Scotland Lacrosse World Cup 2009 Facilitating Sporting Minds for Scotland Lacrosse Athletes Module 3

Respect Enjoyment Pride Support Trust Optimism Loyalty Adaptability Personal Satisfaction Fighting Spirit Belief Learns Achieves Goals Skilled

Objectives 1.The Zone or Flow 2.Self Talk In relation to Transactional Analysis Your Self Talk How it can impact your game What you can put in place to turn the volume down 3.Visualisation What it is and how it can help Ways of doing it 4.Putting it all together

What is The Zone or Flow? Flow is the mental state of operation in which the person is fully immersed in what he or she is doing by a feeling of energized focus, full involvement, and success in the process of the activity. It can also be termed as in The Zone and was proposed by positive psychologist Mihály Csíkszentmihályi You will have felt it when you have played in a match where: –You are unstoppable, are on fire, everything is going right –You are not distracted by anything, instead 100% focussed If you think about what you did differently in those matches, it might be difficult to explain, it perhaps just happened Thats because it does just happen, you arent thinking about it you are just doing it, just being You are free from any self judgement, you instantly know the right place to be in, the right move to make, the right pass to make, the right shot to shoot Think about it just now... Think about what it means for you, what it felt like when you experienced flow

What is the Zone or Flow? You dont need to overcomplicate it - just know what Flow means for you, and hold onto the times when you have experienced it when playing lacrosse Know what it feels like, think about it in 3D, with all your 5 senses – remember it The next slides will help you understand: –How to maximise your ability to be in The Zone or experience Flow by: Preparing Practicing turning down your Self Talk Visualising Using Cues –How to stay there, or get back to The Zone if you momentarily step out by: Awareness Using cues

P A C Parent Adult Child Self Talk - Transactional Analysis Eric Bernes Transactional Analysis model Can be used to understand interactions between you and others – also benefits how you talk to yourself The Focus here is how you speak to yourself, or your Self Talk and how this benefits you….. off the pitch, on the pitch, before a match, after a match around team mates, around coaches, around teams who you rank yourself better than on paper, around teams who you rank yourself not as good as on paper What is Transactional Analysis? Berne said that each person is made up of three alter ego states: Parent, Adult, Child Where: Parent is our 'Taught' concept of life Adult is our 'Thought' concept of life Child is our 'Felt' concept of life If you want to read more try googling it there is a lot on the web, though much of the focus will be the interactions between you and others, as opposed to your Self Talk Self Talk is simply those Chats you have with yourself. Transactional Analysis is a model that helps to understand the type of chats we have with ourselves.

P A C Parent Adult Child Transactional Analysis How does it work? When we communicate we are doing so from one of our own alter ego states, our Parent, Adult or Child. Our feelings at the time determine which one we use, and at any time something can trigger a shift from one state to another. When we respond, we are also doing this from one of the three states Effective transactions or communication is to and from the same ego state Ineffective communication is a cross over from ego state to ego state – Breakdown occurs P A C

A Parent Parent commonly represented as a circle with four quadrants: Nurturing Nurturing (positive) Spoiling (negative) Controlling Structuring (positive) Critical (negative). Adult Adult remains as a single entity, representing an 'accounting' function or mode, which can draw on the resources of both Parent and Child. Child Child is now commonly represented as circle with four quadrants: Adapted Co-operative (positive) Compliant (negative) Free Spontaneous (positive) Immature (negative) TA – How do the Ego States Communicate P C

Here is some self talk... The Context: Youve been training really hard, feel a sore throat coming on, you are going on tour tomorrow and concerned you may not be 100% TA – How do the Ego States Communicate Oh, Im not feeling well, poor me, Id better get some rest, itll be alright. I need to get tucked up in bed, lots of chocolate, my favourite dvds, I need someone to do my packing, maybe I shouldnt go on tour, Im really not well. Right I need to get to bed now, Right now, take 1000mg Vit C, 500mg paracetamol, drink exactly 3 pints of water. I knew it, I was telling myself I was over doing it, now look whats happened, I should have been having early nights not going out! No way am I going to be 100% for the tour! Yeh, Id better get to bed, get some rest, Ill be fine tomorrow. I must go to bed now, Right now take Vit C, paracetamol and drink more water, exactly 3 pints. Im not listening to that – Im phoning a friend theyll understand. Right thats it, tours off, I cant go, so... Right, pub! Doesnt matter if I get a hangover now! All of these comments are either the Parent or Child Ego state – what are your thoughts on which quadrant they each sit in ?

TA – How do the Ego States Communicate Oh, Im not feeling well, poor me, Id better get some rest, itll be alright. I need to get tucked up in bed, lots of chocolate, my favourite dvds, I need someone to do my packing, maybe I shouldnt go on tour, Im really not well. Right I need to get to bed now, Right now, take 1000mg Vit C, 500mg paracetamol, drink exactly 3 pints of water. I knew it, I was telling myself I was over doing it, now look whats happened, I should have been having early nights not going out! No way am I going to be 100% for the tour! Yeh, Id better get to bed, get some rest, Ill be fine tomorrow. I must go to bed now, Right now take Vit C, paracetamol and drink more water, exactly 3 pints. Im not listening to that – Im phoning a friend, I need a laugh. Right thats it, tours off, I cant go, so... Right, pub! Doesnt matter if I get a hangover now! Parent Child Nurturing – Nurturing? Nurturing – Spoiling? Controlling – Structuring? Controlling – Critical? Adapted – Co-operative? Adapted – Compliant? Free – Spontaneous? Free – Immature? Youre thoughts may differ slightly to mine, but as long as these examples help you understand the different Ego State thats all that matters

Making the Connections Themes appear…. When you speak to yourself as a Parent who is overly controlling and critical; you are most likely to trigger either a response that is Child who is Adapted and Compliant or Free and Immature I knew it, I was telling myself I was over doing it, now look whats happened, I should have been having early nights not going out! No way am I going to be 100% for the tour! Right thats it, tours off, I cant go, so... Right, pub! Doesnt matter if I get a hangover now! Controlling - Critical Free - Immature An Adult response is a balance.... You might listen to your self talk of the following interaction: I knew it, I was telling myself I was over doing it, now look whats happened, I should have been having early nights not going out! No way am I going to be 100% for the tour! Right thats it, tours off, I cant go, so... Right, pub! Doesnt matter if I get a hangover now! Then... Hold on.... I just need to get to bed get some rest, take some Vit C, paracetamol, drink more water – Ill be fine. The Adult has mediated and given as balanced, non-judgemental, not overly emotional response

Whats your Self Talk? Activity Using your diary entries or memories think about your interactions with yourself and your Self Talk when you… 1.Are about to play a match against close opposition, Wales, perhaps. 2.Are about to play a match against tough opposition, Canada, Japan, England. 3.When you are down by 3 goals at half time against a team who, on paper you can beat, Czech Republic. 4.Have played in a match where the team have won but you dont feel youve performed your best. 5.Have played in a match that you have narrowly lost and you feel you played the best game you have ever played. 6.Have played a hard fought match which you have won and played well. Write some of your Self Talk down and work out what type of interaction it is: Parent, Adult, Child And what quadrant… Parent – Nurturing, Spoiling, Structuring, Critical Child – Co-operative, Compliant, Spontaneous, Immature

So What…… So what is the consequence of this Self Talk….. As we discuss before: Effective transactions or communication is to and from the same ego state, and / or the Balance Adult reconciling the conversation Ineffective communication is a cross over from ego state to ego state – Breakdown occurs So when you have a breakdown in communication with yourself what does this mean? In the context of energy – you will spend a lot of mental and emotional energy battling with yourself… with all your noisy self talk, it may start getting louder and louder In the context of focus – you will be distracted by your self talk noise as youll be engaged in the battle and less able to take on board team instructions, know what you need to do to get ready for a match... you wont be in the zone! In the context of relaxation – you will be less likely to relax, again impacting on your performance or ability to get into The Zone or to re-energise yourself after a match for your next one So how does this Negative or Destructive Self Talk impact on your ability to perform your best on the lacrosse pitch? Youve probably worked it out…. It doesnt help!

Step 1 – Be Aware of it Youve already become aware of it from the activity, youre half way there. Now you know what self talk is, you will notice it more.... What do you notice now? Step 2 – Witness it, or Be Mindful of it Witnessing it, or being mindful (Buddhist term) really means observing your self talk from a neutral stance, not forming an opinion of what you are observing, just watching, in a gentle way Step 3 – Try not to engage with the conversation Youll find yourself engaging, but try and witness it, try not to engage, though dont start giving yourself a hard time for not witnessing correctly as thats you off on more engaging negative self talk Try distracting yourself with a cue (see later), by talking to someone on the pitch How do you Turn the Noise down? Step 1 – Be aware of it Step 2 – Witness it, or Be Mindful of it Step 3 – Try not to engage with the conversation Step 4 – Let go Step 5 – It will quieten by itself

Step 4 and 5 – Let Go; It will quieten by itself The magic is, when youre not engaging and just witnessing, you will let go of your negative self talk and it will simply quieten by itself. The difficulty is the harder you try to let go the less likely you will! How do you Turn the Noise down? Tips Dont get too hung up about it, or spend energy on endless analysis, working out was that Critical Parent or Structuring Parent – just be aware of negative / destructive self talk that isnt helping you Relax about it - No-bodies perfect even the most practiced, such as Buddhist monks have head noise, you will always have it, but remember you have a choice to engage with it or just witness it and let it go. Practice, practice, practice – As Im sure youve worked out Self Talk is not restricted to your lacrosse, it happens at work, with friends, with family… which is great as you can practice your techniques from the moment you wake up, to when you are trying to get to sleep! Step 1 – Be aware of it Step 2 – Witness it, or Be Mindful of it Step 3 – Try not to engage with the conversation Step 4 – Let go Step 5 – It will quieten by itself

Visualisation What is it? Put simply visualising is when you form a picture of yourself playing lacrosse in you mind How does it form in your mind? Itll be different for everyone but in the main there are 2 ways: –You are watching a film of you playing lacrosse as the Spectator –You are in your own film as the lead Character – as you! It will vary in amounts but it will be in 3D, it will be as vivid and as real to life as possible it will use all your senses... –What you see, hear, feel, smell, touch

Visualisation 2 Examples follow, when you read them begin to visualise, create your own film.... For you as the Spectator the picture may be: You see yourself standing on the centre penalty hash. You see the goalie, the defence sticks ready, your team mates sticks ready, you see the umpire, the sky is blue, its hot, the ground is hard. You see the ball in your stick, the crowd is silent, you sense the pressure, the dependency on you to score, the air smells dry For you as the Character the picture may differ by: You feel the stick in your hand, you feel the weight of the ball in the stick head, you feel the shortness of your breath after the fast break, you are standing stationary, you are anticipating the whistle......

Visualisation Things to remember when you are visualising There is no right or wrong way to visualise Most of the time you will probably flick in and out of the character and the spectator – dont get hung up about this You will find that the film you create will zoom in and out The more 3D it is, the better You can visualise any part of the match including: –Before the match, travelling to the match, the warm up, the line up, anthems, coaches pre match talk, during, ½ time, 0-2 down to Canada... etc etc Be aware of your negative Self Talk sabotaging your Oscar winning film... Use the techniques to turn the noise down

Visualisation – What to do... 1.Work out what areas you would like to focus on to with think of often they are the ones that you struggle with / impact your performance most. Examples.... –Your first touch of the ball –Getting into the right mindset for a match –Reacting positively to not being picked for the starting line up –Finishing off a goal, after a feed in, after a fast break –Saving a penalty shot, a fast break shot.... –Taking a penalty shot –Hearing a home crowd, The Czechs, being very loud, cheering, chanting –Opposition winding you up, pulling your shirt, pushing you around 2.Visualise them, direct the film, you are in charge, create them how you want you to be – which is very Positive, dont hold back, you can do anything... –Perhaps write them down, talk them out loud to yourself, to a team mate –Think of them in 3D, Zoom in and out –Make them as real as possible, you know what the Czech Stadium and pitches are like, use your memory bank make your World Cup episodes –This is a time to be a Free Spontaneous Child be as creative as possible

Visualisation – What to do... 3.Take yourself off to the movies... –Once you have your set of visualisations find a quiet space, relax, and practice playing your film episodes 4.Putting in a Cue –You can add a cue to trigger you to start thinking about one of your episodes, in which you are the leading role for example... –You have an episode of you positively reacting to not being in the starting line up –Think of a Cue you would like to use, it could be touching your left ear, touching the head of your stick, tying your laces... –Whilst practicing Run your episode..... you have heard you are not in the starting line up, you touch your left ear (in your film and in reality) you are immediately transported (because you can in your own films) to your time to go on to the pitch from the side line, Martha calls you, gum shield in, standing in the box, team mate running towards you, high five them, sprint on, cut to a free space on the pitch, receive the ball, drive down towards the goal, feed in to team mate, she shoots, she scores

Visualisation – Other Tips Once you have practiced your episodes and are happy with their direction and vividness / 3D dont feel you need to find a quite space each time you want to visualise – it doesnt have to be that formal. You can visualise whilst waiting for the kettle to boil, waiting in a supermarket queue, grab as many moments as you can to play an episode. Pneumonics - For the 2001 World Cup I use the Pneumonic SPEDI, to help me to focus on my visualisation episodes. It was a word cue, which I made up, and it meant... S – Speed P – Playmaker E – Endurance D – Drive I – Interlinking I put SPEDI everywhere and it really help as a cue to visualise... I had it as my screen saver On my mobile welcome note Printed SPEDI s off and stuck them on the fridge, bathroom mirror, bedroom mirror, light switches, anywhere which would be a good prompt

Visualisation – Other Tips Visualisation and Music I also put SPEDI to Music I selected a tune for each letter / word / episode – made the tunes fit with the episode I then played the music when walking to work and it helped me visualise, music was yet a further cue Each tune helped me to get into the visualisation I cant remember all of the tunes I selected but I do remember I used U2 – Where the streets have no name for Drive I realised the power of it when I went to see U2 live in Glasgow, some time after the 2001 World Cup..... and on cue as the song began there I was transported from a Live concert to Driving up the Lacrosse pitch at High Wycombe in a Scotland shirt

Putting it together - Real Example Finally what will also help you be in the Zone at the World Cup – is working out what you need and putting your needs in place What follows is what I worked out and what I put in place for the 2001 World Cup and it then varied depending on what I needed from then on.... Look out for: What I needed from me, from others, my awareness, my mindset, what preparation work I had done before hand and then used, or put me in The Zone Before the match Went through my ritual of: shower, spend a good 30mins chilling on my bed listening to music trying to clear my mind, surrounded myself around green people, or was by myself In Transit to the match Listened to more music, bit of visualisation, not actively chatting or engaging Tried to watch, through witnessing, if I was getting overly serious and intense, if so started a visualisation Warm up Began to energise myself, try to make things more fun, relax, check serious levels (witness), be around yellow people Start being more vocal, turn up my red energy, make a conscious effort to be less inside myself (witness) Linked in with key team mates – some sprints and ground balls with one (Clare Anderson), and some one to beat me up / hard defensive contact tackling (Fiona Reid) During the match Let the match unfold, used Cues – I had SPEDI written on my stick and would look at it After the match Wrote my diary, be around people who I could talk to, take me out of myself, give me support, who were good for me Relaxed in a bath, read (Harry Potter – think it was Philosophers Stone!)

Putting it together - Activity Think about..... Your before, during, after – What mindset you need to be in, what colour energy? – Who you like to me around, what colour energy? – Do you need anything else from your team mates to get you mentally ready, are they able to give that to you? – Do you need music – what music works for you, when do you need it? – Do you need some Cue words tattooed on you (remember they will only work if youve put the visualisation work in) – What else... They are your needs To get you in the Zone and to stay in The Zone

Summary The Zone and Flow Self Talk – PAC, know your self talk, the 5 steps to turn your head noise down Visualisation – your episodes, pneumonic, cue words, cue actions, music Know your needs Mapping out your before, during, after

And Lastly There is a lot in this module, so well done for getting this far! Know yourself – these techniques may work for you, they may not, some may work, others may not. Tailor your version of sporting mind support to meet your needs The last thing I would want is to put you off your game through overloading and confusing you. Do what you think will work for you – and if thats not changing anything, do just that. Id just ask, that you consciously choose to do nothing. From a personal note – before the 2001 world cup I spoke to a sports psychologist at Glasgow Uni, it was in May, about a month to go, like it is for you all now and she was the person who taught me the visualisation, pneumonic and cue techniques in this module... There is still time..... Good luck – Ive not been able to share with you, and work with you as much as Id have liked, but I know your team spirit will be soaring, your bodies will be ripped, skills honed, hearts filled with Scotland The Brave, energy bursting and the mind calm, poised and ready to play in the 2009 World Cup. Enjoy every moment.....

Thank you! Charlie Wilson Tel: