Formula for sports success lies 'between the ears'

The situation + Your emotion + Your response = The result

This formula is a common strategy in sports psychology that helps performers respond to negative events. Justin Anderson of Premier Sport Psychology gave this scenario: A coach calls out a college football player in the morning weightlifting session. The player goes back to his dorm feeling embarrassed and angry about the confrontation and wants to just check out of practice that afternoon. But when using this model, the player realizes while he can't change the situation of the coach yelling at him or his emotions from that, he can alter his response. So he goes to practice and plays as best he can and is as positive as he can be, despite not really feeling that way. That not only helps his game but also motivates his teammates.

Quote: "When you get to this level, everybody's good. Like everybody's well-trained, everybody's doing strength and conditioning, everybody's doing all the physical stuff to be at their best. And the stuff that really sets people apart at competition is what they're doing, the stuff between the ears." — Carlin Anderson, Premier Sport Psychology

Megan Ryan