Building Confidence through Thought Stoppage

Have you ever played in a game or performed a skill in your sport where you doubted your ability? Or have you verbally beat yourself up after making a mistake? Well, this simple confidence building exercise may be beneficial in building and maintaining your confidence. But first, what is confidence?

Confidence is the belief that you can perform certain skill successfully (e.g. making a free throw, recovering from an injury, making a decision on the field, or using mental skills). You can develop and strengthen your confidence. By maintaining your confidence, you will strive harder to reach your goals and be able to bounce back from errors and mistakes during a game. A great and simple exercise for athletes is thought stoppage.

Thought stoppage is an exercise for athletes to use on and off the field to build confidence. Think back to the questions above. If you can stop thoughts of doubt or stop dwelling on a mistake, you will build up your confidence. The main focus of thought stoppage is to stop unproductive thoughts and replace them with productive thoughts. Before we dive into how to use thought stoppage in sport, we need to develop a list of the common unproductive thoughts you may have and when you might have these thoughts. We also need to create a list of productive thoughts that could be used instead of the unproductive ones. To do this, follow these steps:

PART 1: Turning the Unproductive into Productive

1. Draw a line down the center of a piece of paper to create two columns.
2. Label one column Unproductive Thoughts and the second column Productive Thoughts
3. Take a few minutes to think about the common unproductive thoughts you may have before, during, and after performance or practice (e.g., I hate this drill, My opponent is better) and write them under the unproductive thought column.
4. For each unproductive thought, write down a productive one that can replace it.

            a,. I hate this drill -> This drill will help me improve _______
            b. My opponent is better -> I have trained for this event/competition.

1. Take each statement and come up with a word that you can associate the phrase with
2.             a. This drill will help me improve -> Improve
3.             b. I have trained and put in effort during practice -> Effort or Strong

It is important to create a productive phrase or word that has meaning to you instead of copying another teammates. In doing so, you will have an understanding of why this word is used to stop unproductive thoughts. The most important thing to remember is acknowledging your unproductive thoughts and transforming them into productive ones. Pick productive phrases or words with which you are comfortable.

Now that you have your transformed thoughts, the next step is to incorporate thought stoppage into sport. One strategy to do this is to use the rubber band method, which is explained below.

PART 2: Thought Stoppage - The Rubber Band
1. Put a rubber band around one of your wrists.
2. Snap rubber band when you have an unproductive thought.
3. Say your productive phrase or word.
4. Repeat steps 1 & 2 every time you say something unproductive to yourself. 

Example
1. I always mess up: Snap!
2. Control
3. Repeat as needed…

You can modify this method by replacing the rubber band with another action or verbal phrase. For example, you can say stop! when you snap the rubber band. A pitcher may throw the ball into her or his glove, a soccer player can toss some grass off to the side, and a basketball player can say stop. The most important aspect of thought stoppage is stopping the unproductive thought and replacing it with something productive.

The awesome thing about thought stoppage is you can use it in your everyday life. Think about when you have to take a test. If you are thinking you will fail, you can use thought stoppage. Snap the rubber band. Say your positive phrase or word (e.g., I studied and know the material, I am smart). By using the rubber band method in your everyday life, it will become routine on and off the field. As you stop these negative thoughts and replace them with positive ones, you will notice your confidence increase. Increased confidence leads to increased effort. Increased effort leads to a better chance of meeting your performance goals. And putting it all together will lead to a happier college experience at BGSU!

Adapted from: Barraclough, J. (2013). Self talk. Believe Perform. Retrieved from http://believeperform.com/performance/self-talk/

Bernadette Compton
Bowling Green State University

Practicing with Your Mind: An Introduction to Imagery

Practicing with Your Mind: An Introduction to Imagery

Have you ever imaged yourself walking through the hallway of the stadium? You can hear the noise of the audience and are ready for victory. Or, have you ever pictured yourself in a competition that you are not fully prepared for? You feel yourself sweating and your heart is beating fast. You are probably familiar with similar scenarios because this is our natural ability – this is imagery.

What is Imagery: Imagery is using the mind to create or recreate a situation that you want to practice. Successful imagery utilizes all senses to establish a new experience or relive a previous experience. You can think of it as creating a virtual reality video game in your mind. In this game, you are the controller. The more specific details you include, the more successful your imagery will be.

Practicing imagery for few minutes a day can help you to develop new skills or correct past mistakes. Research has shown that our muscle memory can be improved through imagery; through imagery you gain additional practice, become more confident, and reinforce doing skills correctly and efficiently.

How to Use Imagery: Begin by selecting a skill that you want to improve and identify the sequence of movements or actions needed to do that skill correctly. Then think of where you typically practice your skills (e.g., in the university arena, on the field). Remember, using imagery is not as simple as closing your eyes and having a day dream. It should be conducted in systematic way to be most effective. The following points will help you use imagery and ultimately help you to achieve peak performance.

1.      The scene of your imagery must be vivid. This means you should focus on using on all five senses during imagery. Mentally note all of the visual details in the performance environment; what it looks like and the sounds of this environment (e.g., the sound of the basketball bouncing on the floor, a softball landing in a mitt, the splash of the water, or the sounds of your coach or teammates). Try to add the smells (e.g., fresh cut grass or chlorine in the pool) or tastes (your favorite gum or Gatorade) associated with your practice environment. This may seem odd, but we are training the mind for familiarity, so every meticulous detail matters. Also focus on the physical feelings you have while completing the skill, such as muscles contracting or stretching, your balance, or the sensations of moving. Also notice the weather or temperature (warmth of the sun or chill of the ice rink). There are countless physical feelings that are associated with skilled performance and the more you can incorporate them into your imagery, the more successful that imagery will be.

2.      Your imagery should be in a first person point of view. See everything through your own eyes, feel your own body, etc. In other words, experience the skill in the same manner as when you perform it physically (e.g., see your arms and legs, but not the back of your body).

3.      Remain in control of your imagery. If you make a mistake or imagine something you don’t want to happen in real life, immediately open your eyes, take a deep breath, and begin again.

4.      Focus on the performance of the skill rather than the outcome. For example, if imagining a serve, feel the ball toss and the movement of your arm as you follow through rather than only thinking about scoring an ace. Imagining the correct technique and smooth execution of a skill is what will help you become more proficient.

5.      Include your emotional and mental states in your imagery. Feel yourself being relaxed, in control, and confident. Notice the excitement or pride in doing your skills correctly.

Now put this all together:

• Spend at least 10 minutes every day practicing imagery.
• Get in the habit of right before doing a skill physically, image doing it correctly (e.g., image a corner kick before taking the kick or imagine a putt before taking your stroke).
• Whenever you make a physical mistake, as soon as possible image doing the skill correctly and confidently. Remind yourself of what you can and will do in the future.
• Remember to include all the details of the environment and movement in your imagery.

Using imagery can be useful in various aspects of peak sport performance. It can help you to conquer a fear that has consumed you. It prepares you for that clutch buzzer beating shot in the dying seconds of a big game. It can help you to recover from a mistake as you immediately image correcting the mistake and imagine how it should have looked and felt. It is a long-term process, but it can become an athlete’s greatest weapon. Like any other area of sport, learn this new skill one step at a time, but there’s no better time than present. Start by picking up a pen and writing down all the sensory details of a sport moment that you would like to improve.

For additional information, see:

 Vealey, R. S., and Forlenza, S. T. (2014) Understanding and using imagery in sport. In J. M. Williams & V. Krane (Ed.), Applied sport psychology personal growth to peak performance, (pp. 240-273) New York, NY: McGraw-Hill

Yin-Kai Chen and Scott Graupensperger
Bowling Green State University