Dr. Randall Coeshott's Blog

How to Get you Team Performing at the Start of the Season

Posted Wed, 08/31/2011 - 23:07 by drcoeshott

The fall season is upon us an a new group of sports are about to get into full gear, with the NFL and collegiate football about to start their seasons.  Collegiate volleyball and soccer are already underway.  Countless teams at the high school level are also forming.  The challenge for all is to find a way to get the team performing well from the beginning.

Maintaining Positive Thoughts

Posted Fri, 03/04/2011 - 12:55 by drcoeshott

As sport psychologists, we often encourage our clients to create positive images and expectations about their performances because of the strong association they have on the outcome of the performance.

The Invisible Benefits of Exercise

Posted Mon, 02/28/2011 - 10:48 by drcoeshott

Very interesting article in the latest edition of Health Psychology.

Health Psychology, Vol 30(1), Jan 2011, 67-74. doi: 10.1037/a0021859

People, including myself, often underestimate how much they will enjoy exercise, what's interesting is the finding that the underestimate seems to occur across all types of exercise.

The key to get people to exercise is to increase their expected enjoyment in the exercise, particularly if you can make the beginning part of engaging in exercise seem more enjoyable.

Does feeling pressure mean you're unprepared?

Posted Mon, 01/10/2011 - 19:50 by drcoeshott

In pregame comments to the Oregon-Auburn BCS title fame, Oregon coach Chip Kelley said that feeling pressure means you're unprepared, and that his team isn't unprepared, so they don't feel pressure. So is he right? Yes, and a big No.

Without question, preparation is fundamental to developing confidence, a key mental skill crucial for success, and unpreprared individuals are probably going to have problems developing confidence, and thus likely to feel pressure, but do those who prepare ensure they won't feel pressure?

Replacing negative statements with positive ones

Posted Tue, 09/14/2010 - 15:44 by drcoeshott

I often encounter athletes that create negative expectations about their performance, whether it's the outcome of a specific skill they must execute or the final outcome of a competition.