2. Next, he did some conventional body awareness imagery, reminding himself of his physical size and strength. He found it helpful actually to look at his physique in a mirror, to feel with his hands the muscularity of his legs, arms, neck, and torso. During this step he also thought of his sister, the natural athlete of the family. Now, with the maturity he had gained, he could appreciate that he too possessed many of those same wonderfully athletic qualities. Rather than contrasting his own physicality with hers, as he had done as a boy, he reminded himself that he and his sister were from the same gene pool. Rod found this step both calming and empowering.
4. Rod listened to his favorite music. In particular, he chose strong, soul-stirring symphonies, rock themes, and marches. He immersed himself in these themes, feeling their power. To the fullest extent possible, he closed his eyes and became the music, felt it coursing through his body. He felt the power and prepared to use it on the field. Then Rod melded this "sound track" into the final image.
Sports, Life, and Sources of Strength
Rod changed his behavior on the football field not by thought alone, but also by doing something different before practices and games. You might be reading Rod's story and thinking, I could make that kind of mental shift, like Rod did. That will make my game better. Experience has taught me that this is not very likely unless, like Rod, you practice the images in your Psych Skill Pack with the same determination you put into the physical side of your game. Rod did not rely merely on the power he felt in his images when he first discovered them. Rather, he practiced them in his Spot, in his practice settings, and before games until he owned the new mental approach to his sport. Only then did he try to take his "new head" into competition.
Rod showed the competitive maturity necessary to confront his fears, to stand up to them and draw power from the process. He was able to recognize that for him, this was the true challenge of his sport and his life. Once he knew that he no longer needed to shrink from this challenge he was free to use all his inner resources in the direction he chose. He could be a powerful athletic partner with his teammates and coaches in the game of football, a game he grew to love more and more as the years passed. He grew to love what he had formerly feared: the challenge of bringing every ounce of every aspect of who he was, mentally and physically, with him into battle if he wished to succeed. By the time he retired, after a strong 10-year career, he felt extremely privileged, not so much for the fan adulation or the money he had earned, but for the opportunity to know such a true and total test of his essential abilities.
Author David Kauss looks at how athletic performance fits into your own life experience. His "total athlete" system takes into account your internal strengths and weaknesses instead of applying a predefined set of mental training exercises.
3. Rod reminded himself of his lifelong fear of being left out and assured himself that he would never let himself be left out again. He reviewed the extent to which his teammates depended on him to support their actions in the toughness of the fray. This reminder was less involved with the mental aspects of remembering assignments than with the physical bond the team feels. Rod's teammates relied on his aggressiveness, his willingness to attack, even assault within the rules of the game. Every good defensive football player knows this bond; for Rod, it embodied the blending of belonging and physical aggressiveness unique to his own ideal football mentality.
With this preparation, Rod achieved the state of mind necessary to thrive in the disciplined mayhem that is professional football. He learned that he was able to enjoy this state of mind for the hours necessary to play the game, apart from the gentle love and support he felt around his family. This portrait of gentle giant transformed into fierce warrior in competition is not unusual. What is unique is the blend of thoughts, feelings, and images necessary to allow this particular person to make this transition successfully. Rod learned to feel and to be, in his own mind, two different men, one at home and the other in competition, with no need for conflict between the two. He accepted both aspects of himself, rather than trying to force one to be more real than the other.
Find more information about the book Mastering Your Inner Game by clicking here.
A member of the American Psychological Association, Kauss is also an associate professor of psychology at UCLA. He received his BA from Harvard University and his doctorate in clinical psychology from UCLA.
Even the most physically gifted athletes struggle in competition when they lose control over their thoughts and emotions. Mastering Your Inner Game arms you with the tools to understand, manage, and maximize your mental and emotional forces, factors that often determine whether you're an all-star and or an "also-ran."
5. Rod imagined donning his uniform, the high-tech armor of football, to become a warrior, ready for anything (dressing ritual, chapter 14). This final image was a particularly rich and varied one for Rod, representing the mental path he had to travel from loving father to battle-ready warrior. First he saw himself at home with his family, feeling love and responsibility for them. He felt the depth of that role in his heart. He knew that part of that role was to provide for them, to be strong for them, in his chosen career. He followed the battle sound track in his head through the process of gearing for the fight inherent to his sport: taping, dressing, putting on his helmet, pounding on pads, and finally, marching with his team into the controlled violence of the game.
David R. Kauss, PhD, has been practicing psychology since 1978, but he began his psychological consulting work with athletes and coaches--including the UCLA football and baseball teams--four years earlier. In his role as a consultant, Kauss has provided performance-enhancement training to athletes and coaches at the elite and professional levels. He wrote about his early work with athletes in his first book, Peak Performance.
Rod studied the week's game plan until he knew his assignments instantly in every situation. He felt this was an essential first step, tied directly to his need to be certain that his teammates could depend on him, that his role with the team was assured.
Mastering Your Inner Game: Part 6
Meaningful change does not occur instantly. As was true with Rod and the other athletes whose stories are offered here as examples of this process, the new images and thoughts-and the new feelings and new behaviors they lead to-have to stand the test of time in personal practice settings before they become strong enough to override older, less productive mental states in competition.
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