There seem to be two schools of thought about sailing V15s upwind in big breeze. V15 sailors often sail other dinghies bef ore jumping into a Vanguard — frequently Lasers or 420s. I refer to the pinching style of sailing a V15 upwind as “Laser style,” and I refer to the footing style as either “420 style” or, more [...]
We’ve all been there: The stakes are high, and this feels like a make-or-break race for you. You have high expectations and you’re revved up and ready to go. Then the tide turns, and the winds aren’t blowing your way…suddenly everything seems tougher. But there’s a lot to be learned from the times when things seem especially hard –including [...]
There are plenty of “uncontrollables” in sailing… wind direction, current, your competitors’ actions, your competitors’ training, race committee’s choices, and how you finished last race-- are all out of your control. You can hyperfocus on these things, but it’s wasted mental energy! What to focus on Would you take a math test while you’re on Snapchat or Twitter? Similarly, [...]
I’ll never forget the time my wife and I took my son to a “pig scramble” at the Union Fair in Maine. Robbie, at age 6, was thrilled for this opportunity to catch a pig and was already entertaining fantasies of keeping it at a friend’s farm after he caught it…as if it was all already a done deal. [...]
Wade seemed to be having a rough day. This kid normally dominated our Opti practices, winning the favored end with ease, exhibiting almost flawless boathandling, and sailing clean. But today he was starting late, sometimes from the unfavored end, and he was spinning for hitting marks. And yet he had a smile on his face as he overcame a [...]
BCIA Congratulates Dr. Tim Herzog on Receiving Board Certification in Biofeedback Arvada, CO – The Biofeedback Certification International Alliance, formerly the Biofeedback Certification Institute of America (BCIA), is pleased to announce that Dr. Tim Herzog has become Board Certified in Biofeedback. Dr. Tim Herzog joins an elite group of professionals who have met the educational, clinical, ethical, and exam [...]
Human Kinetics just published a new book, “Assessment in Applied Sport Psychology,” edited by Dr. Jim Taylor. I’m excited to have contributed Chapter 10, “Applied Psychophysiology: Using Biofeedback, Neurofeedback, and Visual Feedback,” collaborating with a world class team of authors (Dr. Sheryl Smith, Dr. Melissa Hunfalvy, and Dr. Pierre Beauchamp). I think my colleagues in the field, and those [...]
Whether you know it or not, you’ve probably engaged in “triangulation,” and not just as a kid when you ran to Mom because Dad just said “no” (or vice versa). Similar triangles can also happen with leadership or any work group, committee, or organization (including military) where two people talk about a third. On the surface, triangulation can look [...]
Think of a goal that you’ve been working for lately or that you’re about to go after. How about all those New Year’s resolutions? Do you know why you want it? In other words, what’s your motivation? Do you simply love what you’re doing, or is there a reward you are pursuing? Being clear about what motivates you can [...]
What do you value? It's an important question to ask yourself often. When you figure out what matters most to you, it can help guide what you do, even when you're at your lowest. Values help you make big things happen and little things along the way too. In identifying what you value, consider aspects of your life now [...]
Goal setting can be a useful tool in many arenas. Experts say that 90% of the time, setting specific and challenging goals leads to better performance than “do your best” goals or none at all. Goals can direct attention, mobilize effort, increase persistence, and help you form good strategies. Famous sports figures such as Olympian Michael Phelps have achieved [...]
If you’ve ever gotten up to speak in front of a crowd or waited to take a test, you’re already aware of how your thoughts, bodily sensations, and emotions can overcome you if you’re not aware of them or if you try to erase them. These are obvious examples, but this “mind-body interaction” is at work all the time, [...]
Sailing is a unique sport with many facets. Success comes from overall training plan encompassing development of technical expertise, boat speed, strategy, boat handling, tactics, physical training, and mastery of the mental game. In interviews with Olympians, professionals, or other top athletes, successes or failures are often attributed to cognitive or emotional experiences. Elite sailors control as many controllables [...]
Steer my mind to perform? Some peak performers try to take charge of their thoughts while others work on accepting them. Both approaches seem to make sense even though they are different. Learn about these two approaches and start developing your own mixture of strategies, capitalizing on positive thoughts to perform your best, either shifting away from or simply [...]
You can learn to use the same mental imagery skills that elite athletes use to achieve peak performance. Mental imagery is the practice of seeing (and feeling) in your mind's eye how you want to perform a skill, as if you were actually doing it. It's a popular sport psychology technique that service members can take advantage of. You [...]
