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| 22 Oct 2009 09:10:41 pm |
 A Mind to Ride - What Competition Nerves? |
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Think about a time when you felt really confident.
Remember where you were, what you were doing, what you could see and hear around you and what you could feel. Really allow yourself to enjoy re-living that experience as fully as possible.
Imagine putting all (seeing, hearing and feeling) of that memory in something like a brown paper bag so that it is easy to carry around with you. Keep dipping into the bag (as you might with some favourite sweets perhaps!) and enjoy savouring those confident moments as often as possible. This technique is called ‘Resource Anchoring’ and is a great trick to use just before you go into the ring or start the cross-country course for example...
Watch this space for the next strategy. In the meantime, A Mind to Ride is available worldwide - just click here for your copy! |
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Category : A Mind to Ride (for Horsey persons!)
| By : consulting2 |  Comments [0] |  Trackbacks [0] |
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| 21 Oct 2009 04:50:23 pm |
| A Mind to Ride - Overcoming Competition Nerves (continued) |
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Stretch yourself
Very simply there are three areas in which we can operate. They are the comfort zone, the stretch zone and the over-stretch zone. The basic principle is that we need to work mostly in the comfort zone, occasionally in the stretch zone and never in the over-stretch zone. (The same applies to your horse). To improve your confidence, experiment with expanding your comfort zone by working in the stretch zone - without over-stretching yourself!
Watch this space for the next strategy. In the meantime, A Mind to Ride is available worldwide - just click here for your copy! |
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Category : A Mind to Ride (for Horsey persons!)
| By : consulting2 | Comments [0] | Trackbacks [0] |
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| 14 Oct 2009 05:35:23 pm |
| A Mind to Ride - Overcoming Competition Nerves (continued) |
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Here's the next strategy to help you deal with competition nerves -
Give yourself permission to be confident
This may seem simple but can actually be quite challenging. Many of us sabotage our own confidence by telling ourselves that we are 'no good at competitions', 'hopeless', 'too nervous' etc. Pippa Funnel is a superb example of why it’s worth working on transforming those negative statements into positive ones. She attributes some of her success to sports psychologist Nicky Heath and has been quoted as saying
Quote : “There were a lot of low points during the years when I never achieved at the top and Nikki got me believing in myself"
Affirmations are simple positive statements that you say to yourself over and over again. If you tell yourself something often enough, you will begin to believe it. That belief will then become a self-fulfilling prophecy -
A positive belief will build a more positive attitude that in turn leads to more positive expectations. This expectation means that you will start noticing when you behave differently and more positively and so you start to notice the small improvements. The positive cycle continues because as you notice these improvements, so more positive beliefs will grow.
Watch this space for the next strategy. In the meantime, A Mind to Ride is available worldwide - just click here for your copy! |
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Category : A Mind to Ride (for Horsey persons!)
| By : consulting2 | Comments [0] | Trackbacks [0] |
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| 09 Oct 2009 01:00:04 pm |
| A Mind to Ride - Overcoming Competition Nerves (continued) |
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Control your breathing; Control your Stress
Breathing is one of the few subconscious responses to challenge that is within our conscious control. Its much easier to control your breathing than it is to control those butterflies in your stomach for example. Deep, slow breathing aids relaxation, reduces tension and gives a much greater sense of control over yourself as well as increased feelings of physical and mental well-being. When competing, make sure you take a few deep breaths before you go into the collecting ring and remember to keep on breathing! You could also say something like 'calm' or 'confident' to yourself at the same time. Smiling relaxes those jaw muscles and is generally great too 
Watch this space for the next strategy. In the meantime, A Mind to Ride is available worldwide - just click here for your copy! |
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Category : A Mind to Ride (for Horsey persons!)
| By : consulting2 | Comments [0] | Trackbacks [0] |
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| 06 Oct 2009 08:44:15 pm |
| A Mind to Ride - Overcoming Competition Nerves (continued) |
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Here is the second strategy to help you manage your competition nerves
Work out where your personal challenge lies
The perception of threat or challenge is an entirely individual thing. What stresses you may not stress someone else so working out exactly where your personal challenge lies can be helpful.
It might sound obvious but it’s surprising how many riders fail miserably on this score. So for example
• If you are the sort of person who performs best in an ordered environment (plenty of time to warm up etc.), it’s easy to predict that insufficient planning or lack of time will stress you out. The best thing you can do to improve your performance is to improve your organisation. Use your determination and your logical, rational abilities to help you manage your competition stress.
• If some of your competition stress comes from worrying about what other people might be thinking and whether you are going to let others/your horse down, you can help yourself by avoiding those 'what if' projections (such as 'What if he runs out/spooks’’, ‘What if I forget the course’ etc.) and keeping a tight rein on your imagination.
• If you are the sort of rider who actually loves being the in the limelight, the main threat inherent in a competition situation for you might be the potential for loss of face. However, you can use this to your advantage by acting the part - just behave 'as if' you can do it or pretend that you are William Fox Pitt or Mary King. It will also help if you can guard against your inclination to become rather frenetic when stressed. More likely than not, this will simply result in you upsetting your horse and making ever escalating mistakes!
Watch this space for the next strategy. In the meantime, A Mind to Ride is available worldwide - just click here for your copy! |
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Category : A Mind to Ride (for Horsey persons!)
| By : consulting2 | Comments [0] | Trackbacks [0] |
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