Voice Lessons – How coaches get in athletes’ heads
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Re: Voice Lessons – How coaches get in athletes’ heads
#2This is very consistent with what I have read from sports psychologist Craig Manning[1]. So much of performance rests in the mind and of not sabotaging our performance with negative thoughts.
Re: Voice Lessons – How coaches get in athletes’ heads
#3The author mentions “The Inner Game of Tennis” as an example of how to train in images and feelings, not words, and I highly recommend it to basically anyone, not just tennis players.
If you’re doing anything that you might hear “don’t overthink it”, then it’s for you. It was recommended to me by a friend who played competitive Foosball; I read it as an instructional about playing chess; and later, after starting to play tennis, I read it again, and I think it’s equally applicable to all of those.
Re: Voice Lessons – How coaches get in athletes’ heads
#4The author mentions “The Inner Game of Tennis” as an example of how to train in images and feelings, not words, and I highly recommend it to basically anyone, not just tennis players. If you’re doing anything that you might hear “don’t overthink it”, then it’s for you. It was recommended to me by a friend who played competitive Foosball; I read it as an instructional about playing chess; and later, after starting to…
Do you mind expanding on how you applied it to chess. I'm curious how you translated it to this domain. Watching the seems of the tennis ball doesn't seem to translate in an obvious way to me.
I've read the book, and I'm definitely one of those that tends to overthink. I tried reading one of the other books in the series and found it not nearly as helpful.
Re: Voice Lessons – How coaches get in athletes’ heads
#5The author mentions “The Inner Game of Tennis” as an example of how to train in images and feelings, not words, and I highly recommend it to basically anyone, not just tennis players. If you’re doing anything that you might hear “don’t overthink it”, then it’s for you. It was recommended to me by a friend who played competitive Foosball; I read it as an instructional about playing chess; and later, after starting to…
Do you mind expanding on how you applied it to chess. I'm curious how you translated it to this domain. Watching the seems of the tennis ball doesn't seem to translate in an obvious way to me. I've read the book, and I'm definitely one of those that tends to overthink. I tried reading one of the other books in the series and found it not nearly as helpful.
For another take, there's "Thinking fast and slow". Along with "Happiness Hypothesis", these 3 books all talk about a similar split in two way of thinking.
Re: Voice Lessons – How coaches get in athletes’ heads
#6When I was first learning React, I spent time visualizing the coding of building-block concepts. After a few sessions, the concepts would become well-ingrained because I "simulated" the writing of the code hundreds of times in my head. It's faster than using a keyboard and physically performing the action, and I was able to do it during idle time when I was away from my computer.
I'm now applying the same method to CS and algorithm studies.
The speed at which I can practice iterations is the most valuable part. It also helped increase my ability to visualize things and "see" code in detail in my mind's eye. I won't lie, it is difficult at first, but I think the benefits are huge.
Re: Voice Lessons – How coaches get in athletes’ heads
#7Re: Voice Lessons – How coaches get in athletes’ heads
#8The author mentions “The Inner Game of Tennis” as an example of how to train in images and feelings, not words, and I highly recommend it to basically anyone, not just tennis players. If you’re doing anything that you might hear “don’t overthink it”, then it’s for you. It was recommended to me by a friend who played competitive Foosball; I read it as an instructional about playing chess; and later, after starting to…
Do you mind expanding on how you applied it to chess. I'm curious how you translated it to this domain. Watching the seems of the tennis ball doesn't seem to translate in an obvious way to me. I've read the book, and I'm definitely one of those that tends to overthink. I tried reading one of the other books in the series and found it not nearly as helpful.
Here’s an example for chess: I found that I was repeating the same lines and the same ideas over and over during matches. One of the key points in the book is to simply observe what you’re doing without judgment. I realized that I’d fixate (especially under time pressure) on an idea that didn’t work.
I tried working on this with deliberate practice on cycling through different areas of the board. There’s a mental feeling (not too different from the physical feeling of swinging a racket) of working through a line, and then moving to another area and trying a different line.
Re: Voice Lessons – How coaches get in athletes’ heads
#9When I was first learning React, I spent time visualizing the coding of building-block concepts. After a few sessions, the concepts would become well-ingrained because I "simulated" the writing of the code hundreds of times in my head. It's faster than using a keyboard and physically performing the action, and I was able to do it during idle time when I was away from my computer. I'm now applying the same method to C…
I similarly do this with language learning where, almost obsessively, I am just constantly reciting new vocabulary and expressions.
Re: Voice Lessons – How coaches get in athletes’ heads
#10Awesome article. Three things:
1. Esther Hicks is maybe my favorite contemporary philosopher. Her words are incredible. But she operates by channeling the voice of “Abraham,” a non-physical intelligence. Whatever that means, the channeling works. What she communicates is truly awesome.
2. Julian Jaynes — the idea that the voices in our heads were perceived as divine for ancient peoples. The voices in our head can give incredible power—or they can be our greatest barrier to success.
3. I need to get in touch with my coach again. She is amazing and so so worth it.