Sean Davenport - Blog: April 2016

Saturday, April 23, 2016

Mountain West Elite Football Camp: 4/23 - Attitude

What's up Mountain West Elite athletes? This is the next installment of my sessions on mental toughness with you. Remember, I'm only posting what I've discussed with you. Nicole, Nick, Chris, and I all have our own styles. I'm sharing with you a brief overview of what I taught on.

This morning was another chilly and windy one! A great day to work on the theme of the day: ATTITUDE. Because it was colder, I kept it a little shorter so you could hit the field sooner.

What is attitude? It's your mindset; how you approach the life and the game of football. I strongly believe that you will always find what your looking for in life. If you're looking for reasons why it's okay that you quit and give up, you'll find those. If you look for reasons while you'll succeed in the difficult times, you'll find those, too. If last night's session with Nicole was on focus ("Right here, right now!), then today was about focusing on why you'll succeed.

When things get tough, I want you to simply ask yourself this question: "Where's the opportunity?" View the adversity as a chance to fight through the tough times. Coach Riley talked about field corn vs. a house plant. A house plant is high maintenance. You need to water it. It needs proper sunlight. If you're not careful, it'll whittle away and die. Then there's field corn. This sucker can grow wherever it settles. It doesn't need praise. It doesn't need approval. It still grows despite tough conditions. It still finds a way to produce. You are part of Mountain West ELITE. You are learning to have the right attitude and finding a way to produce!

Ask yourself, "Where's the opportunity?" when times get tough. Start focusing on the reasons why you're going to be successful. Work on this skill and you'll start producing like field corn.

Ask yourself, "Where's the opportunity?"

**Interested in working with me or any of the Headstrong Consulting staff? Shoot us an email or me directly. First session is always free!**

Sean Davenport, M.S.

Sport Psychology Consultant

Headstrong Consulting

sean@headstrongconsulting.com

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Mountain West Elite Football Camp: 4/16 - Confidence

Through Headstrong Consulting, I've had the opportunity to begin working with the Mountain West Elite football camp for a few weekends the April and May. It's been an excellent experience for me to really start jumping back into the sport psychology consulting scene, especially with such a great group. From the Mountain West Elite coaches and our growing team at Headstrong Consulting, I couldn't have asked for a better team to restart my mental toughness journey.

I recently started a new job with the University of Utah Professional MBA program as a coordinator, which has re-opened up my evenings and weekends to work with athletes in the Salt Lake area. I wanted to restart this blog as a sample of what I work on with the athletes I coach in mental toughness. While Headstrong is working with the Mountain West Elite camp each Friday and Saturday this April and May, I am highlighting only the sessions that I am conducting. Each of us at Headstrong have our own style and voice, and I don't want to try and emulate the other consultants.

Last Saturday morning at 7:30 AM, in the cold wind, I addressed the younger group of 7th and 8th graders. After years of tutoring junior high and high school students in a more academic setting, I've learned that I like to deliver things in just a couple simple, basic points for each concept that I teach on. This day's theme of the camp: CONFIDENCE. Below is a brief overview of what I went over with the athletes.

What is confidence? It is your belief in your ability to be successful. People will always have their own opinions about your abilities, but I'm talking about what you think about yourself. Specifically, what do you say to yourself when things are going poorly?

Think of being a good teammate. When someone fumbles or misses an assignment, are you yelling at them, telling them how awful they are? Or are you encouraging them and helping them move forward to the next play? On the flip side, what do you say to yourself when you mess up? Why would you treat yourself any other way you treat your teammate?

Confidence is not only what you say to yourself, but it's reflected in how you carry yourself; it's about your body language. You can't just talk the talk to yourself, you need to walk the walk. Right now, sit up or stand up tall, Shoulders back; head held high. Say to yourself, "I'm the worst." Now reverse it. Slouch and/or display your worst body language and say, "I'm the best." It's tough to believe yourself, right? The mind follows the body, and the body follows the mind.

Want to work on your confidence? Work on talking the talk to yourself AND walking the walk. You'll feel more confident the more you work on it.