269 Do You Want to Make Next Year a Great Year? Why Contact A Sport Psychologist!
Release Date: 12/20/2024
283 How To Help A Swimmer Who Is Online A Lot Checking His Rivals Out
Demystifying Mental Toughness
Today, the case study that David Charlton and his colleague Colm O’Donoghue discuss is connected to a 16-year-old swimmer who spends a lot of time online checking his rivals out, be that on social media or reviewing stats and results. The implication is that his motivation and focus when training fluctuates and negative emotions such as jealousy and anxiety are triggered. As well, potential challenges with his own self-esteem and how he feels about himself can be evident. David and Colm offer some ideas to shift his focus so that he is able to enhance his motivation...
info_outline
282 How To Help An Emotional Tennis Player Perform Better
Demystifying Mental Toughness
In this episode, David Charlton and his colleague Colm O’Donoghue discussed a case study of a 12-year-old tennis player who struggled with her emotions on the court. She often became overwhelmed by with anger and frustration or disappointment after making mistakes or losing points, leading to a loss of focus, poor performance and less enjoyment. Her parents also found it very difficult to watch her play and contain themselves as a result too. David and Colm go on to offer some advice for managing these strong emotional responses so that she can perform better and...
info_outline
281 How To Help The Golfer Who Searches For The Perfect Swing
Demystifying Mental Toughness
Does the perfect golf swing exist? NO. Does the perfect golf swing equal lower scores in golf? NO – Yet many golfers continue to strive to attain the “perfect swing.” This is the topic of conversation today, where David and colleague Colm O’Donoghue talk about the problem with this approach and the implications for your golf game. They also share some advice on what you could consider doing to improve your scores and your enjoyment of the game. Key Learning Points: Studies suggest that the variation in technique between low handicap amateurs and...
info_outline
280 How To Help A Golfer Who Struggles Playing Strokeplay
Demystifying Mental Toughness
David Charlton hosts the Demystifying Mental Toughness podcast with his colleague and a fellow competitive amateur golfer, Colm O’Donoghue today. Colm discusses his journey from playing golf as a child to returning to the sport in his mid-20s, driven by an interest in the psychological aspects of golf. He shares his struggles with perfectionism and the importance of maintaining a present-focused mindset. Together they talk about a case study of a young golfer, who excels in match play but struggles with stroke play due to focusing too much on the score. Colm and David...
info_outline
279 How To Help A Cricketer Overcome Selections Difficulties
Demystifying Mental Toughness
Today, in episode #279 David and Gerard discuss the challenges faced by a 12-year-old cricketer named Amir (pseudonym), who is a leg spinner struggling with inconsistent selection due to the club's preference for pace bowling. Amir's fluctuating motivation and confidence, as well as the potential for dropping out of cricket are attributed to poor communication from coaches and his own difficulty in expressing frustrations. Key Learning Points: · Helping the cricketer develop psychological flexibility to separate his self-worth...
info_outline
278 How To Help Young Athletes Who Are Distracted By Shouty Coaches Subtitle:
Demystifying Mental Toughness
In today’s episode, #278 David and Gerard discuss the impact of a shouty coach on an 18-year-old rugby player named Tom (pseudonym). They explore how such coaching styles can lead to self-doubt, low self-esteem, and increased self-criticism, affecting both on-field performance and confidence levels. They emphasize the importance of coaches fostering a supportive environment where players can express themselves freely. Key Learning Points: · The conversation highlights the broader issue of youth sports participation and the need...
info_outline
277 How To Help An Extra Competitive Footballer
Demystifying Mental Toughness
In episode #277 David and Gerard Fitzgerald discussed how to help shift the focus of an extra competitive footballer or athlete, using the example of a boy named Joe who hates losing. Key points included the importance of harnessing anger positively, as seen with Wayne Rooney's iconic goal in 2005 for Manchester United versus Newcastle United. They also share the need to normalise emotional responses like anger where footballers may kick out, tackle over aggressively, shout at team-mates or display poor body language. Parents and coaches are advised to avoid...
info_outline
276 How To Help A Footballer Who Focuses Too Much On Other People
Demystifying Mental Toughness
Today marks the start of an 8-episode series where David Charlton is joined by a colleague. Gerard Fitzgerald features in this episode, as well as the next 3 episodes. They go on to discuss a case study of a young female footballer, 11 years old with a pseudonym name called Carly who is a sensitive soul who worries too much about other people (team-mates specifically in this case). We go on to normalise emotional sensitivity in young athletes, highlighting that it can be a strength if managed properly. We also talk about the challenges of emotional sensitivity where...
info_outline
275 Demystifying Mental Toughness Podcast – What happens next?
Demystifying Mental Toughness
After a short break from creating and broadcasting episodes of the Demystifying Mental Toughness Podcast, in episode #275, David discusses a change in format to the podcast for the rest of 2025. He also highlights the benefits of having a support system and the benefits of reading and acting on advice from The 12 Week Year, book written by Brian F Moran and Michael Lemmington. Key Learning Points: · Taking a break can revive our motivation and creativity similar to the power of periodisation in sport or strength training. ...
info_outline
274 How You Can Challenge Yourself To Feel More In Control
Demystifying Mental Toughness
In this week’s episode of the Demystifying Mental Toughness Podcast #274, we focus in on the control and challenge measures from Professor Peter Clough’s 4C’s model of Mental Toughness. David highlights how US tennis player Danielle Collins' managed fans heckling at the Australian Open to aid her performance. Insightful guests, Sport Psychologists, World Champion Athletes and Olympians also offer tips: where they focus on self-care for perfectionists, emphasise why getting clarity on your "why" is important, stressing present-moment awareness and a lot more. Key...
info_outlineIn episode #269 David addresses the question, “What Can I Expect When Working With A Sport Psychologist” for the final time as this episode marks the end of an 8 part series. This time he focuses on the following statements “Performance Enhancement: The sports psychologist will help you identify and overcome mental barriers that may be hindering your performance” and “Feedback and Reflection: Expect regular discussions about your progress, experiences in training or competition, and adjustments to your mental training plan.”
David highlights that a high percentage of athletes who contact sports psychologists are reactive often acting on emotion seeking to deal with challenges they are going through. Whilst proactive clients, especially top performing elite athletes, contact sports psychologists when they are in a good place, seeking continuous improvement and looking to embrace a marginal gains approach. He concludes by encouraging listeners to reflect on their 2024 achievements, failures, and lessons learned, offering a blog post with additional questions for self-analysis so that you can make 2025 a great year.
Key Learning Points
- One typical challenge athletes bring to sports psychologists, link to not performing at the level that they train at, which can be caused by the need for social approval, perfectionist tendencies, questionable culture and processes at a club or organisation, with fear then kicking in for the athlete.
- Sharing surprising statistics about elite athletes such as Harry Kane’s goal scoring success rate and Trent Alexander-Arnold's cross accuracy can help perfectionists recognise how many times elite performers do actually miss or fail, forcing athletes to revisit their own expectations.
- He shares a case study of a proactive top cricketer who used detailed performance profiling to benchmark and measure progress, therefore challenging them to get out of their comfort zone.
- A skill of a sports psychologist is to ask athletes great questions so that they go on to assess how they can continually strive to improve their methods and performance levels.
Connect with David Charlton
Join David @ The Sports Psychology Hub
Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIN
To Listen to Related Podcasts To Help You Improve Your Performances Next Year
Ep264: David Charlton - How to Enhance Focus, Motivation and Confidence
Ep260: David Charlton - What Can I Expect When Working With A Sport Psychologist
Ep144: Jon Watkins – Mental Strength: What You Can Learn About Resilience From The Special Forces
Ep106: Amy Rowlinson – Why is knowing my WHY important?
Ep086: David Charlton – Observations: How to Learn from Setbacks
Relevant Blogs and Resources To Help You Make Next Year a Great Year
Blog: How To Learn From Last Year
Blog: What Did You Learn From Last Year?
Blog: Make Better Decisions to Help Your Sport Performance including VALUES LIST