When Is. Useful? RACING PSYCHOLOGY. By Dr. Patrick Cohn. Copyright 2012 Peak Performance Sports 1

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1 When Is IG YHLGY Useful? By Dr. atrick ohn opyright 2012 eak erformance ports 1

2 U You may freely distribute this eak erformance -booklet to teammates, friends, and coaches, as long as the entire -booklet remains intact, as is (without any modification) including logo, contact data, terms of use and copyright information. he information contained in this document represents the current view of eak erformance ports, LL (eaksports.com) on the issues discussed as of the date of publication. eaksports cannot guarantee the accuracy of any information presented after the date of publication. his eak erformance -booklet is for informational purposes only. eaksports WI, X, ILID UY, H II I HI DU. omplying with all applicable copyright laws is the responsibility of the user. Without limiting the rights under copyright, no part of this document may be reproduced, modified or distributed for profit in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the express written permission of eaksports and Dr. atrick ohn. BY DIG WIH HI -BL, YU G BID BY H BV D DII WIHU LIII. opyright 2012 by eak erformance ports, LL. & atrick J. ohn, h.d. ll rights reserved. opyright 2012 eak erformance ports 2

3 When Is acing sychology Useful :: Dr. atrick ohn orward Dr. atrick ohn is a sports psychology and race psychology authority. He excels at coaching athletes in auto racing, motorcycle racing, and motocross, including racing teams to help them reach peak performance. s an expert in mental training for racers and the psychology of racing, he helps racers and teams improve teamwork, concentra?on, composure, and confidence. His goal is to boost the mental horsepower of your team, which gives you the mental advantage! Dr. ohn works with individual racers as well as team members to develop a mindset for racing success. Dr. atrick J. ohn began his career as the founder of eak erformance ports of rlando, lorida and developed his ace sych programs. Before that, he earned his h.d. from the University of Virginia in 1991 specializing in sports psychology. Dr. ohn has worked with athletes from many sports and backgrounds from junior golfers to professional racecar drivers. opyright 2012 eak erformance ports 3

4 When Is acing sychology Useful :: Dr. atrick ohn Dr. ohn has helped athletes from otocross,,, and hamp ar eries to iden?fy and develop the mindset needed to achieve peak performance. In addi?on to his work in motor sports, world- class athletes from the sports of golf, tennis, baseball, soball, football and hockey are among those who have benefited from his proven peak performance training strategies. opyright 2012 eak erformance ports 4

5 When Is acing sychology Useful :: Dr. atrick ohn ontact Dr. ohn: eak erformance ports 7380 and Lake oad, B 5012 rlando, lorida hone: oll- free: mail: atrickohn@racingpsychology.com Website: embership: opyright 2012 eak erformance ports 5

6 When Is acing sychology Useful :: Dr. atrick ohn IntroducIon When is acing sychology Useful? By atrick J. ohn, h.d. any drivers and riders do not understand the role that the field of sports and race psychology plays in improving performance. ports psychology is part of the larger field of sport science and studies human behavior in sports, the effects of sport on the par?cipant, and the effects of mental skills training on sports performance. he goal of race psychology is to help racers perform their best by iden?fying limi?ng beliefs and then improving mental skills to excel in racing compe??on. ental training or mental game coaching is the segment of racing psychology that concentrates specifically on coaching racers on how to break through the mental barriers that keep them from performing up to their peak poten?al. By focusing on the mental strategies needed to be successful in any race or opyright 2012 eak erformance ports 6

7 When Is acing sychology Useful :: Dr. atrick ohn compe??on, mental game coaching seeks to achieve the overall goal of performance improvement and enhancing consistency in performance. I prefer to use the?tle mental game coach because I think racers can relate to this?tle beaer than sports psychologist, as mental game coaching is an another facet of performance enhancement for racers. I make sure my students know that I am not trained in tradi?onal psychopathology nor have a license to prac?ce psychology. y professional background is in educa?on, physical educa?on, sports, and sports psychology. y experience also comes from the sports world as a former athlete, coach, and for the last 15 years, as a mental game coach. he field of psychology s?ll carries a nega?ve s?gma because many people perceive that sports psychology deals with abnormal individuals or problem athletes. However, this is not what I do in sports psychology. y role is to help racers develop mental skills for success on the track only. I work with normal opyright 2012 eak erformance ports 7

8 When Is acing sychology Useful :: Dr. atrick ohn people who are under addi?onal perceived pressures to perform in their sport. y goals are to teach racers how to be more confident, focus beaer, stay composed under pressure, prac?ce more efficiently, and develop more effec?ve pre- race rou?nes. I become an extension of the athlete s support team. Unlike psychotherapist or psychologist, I do not use couches, prescribe medicines, or work with abnormal behavior. he main difference between a mental game coach and a psychotherapist is that a mental game coaches work with racers on sports performance enhancement and not personal challenges (such as divorce, grief counseling) or abnormal behavior. nother myth that most people maintain is the view that mental and physical aspects of sport are separate. ome people falsely believe that you must first master perfect technique or have dialed in equipment before you can work on agtude, mindset, or mental skills. y philosophy is that you cannot opyright 2012 eak erformance ports 8

9 When Is acing sychology Useful :: Dr. atrick ohn separate the mental from the physical when it comes to performance. Decisions, thoughts, images, and feelings drive motor behavior (no pun intended). ace psychology helps racers develop confidence and focusing skills in conjunc?on with the mastery of the technical aspects of racing. How do you know when you need or could benefit from race psychology? tart by asking some key ques?ons. re you performing up to the ability you have shown? Do you perform as well in races as you do in prac?ce or qualifying? I am sure you know some fellow racers who have been labeled with great talent or physical skills, but have not performed up to their full poten?al. his is a primary sign that one s mindset may be gegng the in way of performance. Here are some other ques?ons to consider: You do not have well- defined goals or goal specificity. You lack direc?on. re you so self- conscious; you worry about what others think about your performance? opyright 2012 eak erformance ports 9

10 When Is acing sychology Useful :: Dr. atrick ohn Do you have any doubts about your sport before or during races? Do you get so anxious that you can t think straight or have a calm mind in races? re you mo?vated by fear of failure and does this affect your performance in compe??on? Do you get distracted easily by things that go on around you in your environment? Do you become easily frustrated when things do not go according to plan? opyright 2012 eak erformance ports 10

11 When Is acing sychology Useful :: Dr. atrick ohn When is ental raining Indicated? here are several signs that indicate race psychology or mental coaching can help racers. Below is a par?al list of the common signals that a mental breakdown might very well be holding you back. You perform much be-er in prac1ce than during compe11on Your prac?ce game is flawless, but in compe??on, your performance is below par. You feel free and loose in prac?ce and then are plagued with doubt or indecision on the track. omething changes between qualifying and compe??on, but you just cannot put your finger on what it is. Your performance in races does not feel as relaxed or as free as when you prac?ce. You have a tough 1me performing when others are watching you When others who you care about, (such as pit crew members, parents, fans, coaches) are watching you perform, you become too self- conscious of their opyright 2012 eak erformance ports 11

12 When Is acing sychology Useful :: Dr. atrick ohn presence, and lose your focus on the track and what you should think about. en you may even worry about legng others down or failing in front of others, similar to stage fright. ost likely you are afraid to embarrass yourself in front of others who are watching you race because of how it might reflect on you as a racer and maybe even as a person. You maintain doubts about your sport before or during races You perform with a lot of confidence in prac?ce and gain confidence from prac?ce, but when you hit the track for real, you start to entertain doubts about your ability to get the job done. I call this compe??ve self- confidence as opposed to prac?ce self- confidence. You start to think, an I really beat these other racers who have won? Do I have what it takes to get the job done in the race? Doubts can be disguised subtly in the form of a simple ques?on. When you ques?on your ability to perform, it is really doubt in disguise. In the absence of confidence, you have doubt. When you have doubts, confidence suffers. opyright 2012 eak erformance ports 12

13 When Is acing sychology Useful :: Dr. atrick ohn You feel anxious or scared when you race in compe11on You race free and loose in prac?ce or qualifying and do not have many worries, but in races, you are paralyzed by fear and anxiety. ost of the?me, racers with a fear of failure get?ght and anxious in compe??on because they want to perform well so badly. ear of failure causes you to try too hard and worry too much about finishes and outcomes. You are not sure why you race or what mo1vates you You par?cipate in racing at a high level but are not sure why you do. aybe you race to please other people in your life or to make someone else happy. aybe you par?cipate because your friends do or you think it is cool to race. You might not have any real goals that you want to accomplish or even know what mo?vates you. opyright 2012 eak erformance ports 13

14 When Is acing sychology Useful :: Dr. atrick ohn You a-ach your self- worth to your ability to perform ome racers are driven to compete because of what comes with being successful: fame, accolades, and respect. You have a desire to get your name in the paper, get praise from others, or rewards from your parents. hese mo?vators, although help you feel beaer about yourself as a person, are not the best type of rewards. When you are doing well in racing, it is easy for you to feel good about yourself as you aaach your self- worth to your ability to perform or be successful. You lose focus or have mental lapses during cri1cal 1mes of a race When trying to win a close race with other racers in your mirrors, you have trouble thinking clearly because of the pressure to produce for your race team, family, or fans. You forget to brake at the right?me or hit the gas and this causes you to give up your lead. You commit simple mental errors that you would not normally do in less pressure- packed situa?ons. opyright 2012 eak erformance ports 14

15 When Is acing sychology Useful :: Dr. atrick ohn =er a crash, you are physically 100% recovered, but you can t perform the way you did pre- injury any motor sports par?cipants who have sustained a major injury have trouble regaining their confidence aer they get back in the car or on the bike. ven aer the doctor gives you a clean bill of health, your mental scars have not healed. You may be afraid of crashing and re- injury and this causes you to race tenta?vely or defensively. lterna?vely, you may have lost your confidence and wonder if you can return to previous performance levels pre- injury. You have a burning desire to get be-er You may not have an iden?fiable mental challenge or mental block in your sport, but you want to improve your mental game and win more races or motos. You are curious about how mental game coaching can help you improve and get to the next level. You want to do everything you can to get opyright 2012 eak erformance ports 15

16 When Is acing sychology Useful :: Dr. atrick ohn the edge over your compe??on, including the mental edge, which is what I do at acesych. s stated previously, sports psychology some?mes gets a bad wrap because the associa?on of psychology with abnormal behavior. or this reason, most racers resist working with a sports psychologist or mental coach because of the fear others will label them as a head case. ven today, professional racers I work with do not want the public to know they are working with a mental game coach. I have worked with two high level professional racers ( & H ) recently who did not want to be recognized as working with a mental game coach. I respect their concern for confiden?ality, but it shows you that some people think that working with an expert in sports psychology should remain confiden?al mostly because they do not understand what mental training is about. opyright 2012 eak erformance ports 16

17 When Is acing sychology Useful :: Dr. atrick ohn ost racers, unfortunately, seek out my services because of a par?cular performance barrier, slump, plateau, or decrease in performance. s a mental game coach, I oen become the last resort aer having tried several other means to get beyond performance slumps. I wish this were not the case. ost drivers or riders wait un?l they get into a slump or something needs to be fixed and they have exhausted all other resources before they commit to working on their mental game. limited number of athletes work with me because they want to improve mental toughness (with no apparent mental block) and improve performance. I find that team owners are more likely to bring in a mental coach to give the team every chance of being successful during the en?re racing season. o me, this is the real value of mental training. he real goal is to help a team iden?fy barriers to teamwork and enhance performance by improving mental skills for racing success. opyright 2012 eak erformance ports 17

18 When Is acing sychology Useful :: Dr. atrick ohn How an acers Benefit rom ental Game oaching? ports and acing sychology is about improving your agtude and mental strategies to help you perform your best. he first step is to iden?fy limi?ng beliefs or behaviors that hold you back (I do this with my D or Driver s ental p?tude rofile or my online version called the Q). he second step is to embrace and develop a keener mindset about racing by addressing your mental game challenges and weaker areas (I do think by working with my students one- on- one, in- person or via the phone). Below is a list of the top ten ways that you can benefit from working with a qualified race psychology expert: 1. Improve focus and deal with distracions. any drivers or riders have the ability to concentrate, but oen put their focus on the wrong areas such as opyright 2012 eak erformance ports 18

19 When Is acing sychology Useful :: Dr. atrick ohn when a driver thinks I need to win this race for my owner while in the middle of the race, which is a result- oriented focus. uch of my instruc?on on focus deals with helping racers to stay focused in the present moment and let go of results and the consequences of results, which is easier said than done. 2. Grow confidence in racers who have doubts. he top racers in the world have confidence. Doubt is the opposite of confidence. If you maintain many doubts prior to or during races, this indicates low self- confidence or at least you are sabotaging what confidence you had at the start of the race. ome racers despite a huge amount of success cannot seem to feel fully confident. onfidence is what I call a core mental game skill because of its importance and rela?onship to other mental skills and your overall performance. 3. Develop coping skills to deal with setbacks and errors. mo?onal control and composure is a prerequisite to gegng into the zone. eople with very high and strict expecta?ons have trouble dealing with minor errors that are a opyright 2012 eak erformance ports 19

20 When Is acing sychology Useful :: Dr. atrick ohn natural part of sports. It is important to address these expecta?ons and help racers stay composed under pressure and be able to put errors aside so they do not become frustrated. 4. ind the right zone of intensity for your sport. I use intensity in a broad sense to iden?fy the level of arousal or intensity that is necessary for each person to perform his or her best. his will vary from person to person and from sport to sport. eeling up and posi?vely charged is cri?cal, but not gegng overly excited is also important. You have to tread a fine line between being excited and pumped to compete, but not gegng over- excited. 5. Help race teams develop teamwork and communicaion. major part of racing psychology and mental training is helping teams improve cohesion and communica?on. he more a team works as a unit, the beaer the results for all involved. o maaer how talented the driver is and how superior his equipment, teamwork wins races. opyright 2012 eak erformance ports 20

21 When Is acing sychology Useful :: Dr. atrick ohn 6. o insill a healthy belief system and idenify unhealthy thoughts. ne of the areas I pride myself on is helping racers iden?fy ineffec?ve beliefs and agtudes by uncovering comfort zones and nega?ve self- labels (name calling) that hold them back from performing well. hese unhealthy beliefs, such as I m not a good closer at the end of the race, must be iden?fied and replaced with a new way of thinking; a way of thinking that breeds success. Unhealthy or irra?onal beliefs, such as our team has the worst luck this year, will keep you stuck no maaer how much you prac?ce or how hard you try to win. 7. Balance moivaional tendencies for opimal performance. It is important to look at your level of mo?va?on and just why you are mo?vated to race. ome mo?vators are beaer in the long- term than others. eople who are mo?vated only for rewards and social reasons compete for the wrong reasons, such as the motocross racer who only par?cipates in sports because of a opyright 2012 eak erformance ports 21

22 When Is acing sychology Useful :: Dr. atrick ohn parent s desire. I work with racers to help them adopt a healthy level of mo?va?on and be mo?vated for the right reasons. 8. Develop confidence post- injury. er a crash and injury, some racers find themselves fully prepared physically to get back into compe??on and prac?ce, but mentally are held back by mental scars for fear of re- injury or wrecking again. crash can cause racers to avoid mistakes, hurt confidence, generate doubt during compe??on, and cause a lack of focus. I help racers mentally heal by dealing with the fear of crashing again or re- injury. 9. o develop race strategies and game plans. ll great coaches employ game plans and race strategies to help racers mentally prepare for compe??on. his is an area beyond developing basic mental skills that a mental coach can help teams. his is very important in sports such racing and many other team sports. I recently finished an e- book?tled Get syched for port: regame opyright 2012 eak erformance ports 22

23 When Is acing sychology Useful :: Dr. atrick ohn trategies to erform Your Best, which will help you with mental prepara?on for racing. 10. o idenify and enter the zone more o\en. his incorporates everything I do in the mental side of sports. he overall aim is to help racers enter the zone by developing founda?on mental skills that lead to a zone focus and the ability to enter the zone more frequently. It s impossible to get into the zone everyday, but you can set the condi?ons for it to happen more oen. I will add that race psychology may not be appropriate for every person. ot every person who races wants to improve performance. port psychology is probably not for recrea?onal racers who par?cipate only for the social component and to have a fun weekend. oreover, if you do not spend?me improving fitness or racing skills by working on these areas, then most likely you will not adhere to a mental coaching program. Young racers whose parents force them to see a sports psychologist are not good candidates opyright 2012 eak erformance ports 23

24 When Is acing sychology Useful :: Dr. atrick ohn either. It s very important that my student understand the u?lity of mental coaching and desires to improve his or her mental game without the mo?va?on to sa?sfy a parent. imilarly, a racer who sees a mental game expert only to sa?sfy someone else is not going to benefit fully from mental training. ace sychology does apply to a wide variety of serious racers. ost of my students (junior, high school, college, and professional athletes) are highly commiaed to excellence and seeing how far they can go in sports. hey love compe??on and tes?ng themselves against the best in their sport. hey understand the importance of a posi?ve agtude and mental toughness. hese students want every possible advantage they can get including the mental edge over the compe??on. opyright 2012 eak erformance ports 24

25 When Is acing sychology Useful :: Dr. atrick ohn How Does ental Game oaching Work? he first step in mental coaching is to iden?fy your mental game strengths and weaknesses. I first send my racing students, a D or Driver s ental p?tude rofile. his serves as a guideline and helps you think about the right ques?ons. When we first meet in person or talk over the phone, I ask you more ques?ons about your racing mindset and beliefs based on your D so we can develop a complete picture of your mental game. he next phase is to develop a mental game plan, which guides the work we do together. he mental game plan outlines what we need to improve and includes some basic mental game skills I teach all my students such as how to focus on the process and iden?fy self- limi?ng expecta?ons. nce the mental game plan is developed, we would begin our work on mental skills that apply to your specific challenges. I present a mental game program that is customized to your needs, but I do include a few founda?on skills for all of my students. opyright 2012 eak erformance ports 25

26 When Is acing sychology Useful :: Dr. atrick ohn Below is an example of how I would start my work with you as a racer. I begin with a specific ac?on statement and then summarize the key strategies we need to apply to your racing: 1. Dr. ohn s ormula: IdenIfy expectaions and replace with manageable objecives and high self- confidence. Iden?fy self- limi?ng expecta?ons such as what you think are good lap?mes or race finishes and any other outcome expecta?ons such as what you think others expect from you. eplace expecta?ons with manageable objec?ves such as focusing on one sec?on of the track at a?me and segng objec?ves around execu?on in the present moment. n example of this would be: commigng to the plan for each turn or sec?on. eplace expecta?ons with confidence. onfidence is belief in your ability without judgment of how you are doing (based on opyright 2012 eak erformance ports 26

27 When Is acing sychology Useful :: Dr. atrick ohn expecta?ons). Here we would discuss the differences between confidence, expecta?ons, and goals or objec?ves, which are oen misunderstood concepts. nce you grasp the basic concepts and skills, the applica?on phase of mental coaching starts. his is where I help you apply what you learned in our session to prac?ce sessions, qualifying, and races. We apply your mental skills to prac?ce, prerace rou?nes, prerace mental prepara?on, and post- race assessments. I oen go with my students to the track to observe and help integrate mental skills into your regular prerace rou?nes. inally, the follow up phase of coaching helps you apply what you have learned on a consistent basis. I have found that the best results come from a long- term applica?on of mental training, as you need to apply the informa?on, day aer day, week and week. he best op?on is to be followed over several months. In fact, I structure all my programs this way. I help my students stay opyright 2012 eak erformance ports 27

28 When Is acing sychology Useful :: Dr. atrick ohn commiaed to a posi?ve mindset un?l good thinking becomes second nature and the dominate habit. What is the ext tep? Your next step is to decide on a mental coaching program that will be best suited to your needs. I offer several levels of programs that I custom tailor to your individual or team needs. Here are the op?ons: acesych ace eam programs Individual one- on- one coaching onsite in rlando or phone coaching programs Virtual coaching as a premium member of my online mental training system (peaksports.com/membership) L DY! opyright 2012 eak erformance ports 28

29 When Is acing sychology Useful :: Dr. atrick ohn What acers re aying bout Dr. ohn: I think Dr. ohn s mental coaching has helped me immensely. It has taught me what to focus on in and out of the racecar. How to stay calm and focused have been key skills that I have learned which are important in helping me be a be?er and more confident racecar driver. -.J. llmendinger, ascar Driver Your mental rep outline is incredible! I used it to keep focused in qualifying and we were able to start up front and stay there! - Brian Hoppe, ascar Driver Dr. ohn, with your help I won my last race at Hockenheim. Your mental strategies really helped me improve as my results improved dramagcally during the year. I received a 3rd, 2nd, and then won my final race of the season! - Jonathan summerton, 3 euro series Driver Ive nogced a dramagc change in my confidence during performance and the results prove it! I can t wait to use Dr. ohn s mental game strategies as I compete with the best racers in the pro- ranks! - aa Boni, otocross hampion y confidence is much higher and I am able to keep it elevated even in very tough situagons with Dr. ohn s help. y mind is able to focus on the process instead of on the outcome and it has made all the different in my performance! - lex Garcia, tlan?c hamp ar Driver opyright 2012 eak erformance ports 29

30 When Is acing sychology Useful :: Dr. atrick ohn ontact InformaIon: or more informa?on about race psychology or mental coaching, Dr. ohn at all , or visit hap:// o read race psychology ar?cles by Dr. ohn, visit and click on r?cles. atrick J. ohn, h.d. and eak erformance ports offers a variety of mental game programs for racers including one- on- one programs in rlando, virtual or phone coaching, and mental game assessments. or more informa?on, visit acesych rograms. Want to fast track your mental game? ontact us about personal mental game coaching for motor sports racers! ontact Dr. ohn! opyright 2012 eak erformance ports 30

31 ake the next step towards! he onfident thlete eries he onfident thlete he omposed thlete he elaxed thlete he ocused thlete he earless thlete he onfident thlete D and workbook series, our mental training best seller, combines Dr. ohn s 20 plus years of experience and research in a cugng- edge mental training system for athletes. ach D and workbook program includes two power- packed Ds and a step- by- step workbook that guides you through 14 days of performance- boos>ng strategies. Learn the secret to staying confident, composed, relaxed, focused, and fearless in prac?ce and compe??on. L DY! opyright 2012 eak erformance ports 31