Rob Bell's Blog, page 32
April 24, 2014
Why confidence is just a feeling…
I have had a few head coaches disagree with this statement that “confidence is a just a feeling.” Folks on twitter have messaged me with their own arguments about confidence. Even some mental coaches disagree with this statement.
Yet, I’ll defend it…I’m stubborn.
Confidence is the most important part of mental toughness, because it affects all other skills. We do things and attempt things we’ll be successful at. Belief & trust are also part of the same concept of confidence. So, why is it just a feeling?
Research has shown that there are four sources of confidence (check out this video here). Physiological states are one source. How we feel!!
1. Have you ever finished a workout or a run, looked at yourself in the mirror and thought, “Hey, I look good.” Honestly, you look absolutely no different from when you began, except you now feel different.
2. When athletes or musicians perform at their best, I ask them; what were you thinking about? Their answer, “ nothing.”
3. Elite performers all stress that when they are playing their best, the event actually slows down. They feel in complete control.
4. The first thing that goes when an athlete starts performing poorly is the lack of FEEL. Their play or technique may look fine, but if they don’t feel confident, they will search to get a feeling that works.
5. Our prayers are not automatically answered, but we feel better after doing so, or even meditating. We feel at peace.
Body language doesn’t talk, it screams.
Mental coaches, myself included, teach ways to become confident by changing our physiology, our body language, and how we feel. If confidence wasn’t a feeling, then why stress focused breathing, becoming centered, or getting B.I.G.?
What happens when we lose confidence however is that our feeling now turns into thoughts. We just begin to think too much. We no longer trust our instincts, our gut. Instead, we get stuck inside of our own head and try to think our way into right acting.
The real key is still finding a way to win when we are NOT confident! Need an assist? contact us…
Dr. Rob Bell is a Sport Psychology coach. DRB & Associates based in Indianapolis works with professional athletes & corporate athletes, coaches, and teams building their Mental Toughness. His 2nd book titled The Hinge: The Importance of Mental Toughness
was recently released. Follow on twitter @drrobbell or contact drrobbell@drrobbell.com
April 16, 2014
The Toxic “At Least” Mentality
I have bad days, I get down, I lose belief and I’ll feel like I am not good enough. I also have days where I do well, but for many reasons, I just didn’t perform up to my own standards.
I don’t like feeling like this way, so what occurs when I get like this however is I develop the toxic “at least” mentality.
“AT LEAST” I ran today, “AT LEAST” I am not as slow as that person, “AT LEAST” I showed up, “AT LEAST” we played well.
What I am really saying to myself is “at least” I am not a loser… But, I am also saying, I am not a winner…The “at least” mentality is dangerous and systemic. Once it enters our vocabulary either within ourselves or our team, it can easily seep into our core beliefs.
The “at least” mentality means we chose to make an excuse rather than an extended effort. Settling was okay. Mediocre wasn’t all that bad. Going through the motions became an option. We chose to live inside the comfort zone. I basically valued my self worth as a “maybe” rather than a “yes.”
The toughest part of winning is the will to prepare. Committing to everything that is needed to win, means developing a winner’s mindset as opposed to an “at least” mentality. We must instill the belief that we deserve what we are going to achieve because of our preparation, because at no point did we settle.
However, what lacks is the belief…We develop an “at least” mentality because we wanted, we just weren’t willing… We weren’t really willing to sacrifice, willing to develop the needed focus, or willing to work on our weaknesses. We looked around us and said “I’m not all that bad.” Preparation and motivation involves the belief in oneself and that our goal or vision can be reached! Setbacks, adversity, and struggle are going to happen, but it is how we overcome these obstacles.
The bottom line is that losing happens way more than winning ever does. There is always a runner-up finish, a 2nd place team, and second best in show. The question must be asked, is “at least” and acceptable option for you?
Need an assist eliminating the “At Least” mentality? Contact us:
Dr. Rob Bell is a Sport Psychology coach. DRB & Associates based in Indianapolis works with athletes, coaches, and teams building their Mental Toughness. His 2nd book titled The Hinge: The Importance of Mental Toughness was recently released. Follow on twitter @drrobbell or contact drrobbell@drrobbell.com
April 10, 2014
3 simple ways to improve your team’s internal motivation…
Most coaches, executives, and owners want their team to be more self-driven and internally motivated. However, the measures that leaders employ are usually all externally driven. We often refer to outside measures to help facilitate change, namely rewards for good results or punishments for poor effort or outcomes.
If you are searching for more internal drive from your team, here are three metrics to examine.
A- Autonomy- People need to feel empowered in their position, that they can make decisions on their own and have a voice in their development.
R- Relatedness- People want to feel a part of the team, that what they do matters, and they are contributing to something larger than themselves.
C- Competence- People want to know that they are good at what they do. We do activities and perform tasks in which we are competent. Confidence breeds success.
If a team is lacking in mental toughness and motivation, perhaps one of these principles is off. For example, a person may feel he/she can make decisions (High A) and is good at it (High C) but not part of a team or recognized for their effort (Low R).
Here are three ways to improve the internal motivation.
A- Autonomy- Have individual 1-1 meetings and regular check-ins with your team. Ask for and get their input about what is working and what needs changed.
R- Relatedness- Have functions or competitions. Internal competitions are good; it can build the strength of a team and hanging out with one another enhances the camaraderie.
C- Competence- Studies have shown that individuals will meet the expectations set forth by their coaches. In turn, positive feedback for effort increases the internal motivation, while negative feedback will decrease one’s motivation.
Sources: Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (1985). Intrinsic motivation and self-determination in human behavior. New York: Plenum.Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (2000). The “what” and “why” of goal pursuits: Human needs and the self-determination of behavior. Psychological Inquiry, 11, 227-268.
Need an assist evaluating which of these qualities most applies to your team? Contact us below…
Dr. Rob Bell is a Sport Psychology coach. DRB & Associates based in Indianapolis works with athletes, coaches, and teams building their Mental Toughness. His 2nd book titled The Hinge: The Importance of Mental Toughness was recently released. Follow on twitter @drrobbell or contact drrobbell@drrobbell.com
April 7, 2014
Sport Psychology Internship opportunity
DRB & Associates, based in Indianapolis, IN, will offer an unique 8-week applied sport psychology internship (May-August).
Outline:
DRB & Associates (www.drrobbell.com) offer mental training to athletes, coaches, and teams in and around the greater Indianapolis region. The internship will combine and provide service needs in conjunction with placement of local sport facilities. Objectives will address performance enhancement with future and current athletes in teams of a variety of sports. Additionally, the focus will address needs of specific populations within exercise psychology.
Objectives:
● Facilitate Mental Toughness classes to specific populations.
● Video development.
● Writing and editing of Mental Toughness newsletters.
● Community outreach and education with sports teams.
● Naturalistic observation and feedback of area athletes, coaches, and teams.
● Weekly sessions with team members on building Sport Psychology business.
● Applied Exercise Psychology with various populations.
● Supervised hours.
Requirements:
● Approximate 30 hours per week.
● Must have valid drivers license.
● Nonpaid internship, with earning potential.
● Nominal fee of $80 required.
● (Preferred) to receive internship credit with current university.
Application Materials:
● Current resume with 3 references.
● 1 page cover letter expressing goals of future within field of Sport Psychology.
● Deadline April 21st.
Please send electronic application materials to:
Will Drumright (Assistant)
wcdrumright@gmail.com
April 4, 2014
Dr. Rob Bell- Speaking on The Hinge…
Dr. Rob Bell is a Sport Psychology coach. DRB & Associates based in Indianapolis works with athletes, coaches, and teams building their Mental Toughness. His 2nd book titled The Hinge: The Importance of Mental Toughness was recently released. Follow on twitter @drrobbell or contact drrobbell@drrobbell.com
March 27, 2014
Why you need a better routine…
Almost everything we do contains a routine… How we wake up in the morning, go to work, eat our food, and even shave. We have become so routine that we are not even aware of it, hence routine. We implement these daily routines, because they make us comfortable and allow us to tune out our focus. However, we do recognize when we get out of our routine because we begin to think more and may even become anxious or nervous.
These daily routines don’t really matter too much though unless we are OCD. Although, they make ALL the difference in our performance. Performances could go wrong and routines make us comfortable during these pressure situations. Presentations, Surgery, Try-outs, Auditions, Competitions, Sales, Golfing, Free-throws, Bowling, Darts, Race-car driving to rattle off a few.
Unbelievably though, our performance routines have not become routine. We practice the skill way more than the execution of the routine. This is why under pressure, we don’t focus on the right things, become anxious, get nervous, or choke. Our routines have not become routine. There are a lot of variables in our performance, and since our routines are 100% under our control, the main variable is YOU! Routines need to be perfect in all areas of our performance.
Our research in Applied Sport Psychology showed that routines need to be individualized. The timing doesn’t matter much with an individuals routine, what matters is the behaviors, the patterns, and how deliberate someone is. If people varied from their actions, performance would decline.
Here are an examples of PERFECT ROUTINE by Jason Calliste of Oregon basketball. During two rounds of the NCAA tournament, he only shot 22/23 from the free-throw line…
Dr. Rob Bell is a Sport Psychology coach. DRB & Associates based in Indianapolis works with athletes, coaches, and teams building their Mental Toughness. His 2nd book titled The Hinge: The Importance of Mental Toughness was recently released. Follow on twitter @drrobbell or contact drrobbell@drrobbell.com
March 20, 2014
The difference between Arriving & Starting…
Head coaches Jim Mora & Tom Coughlin have had success at the collegiate and NFL ranks respectively. They are also well known for their policies on meetings. Players arrive 15-minutes early for meetings, because the meetings actually start 10 minutes early. Tom Coughlin has even fined players for showing up just 2 minutes early. These coaches know the importance of arriving…
Head coach, Mike Lingenfelter, of the country’s best volleyball program, Munciana, bases his philosophy around arriving & starting. He is adamant that the most important part of practice is the first 10 minutes! If it’s a bad start, the next ten minutes are usually a coach getting upset, followed by another 10 minutes of having to re-start and re-focus. This coach knows the importance of starting…
A simple way to instill trust, discipline, and excitement is to address the difference between arriving and starting.
Arriving to practice should involve an emotional and team-oriented approach. Dynamic stretching, warming-up, and bonding between the players and the coaches are all part of arriving both mentally and physically. The arrival period of practice is also the best time for a coach to re-connect with players and get a sense of “what’s going on.” Arriving early and establishing that expectation helps tremendously with the starting of practice.
Next, how do you emphasis the start of practice-The time that you expect your team to be focused and dialed in? If the arrival section has been taken care of, chances are the start will be effective as well. Once the start of practices becomes commonplace and energetic, the start of games, matches, and meets will also become more consistent.
Dr. Rob Bell is a Sport Psychology coach. DRB & Associates based in Indianapolis works with athletes, coaches, and teams building their Mental Toughness. His 2nd book titled The Hinge: The Importance of Mental Toughness was recently released. Follow on twitter @drrobbell or contact drrobbell@drrobbell.com
March 13, 2014
7 life lessons from the movie HOOSIERS
Indiana has two seasons, basketball season and waiting for basketball season. Although, This newsletter won’t make much sense if you haven’t seen the classic 1986 movie, HOOSIERS.
Hoosiers is based on a true story, 1954 Milan High School with a tiny enrollment of only 161 students. It was a true David vs. Goliath story that ended with them winning the state tournament beating much larger schools in a single class system.
1) Be true to your convictions…
Norman Dale had a rule for playing team basketball that Hickory needed four passes before they shot. When Rade broke this rule by shooting, Coach Dale sat him, playing only four (4) players the rest of the game. The coach was booed out of the gym.
-It is tough to stay with our principles when they are contrary to the norm. However, we better have a plan in place and be true to our beliefs and mission, ready to sacrifice small wins for the larger purpose.
2) People will hate…
Coach Dale was an outsider, which people didn’t like. He even closed off practices, which was a no-no for that town. They even had a vote to try and remove him as coach.
-If your job is to please everyone, then you’ll fail. Focus on your role and accomplishing your goals. It doesn’t mean to ignore the naysayers, but just stay focused on the real goal and not trying to make sure everyone agrees with you.
3) We must have those crucial conversations…
Hickory was missing their star player “Jimmy Chitwood.” Coach approached him while he was shooting one day and told him the truth, “I don’t care if you play or not.”
-It is a risk to speak the truth to those close to us because they can reject the message or even us. However, if we don’t learn to have these conversations, we will never know the impact and more than likely regret never discussing the topic. In the movie, if coach hadn’t had the crucial conversation, Jimmy wouldn’t have gone to his defense.
4) We should have at least one gimmick…
When the assistant coach Shooter takes over late in the game, he runs the picket fence on them. His last message is epic, 
“just don’t get caught watching the paint dry. “
- I think all of us need to have something unique to ourselves or our business that we keep, a trick up our sleeve. We can’t use this tactic often, because the Picket Fence was only used once. We need to save our gimmick, for when we will need it the most.
5) Don’t show up drunk…
Shooter shows up to a game drunk, gets ejected, and simply looses it after that.
-Um, case in point, don’t show up drunk.
6) Focus on the process…
The big speech in the movie is saved for the semi-final game. To summarize, coach says, “focus on your fundaments, if you play to the best of your ability, I don’t care what the scoreboard says at the end of the game, in my book, we are going to be winners.”
-Too often, we focus on results and how the outcome will turn out, “will we win or lose?” There is fear in the outcome and it causes an ineffective type of focus. Coach reminds us to focus on the process of how we are going to perform and the steps that we need to do.
7) Be confident…
The best scene of the movie, and with time for one more play, coach calls a decoy play. Instead, Jimmy Chitwood tells him in the huddle, “I’ll make it.”
-We HAVE to be confident! It is the most important mental skill and it is also the most difficult. If we doubt our ability to recover from mistakes or to take risks, we will never be successful, period. We must believe in ourselves!!
It only takes one. The real Jimmy Chitwood, Bobby Plump, was asked during a CBS Final Four interview in 2010 in Indianapolis, “How important was that shot?” He replied, “I’m speaking to you right?”
Dr. Rob Bell is a Sport Psychology coach. DRB & Associates based in Indianapolis works with athletes, coaches, and teams building their Mental Toughness. His 2nd book titled The Hinge: The Importance of Mental Toughness was recently released. Follow on twitter @drrobbell or contact drrobbell@drrobbell.com
February 27, 2014
5 take-a-ways from the NFL combine
1. It’s an Inexact Science…
Scouts, teams, and GM’s are measuring the measurables in a controlled environment many call the underwear Olympics. It offers evaluators a chance to see everyone in a non-game environment where coaching and schemes doesn’t factor. However, even with all of the interviews, testing, exams, physical tests, and video, draft picks often just don’t work out as expected. Namely, it is difficult to assess one’s mental toughness- how one will overcome adversity, & how one will play under pressure. It becomes an art because scouts are also trying to measure the immeasurable: leadership, work ethic, quality of teammate, character, etc.
2. The Bench Press…
I enjoy this test the most, probably because I can still bench so there is some tiny level of comparison. I also think we can see a glimpse of a player’s desire; how much someone wants it. Even though the bench press is not the most transferrable to success on the field, it does offer a snapshot of one’s strength.
I witnessed Robert Herron, WR, Wyoming, (projected 2/3 round) will himself to complete three more reps after he hit his limit at 15. After crosschecking with other scouts on his feat, the consensus was he has an “iron-will”.
Jeff Janis, WR, Saginaw Valley St, (projected 3 round) managed 21 reps in the bench press, but he was the only player I witnessed who actually cheered on his fellow WR’s before he lifted.
Since 0 QB’s attempted the Bench press, I think one quarterback would stand out in the future by merely attempting it.
3. Only 5 guys didn’t have this…
The initial physical testing for each position is the same; hand, arm, wingspan, height and weight. Armed only in their Under Armour briefs, these guys are all extremely built, so you notice when someone looks “soft,” not as defined or muscular.
During the Defensive Back’s weigh-in, I counted 5 players who had zero tattoos. At some point, these non-inked guys had to make a decision “not” to get it done. Interesting, because ink is such the norm these days that I merely wondered if there would be any correlation with success.
4. Confirmation bias…
Scouts have seen these guys at various points throughout the season and have all formed opinions, positive or negative. The fact is that with scouts, they are making biased opinions. It’s impossible for them to have an unbiased viewpoint. Even when the big names of each position are called, like Michael Sam, Johnny Manziel, or Jadeveon Clownley, everyone pays a tad closer attention…
Since people’s jobs and reputations are at stake with choosing the right player, how much of scouting is actually dismissing information that is contrary to their viewpoint (i.e., he had a slow 40 time), while highlighting information that confirms their belief (i.e., awesome arm)? Or as one scout put it, “The draft is not about hitting home-runs, it is about base hits.”
5. The hardest working coaches…
There were three coaches who were the most visible during my 3 days. I saw them everywhere!! And although Rex & Rob Ryan work with two different teams, they were always together. The third coach was Jack Del Rio of the Broncos. In addition, here is one of my favorite coaches…
The NFL Scouting Combine was incredible. I made these 5 observations because in all seriousness, I couldn’t tell one incredible athlete doing the 3-cone or shuttle drill from another. The 335 players all looked like PGA Tour pro’s on the driving range, everyone was elite!!!
Dr. Rob Bell is a Sport Psychology coach. DRB & Associates based in Indianapolis works with athletes, coaches, and teams building their Mental Toughness. His 2nd book titled The Hinge: The Importance of Mental Toughness was recently released. Follow on twitter @drrobbell or contact drrobbell@drrobbell.com
February 20, 2014
DON’T say this evil word to yourself.
On October 25, 1986, The Boston Red Sox were up 5-3 in the 10th inning. They were 3 outs away from their first World Series since 1918. The Mets, however, rallied for 3 straight singles. The next play was a slow roller by Mookie Wilson up the first base line. It went through Bill Buckner’s legs and became known as the most costly error in all of sports.
The Hinge…
On October 9, three weeks before the costly error, Bill Buckner was giving an interview, wherein he said, “The dreams are that you’re gonna have a great series and win. The nightmares are that you’re gonna let the winning run score on a ground ball through your legs. Those things happen, you know. I think a lot of it is just fate.” 100
American social psychologist Daniel Wegner conducted an important research study in 1987. The researchers wanted to see how people suppressed their own thoughts. Study participants were asked to verbalize their thoughts continually for five straight minutes and to ring a bell if they thought or verbalized a “white bear.” The researcher, however, gave specific instructions before the five-minute session began: “ Try NOT to think of a white bear.”101
Wegner’s research showed that most individuals became preoccupied with trying not to think about a certain object. A meaningless object, such as a white bear, became lodged in the mind, and it would surface during moments of weakness. The real world application from this experiment is more pronounced, because we, as individuals, can become preoccupied with more significant thoughts other than a white bear. Worse is that the more we try to suppress it, it can create a rebound effect of pre-occupation.
Our minds are just like our coach. We will only remember the very last thing said by the coach. So, if the coach mistakenly walks off saying, “Don’t double fault, don’t walk him, or don’t strike out.” it is stuck in the head. Unless we can replace that thought of “don’t,” we will play trying NOT to mess up.
Our mental toughness is directly connected with our thoughts. We say what we don’t want to happen, instead of telling ourselves what we do want. We notice the danger and the bad things that can happen and become pre-occupied.
The key is to be able to replace the negative thoughts with an instructional cue or a focus on what we want to do. That’s mental toughness.
Dr. Rob Bell is a Sport Psychology coach. DRB & Associates based in Indianapolis works with athletes, coaches, and teams building their Mental Toughness. His 2nd book titled The Hinge: The Importance of Mental Toughness was recently released. Follow on twitter @drrobbell or contact drrobbell@drrobbell.com
