Why sport & performance psychology?

Did you know sport and performance psychology existed? I had no idea this scientific field was even a thing when I was dancing. Literally, no clue. I basically stumbled across sport and performance psychology after I retired from dancing professionally and start looking for a new path.

I retired from dance partially due to Covid, but there were other reasons too.

I was beginning to loose the joy I felt when I danced… I began to care so much about whether or not I executed the steps well enough that there wasn’t enough room to think about things like artistry or performance quality. I started getting super nervous before performances. I thought the answer to getting better was more training and more time in the gym. And the wildest thought? I started to believe that I wasn’t good enough.

All of these things zapped the joy right out of dancing.

These days, I wonder what my career may have looked like if I’d developed a psychological skills toolkit to support myself whenever I began to feel nervous, or perfectionistic, or started doubting my ability. I truly believe I could’ve transformed my ballet career.

So, now, I am on a mission to help dancers, performers, and athletes develop the psychological skills they need to handle the pressures and stress and demands of their crafts so that they can perform to their potential and, perhaps even more importantly, enjoy it. So what is sport and performance psychology all about? Let’s get into it.

Sport and performance psychology is a scientific field… Yes, that’s right, the strategies and skills that have come out of this field are research-based and evidence-based. The focus of sport and performance psychology is to help performers to optimize their performance, their mindset and their wellbeing so they can perform their absolute best, and we do this through psychological skills training.

Sport and performance psychology does not necessarily get rid of challenging situations that any given performer faces. Rather, it allows performers to hone and implement the psychological skills needed to face said challenging situations, and still perform to their potential.

Mental or psychological challenges are incredibly common in performance, and if we don’t know how to handle these challenges or cope with them effectively, they can become hindrances to performance, and can even affect physical and mental health.

We train our bodies every single day to be able to handle the physical demands of our craft… Get proactive about training your mind to handle the psychological demands as well!

If you’re interested in what performance psychology support could do for you, your students, or your company, send us an email OR book a free, no-obligation consultation! Can’t wait to connect.