{"id":468,"date":"2022-01-17T14:01:12","date_gmt":"2022-01-17T19:01:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mikerouleaumentalskills.optimalmentalgame.com\/?p=468"},"modified":"2022-01-17T14:07:05","modified_gmt":"2022-01-17T19:07:05","slug":"playing-in-the-box","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mikerouleaumentalskills.optimalmentalgame.com\/?p=468","title":{"rendered":"Playing in the Box"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I am always mining for good books to read \u2013 especially those related to sport psychology.\u00a0 Recently, I uncovered a gem!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Photo by Ilze Lucero<\/a> on Unsplash<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In his book \u201cPlaying In The Box \u2013 A Practical Guide for Helping Athletes Develop Their Mental Game\u201d, \u00a0Dr. Pete Temple uses some very simple models to explain what an unbalanced athlete is, versus what a complete athlete looks like.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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He uses a model consisting of three gears \u2013 one each for the physical, technical, and mental aspects.  In his model, the gears are all intertwined requiring that they all be developed properly, and in balance, in order for the complete athlete to function at her best.  I found one comment especially interesting.  He noted that when an athlete struggles, they tend to put more work in on the technical and physical aspects but tend to ignore the mental side. He uses the following example – If a coach tells an athlete to go spend 45 minutes on the technical side, it is easy to envision them working on something like jump shot technique.  Similarly, if a coach tells an athlete to spend 45 minutes working on physical conditioning, it is easy to see them pumping iron in the weight room.  But what if the coach tells an athlete to go spend 45 minutes on their mental game?  Can you picture what the athlete might do?  This one isn\u2019t so easy!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. Pete also presents the inverted U curve (I have addressed that concept in other posts on the blog), which shows the relationship between arousal (shown on the x-axis) and performance (shown on the y-axis).\u00a0 So, if you are completely disinterested in what you are engaged in, your performance suffers.\u00a0 As you increase the arousal level, your performance increases \u2013 but up to a point \u2013 if you get a little too wound up, your performance starts to deteriorate. The relationship follows a “normal curve”.\u00a0 Peak performance occurs at the top of the curve where performance is at its maximum corresponding to the athlete\u2019s individual optimum level of arousal.\u00a0 This is what Dr. Pete defines as playing in the box \u2013 or being in the zone!\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The rest of the book then provides the mental skills tools required to help keep the performance levels at this peak zone while maintaining good housekeeping to keep the box clear of debris that can interfere with proper sub-conscious execution of skills, etc.  Not only does he clearly define the tools complete with examples that make their application clear, but he also provides a series of worksheets to help implement each tool.  He even provides a website where the reader can download extra copies of the worksheets.  I could envision an athlete keeping a three-ring binder with multiple iterations of each worksheet in a living-performance-plan workbook.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPlaying in the Box\u201d is one of the easiest to understand books I have come across on the traditional mental skills.  It would be equally appropriate for the budding junior or collegiate athlete as much as for the older recreational athlete that wants to take that final step into mental skills training.  Coaches that want to introduce the mental skills to their athletes would also find it very useful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On a personal note, I dropped an email to Dr. Pete as I often do with authors whose works I discuss on the blog.  He was quick to respond back with a nice note including a very kind compliment on the contents of the blog.  Thanks!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you would like more information on Dr. Pete, you can find his website here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here is the amazon link to his book:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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