Becoming HeadStrong

In the newest episode of the Becoming HeadStrong Podcast, Dr. Nicole is here to talk to us about the language we use with ourselves. A lot of us use terms such as "have to", "need to", and a few others, that we think will help our performance. This is actually not the case, and these performance curse words can actually inhibit our performance. Listen along with Dr. Nicole as she explains what the...

In the newest episode of the Becoming HeadStrong Podcast, Coach Becky is back to talk to us about the enjoyment aspect of sport. Youth sports can, at times, be solely about competition and winning and losing while forgetting that at it's core, sport should be fun. Listen along with Coach Becky as she uses her own life to give perspective on keeping sports fun and why that is important.

In the newest episode of the Becoming HeadStrong Podcast, Coach Stephanie talks to us about communication used to motivate athletes. Some dialogue can come off as violent such as "dominating or killing" the opponent, and this can have negative effects on certain athletes. Listen along with Coach Stephanie as she dissects motivation towards non-aggressive athletes and the most effective way to comm...

In the newest episode of the Becoming HeadStrong Podcast, Coach Hillary talks to us about what goes on behind closed doors when nobody is watching. What is your mindset when you are alone? Do you take your foot off your gas or still go for it and dig deep? Listen along with Coach Hillary to learn about your mindset when nobody is watching. 

In the newest episode of the Becoming HeadStrong Podcast, Coach Josh talks to us about transition. March Madness is one of the most exciting times of the year, but with all the craziness, there also comes the end of many basketball careers. Transitioning out of life as a competitive athlete carries many hard ideas we have to come to terms with. What can we do to stay healthy and take care of ourse...

In the newest episode of the Becoming HeadStrong Podcast, Coach Chelsea talks to us about fear and overcoming it. How do we still go for it if we are feeling scared? How do we respond when we are in panic mode? Listen along with Coach Chelsea for some tips on "Doing it anyways."

In the newest episode of the Becoming HeadStrong Podcast, Coach Amanda is here to talk to us about anxiety. Anxiety can pop up due to how much we care about our performance. Anxiety, as a word, gets a bad reputation when we can actually use it for good. Listen along with Coach Amanda as she helps us use anxious thoughts to guide us to improved performance!

In the newest episode of the Becoming HeadStrong Podcast, Dr. Nick Galli talks to us about confidence. This conversation he poses with us is inteded to figure out what confidence really is. Building this allows us to raise our "confiedence floor." What is this and how can we use it? Tune in to listen to Nick break this all down!

In the newest episode of the Becoming HeadStrong Podcast, Coach Kristina is back to talk to us about when to apply the training that comes with mental performance training. It can be tricky to know exactly when to use techniques during performance. Listen along with Coach Kristina as she guides us through the application of mental training in regards to time of day, time of performance, and what w...

In the newest episode of the Becoming HeadStrong Podcast, Dr. Nicole returns to the podcast to talk with us about goals. As Dr. Nicole states, good athletes set goals, but great athletes are focused on their daily systems. What does this mean? Tune in to listen along to find out what systems are and how we can use them for daily improvement.

In the newest episode of the Becoming HeadStrong Podcast, Coach Becky is here to talk to us about her experience working with neurodivergent athletes. Becky gives us five tips on working with neurodivergent athletes including the language we use and much more advice. Tune in to learn more about neurodivergent means in athletes as well as being a coach or leader with these special athletes.

In the newest episode of the Becoming HeadStrong Podcast, Coach Stephanie talks to us about dealing with fear in athletics. Athletes can subconsciously give lesser effort as a defense to potential failure or judgement. How can we work through this? Listen along with Coach Stephanie as she guides us through this possible experience!

In the newest episode of Becoming HeadStrong, Coach Hillary is back to talk to us about processing new information. Specifically, this episode is targeted for those who struggle to learn all sorts of new information in a short period of time. An example of this could be learning a playbook before the season as this can be difficult to take in at once. This is similar to trying to drink out of a fi...

In the newest episode of the Becoming HeadStrong Podcast, Coach Josh returns to build off his last episode on earning respect as a leader. Using the real world example of Gregg Popovich, Head Coach of the San Antonio Spurs, Josh breaks down some of the key factors he has used and developed to foster one of the best professional sport cultures in a major sport. Tune in to learn more!

In the newest episode of the Becoming HeadStrong Podcast, Coach Chelsea talks about a topic called "Magic Button Thinking." This plays a role in our confidence and motivation everyday. If you could press a magic button and make one thing happen, what would it do? Our confidence can come from past accomplishments, seeing growth in yourself in a task through practice, etc. It cannot come from the pu...

In the newest episode of the Becoming HeadStrong Podcast, Coach Amanda talks more about what we do as mental performance coaches. There are key differences between the different fields or sectors of psychology. Amanda breaks these down, so we can find what we are looking for. Listen in with Amanda to learn more about our field!

In the newest episode of the Becoming HeadStrong Podcast, Dr. Nick interviews Ashley Samson, a professor from the University of Kentucky. Dr. Samson teaches courses in Sport Psychology and Sport Sociology and has also worked as a consultant herself with individual athletes and teams. Join Dr. Nick and Dr. Samson as they talk about the inner workings of sport psychology, the approach to working wit...

In the newest episode of Becoming HeadStrong, Coach Kristina is here to talk about boundaries. Specifically, how do we push those boundaries as we start the new year? As we go through the year and the motivation and discpline start to fade, how do we push through it? IT starts now with embracing the change upfront and preparing for the challenges that will arise. Listen along with Coach Kristina a...

In the newest episode of the Becoming HeadStrong Podcast, Dr. Nicole Detling continues her series on Clarifying the Cliche. Countless cliches are used in sport, but what do they actually mean? What does it mean to "Trust the Process?" What about making stress work for you? What does it mean to eat an elephant one bite at a time? Listen in with Dr. Nicole to find out the real use behind these clich...

In the newest episode of the Becoming HeadStrong Podcast, Coach Becky is here to chat with us about enjoying the journey. When you are trying to achieve a new skill, improve on a current one, or work towards a goal, it is important to enjoy the journey and the process to get there. Using her own personal anecdotes, Becky guides us through an experience in showing toughness, grit, and overcoming ad...

In the newest episode of the Becoming HeadStrong Podcast, Coach Stephanie returns with her newest episode on communicating with coaches. This episode specifically targets "pain points" where the athlete is unhappy with situations involving their coaches around playing time, promotion, etc. These issues can be tough to address with those that are higher on the totem pole such as coaches, bosses, ca...

In the newest episode of the Becoming HeadStrong Podcast, Coach Josh is here to build off a concept shared by Amanda a few weeks ago called psychological safety. At heart, this concept means that every member of a team is comfortable enough to have a voice, be themselves, and share feelings and opinions openly without judgement. As a leader, how can we contribute to developing this? How can we cre...

In the newest episode of Becoming HeadStrong, Coach Hillary is here to talk about injury rehabilitation. When we are struggling to find motivation or the extra push to go to injury rehab, how do we find that will to go? Hillary uses her own recent back surgery to help talk through this.

In the newest episode of Becoming HeadStrong, Coach Chelsea talks to us about wearing the expensive perfume. What Chelsea means by this is that we do not need to always wait. Don't wait to tell others how much you appreciate them. Don't wait to wear the outfit you've been saving for months and months. We don't always need to wait because we don't know if we will get the chance to make due on our w...

In the newest episode of the Becoming HeadStrong Podcast, Amanda talks to us about psychological safety. This is an incredibly important part of organizations, teams, families, and other groups. Psychological safety is the comfort level of those within a group to speak up, to fail, to live in your role, and just be mentally comfortable. Listen along with Amanda as she explains what this is, why is...