FOCUSED MEET MIND
Updated: Jan 19, 2021
Gymnast Question: How do I stay focused at meets?
Great question, right?!
Humans have about 50 thoughts per minute. That's about 10,000 thoughts per meet.
Some of those 10,000 thoughts are useful. Some aren't. So how does an athlete focus on the thoughts that steer her toward desirable results? And how does she avoid thoughts that distract and disrupt her performance?
Eight tips for Staying Focused During a Gymnastics Meet:
The following steps build upon each other and they work independently as well. Pick a few to practice. Discover which ones work best for you!
Psst . . . Tools #5-#8 are my favorite!
(1) Cloud Watching
This first tool is not so much a 'during-meet' tool as it is a useful pre-meet ritual.
Picture you're on a grassy hill looking up at the blue sky. You notice clouds. Some are white and fluffy, others thin and sparse. A few clouds are gray. Some look like animals. Others remind you of broccoli.
You notice the clouds, but you have no judgment about them. They just are. They remind you of things. And then, they slowly drift out of view and no longer hold space in your mind. They're forgotten.
Thoughts are a lot like clouds. They appear. Some dark. Some light. Some, offering that your dog is the cutest, and others remind you that broccoli is worth eating.