Daniel Abrahams

Sign up for a FREE 'Mental Toughness for Football' e book here: danabrahams.com Techniques used in the Premier League

Invert the goal hierarchy… Competitive players in team sports want to win and want to perform. They then consider the process of outcome and performance. Invert this for them…make the process of performance the number one objective. But in team sports, this process should (possibly) be related to reading the game (or at least primarily related to reading the game). “My number one job when I play is to scan, search, and see the opportunities and dangers. It’s to be alert for those opportunities and be ready to exploit them. And it’s to be alert to the dangers and be ready to deal with them. My number one job is to stay connected to the game in order to read it, make decisions, and adapt my actions in my role” By making the detection of opportunities and dangers number one in goal hierarchy for a competitive game, players have a better chance to retain a high focus of attention, an optimal intensity, and a high level of intent. Performances and outcomes follow… Process driving performance driving outcome… 𝐌𝐲 𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤, 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐞𝐭𝐞, 𝐢𝐬 𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬. 𝐈𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐲 𝐛𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮. 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐞𝐭𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐯𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐫𝐬

“Winning little battles…” Steve Kerr knows how professional sports teams win games. They win little battles. In my language and in my models, it’s winning moments…micro moments that influence momentum… Mindset…Moments…Momentum A team invested in a High Performance Mindset is a team that gives themselves a better chance to win more moments. Those moments can be as basic as finding space first or getting on the end of a pass or attaining the right body shape to hold off a defender. Micro moments… And teams who win more moments are better at managing momentum…for and against. They’re better at retaining momentum for and better at wrestling momentum back Mindset…Moments…Momentum Ultimately, great teams at the elite end of sport strive to win as many micro-moments as possible by holding a great mindset. This great mindset optimises action-execution - technical, tactical, and physical actions both in-possession and out-of-possession… Win little battles… 𝐈𝐧 𝐦𝐲 𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤, 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐞𝐭𝐞, 𝐈 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐩𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐌𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐬𝐞𝐭…𝐌𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬…𝐌𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐮𝐦. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐦𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐢𝐭. 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐞𝐭𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐯𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐫𝐬

Do not compromise… Do not negotiate… Ambitious players need a simple, practical mental framework that helps them high perform consistently under pressure… That helps them turn a 5/10 game into a 6/10 game. A 6/10 game into a 7/10 game… That’s what it is to be a great competitor right there. They have their best POSSIBLE game time and again. I outline this in my new book, Compete. In Compete I introduce readers to the main three mental skills of attention, intensity, intent. I then introduce readers to a bunch of mental techniques and performance approaches that helps players compete in their High Performance Mindset (HPM: with High Attention; Optimal Intensity; and High Intent). Great competitors are those who have their best POSSIBLE games again and again and again. That’s not necessarily 9/10. It’s their best POSSIBLE. They’re the ones coaches can count on. They’re the ones who make great teammates. They’re the ones who find out just how good they can be… ********************************* 𝐕𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐨 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐁𝐮𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐅𝐂 (𝐚𝐯𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐰𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡 𝐨𝐧 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐓𝐮𝐛𝐞). 𝐌𝐲 𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤, 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐞𝐭𝐞, 𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐯𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐫𝐬…

5 ideas for footballers (and other sporting competitors). Great competitors don’t simply prepare for things to go right. They prepare for things to go wrong. They don’t just train hard. They practise with purpose. They don’t just demand more of themselves. They learn to direct their attention, manage their emotions, and compete with positive intent. And perhaps most importantly, they don’t lose sight of the joy of competing. Sport is unpredictable - mistakes happen, teammates struggle, confidence fluctuates, pressure builds. The game rarely unfolds exactly as we’d like. That’s why mental performance isn’t about achieving the perfect mindset, I t’s about developing the skills to respond effectively to whatever the game throws at you. The poster introduces five ideas to help you take charge of your mindset and your game. Which one resonates most with you?

Footballers, here’s an idea… Be flexible about your performance. Be disciplined about your mindset. You can strive for an 8 or 9/10 performance while accepting that, on some days, 6/10 might be the best you can produce. Your touch might be off. Your passing might lack precision. Your timing might not quite be there. That’s football. But your mindset? That’s where you can demand more of yourself. You can commit to directing your attention towards the next action, regulating your intensity and bringing positive, purposeful intent to every moment. And when your mindset slips? Recognise it, reset and recommit. The distinction is important: you can’t always control the quality of your performance, but you can keep taking charge of how you approach it. Be flexible about your performance. Be relentless about the mindset…

Who do you want to be when you compete? Your Game Face is your competitive persona: a simple blueprint for the attitudes, behaviours and actions you want to bring to your sport. In my new book, Compete, I explain how to build yours. Start with two or three action words that describe you at your best. You might add a model player or animal to bring those qualities to life. For example: FOCUSED BRAVE WOLF Then make those words visible. FOCUSED in your scanning and tracking. BRAVE in showing for the ball and committing to your next action. Practise this in training. Rehearse it before competition. Return to it after mistakes. You can feel nervous and still act with purpose. Your Game Face gives you something to execute while those feelings are present—helping you direct your attention, manage your intensity, and compete with intent. Be it. Do it. Act it. What would your Game Face be?

90th minute: Manchester United 2-4 Aston Villa Full-time: Manchester United 4-4 Aston Villa Oh dear!!! It’s a fascinating example of one of sport’s great psychological challenges: protecting a lead. When a team is winning, and the game is drawing to a close, something subtle can happen psychologically. The scoreboard starts to become more important than the game itself. And this can change three critical mental skills I introduce in my new book, Compete: attention, intensity, and intent. ATTENTION When protecting a lead, attention can drift away from the information that matters: the ball, space, opponents, teammates, positioning, tactical responsibilities. Instead, players can become consumed by the scoreboard, the clock, and the consequences of conceding. Eysenck and colleagues’ Attentional Control Theory (2007) suggests that anxiety can disrupt goal-directed attention, making us more susceptible to threat-related information. The challenge is to keep attention connected to the game rather than the possible outcome. INTENSITY As the final whistle approaches, the emotional temperature can change. Urgency increases. Anxiety can rise. Players might become tense, rushed or overly cautious. And these shifts can happen incredibly quickly. Research into threat processing demonstrates that attention can become biased towards threatening information within approximately 100–200 milliseconds. This doesn’t mean a fully conscious anxious thought develops in that time, but it illustrates just how rapidly the brain can begin responding to potential danger. Players need to regulate their intensity so they remain alert, energised, and ready to act without becoming overwhelmed by the occasion. INTENT For me, this is perhaps the most interesting psychological dimension. When a team is winning, its players can gradually shift from an approach mindset towards an avoidance mindset. From wanting to make something happen to desperately wanting something NOT to happen. I don’t want to make a mistake. I don’t want to give the ball away. I don’t want to be responsible for conceding. These thoughts can encourage inhibition, hesitation, and passivity. A defender who previously stepped forward decisively might now hesitate. A midfielder who previously demanded possession might start hiding. A forward who previously pressed aggressively might become reluctant to commit. Research on approach and avoidance motivation, particularly the work of Andrew Elliot, distinguishes between striving towards desired outcomes and attempting to avoid unwanted outcomes. Performance-avoidance goals have frequently been associated with anxiety and poorer performance. The crucial point? Protecting a lead shouldn’t mean abandoning positive, purposeful intent. You can defend deeper and manage the game intelligently while remaining proactive, decisive and committed. You can be tactically cautious without becoming psychologically inhibited.

One of the most powerful gifts you can give the people you lead is the gift of flexible attention… Mark Pope, Kentucky Men’s Basketball head coach neatly outlines the benefits of attention flexibility in this wonderful video… To me, leadership is about influence. It’s the ability to influence behaviours, thoughts, emotions, and feelings. Great leaders influence behaviours, thoughts, emotions, and feelings by helping their people flex attention. They help their people direct their attention onto strengths. Onto what better looks like. Onto support for teammates. Onto what’s important now. Onto the characteristics that help them. Onto the game plan or the business model. Onto the objections clients will have or the dangers the opposition will pose. Great leaders influence their people by asking the type of questions that guide attention. They suggest, hypothesise, surmise, offer choice, lend ideas…even instruct…all of which work in servitude of attentional direction. Leaders are influences. They use a pallet of techniques and tools to guide and steer behaviours, thoughts, emotions, and feelings that help their people optimise their performance.

The shortest of motivational speeches… But its message is broad and deep…it goes beyond great body language and moves into the realm of action. When ambitious competitors succumb to unhelpful emotion their body sags and slows. Sags and slows. Not obviously. Not overtly. Subtly. A smidgeon slower to cover space or to find space. A little weaker in the challenge or in that last step in a 50-50… A smidgeon slower A little weaker Sports are just games of action. Technical actions. Tactical actions. Physical actions. And because they’re games of action then any accompanying mindset is embodied… Focus is embodied Confidence is embodied Control is embodied Mindset is embodied. It’s embodied and enacted. In other words, the sporting mind is of the body. And so body language becomes paramount. But it’s not just about keeping great body language. It’s about focus - scanning and searching. It’s about confidence - a posture, a stance, a high intent, an aggressive intent. It’s about intensity - a heightened engagement, alert and ready… Alert and ready… Alert and ready… Alert and ready… What does this look like to you? See it! What does this feel like to you? Experience it… And so that’s why Geno Auriemma will never let you onto his team if you are unable to go again with your body language…. Go again… Go again… Go again… A hunger for continued interactions. A constant connection with the game. Gestures. A brain attuned to opportunities and dangers in the competitive environment as they emerge and dissolve, emerge and dissolve, emerge and dissolve… That’s what great body language is. That’s what it is… ************************************** In my new book, Compete, I introduce the reader to a ‘Body Controller’ to create a more sophisticated approach to considering body language in sport…

A small detail here…a little behaviour there! Michael Phelps understood the human condition and embraced it. He understood that inside of him were impulses and forces that were far stronger than any swimmer he competed against. Inside of him were thoughts, emotions, and feelings emerging from the firing of his brain to influence his decisions and actions and behaviours. A choice-point! Do I rise or do I sleep? Do I complete that set or do I settle? Do I focus my attention or do I let it drift? A nuanced answer! A sophisticated choice! “Even if I just get 10%, 20%, 30% from today that’s better than nothing” Interesting! This doesn’t feel like the voice of a champion, but this isn’t psych for the layperson. This isn’t a motivational guru story - it’s real life. Phelps wasn’t at 100% every day. But he sure fought to get all he could from a day, and if it wasn’t 100% then at least it was something. Michael Phelps, the greatest Olympian of all time had thoughts, emotions, and feelings…just like the other 8 billion people on this planet. And it was a constant challenge for him to manage his responses to those inner forces.

Identity is our sense of who we are—the roles, relationships, values, and group memberships through which we understand ourselves and feel recognised by others. Athletic identity is the extent to which being an athlete forms part of that sense of self—how strongly someone sees themselves as an athlete and feels recognised by others in that role. “I’m a footballer.” “I’m a swimmer.” “I’m a basketball player.” For young people, being an athlete can become a valued part of who they are. It can offer belonging, purpose, and pride. But when sport becomes all-or-nothing, a young person may begin to define themselves entirely through being an athlete. If they commit to this identity without exploring other interests, roles, or possible futures, this is known as identity foreclosure. This is different from simply having a strong athletic identity: the defining feature is commitment without exploration. The distinction between a strong identity and an exclusive identity matters. In a 2024 qualitative study, Haslam and colleagues found that retired elite athletes described more positive adjustment when they could draw on meaningful identities and relationships beyond sport. This supports encouraging breadth, although it doesn’t prove that multiple identities improve young athletes’ wellbeing. For coaches and parents, a useful starting point is curiosity. Ask about friendships, learning, interests and ambitions beyond competition. Give those parts of a young person attention and recognition too. Help them feel proud to be an athlete—and free to discover everything else they can be.

A character trait… Influenced by a parent… Tweaked by an important coach… An act when needed… Four mediators of Steve Kerr’s behaviour. The former Chicago Bull and current Golden State Warriors head coach describes the calmness he needs and the calmness he has when needed. But then… But then… …that competitive rage. That inner critic. That constant never ending search for excellence…all driving an inner monologue that evokes stress and fear and doubt and worry. And so…like us all, a lifetime of exercising self-control. One day winning that battle, the next torn apart by negative thoughts and unhelpful emotion. Self-talk, self-talk. Stop listening to yourself. Control the controllables!!! Let it slide, let it slide. Next action, next action. Take control, take charge… No matter what you do, and no matter who you are…your behaviours are a result of a complex biopsychosocial cocktail of traits, familial influences, peer influencers, and chosen attitudes…human qualities that require a lifetime of regulation…

Addictive video alert… A collection of shots from Steph Curry that were disallowed… Here’s the thing…these shots don’t count, but the feel behind them is worth studying. The kinaesthetic sense of a shot - an extraordinary feel for sending the ball towards the basket. The kinaesthetic sense - this is your sense of your body moving: the rhythm of your legs and shooting arm, the extension through release, the ball leaving your fingertips. Alongside vision and touch, it helps you judge and adjust the movement. There’s research behind this. Sevrez and Bourdin (2015) found that more accurate free-throw shooters also tended to have a better sense of their wrist and elbow positions. This was an association rather than proof that improving position sense improves shooting, but it highlights the importance of the information coming from the body. Body intelligence…how might you develop this feel? Here’s an idea… Shoot. Notice. Compare. Adjust. During a practice block, briefly notice how a shot felt. Smooth or forced? Balanced or rushed? What did you sense as the ball left your hand? Compare that feeling with the flight and outcome. Then explore different distances, angles and approaches to the basket. Give yourself opportunities to discover how the movement needs to adapt while retaining a familiar rhythm. Don’t train passively…train intentionally. I introduce the idea of Intentional Training to the reader in my new book, Compete. Develop the feel. Check it against what actually happens. For a developing shooter, the learning lies in paying attention to both makes and misses—and gradually connecting what you feel with what the ball does.

Locus of control… A defender believes the referee is giving them nothing. Every challenge feels unfair, and so they stop tracking runners, start arguing, and become slower to recover their position. The decisions this player makes for themselves matter…but so does the defender’s belief about what they can influence. Psychologist Julian Rotter’s concept of locus of control describes whether we tend to believe outcomes depend on our own actions or on forces outside ourselves. On the pitch, an internal orientation might sound like: “I can improve my positioning. I can communicate earlier. I can get ready for the next challenge.” Those beliefs can become concrete actions: scan over a shoulder, organise a teammate, recover quickly, defend the next ball. Sport contains real limits to personal control - opponents, officials, conditions, and luck all play a part. Taking responsibility means recognising those limits while continuing to ask: “What can I do next to give myself and my team a better chance?” Take control of your contribution no matter what. Take charge of your contribution. Go again, go again, go again…

52 points. 24 rebounds. Eight blocks… Victor Wembanyama’s contribution to San Antonio’s 112–111 win over Dallas was extraordinary. His assessment afterwards? “I can still do more.” He recognised room to improve his shooting. Here’s the thing - you can celebrate an excellent performance and see opportunities to improve. The challenge is making sure your desire to get better allows you to acknowledge what you did well. An excellent performance can contain valuable lessons. You can celebrate what you achieved while examining what needs work. In my new book, Compete, I call this Going Dark. Going Dark means stripping away the emotion of the game and deliberately revisiting the difficult parts of your performance. The rushed shot. The missed rotation. The possession when frustration stopped you sprinting back. You bring these moments into view, get curious about what happened and identify what you can learn. And the three mental skills I introduce in Compete- attention, intensity, and intent - can guide that reflection. Where was your attention before you rushed the shot? What information did you miss? Was your intensity helping you compete? Were you too frantic to execute patiently, or too flat to make the second effort? What happened to your intent after a mistake? Did you keep showing for the ball and committing to your decisions, or become hesitant? These questions turn a disappointing moment into something you can work on. “I was terrible in that fourth quarter” is too vague and tells you very little. “After two misses, I started rushing my release. Next time, I’ll use my breathing and a simple cue to return to my routine” is more detailed and gives you a response to practise. Going Dark has a purpose: learning. Once you’ve identified the lesson and decided what to do with it, move forward. Replaying the same mistake all evening adds little if you have already taken what you need from it. And give the effective parts of your performance their due. Your strengths deserve attention too. You can leave a game with confidence in what you did well and a clear commitment to improving something specific. That’s reflective practice doing its job…

Three thoughts for footballers…

Ah just watch this. Just watch it…even if you have no interest in football, just watch… Como scoring a sensational team goal in their Champions League destruction of Lens midweek… As a sport psychologist I’m looking at the psychology. And mindset is a constant in this clip. You might see actions and behaviours. I see… 𝐀𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐀𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧: how the player notices relevant information, becomes distracted or fixated, then redirects attention as the picture changes 𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐲: how excitement, tension, frustration or fatigue affect their readiness—and how they adjust themselves to meet the moment 𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭: how they continue to act purposefully when fear of mistakes, uncertainty, or disappointment might make them hesitant or passive Imagine being inside this Como move… You’re receiving near your own penalty area, with an opponent closing and very little time. Your 𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 picks up his approach, the teammate offering an angle, the space beyond the press. You feel the urgency, but your 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐲 allows for a measured first touch. You draw him towards you, release the pass and move again. Your 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭 carries into those next steps: give your teammate another option. Help the move continue. Now imagine that experience travelling up the pitch with the ball. Each receiver meets a different picture. A midfielder checks a shoulder before receiving; a teammate accelerates into space; another holds position to keep a passing lane open. 𝐀𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 keeps shifting between the immediate action and what might happen next. 𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐲 changes with it: patience to invite pressure, a burst to escape it, composure to connect the next pass. And 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭 keeps players involved after the ball has gone—supporting, running, creating somewhere for it to go. As the move reaches the opposition penalty area, excitement rises. You can sense the chance coming. The challenge is to keep seeing clearly: the defender stepping across, the teammate arriving, the opening appearing. One more purposeful action. Then the finish. A whole pitch crossed through players repeatedly bringing their 𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐲, and 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭 to the next moment. **************************** Attention, intensity, intent are there three mental skills I write about in my new book, Compete. Available on all good online retailers…

I really love this from Molly Miller, head coach of Grand Canyon Women’s basketball… A psychological breakdown… “𝐈’𝐦 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐧 𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐞, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐧𝐢𝐪𝐮𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧” Directing attention onto technique by lowering physical and mental activation (intensity). Drawing on Deliberate Practice (Anders Erickson)…highlight a specific area to focus on - affords the player the opportunity to increase awareness of technique and change it if necessary. Affords the coach the opportunity to critique technique (feedback). “𝐎𝐧𝐞, 𝐟𝐥𝐢𝐩 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫…𝐭𝐰𝐨, 𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐚𝐜𝐡, 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐞, 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐰 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐛𝐨𝐝𝐲 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞” Tech/tac attentional cues (specific, controllable cues). Reinforcement…but also a bit of checking for understanding (whilst keeping rapid pace of instruction)…demands on player activation (alertness and readiness) in order to keep track of instructions “𝐋𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐦𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬. 𝐈𝐟 𝐍𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐚 𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐚𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 “𝐆𝐚𝐩, 𝐠𝐚𝐩, 𝐈 𝐠𝐨𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐩” 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐝𝐨 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐋𝐚𝐮𝐫𝐚?” Reinforcing the importance of listening during the game - improving the understanding of in-game information for better interactions. Interactions influence actions (cultivating player listening and attention) “𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭’𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐝𝐫𝐢𝐥𝐥 - 𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐝𝐢𝐚𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐮𝐞” Goal-setting - human beings always have hierarchical goals. Linking tech/tac/phys (pace) with mental (dialogue). Putting these hierarchically first (perhaps more so than performance) “𝐅𝐞𝐞𝐥 𝐚 𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐛𝐢𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬𝐲” Technical cue (perhaps an external focus - handsy ON ball) “𝐀𝐥𝐥 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐝 - 𝐈’𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐝𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐞, 𝐧𝐨 𝐦𝐢𝐝𝐝𝐥𝐞, 𝐝𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐞” “𝐉𝐮𝐦𝐩 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐚𝐥𝐥, 𝐣𝐮𝐦𝐩 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐚𝐥𝐥, 𝐣𝐮𝐦𝐩 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐚𝐥𝐥” “𝐈’𝐦 𝐥𝐨𝐰, 𝐈’𝐦 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞, 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐬 𝐨𝐧 𝐚 𝐬𝐰𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐥 - 𝐡𝐞’𝐬 𝐧𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐲 𝐠𝐚𝐩, 𝐢𝐭’𝐬 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐚 𝐬𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞. 𝐇𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐦𝐲 𝐠𝐚𝐩 𝐈’𝐦 𝐠𝐨𝐧𝐧𝐚 𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐧𝐭. 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐈’𝐦 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐮𝐭? 𝐈’𝐦 𝐠𝐨𝐧𝐧𝐚 𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲” A broader comment on the instructions here. As a sport psychologist here I’m working with Molly to ensure players are able to process this information deeply and durably into long-term memory. This will help them better learn these actions and interactions…in order to be better at exploiting opportunities and dealing with dangers (anticipation-decision-making). This could include different types of instructions, activity design, the use of motor imagery, utilising video

Nick Saban…one of America’s winningest coaches sprinkling the room with gold-plated philosophical nuggets… When organisations, clubs, teams, coaches, and players are result-oriented…when their emotion wraps tightly around the outcome of games…then chaos can ensue. A rollercoaster ride. One week up, the next week down. Waves of positivity and negativity that capture attention and encircle collective confidence… As Coach Saban quite correctly points out…do the same great things every damned day no matter what. Imprint a great process on the hearts and minds of people across the organisation and stick to that doctrine daily. Don’t move. Don’t budge. Don’t waiver. Just stick…right there…to that process… …and let the outcomes follow. Of course, that doesn’t mean we don’t keep a close eye on the effectiveness and efficacy of that process. A critical glance across what we say and what we do is a must in order to keep the process optimum. A student of process…the mastery of process execution! But, consistent high performance under pressure requires the same tangible actions and behaviours across departments, in training, within the dining hall and meeting areas…and most crucially in competitive games. It’s nothing new…but ‘sticking to the process’ is a truism that must be adhered to… (Video from @thewinningdiff1)

“Hey coach, I’m not feeling confident right now” “On a scale of 1-10 how confident are you?” “4” “4? Great. Why so high? Why not 2? What’s working? What moments of great play have you had recently?” “Some great passes. And that delivery into the area last week was one of my best crosses” “I saw those. Let’s build on those together. Now, what might one mark higher look for you?” “Just some better first touches” “Ok, let’s go work on that” Scaling is one of the most powerful mental techniques you have as a coach…