A couple of my athletes brought this story to my attention recently (scroll down for video). They both say it was the reason they finally decided to seek out SPINw to help their mental game. “If it worked for Evan Longoria, I thought I should give it a try,” one said.
Athletes across all sports face, for the most part, the same mental challenges – pressure to perform, pressure to win, dealing with a slump, returning from injury, etc.  When athletes are confident and things are going well, and they are “in the zone,” the game seems slower and manageable. When overthinking and excess emotions occur, the game tends to speed up, as Longoria notes here:
“It could have been the pressure I was puttting on myself, maybe it was the outside distractions that I let get to me…. Things kind of sped up on me. I think that was part of the whole experience for me, was learning those feelings.” – Evan Longoria on going 1 for 20 in the World Series.   Check out this ESPN video about his work with sport psychologist Ken Ravizza…
The video ends on a great note, touching on the need to make the mental game second nature. The reporter asks: “Do you think there will be a day when you don’t need a focal point? When you don’t need mental exercises that you do?”
“No, I don’t think there will be. Because as soon as you start believing that in this game, you’ll get humbled in a heartbeat. I’ll always have that in the back of mind, and when I need it, use it.” was his reply.
Interested in trying out sport psychology? Contact us!
You can also check out Ken Ravizza’s book, Heads Up Baseball, in the SPINw Bookstore.
