It’s All Mental

If any of you follow me on social media you may have noticed recently that I have been posting a lot about Athlete Mental Game Coaching. This blog post is all about that, and how I came to be a Mental Game Coach for AMGC.

As a kid, I grew up playing soccer. I had tried some other sports, but mainly stuck to soccer. It had been my life. I trained and played all the time. I remember my parents constantly telling me to have mental toughness, but never fully understood what that meant or how to be mentally tough. It wasn’t until my sophomore year of college when it really all started to make sense. The season of my sophomore year of college, I had been physically in pain. I later found out that I had been playing on a torn labrum the entire season. During that season at Cornerstone, I really had to dig deep mentally. I specifically remembering waking up every morning and repeating to myself that I wasn’t in pain. And that it was all mental. Throughout this time I started to realize how powerful the mind was. And how fascinating it was. Which is what shaped my educational career and one of the reasons I am now a mental game coach. I later switched my major to Psychology and then eventually threw myself into the coaching world where I found how important it was to work on your mental game. Which led me to start working for the company AMGC.  The mental game is so complex and it isn’t just about overcoming injuries. It’s about so much more.

One story I want to highlight is my younger brother Gavin. Gavin is a senior at Western Michigan Christian High School and this last fall he helped his team to a State Championship. But before the season even started I began to notice my younger brother’s mental game. He was really struggling. He wasn’t in it. And when his games started I realized how good of a player he was and that he could really impact his team. So I began to have small conversations with him and realized that he was doubting himself. I began asking him deeper questions and then started to just plant little seeds to hopefully get him to start thinking and being more confident. One day it just all clicked. He began showing up in big games. And once they reached the tournament he was at his peak. He was scoring like crazy and it was amazing just to see the love he had for the game and the confidence he brought to the field.

The way you think and prepare your mental game can impact how you play. It can even impact how you live your life.

This past summer I went through one of the biggest surgeries someone could go through. Mentally it was the absolute hardest thing I had to go through. It’s still one of the hardest things I’m dealing with today. Months ago I was bed ridden and could only move around by wheel chair. Slowly I got stronger to the point where I could walk without crutches. Today I can walk, but still not yet normal. And to me it’s the most frustrating thing ever. 7 months post surgery and still not able to walk normal definitely takes a toll on you mentally. Every day is a mental challenge. I could easily get up and think the worse and be negative about everything. Which trust me I have had plenty of those days. But I am not defined by my circumstances. I’ve started to learn that it’s baby steps that will take you where you want to go. And clinging to the small victories helps keep me mentally strong.

Again, the mental game can be so complex. Overcoming injuries, gaining confidence, not giving up, are just a few simple topics to the mental game. And it’s not just on the field either, it’s off of it too.