“You’re a rock star. This was awesome. We appreciate you. I am very thankful for your willingness to help out and be a shining example of theory in action. Super valuable to our students and I hope we can continue on each semester as you are available and willing! We’re indebted to you for the work you’ve done thus far.” — Dr. Adam Ross, Ed.D, Assistant Professor of Kinesiology & Athletic Performance Coach at Dallas Baptist University

My lectures at world-class centers of learning like Dallas Baptist University get at the heart of what we do here at How We Won.

It’s a treat to hear these students’ passions. I really enjoy it. And think you will too. 

You can play along using the guide we’ve created below. Or download it here.

DBU KNES / PSYC 4308: Psychology of Sport, Exercise, and Human Performance

Chapter 11 - Introduction to Psychological Skills Training

Chapter 12 - Arousal Regulation

Guest Speaker: Kim Izaguirre-Merlos, ACC.

I’m Kim. I’m 31. I run a private practice where I profile, coach and train MLB leaders and managers. This is my dream job - I like building championship-winning teams! My biggest challenge is probably “Myth 1: PST is for ‘problem’ leaders and managers only.” So I use my top strength to be direct and enjoy the learning experience as we stay committed to excellence and accomplish something significant. I’m here today because I love working with students and want to help you get closer to your goals and dreams. One question Chapters 11 and 12 leave me with is, “How can I help my leaders perform even better?”

View
Intro to Psychological Skills & Arousal Regulation Activity - Intros.

Take 20 seconds to introduce yourself.

Why: This helps us find a focus for the session and an outcome for us as a group and as individuals.

• Name

• Age / Academic Year

• Major

• Current occupation / dream job / biggest challenge getting there / top strength

• Why you took this class

• One takeaway or question from Chapter 11 or 12 reading

In the Students’ Words

“I’m a sophomore majoring in psychology. My dream job is counseling and I took this class because I love psychology and I’m an athlete.” 

Journey
The 3 Stages of PST - Educate, Acquire, Practice.

We’re going to play some brain games structured around this idea. A brain game is a safe space - a simulation of the real world. It helps us see when our mental skills show up naturally. And where we can strengthen them.

From your book: “Consider the balance between investing time in mental prep vs physical prep when participating in sport, including how to communicate with athletes and coaches about it.”

If you’re a student, nurse, police officer or in any other role using mental skills outside of sport then make this relevant to your context. If you’re human, you use your brain to solve problems and stay alive, which means you’re already using mental skills to live and perform your work every day. It’s our job to watch and learn from them. So how would you communicate with your boss, co-workers, teacher, classmates, family, friends?

In the Students’ Words

“Physical prep is the main focus in pre-season, mental prep in season.”

“Confidence is good.”

“They internally believe in themselves.”

“Both are important everyday. I think it is possibly more important than the physical aspect of being physically ready. This is because sometimes we’re not physically able to do something without the mental side of it.”

“Mental prep is important for both out-of-season training and during the actual season.”

“Being mentally prepared means being confident which translates to better performance.” 

“Mental prep is important in BOTH the off-season and in-season.” 

“I feel that a lot of mental prep goes unnoticed by us because of how automatic it is, but it actually makes up a large portion of our preparation.”

“Asking questions and giving time to mental preparation equals an increase in performance.” 

“Mental prep = in season + pre-season + physical = gradually all season / off-season.” 

“When we do something new, we are nervous and competitive. Doing it again makes us more comfortable and trusting.”

Listen & Assess

Meet the following expert in the field. You’ll hear him talking about mental skills.

• Steve Lerud - MiLB Championship Winning Manager, Chicago Cubs

• Jose Moreno - MiLB Championship Winning Manager, Seattle Mariners

• Javier Colina - MiLB Manager, Arizona Diamondbacks

• Lance Rymel - MiLB Manger, Chicago Cubs

Warm Up — (pg. 547 in your book Foundations of Sport & Exercise Psychology)

A strength is the ability to consistently provide near-perfect performance in a specific activity. Talents are naturally recurring patterns of thought, feeling, or behavior that can be productively applied. Talents, knowledge, and skills -- along with the time spent (i.e., investment) practicing, developing your skills, and building your knowledge base -- combine to create your strengths. When you spot one of the skills, shade it in on a scale of 1-10, 10 = strongest, on the performance profile below and write down the specific example you caught.

Performance Profile: Steve Lerud

Examples

 In the Students’ Words

“Good self talk.” 

“Learned from failure instead of dwelling on it.” 

“He was very determined - 9 - as he views struggles as non-permanent and he said you just have to keep going.”

“Leadership, 8: He’d tell them things that would be encouraging.” 

“Communication, 4: He’d relate things and connect through stories to better help people relate and understand.” 

“Courage, 8: To take on a hard job with optimism.” 

“He was very determined - 10 - and motivated that no matter the circumstance he would always ‘keep going’.” 

“Motivation - 5 - and courage - 6 - when he discussed his friend giving up, ‘What are you going to do when it gets tough? Just keep going.’” 

“Determination, 8. I also hear mental preparation and concentration.”

“I noticed motivation, self-talk and he might be more social.” 

“Rough patches - ‘Let’s keep going.’ and ‘Should I sit here and dwell on it, or just keep going?’”

“Leadership / communication - he’s willing to ask his friend, ‘So are you just going to give up on life at this point?’” 

“Consistent effort, 8. Motivation, 8.” 

“Consistent effort, 8 - He kept going and gave everything he could.”

“Determination, 8 - Didn’t want to give up regardless of what was going on around him.”

“Courage, 8 - Leadership in engaging with friends.”

“Mental Prep, 7 - Batting left handed.”

“Courageous. Framed around a narrative. Be mad about it or just keep going.”

“Concentration, 7. Determination, 9. Courage, 7. Consistent effort, 9. Motivation, 8. Self-talk, 7. A key example, ‘I just keep going.’”

Performance Profile: Jose Moreno

Examples

Performance Profile: Javier Colina

Examples

Performance Profile: Lance Rymel

Examples

Workout —

How would you interact with them knowing what you know now about them?

How would you help them keep developing that skill?

What’s one question you’d like to follow up with them about?

In the Students’ Words

“Recognize it. Don’t let it build up.”

Self-Evaluate & Debrief

Assess your own performance today.

• Where’d you feel at your best during our conversation?

• Weakest?

• Now that you know that, what are you going to do?
  

My Performance Profile

Examples

In the Students’ Words

“I'm a very hands-on learner so I liked doing our own evaluations of Steve. I'm very interested in this subject so I was excited to hear what you were teaching us. Thank you!!”

“Best = middle of the session when we were evaluating the results of the sitting/counting game and looking at how we felt regarding it. Weakest = listening to the clip of Steve talking; wasn’t able to hear very clearly what was going on, so my mind and thoughts wandered some. From now on, I think I should better mentally prepare myself before entering situations, regardless of what it will entail. I wasn’t very mentally prepared walking in today and I saw the results.”

“Strengths: stress management, leadership, consistent effort. Weakness: confidence, self-talk. I’m an athlete here at school and I typically have a hard time believing in myself and my abilities during competition.” 

“As the class went on, I realized that I became more engaged and concentrated on the material we were discussing. I began internalizing what I heard and mentally applying it to situations I may face as a future social worker. My dream is to be a social worker in Africa. I have some practice there as I was able to study abroad and intern as a social worker there. In class today, I would give myself an 8 on self-talk as I realized I was encouraging myself and building confidence through that encouragement. I found myself saying that I am able to counsel others because I have been equipped to do so. I think this reflects leadership and communication as well because it takes both of those aspects to engage with clients as a social worker.”

“Thank you so much for the encouragement! I truly enjoyed class today and really appreciate you taking time out of your day to teach us and get to know us. Thank you for your willingness to be so available to students. You are so kind and easy to talk to.”

“My self-evaluation is self-talk. I told myself there’s no need to get nervous. I got this! Once I started to talk I was able to get courage and say what I needed to say. My weakest point was confidence, I thought I wasn’t going to say the right thing. I enjoyed the entire video chat, thank you for your time! Thanks for teaching me that everyone has different thoughts and to not be afraid to speak about them. After you said that I was really pumped! Thanks. 😊”

“My best during my performance today was my courage to speak in class and communicate what I had to say. My stress management could use some work but it is getting better everyday. I enjoyed learning about the performance profile and that others see and hear a lot more about you than you can even think that reflect on yourself and your life. I liked hearing that the best athletes are just like us too. Thank you for talking to our class!”

“I felt the best in concentration ... just concentrating on the topic. And just talking in class was big for me. I don't always feel comfortable so building that confidence in speaking up. Weakest was probably stress management. I get stressed easily.”

“I'm at an 8 when I started at a 10. I felt strong at the beginning of class. I was excited to hear you speak. I have strep so I started feeling tired but I felt engaged the whole way through. I struggle with consistency so this was a win. I enjoyed the mind games you played. That interactive segment really kept me engaged. Thank you very much for taking the time teach us today. Really.”

“The places where I felt the strongest during this session were motivation, communication, concentration, determination and self talk. The lowest ones were courage, mental preparation, confidence and leadership. I feel like I need to work on mentally preparing myself so that I could be a better leader to those around me.”

“My concentration slacked sometimes but I think my determination to understand and contribute helped me get through the class and feel like I had a valuable experience.” 

“I found my confidence and courage grow throughout the class when it came to communicating my thoughts - in part due to others around me voicing their opinions as well. This was a lot of fun!”

“Stress management: I got stressed when I thought I was going to be called upon. Concentration: I was in tune and following along with what you were saying and trying to convey. Best: Concentration. Worst: Stress management. Enjoyed: Fun loving attitude of speaker / encouragement. I will try and work on stress and being more confident because I have good thoughts just a hard time speaking out.

“The chair game was an interesting time. And understanding this is a safe space. I noticed hesitation when I don’t understand. And confidence when I do.” 

“I caught: Talent is the most natural part about you, ‘it’s easy.’”

“Felt best during listening to Steve Lerud. Felt weakness during the beginning of class. Listening to your love (Kim) for what you do really helped me want to be more engaged.”

“Strongest = beginning of the game (sitting/counting). Weakest = listening to clip - couldn’t really understand / hear clearly so my mind wandered. Concentration, 6. Determination, 4. I am going to mentally prepare myself more before entering into situations.”

“Concentration, 8. Determination, 6. Stress management, 6. Courage, 5. Leadership, 5. Communication, 6. Imagery or visualization, 8. Consistent effort, 8. Motivation, 7. Self-talk, 6. Confidence, 8. Mental preparation, 6. I’m a hands on learner and interested in the subject.”

Closing Thought

“Action makes things happen. The fastest way to get there is to go stoplight to stoplight. Learn as you go.” Thanks for a great session today!

— Kim