How to Use Positive Thinking in Sport

Speaker: The mental skill that we're going to work on focuses on positive thinking and we're going to do a drill that will help you stay positive and have productive thoughts. Now that's important because researches that we've done with top athletes and experience working with top athletes have shown that the best one, they don't constantly beat themselves up. Sure, they have a bad thought, once in a while they get down, but they are really able to switch those thoughts from a very negative channel to a very positive channel, very quickly, and spend most of their time on the positive productive channel. To help me out a little bit with this drill, I'm going to bring a basketball friend of mine in Micky, Micky, common over here, nice to see you. Thanks for helping this out. What we're going to do on this drill is, all of us including Micky, he is a good athlete, he's had good mental skills but he's had times where he's had a bad day or bad situation where he thinks negative. Now Micky give me a situation in basketball where you kind of get down on yourself, maybe tend to beat yourself up. Micky: Sure. Every once in a while I get into one of these funks where I'll just start making bad passes and I can't seem to get myself out of it. So it's definitely something that I would feel I need some positive reinforcement for. Speaker: Okay, so he gets into a situation where he is throwing the ball away, he's making bad passes, he's getting down on himself, just like you probably do in some situation in your sport. Now when you're in that situation, what kind of statements come in your mind or images? What do you say to yourself? If it's a bad word, just put xxx. Micky: Sure. Something like it's happening again or what's wrong with, what's going on here, why am I doing this? Speaker: Okay. So it's happening again. What's wrong with me? You're at home Michael I such a no good, here we go again. Think for a second, what's a situation where you tend to get down on yourself and what specifically do you say to yourself when you get down? Okay. Now keep that situation in mind. We're going to use again Micky as an example. So Micky again, give me one of your negative statements when you're turning the ball over and thrown it away. Micky: It's happening it again. Speaker: Okay, it's happening it again. What we need Micky to do is to be able to stop that and turn it around. So a key for him is to come up some signal, some clue. For me, I just think of a stop sign, other people think of the color red, what's something you could think of it would signal stop? Micky: For me it would be like the whistle, the coach's whistle. Speaker: Okay, so a coach blowing a whistle. So as soon as he gets that first negative thought, he is going to hear that coach's whistle, like here we go again, the whistle would come. Now that's not going to help you very much, if all you do is stop it, it's like asking you to think not think about something, don't think about pink elephants, where you're going to think about it. So he is going to stop that but he's got to turn it around. So we have to come up with a productive replacement thought that he can insert in there and that you'll be able to insert in your situation. So okay. Was it here we go again if I recall? Micky: Yup. Speaker: The whistle comes, now what could we put in, that's realistic, but maybe positive and kind of productive to turn that around? Micky: Rather than saying it's here it goes again or here we go again, more like here's my change to turn it around or some more positive -- Speaker: Okay. So he could go, whistle, here is my chance to turn it around, this is an opportunity or he might go, he's turned a ball over a few times, he might think of something, what clue your coach gives you to stay focused when you're passing? To look at the guy or anything like that he says? Micky: Sure. Yeah, look at the guy's eyes or-- Speaker: Okay. Look at the guy's eyes, so he might go, here we go again stop eyes, he thinks eyes and he's looking for the receiver's eyes or can pass the ball. That's great Micky, thanks! I appreciate it. Micky: Thanks! Speaker: So again, the step we want you to think about is a situation at home, where you in your athletic career, your situation where you get negative or get down on yourself, what statements pop in your head, what's your stop signal? It may not be a whistle, maybe it's a stop sign, maybe it's your mom be that one stop, whatever works for you. Then most importantly, what kind of replacement thoughts are you going to be able to put in there. So I might be a swimmer and I might go boy that, here we go again, they're passing me, I see the color red, I stop that thought and I go, well you may pass me but I'm going to make you pay the price. I'm going to push, push, push. So find a more productive pause of the statement you can slip in there. Doing so will help you stay positive, even in negative situations and help you be more productive and more successful as an athlete.