Love this from Johan Forsberg on this week's episode of The Sport Psych Show. Johan speaks to me about his playing days and his work with individuals and teams and we discuss the relationship between psychological states and performance. Listen here https://buff.ly/uV6eMjS | Dan Abrahams
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Love this from Johan Forsberg on this week's episode of The Sport Psych Show. Johan speaks to me about his playing days and his work with individuals and teams and we discuss the relationship between psychological states and performance. Listen here https://buff.ly/uV6eMjS | Dan Abrahams
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"...players develop their mental toughness through their relationships...across competitive, training and developmental contexts" - Dr Alan McKay on this week's episode of The Sport Psych Show. Listen to the full episode here https://buff.ly/uoiq0yl | Dan Abrahams
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"...players develop their mental toughness through their relationships...across competitive, training and developmental contexts" - Dr Alan McKay on this week's episode of The Sport Psych Show. Listen to the full episode here https://buff.ly/uoiq0yl | Dan Abrahams
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Dan Campbell, Detroit Lions head coach calls out the ‘belief’ crowd… Belief is neither a word on a wall nor a stand alone quality. According to Coach Campbell, belief is built through the work and through the process of learning… In other words - performance is mediated by confidence and competence! Confidence requires competence and competence requires confidence. Both fuel each other. I agree with Coach Campbell from the perspective that we can’t just tell people to believe in themselves. That
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Dan Campbell, Detroit Lions head coach calls out the ‘belief’ crowd… Belief is neither a word on a wall nor a stand alone quality. According to Coach Campbell, belief is built through the work and through the process of learning… In other words - performance is mediated by confidence and competence! Confidence requires competence and competence requires confidence. Both fuel each other. I agree with Coach Campbell from the perspective that we can’t just tell people to believe in themselves. That
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Dan Campbell, head coach of Detroit Lions, believes in a lot of psychological concepts related to the idea of grit… And I agree with him. But high performance sport doesn’t have to just be about ‘pushing through’. Coping. Toughness. Strength. How about joy? The joy of coming back every day to train and play with your team. The joy of finding out just how good you can be. The joy of seeing improvement. The joy of running, moving, and executing actions. The joy of teaming. The joy of helping teamm
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Dan Campbell, head coach of Detroit Lions, believes in a lot of psychological concepts related to the idea of grit… And I agree with him. But high performance sport doesn’t have to just be about ‘pushing through’. Coping. Toughness. Strength. How about joy? The joy of coming back every day to train and play with your team. The joy of finding out just how good you can be. The joy of seeing improvement. The joy of running, moving, and executing actions. The joy of teaming. The joy of helping teamm
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“We talk about gratitude a lot in our programme” Molly Miller, Arizona State Women’s Basketball head coach, has built a culture of gratitude. She wants her players to remind themselves of the wonderful thoughts, emotions, and feelings basketball evokes in them. She wants them to understand the vital behaviours it helps them build…behaviours that help them face life’s vicissitudes. Anyone can do this…in the simplest possible way. “What three things am I grateful for today?” And then reflect on th
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“We talk about gratitude a lot in our programme” Molly Miller, Arizona State Women’s Basketball head coach, has built a culture of gratitude. She wants her players to remind themselves of the wonderful thoughts, emotions, and feelings basketball evokes in them. She wants them to understand the vital behaviours it helps them build…behaviours that help them face life’s vicissitudes. Anyone can do this…in the simplest possible way. “What three things am I grateful for today?” And then reflect on th
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If you want to be elite at sport…you are best served considering what I’m saying in the video below… The idea that you can control your thoughts, emotions, and feelings in high performance sport is nonsense… But you CAN learn to take control of your responses to them! And this takes daily practice… …in every activity …in every session …every day It takes a commitment self-awareness It takes a commitment to self-talk It takes a commitment to attention-control It also takes a commitment to learnin
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If you want to be elite at sport…you are best served considering what I’m saying in the video below… The idea that you can control your thoughts, emotions, and feelings in high performance sport is nonsense… But you CAN learn to take control of your responses to them! And this takes daily practice… …in every activity …in every session …every day It takes a commitment self-awareness It takes a commitment to self-talk It takes a commitment to attention-control It also takes a commitment to learnin
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Dr Scott Goldman speaking about the importance of the interface between player and the coaching environment on this week's episode of The Sport Psych Show. Take a listen to the full episode here https://buff.ly/mdG8NWJ | Dan Abrahams
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Dr Scott Goldman speaking about the importance of the interface between player and the coaching environment on this week's episode of The Sport Psych Show. Take a listen to the full episode here https://buff.ly/mdG8NWJ | Dan Abrahams
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Taken from my chat with Prof Peter Clough on this week's episode of The Sport Psych Show. Peter needs little introduction, having helped develop the concept of mental toughness. He is a research professor interested in performance under pressure and performance enhancement, in particular Mental Toughness. He is joined by Doug Strycharczyk and Dr John Perry. Doug Strycharczyk is the founder and CEO of AQR International - the business that has taken the concept of Mental Toughness and introduced i
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The inner voice of a great competitor… “This WILL be a tough game. That’s ok…I’m going to love every second of executing with attention, with intensity, and with a positive intent… This WILL be a tough game. That’s ok…I’m in charge. I’m in control. I dominate my mindset. I own my mindset… This WILL be a tough game. That’s ok…I have within me the skills and competencies to deal with the challenges the game throws at me…” 👇🏻👇🏻👇🏻 (not dissimilar to the inner voice of a great learner) | Dan Ab
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“I don’t care who I’m playing, I don’t care where I’m playing…I don’t care how I’m playing…I compete in my High Performance Mindset (my HPM) no matter what… If the ball bounces off me…I stay in HPM If I give the ball away…I stay in HPM If we go a goal down…I stay in HPM Nothing and no one takes me away from my individual and unique HPM. I’m in control. I’m in charge. I dominate my mind and body. I own my mind and body…” | Dan Abrahams
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Legendary College football coach Nick Saban… …on self-discipline! Let’s strip this back… There are 8 billion people on planet earth and all of us are subject to our thoughts, emotions, and feelings. Thoughts happen to us… Emotions happen to us… Feelings happen to us… The combination between of the three influences the decisions and choices we make for ourselves… Simply, self-discipline is being able to respond appropriately to the thoughts, emotions, and feelings we experience in order to help u
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“You’re training them to think under pressure” Geno Auriemma doesn’t negotiate. He envelopes his players’ games in mindset in every activity in every session. He paints his X’s and O’s in attitudinal qualities. He demands comfort-busting moments within metabolically exhausting activities. “You’re training them to think under pressure” Every action, every second, every activity, every session, every day, every week, every month, every season. A relentless commitment to mindset. For me, when I thi
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Matt Campbell looks for fresh cuts regularly. For the Penn State Football head coach, scars are a super power - they level up ability and attitude. It’s that word ‘humble’ that hits like a strong shot of Bourbon. To even think about growing from those scars - those failures and successes - then you have to have the humility to embrace them and explore them. Successes as well? Of course! Humble players (and people) don’t assume success, they analyse success. They contemplate more so than celebrat
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My mental technique of Game Face 👇🏻👇🏻👇🏻 “My job on the pitch is to start and stay in my Game Face. Nothing and no one takes me away from my Game Face. Nothing and no one” In control In charge | Dan Abrahams
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Football, like all sports, is about control…it’s about controlling the game…(in and out-of-possession)… But game control starts with self-control…to take control, to take charge, to dominate and own your mindset… 𝐓𝐨 𝐩𝐚𝐲 𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐧𝐨 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭… 𝐓𝐨 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐞𝐭𝐞 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐧𝐨 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭… 𝐓𝐨 𝐞𝐱𝐞𝐜𝐮𝐭𝐞 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐲 & 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐧𝐨 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭… To take charge…to take contro
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“I just try to stay still…” The late, great Kobe Bryant draws out his strategy to deal with unhelpful emotion. A sophisticated approach to a complex problem! His thoughts, emotions, feelings…whispering their distractions as he competes…but he refuses to comply…he refuses to be controlled by emotion… He simply accepts their presence…and makes a choice! But this is a hard choice, or at least, it’s hard to get into a position to make a choice. It takes skills and competencies, it takes self-awarene
96 viewsJan 13, 2025
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“Technique is the expression of your talent” Arsene Wenger I agree with Mr Wenger… Great technique is a foundation of any sport. -Great technique can enable a player to anticipate quicker and make more accurate decisions. -Great technique can help a player to manage their energy as they compete making them physically more effective. -Great technique can bolster a player’s confidence - they are better able to play with energy-forward…purposefully, positively, and proactively executing actions. As
210 viewsJan 9, 2025
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Kelvin Sampson, Houston Cougars basketball men’s coach won’t coach knuckleheads. He can’t stretch them sufficiently! Stretch and support Stretch and support Coaches have two dials, both of which pressure player engagement, learning, growth, and performance. A stretch dial and a support dial. Sometimes you have to turn the stretch dial clockwise. A bigger vibration of toughness. A louder demand on competence. Constraints and conditions in practice. Challenging individual tasks and industrious tea
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In high performance sport, to lead is to influence… It needs be no more than that one word! In the video below you can see influence-in-action. Inter Milan score their third goal…Barcelona’s Pedri picks up the ball and runs back to the centre circle with it. Influence! We’re coming to the end of the season here in soccer across Europe, which means the start of pre-season isn’t far away. What if a club chooses to use their pre-season in July and half of August to establish ‘influence’ behaviours
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Dennis Bergkamp with a call to all players… “Technique, technique, technique…practice, practice, practice” The thousands of hours spent alone, with teammates, and with coaches…focused on honing his own unique brand of technique…his movement solutions for as many scenarios as possible. Doing it until he doesn’t have to think. He just does! An embodied intelligence. A mind-body competence fit for any situation in any footballing environment. See and do See and do See and do Of course, when practic
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Another fantastic activation activity from Liverpool Football Club… As these players physically warm-up, so they mentally warm-up… Noughts and crosses…a mental challenge…mental flexibility and dexterity…an attuning to the position of the balls in the players’ environment… Attention - an external focus of attention (on the footballs) Activation - a mental energy assigned to placing the footballs correctly in order to win the game Action-execution - an energy towards…a curiosity…a detection…a cons
70K viewsApr 26, 2025
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John Wooden…one of the finest sports coaches of all time preaching the importance of today… Mr. Wooden, if he were alive today, would continue to preach the same thing I’m sure. He’d want you to talk to yourself rather than listen to yourself. He’d want you to generate words, sentences, and affirmations that help you fall-forward more-so than reflect back. Of course, his wisdom is so often trumped by the human brain. Weighing in at about 3 pounds, your brain packs a punch that’s hard to ignore.
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The very best players…the greats…are often the ones that don’t just understand the game…they contribute to the team game plan and lead others through solutions… They are students of ‘the’ game as well as ‘their’ game! These are what I call ‘level four’ leaders…level four because I believe there are four levels to player leadership in sport: -action -confidence -energy -solutions Everyone can and should lead via action. Most can and should lead the confidence of other individual players and the t
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In high performance sport you have to figure out how to win again and again and again. So says the great Bobby Knight, and to be clear, in the context of high performance sport, I agree with him. That’s why I personally dedicate myself as a sport psychologist to integrating sport psychology with skill acquisition with coaching science with sports science. It’s the integration, the adjoining, the meeting of disciplines that is key. At the heart of this integration lies four key factors: -mindset
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“I don’t compete with other people…I compete with what I’m capable of…” I don’t think anyone who is interested in sport and high performance in general hasn’t come across an ace Michael Jordan quote or story. He’s the gift that keeps on giving, right? This quote drips with so many important psychological concepts and constructs…in just 13 words… -goal achievement -attribution -optimism -locus of control -attentional control -mental rehearsal Just 13 words… Michael Jordan focused on himself. He f
429 views8 months ago
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Rick Pitino, legendary coach, doesn’t want to hear excuses. For him excuses are a sign of weakness. I agree, excuses help no one. High performance teams filled with high performance players look and search for reasons in order to hold themselves accountable… “There are reasons and I am accountable for those reasons…” Reasons require sense-making frameworks. This is why I tend to insist that teams I work with adopt my High Performance Mindset framework (or at least something similar). To ward off
2.1K views7 months ago
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Mark Pope urges growth… The Kentucky basketball coach urges growth over achievement… A mastery climate. A passion for development. For learning. For improvement. Allowing performances and results to take care of themselves. Of course, a mastery climate doesn’t mean ignoring competition outcomes. It doesn’t mean ignoring what it takes to win a game or win the deal (in corporate environments). That’s part of the process. Learning how to win is part of the growth… Ultimately, a mastery-orientation
13.1K views5 months ago
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Steph Curry with an external narrow focus of attention as he shoots… 👇🏻👇🏻👇🏻 | Dan Abrahams
28 viewsFeb 5, 2025
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Intrinsic drivers for extrinsic rewards… -to love the game -to strive to improve the game you love …feeding high performance and subsequent results. Kobe Bryant’s love of basketball was fuelled by his olfactory sense - a whiff of the ball sent his motivational muscles into overdrive. As a young professional golfer I used to enjoy the smell of freshly cut grass on a newly mown fairway (but that’s where our commonalities end..he had more talent in his pinky than I have in my whole body). With sens
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The fantastic Fabian Hürzeler…head coach of Brighton in the English Premier League…referring to the belief of his players… “My players have belief” he declares…a simple but important statement. But what is belief? How is it developed? How is it built individually and across the team? And how does it actually influence performance on game day? I have a slightly different lens on this subject…slightly different from (perhaps) the historical norm… For sure, I can talk to a player or team of players
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