16 Week Face of America Training Plan & Guide | Page 15
Tell yourself/your athletes, that instead of
thinking “man, am I nervous!”, say to yourself
“wow, I can feel the adrenaline, I’m ready!”
Teach yourself/your athletes simple cue words
that may be useful at the onset of negative
thinking, internal criticism, or self-doubt. Words
or phrases commonly used are: “Stop!” (using the
image of a Stop Sign), “it’s not true, you know
you’ve prepared, and you’re ready,” “knock it
off!”, “I’m not nervous, I’m ready!”, etc.
Progressive Relaxation
Progressive muscle relaxation is a technique of stress
management developed by American physician
Edmund Jacobson back in the early 1920s. Jacobson
argued that since muscular tension accompanies
anxiety, one could reduce anxiety by learning how to
relax the muscular tension. Progressive relaxation
techniques are still widely used today throughout the
world in sports, clinic