PGR stands for Pre-Game Ritual while PPR stands for Pre-Performance Routine. Both are similar in nature in aiming to prepare the athlete or team together prior to performance towards a collective goal however PGR provides a platform for the athlete to express cultural, religious, or spiritual beliefs, a sight that it is becoming widely more accepted and desired by athletes in sport. The All-Blacks Rugby Team possibly have the most famous PGR called the Haka. The traditional war cry from Māori culture was historically performed by men before going into battle. The NZ team now uses this as their traditional PGR to prepare prior to competition. A Pre-Game Ritual can be classified as any type of repetitive behavior that the athlete believes will bring positive affect or ward of a negative ones (Womack, 1992). Creating PGP can be easier for the individual ( prayer, totem, lucky jersey, touching the grass,) than a group attempting to create a team dance, song or tradition, unless there is shared cultural value or identity based on region or beliefs. It is possible though to find a common connection or create one. The benefits of taking the time to establish a PGR and incorporate it within your existing PPR (Pre-Performance Routine) may just be well worth the effort. Research ( Hagen & Shack, 2017) tells us that those individuals and teams that do will see improved: ·       Alertness – focus narrowed to align the team together ·       cooperation – working together, manifesting a belief or concept. ·       cohesion – united in song and spirit ·       interpersonal relationships – cultivating a sense of togetherness ·       motivation – wanting to represent something more than themselves ·       confidence – higher power or extrinsic force ·       feeling of being locked in similar to hypnosis ·       ability to block out distractions ·       a reduction in pressure as the load is shared.   Ultimately every PGR needs to be integrated with PPR to produce the best possible results for the athletes. Designing this requires the help of a sport psychologist or mental performance coach who can balance the physical and cognitive needs of the athletes and create an environment that is energizing but composed so the athletes start the competition with a sense of certainty that they are already on their way to winning. Let me help you design a PGR for your athlete or team today and fill the void that may be missing from their performance   Coach B   Reference: Jnr., J. E. H., & Schack, T. (2017). Integrating pre-game rituals and pre-performance routines in a culture-specific context: Implications for sport psychology consultancy. International Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 17(1), 18–31. https://doi.org/10.1080/1612197X.2017.1292301

Athletes tend to be the last person to abandon ship! The incredible level of self-regulatory control developed from years of discipline, direction, and action toward collective goals, is not a grip that releases easily. Add to this the athlete’s healthy ego, pride, and perceived sacrifice may even manifest in the young person’s mind as an accepted responsibility. They may feel they must go down with the ship so to speak (i.e., staying with a losing team, a horrible coach or ignore poor health and injury.) All for the sake of “being seen” as committed. Well, this a huge mistake! Sport is just a very small part of who you are as person and there is plenty more for you to take on. Do not for go the opportunity to excel in other areas ! Young aspiring champions easily become immersed in their life as an athlete. The wonderful world of sport brings with it identity, community, friendship, travel, a second family and the accolades from success are not half bad either, but the questions every athlete must ask themselves before they continue is this: ·      am I happy? ·      am I doing what I love? ·      does this still bring me joy? If you answered No to even just one of the above questions, it’s time to take a pause and talk through your future. Do not just reflect on your own. Athletes have a natural tendency to switch into autopilot and will just keep going. Now is the time to vocalize all the concerns you have out loud  with someone who can provide you an unbiased confidential opinion and help you gauge and understand your options, so YOU can make the best decision moving forward.   Understand that it’s not that “you just quit! “ it could be that your interests are changing and this is a natural transition out of the sporting arena. OR…it could just be that a change of scenery (new team, new coach, new environment) is what is needed to reinvigorate your passion. Athletes I know it can be scary to walk away from something you have committed a huge part of your life to. You are not alone in understanding your choices. Give me a call. I can help.   Coach B

So, what is the difference between goals and intentions?  Goals are in the future; Intentions are in the present moment. I often tell the athletes I work with that establishing short, mid- and long-term goals are great to have but ideally they will occur naturally and be the bi product of your intentions if the process, delivery and execution is aligned. Whether you are an individual athlete or part of team, creating individual or intentions for the whole team can help maintain daily focus and allow the team to have a joint commitment around behavior and work ethic. As outlined by Margaret Gilbert in her book on Joint Commitment (2015): “…a joint commitment requires obligation from the group to uphold collective attitudes and each member has the right to reproach a member who fails to play their part.” This works great in teams because it increases accountability and leaves little room for lazy team members to hide. Within “team intentions” is a set of terms often created by the coaches in collaboration with team captains, that will outline the shared beliefs, conditions, and mutual responsiveness to ensure each team member fully aware of what is expected of them. If you are looking for help as an individual or a team in 2024 to create the framework you need to execute your intentions to reach your goals, let's connect.   HNY Coach B   coachbperformance.com

Being Unmotivated is part of being human and can be compared to emotions that come and go. It is 100% normal to have days where you do not want to do anything and fittingly as a student athlete  there will be days where you should listen to your body and do just that. Mid season however, is not a time where an athlete can afford to fall into an unmotivated slump and this is where we must use ANY physical activity to generate what I like to call “motivational momentum”. The key to overcoming being unmotivated is to grind through the initial reluctance to start simply by getting the ball rolling. Change not only the scenery but change the sport. A tired, overthinking  brain can be very loud and will give you 100’s of excuses if you let it . Try instead to silence your brain and substitute your sport for a different activity. One easy way to trick your unmotivated mind is to substitute regular practice a with low risk, low impact sport that still generates blood flow and increases the heart rate. The endorphins from any type of exercise will flip the initial switch to stimulate your mind into a more positive state. For some athletes this may only take a few days, for others a few weeks. While it is clear forced action generates motivation I prefer to give a lethargic  mind a rest from its usual focus and still reel in the benefits of exercise to stimulate motivation to return. I always encourage injured athletes to still attend practice , observe and use it to stay motivated in recovery where rehabilitation activities can mind numbing and boring.  Do your rehab not at home but at the same training venue and along side your teammates. If you’ve tried all of this and there has been no change and you still have zero motivation and derive no pleasure from activities you once loved,  it may be time to talk to a medical professional as there may be another cause contributing to your unwillingness to fire the motivational momentum . Anhedonia is a mental health condition that is described as simply a loss of enjoyment in activities that were once pleasurable.  This is a condition that action will not correct on its own  and it needs professional support. Remember motivation is not a skill, or part of your personality it is bi product of what we do. You’re not lazy , you are normal and if you need additional support it is always available 💜 Coach B