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Mental Training For Performance Enhancement and Injury Management

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This is the first in a series of articles exclusively for www.AmericanFootballMonthly.com by Dr. Raymond Petras, a sports performance and injury management specialist.

The Objective
The objective of coaching is to enhance performance. We all attempt to do this through practice, strength training and conditioning. I wish to pass on to those of you who are interested, concepts that will aid your coaching.

Performance Enhancement
Early one spring, Head Football Coach Vic Wallace, University of St. Thomas (UST), MN hired an assistant, “mental” coach, not to work with on-field mechanics, but on-performance enhancement (sports psychology) and injury management.

The “Mental” Coach’s Team Training Routine
Mondays, mental imagery techniques were stressed. Athletes also were shown how to learn concepts being taught by the coaches. Fridays, the “mental” coach conducted a guided imagery session having the athletes review mentally what they had been taught during the week. The Monday and Friday sessions were mandatory. Thursdays, he held a non-mandatory session for athletes to work on special requests or problems.

Coach Wallace estimated that “80 to 90 percent of the players benefited in some way from these mental techniques -- not just in football but also in school studies.”

Following are a few successful cases utilizing mental training, with Coach Wallace’s athletes.

Gary Trettel: All-American Tailback
The first case concerns UST’s star tailback, Gary Trettel who sat out his first year to concentrate on academics. Through his second and into his third year, his performance was just so-so.

Technique for Ending a Mental Block
Gary felt that he had a mental block about running to the outside. Turning to the team’s “mental” coach for help, he confided that he had been able to successfully run to the outside before, but was at a loss to explain why he was having trouble now. The coach asked Gary to recall a time when he had successfully run to the outside. Then the coach told him to take a deep breath and visualize the time he ran to the outside successfully. Gary said afterwards he felt elated because, prior to that moment, he could not visualize running to the outside without fear. Gary was instructed to retain his feeling of elation and to visualize again his successful run. The visualization was easier and seemed natural, Gary recalled. “That was it, that’s all it took,” Gary said. On Saturday, the team had 242 total yards rushing. Gary had 218 of them. With his mental block eliminated, Gary improved each week.

Gary broke 12 school records in 1989 and set a Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) season rushing record of 1502 yards. The next year, he ran for 1620 yards. He had 6,041 career, all-purpose yards, and set a national Division III record for career, average-per-game, all-purpose yards (197 yards a game). Gary set 30 school records during his three-year collegiate career, and was honored as a Kodak All-American.

Most Astonishing – Pain & Injury Management
In a sport like football, injuries are frequent. Many times, using mental techniques alone, athletes are able to safely and rapidly return to the field by utilizing a combination of positive self-talk, autosuggestion, and relaxation after the team physicians and trainers agree that there is nothing else that can be done.

Safe mental techniques to speed healing, mentioned above, will be listed and discussed in a future article.

Mental Training for Injury Management
On the Sidelines*

All-American tailback, Gary Trettel, received a forearm injury from a helmet blow during a game and was unable to hold the ball. He also experienced a slight groin injury. After seeing the trainer, he went to the “mental” coach. In one series, using mental techniques, on the sidelines, Gary was able to reduce the groin discomfort, eliminate his forearm pain and improve his arm strength to nearly 100%. He returned to the field and played very well. Gary reported that he had some soreness for a few days after the game, but never missed a practice or play because of it.

Five Touchdowns
One week, UST’s nationally ranked quarterback, Steve Muetzel was unable to practice Monday through Wednesday because of a painful shoulder joint in his throwing arm. Conventional treatment produced minimal relief. On Thursday, Coach Wallace asked his “mental” coach to work with Steve. In a short time, using only mental techniques, Steve’s pain was gone. Steve, monitored by the team physicians and trainers, practiced, and then played the entire game throwing five touchdown passes without any pain.

The Coach’s Son
Once when Coach Wallace’s son, Mark, was in high school, his physical skills were compromised by a hip flexor muscle injury. Wallace had his “mental” coach spend some time with his son just before his game. This “work” enabled him to at start on offense and defense, intercept a pass and punt for a 40-yard average.

Most Incredible of All – Help at a Distance
In 1993, Wallace’s team, Lambuth University, Jackson, TN, needed to win two games for a conference championship and a national play-off spot. It would be the first one ever for the University. Early in the week, Wallace’s All-American tight end, Justin Taylor, hurt his ankle. On Thursday Justin was still on crutches and unable to put weight on his ankle, so Wallace contacted his former “mental” coach, who was in Minnesota.

Over the Phone
“Justin hobbled into my office on crutches… After my ‘mental’ coach worked on him for 40 minutes over the phone from MN, Justin walked out of my office holding the crutches in his hands. He went straight to our trainer, who indicated that it was the most amazing thing he had ever seen. Justin jogged and sprinted on the sideline that night. The next day, he was at full speed and never missed a play for the remainder of the season, which included two regular season and three playoff games,” stated Wallace.

Working Hand in Hand with Physicians and Trainers
Coach Wallace is careful to point out that his “mental” coach always worked in conjunction with the team’s physicians and trainers, on the sidelines and in the training room. And he stated, “They had the final say as to whether the athlete was healthy enough to play.” He also reported that, “In the 19+ years that I have utilized a ‘mental’ coach to work with my athletes for injuries, there has never been any problem ever, observed or reported.”

Coach Wallace says: “I AM A Believer”
“My ‘mental’ coach has shown me that mental training can have a profound effect on a player's ability to learn, their intensity, their performance and their recovery from injury. Mental training does not replace practice, the coach or the trainers and physicians. Mental training is a tool that I have found extremely effective. We, as coaches, tell our athletes to get their heads into the game, psyche your self up, be tough and play through pain. But few of us have ever taught them how to do this. We need to give these players the opportunity to work with professionals to learn these skills and become better athletes and individuals.”

Recommendation
“I highly recommend that coaches take the next step. Hire a mental trainer (performance coach) and start to integrate mental training into your game and practice programs,” stated Wallace.

There is more
Once athletes are shown how to deal with their injuries using mental techniques their performance improves dramatically. But that’s another story….

Summary-Eliminating a Mental Block
So, if you have an athlete with a mental block, lack of focus or just not playing up to par, have him:

1. Get in a comfortable position. Sitting is better than lying down.
2. Take some deep breaths to calm down, relax. Not to become limp, but to attain optimum, alert relaxation.
3. Visualize past success(s) in the situation(s) with which he is having difficulty. If you have had no successes, then visualize how it would look if you were successful.
4. Feel the positive emotion and notice where it’s located in your body.
5. Bring on that positive emotion, then re-visualize the successful outcome.

Will this technique get you miracles? Maybe. “Give yourself Permission to Get Better™” Dr. Raymond J. Petras, Ph.D.

Question or Idea for an Article
Have an idea for an article or you would like more information on a particular subject? Write me with your request.

Next Month
In next month’s article, INJURY: A MIND/BODY & SPIRIT RELATIONSHIP?
I will discuss the interrelationship of the mind and body and how it affects healing and performance.

Biographical Sketch
As special thanks to Coach Wallace for his help with this article. Mr. Vic Wallace has been Head Football Coach at William Jewell College, MO (’81-86), University of St. Thomas, St. Paul, MN (’87-92) and Lambuth University, Jackson, TN (’93-Present). He has led his football teams to numerous conference titles and national tournaments. Recently Coach Wallace has assumed a new position at Lambuth, but is actively pursuing a new Head Football Coach position. He may be reached at 731.394.3370 or by email at: wallace-v@lambuth.edu.

Dr. Raymond J. Petras, B.E., M.A., Ph.D. is an elite sports performance & injury management specialist, international lecturer, author, professor, researcher and world cup team doctor. His work encompasses most sports from young amateur athletes, to Olympians and professionals, as well as members of the business and the medical communities. He is available for individual and team consultation, and may be reached at 1.888.447.1429; by email at drpetras@reliefforyou.com More information is available on his website www.reliefforyou.com






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