I have just been reading some blogs by Pat Duckworth on the subject of sports ‘mind’ coaching which is one of the things she does as an NLP practitioner and hypnotherapist in the Royston area.
This is a good site not only for raising some novel ideas as to how we approach sports and exercise but also for a wide variety of tips on maintaining good mental and physical health more generally. Two blogs in particular stand out: ‘Confessions of a Running beginner, which describe her experiences with the NHS couch to 5k programme (with links) and the one on Seve Ballesteros.
I have often thought that running well, particularly when competing in races, is as much a matter of the mind and how you approach the situation as being physically well prepared. Pre-race nerves can be a major problem for some runners. One good idea is to set out a positive plan for the race and ‘visualise’ how it will proceed in your mind’s eye from start to finish, running the race like a piece of video. In this way you are pre-programming your mind before hand. This creates a positive ‘memory’ wich can help you approach the actual race in a better state of mind.
Pat’s site is: http://www.roystonhypnotherapy.blogspot.com
Nice!