19 - Kathryn Rowe "Mental Skills"

Bio

• Mental Skills Coordinator for the Baltimore Orioles
• Licensed mental health professional
• Was the mental skills coach for the University of Rochester men's soccer team
• Masters Degree in counseling and sports psychology at Boston University
• Played soccer and graduated from University of Rochester

Show Notes

• Weekly skill focused 
  • Monday mindfulness
  • Friday guest speakers
• How to teach the mental skills 
  • What the mental skill is
  • Example
  • Exercises
  • Incorporate the skill within a game/activity
  • Homework related to baseball and in everyday life
• A lot of skills can be taught and helpful outside of the game
• Switching to scenarios (responses)
• Preparing for adversity that is going to happen and plan for our response
• Having a deep breath and helps them to reset
• Kicking the dirt to reset and breath to get back to compete
• Identifying your growth mindset voice and fixed mindset voice
  • Self talk
  • Triggers - coach yelling, good pitcher (to find a trigger do a daily checklist of when you were fixed or open to find reoccurring events)
  • Trying new skills - “neuroplasticity”
• Recurring theme is self awareness - if you are not aware of yourself we can’t make changes
• Daily notebook/journal reflecting on the day and how they are successful 
• “Ideal” mindset to incorporate self awareness
• When you are playing your best versus not playing your best, and then attack skills and build behaviors to get you closer to playing at your best
• Mental routines part of the players plan to know the player
• “Not thinking” may be a bodily feeling (relaxed, pre game routine, etc)
• What happens when your routine gets messed up? Have a response!
• Why are you doing the routine? Own the routine, not just do it because someone says
• Mindfulness and being aware in the moment of what you can and cannot control have helped beyond
• Mindfulness meditations to help be in the moment and be aware. Guided and practiced
• Around 10 minutes of guided meditation
• Started with the coaches and then the players to get buy in
• Give real life examples as to why mindfulness is so important.
  • Golf
  • Driving and thinking where you are going not where you are
  • Examples in their game/area
• Guided deep breathing visuals on Youtube
• kvrowe23@gmail.com