by Mike Margolies | Dec 28, 2012 | Author, Baseball, business, choices, Confidence, Emotional Intelligence, EQ, Fear, focus, Football, Goal Setting, Goals, mental toughness, mental training, Mike Margolies, Motivation, Olympics, opening speaker, Soccer, sport psychology, Stress, Thoughts
A year in review 2012
I’ve not ever felt a need to do this before, to have a year in review. It is a new experience for me. I want to look back at 2012 with clarity and be able to move forward in new ways. So taking my own advice, I am going back over the successes and of course challenges of the past year. You can cut to the chase by going to the last paragraph if you like.
Starting with the Athletes and their sports
Sounders FC U23 Player DeAndre Yedlin with Mike Margolies
I worked with an amazing group of athletes this year including those in the following sports: Golf, football, gymnastics, hockey, equestrians, soccer, tennis, swimming, softball, baseball, track, diving, roller derby, basketball, triathlon, cycling, fencing, water skiing, fitness, power lifting and lacrosse.
Competitor’s ages ranged from 12 to 70+. Competitive levels were club, high school, college and professional. Seven high school athletes earned scholarships or were accepted to their first choice college as an athlete (Ivy League = no athletic scholarships). One college walk-on earned her full scholarship. Most the athletes, but not all, were starters on their respective teams. In the end all were starting most of their games. I worked with a few teams as well at the club and minor league levels. All in all it was a very good year for the clients I worked with. If I were to put it in baseball terms, I would say that we batted around .900 Read the rest of the post by choosing more…. (more…)
by Mike Margolies | Jul 31, 2012 | concentration, Mike Margolies, Olympics, Soccer, sport psychologist, sport psychology, Stress
Olympic Conversation and More
Whenever the Olympics roll around I love to listen in on the commentary. A great deal is always about the psychological aspects of competition. So this is about Olympic conversation and more. Yesterday they talked about how the most celebrated beach volleyball players in the world added psychological training to what they do. There are always mentions of athletes cracking under pressure and those that excel with it. The one’s that excel often mention that they work with a sport psychology consultant. I’ve been fortunate to have worked with 14 or so that have gone on to the World Championships and the Olympics. Some have won and some not. It is a competition after all. All of them said their performance was the best that they had to give, win or lose. Isn’t that what everyone wants to come away saying? I’m putting together some examples and I will post them later in the Olympics. It is a great place to observe how athletes cope with being on such a huge stage. Do they lose focus? Does a normally fluid performer look stiff with tension? Are there lots of unforced errors? What were the effects of being successful and coming back for more and what were those implications? All Great Stuff.
Olympic Conversation and More, here’s the more
I so rarely post pictures of myself with clients. I do so only with their consent. This is a picture of me and DeAndre Yedlin. He plays for Sounders FC U23’s and the University of Akron.
Sounders FC U23 Player DeAndre Yedlin with Mike Margolies
That is Soccer of course. The PDL League is perhaps the same as Minor League Baseball A Ball and or other semi pro leagues.. Combination of college and X college players working towards playing professionally. Today he was named to the All PDL National Team. I’m very happy for him. Great work ethic, great attitude and of course a great mental game.
The common theme today is simple. Olympians using sport psychology. One of the best College players in North America using sport psychology. So the question is, as always, Are You?
And I’m not asking everyone to call me. (It would be nice however, as I would love to hear from you). I am saying that you should gather information and incorporate it into your training program.
If you are interested in learning more just go to www.themental-game.com
