As a competitive cheerleader in middle and high school, I can remember the frustration I felt after the 3rd, 4th, and sometimes even 5th private tumbling lesson of the week in an attempt to overcome a mental block in my tumbling skills. I spent so much time, energy, and money trying every avenue I could think of to get over the block. As a cheerleading and tumbling coach, I have worked with athletes in similar situations, who are desperately trying to overcome their fear and utilizing every approach I could think of to help them push past it.
I understand what athletes with mental blocks experience and the desire coaches and parents have to help in any possible way they can…
I knew there had to be a better way to tackle these blocks at the source, the mental game. With the knowledge I have acquired as a certified mental game coaching professional, research, and expert interviews, as well as my life experience as an athlete and coach, I have acquired the tools to help cheerleaders tackle their blocks at the source.
In this article, I will share with you how mental performance coaching can take your child from stuck to confidently throwing their skills with a proven system and support from a coach who understands exactly what they are going through and what it takes to overcome this! Are you ready for your child to have a plan to overcome their mental block once and for all? Let’s get them back to having fun in the sport they love!
What Is Mental Performance Coaching?
As a mental performance coach, I help educate and support the athlete, coach, and parent through mental blocks and fears. I help athletes recognize the limiting beliefs they have about themselves and their skills and understand how these beliefs are affecting their performance. Through one-on-one coaching and the use of workbooks and assessments, your child will begin to change their mindset around the block and approach to training and improve their mental game skills.
They learn how to set goals without having strict expectations about their performance and to implement effective strategies around practice and performance so they are prepared to show up with confidence and a peak mental state. I will help you, the parent, understand what is contributing to your child’s performance challenges and guide you on the most effective ways to support your child in an effective, tearless way.
Who Is Mental Performance Coaching For?
For an athlete to be successful, there are four main areas of training they need to develop: strength, technique, strategy and you guessed it, mental game. The mental game is arguably the most important because it controls how well you can access your other areas of training. With mental blocks, the truth of this is especially clear as you watch your child struggle to perform a skill they have done hundreds of times before in practice with expert technique, unlimited power, and the most experienced coaching available. When athletes lack confidence in themselves and struggle to focus, their hard work in the gym is sabotaged. Every athlete is affected by the strength of their mental game whether they realize it or not so if you are spending time and money on private lessons and extra physical training, working with a mental coach will ensure your child is getting the most out of their training.
Mental coaching is for any athlete who wants to learn skills for improving their confidence, focus, and performance. Most of the athletes I work with are perfectionists with extremely high expectations for themselves and their performance. They know they are capable of so much but they are filled with anxiety and fears about their skills and competition.
Here are some things to consider if you are thinking about mental coaching for your athlete. Mental Performance Coaching is a perfect fit for your child if they…
- have a mental block in their tumbling or other skills and have tried everything to move past it with little success
- tend to let their anxiety and stress take the joy away from practices and competitions
- are tired of putting in the work to improve their skills only to leave practices frustrated and disappointed
- have invested time, energy, and money into private lessons to achieve their skills but have not been able to fully trust in their ability to execute the skills by themselves.
If this sounds like you but you are not 100% sure if your child could benefit, you can take my free quiz here: Can you benefit from mental performance coaching?
How Does Mental Performance Coaching Work?
Overcoming a mental block takes a plan, guidance from a coach who understands what you are going through, and systems that set them up for success. The goal of mental coaching is to help your child process their situations in a new way. If they are dealing with a mental block, it is because of the way they perceive their surroundings and process what is going on around them. They are perfectionists and care so much about making everyone around them proud that they are filled with anxiety. Their standard for what is acceptable for their performance is set to perfect which causes them to feel like they are failing. As a mental performance coach, my job is to help them understand what is happening so they can identify thinking methods that are creating fear and anxiety and teach them tools to move to more helpful methods that build confidence and trust. They learn life skills that not only help improve their confidence and get back to enjoying their sport again but that make them proud of themselves and how far they have come. Imagine your child feeling so proud and celebrating where they are today, excited and motivated to push forward because they know they are capable of so much more… that is what you get with our programs.
What Does The Program Include?
For athletes to overcome their mental blocks it takes learning and accountability which is EXACTLY what they receive in my programs. Each athlete starts with 3 or 6 months worth of training. They begin by completing assessments that will highlight mental game challenges and create a tailored mental game plan so we know exactly what areas to focus on throughout the program. It also creates a benchmark we can use to track and measure progress on key mental game skills over the program. They then receive content teaching core mental game skills in video format as well as an application worksheet every other week so they can apply to content to their unique situation. The athlete receives accountability by meeting with their mental coach one-on-one each week to ensure they understand the material, know exactly how it applies to their practice, and know how to break down situations they are experiencing in real-time so they get results every single week.
Tracking progress, setting intention, and getting support when needed are things we strongly believe in so in addition to the coaching sessions and content, each athlete has an opportunity to mentally prepare for success weekly by completing a weekly awesomeness tracker. Parents are a crucial piece of the athlete’s success so we support them by offering private parent support coaching sessions twice throughout each quarter. They also have the opportunity to track their progress as a confident sports parent and receive weekly feedback on ways to support their athlete most effectively by submitting parent feedback forms. Additional bonuses and access to their mental coach ensure every athlete in our programs have exactly what they need to be successful.
Does It Really Work?
Well, I think I will let my athletes (and awesome sports parents) take this one…
“I am celebrating doing my back tuck off of a panel mat by myself!! I have not done it in a while and it is fun to be able to do it again. I did not think about it and just did it. [Through working with Mandy Patterson Coaching], I have learned to block out others when I am doing the skill.” –Avery B.
“I am celebrating my standing tuck and getting my tumbling back. The program has taught me that expectations are something I do not need to be focusing on and to stay in the present and I have been way more positive and more confident in my skills!” -Ryan S.
“We are very happy with the support we received from MPC. She was always showing encouragement and support through each step of the program. Understanding expectations and having process goals have helped make huge improvements in our son’s mental game. Also, being encouraged to trust in his abilities has been great. All the topics are great and the encouragement Mandy gives is incredible. She made him feel special.” -Jenny L.
“Mandy was a great support for my daughter. She was very patient with our crazy schedule. [Through working with Mandy] She thinks more positively with an attitude I CAN DO the skill. Mandy knows how to work with kids/teens. She is very patient and knows how to pull the information out of the athlete needed to help your child.” -Monica S.
“It feels so good to just be able to talk to someone that knows what you are going through and will help you through it the right way. All of the modules have helped me and I am finally realizing what works and what doesn’t for me.” -Mary S.
“I am celebrating being more confident in my skills, getting my round off bhs tuck back, learning to like beam more, learning that my negative thoughts can be changed and that I can have a new normal. [The Mind Over Mental Block Program] IT’S AMAZING! I WILL BE RECOMMENDING MPC TO ALL OF MY TEAMMATES THAT HAVE MENTAL BLOCKS 1000%!! I would tell them that it helps you just have to be open to new things but the best thing is what a difference it makes in your confidence!! And of course the one and only Mandy Patterson!” -Saylor S.
How Do I Get Started?
If you are sitting there thinking, “this sounds amazing and exactly what I have been looking for” and want to learn more about what is possible for you through mental coaching, I have great news! The doors to my private coaching programs will open soon and we will “save your spot in line”! All you have to do is join my waitlist by clicking here and you will be the first to know when doors open and enrollment begins in just a few weeks.
So let me guess, you are tired of seeing your child struggling in their skills week after week and want nothing more than for them to FINALLY feel confident again and get back to enjoying the sport they once loved! Today I have shared with you what mental coaching is, how it works, and success stories from athletes and parents who have reached the other side of the block. If you have tried everything you can think of to get them past this with little to no success, mental coaching is the thing that has been missing from their training.
To see what is possible for your child through mental performance coaching with Mandy Patterson coaching, click here to join my waitlist for my private coaching which begins pre-enrollment on 5/13 for a 6/15 start date. Still not sure if mental coaching is right for you? Contact us today at mgpcoach.com/contact so we can get all of your questions answered!
