fun to win.
read the rest of this interview on GymMeet.com (free membership required)
7 comments ↓
$99/ month? Does that seem steep or is there more to it than what I see?
I can’t comment about the price, however sport psychology is definitely one are where all coaches could get a brush up on. I think that any Elite program should have a sport psychologist on staff, or attached to the club.
Valentin Uzunov
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Tuesday, If you look at the credentials of the people involved in this Web Camp, it will definitely be worth it. They have worked with the top athletes and all of the major sports associations. I agree with Valentin that when it comes to mental preparedness, it can make or break an athlete. Why not get the edge over your competitors? I believe the younger the athlete begins to realize that the mind as well as the body determines performance, the better they will do in sports and in life. I suggest getting in touch with the trainers with any questions you have. It looks great to me.
Randy Bernard
GymMeet
http://www.gymmeet.com
Well that would be great if gymnastics wasn’t already expensive as it is.
I went to a couple of seminars by Ms. Arnold at National Congress and learned heaps, and still use her techniques to this day … don’t know if $99 a month is in the price range unfortunately! (since when can coaches afford that sort of thing)
Hello All,
Just wanted to mention some thing about the price, since that seems to be a point of interest.
For $99 a month the gymnast gets a 50 minute sport psych session LIVE once a week for the month. That’s $25 a session! When can you have a sport psych session for that price? They can do it for a month, or stay for six. Whatever suits the parent/athletes needs.
I know sport psychs that charge $225 an hour! For two sessions of that, you can have mental training at webcamp for 6 months once a week! I think that’s amazing!
Love the site….thanks for listening and supporting the mental side of the sport.
Ali
Alison Arnold Ph.D.
Too expensive for the individual coach, perhaps.
But some clubs have a budget for professional development. This may be a good option for Women’s Artistic coaches as that is the sport where lack of “mental toughness” is the biggest problem.
I think it would be great if a gym could put forth the money (even use Booster club funds for some or all of it) and have the coaches have access to it whenever. I think that would rock! It would also be great to get the kids together once a week or two to watch a session together; good for team building and of course the benefit inherent in the sports psychology.
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