If you want to compete at the top level, being in the best physical shape is not enough. You can have the best skills, but if your mind is not in a good place, your performance is doomed to be a failure. Today, mental training is an essential part of training program in many dog sports.
You can only win, if you trained hard physically and mentally!
What techniques do you need to master for mental training?
1. Proper breathing technigue
If you are stressed during a competition, you breaths are short and rapid. It causes tightness in your muscles, leads to fatigue, cramps or even vomiting. You need to master the skill to relax through breathing.
Proper breathing reduces stress and helps you stay focused for competition. You can look up the various breathing techniques on-line, it is up to you to choose which works the best for you and train this technique. For me the technique mentioned in the book Mental Training for Peak Performance works really well. It uses the following principle: You need to image that the lungs consist of three parts.
Concentrate first on filling the first lower part – push out your diaphragm and opening up the abdomen.
Next you will be imagining filling second part of your lungs – by raising your chest & rib cage to the maximum.
Finally, imagine filling the last third of your lungs by raising your chest and shoulders. Repeat these stages over and over again. Remember to engage your abs to remove all air from lungs during exhale. Learn to say good bye to all tension with every exhale. If you prefer you can connect your breathing technique with certain music or tune to shake off tension.
You probably think that you will take a few deep breaths before the run and that will do the trick. You are wrong. You need to practice this type of breathing. Otherwise you won´t be able to apply it efficiently as a part of your mental preparation. Remember: breathing and relaxation is what helps you put yourself together after a bad run. You can re-focus your mind and get positive energy for the next run.
2. Technique of affirmation
Focus on positive thoughts – if you tell yourself you will get eliminated on a difficult sequence in the agility parcour, you probably will. If you tell yourself you will fall on the canicross track because of mud and bad weather conditions, you probably will. Keep telling yourself you can do it. Stir your mind away from thoughts like „the ring is too small“, “bad obstacles” or „it is too hot, too technical, etc.“. You have to learn to give yourself a pep talk to boost your self-confidence. Think of possible negative situations like bad obstacles, hot weather, late for course walking, headache, etc & work out beforehand arguments to respond to it positively. Create trigger words to initiate positive response to negative event.
When I feel fatique creeping up on me during a long run, I like to use my trigger phrase „hello bitch“. I concentrate on giving my fatique a personality so it it easier to throw it out of my mind (together with all my negative thoughts). For this I use the trigger phrase „leave now“ and imagine the feeling I have after a great run, workout or after I pushed my limits – the feeling of a champion. You can develop similar trigger words or phrases, that help you boost your confidence, to manage pressure & stay relaxed even after a knocked bar during agility run or 0 points for a certain exercise during obedience performance – e.g. „get over it“, “focus”, etc.
3. Guided Imagery technique
Guided Imagery can help improve your skills & manage fear or anxiety. Anyone can master this technique and benefit from it. You need to learn how to develop vivid images & control them. How you access your visual pictures is very individual. Imagine a car passing by. Do you see it, hear the sound of its engine, smell the exhaust or a combination of all? You need to find out what works the best for you – sight, sound or feel or combination of all – and practice it. You can use guided imagery to rehears the whole competition day, to visualise a trial run or to go to your „happy place“ and clear your mind.
You can practise every day, only during training or on the day of your competition. Again, the schedule is individual, adopt it to your needs.
Mental preparation for Dog Agility
Some time ago, Susan Garret published a mental prep routine for agility called The Mindset of a Champion. I have adapted it to my needs & been using it ever since. You can easily adjust it to your particular dog sports. Here is a short summary of how it looks like:
In principle you start with breathing technique & relaxation. At this point you should avoid talking to friends, watching other runs, etc. You can use your playlist to help you relax. After you cleared your mind, visualise your run from starting line up to crossing the finish line. Imagine every cue, timing, where you need to stand. If you make a mistake, rewind back, correct your mistake and continue visualising. Go over the run again several times to make sure you have imprinted every part of the course in your mind, especially the tricky parts. This way, you will be prepared for the “real run”: when you hit the tough spot, you already experienced it (in your mind) and know how to act!
I prefer to do this alone and before I start with my or my dog´s physical warm-up routine.
Few minutes before the run I visualise the run a few more times. I use my trigger phrase to stay focused – e.g. “hey, focus!”. If I feel under too much pressure, like running for finals or similar, I have created a snapshot of my “happy place” together with Caspi. It takes practice to make quick images like this instantly affect your mindset, but anyone can learn this. For me it is a quick visualisation of Caspi running towards me on an empty beach. It makes me calm, happy and instantly fills me with positive energy. Shortly before start I use my extra trigger word for kick like “whippet power”. I personally do not like to use lucky charms like lucky socks, shoes, leash or toy – the possibility to forget it at home is too high. I have rituals on the day before the competition and in the morning on the day of the competition that help me stay focused and clear my mind.
Mental practice, imagery & visualisation is available to anyone, who is willing to give it a try. However, you cannot implement your mental practise overnight. You need to train mental practise & imagery skill as well as you train your physical skills. Create your trigger words, visual snapshots and practise breathing. Implement your own rituals, that make you feel comfortable and charge you with energy. Make this a routine that works and believe in it!
Train hard, mentally & physically!
Martina
Resources:
Susan Garret: The Mindset of a Champion, mp3 released in 2017
Mental Preparation for Peak Performance in Dog Sports
If you want to compete at the top level, being in the best physical shape is not enough. You can have the best skills, but if your mind is not in a good place, your performance is doomed to be a failure. Today, mental training is an essential part of training program in many dog sports.
What techniques do you need to master for mental training?
1. Proper breathing technigue
If you are stressed during a competition, you breaths are short and rapid. It causes tightness in your muscles, leads to fatigue, cramps or even vomiting. You need to master the skill to relax through breathing.
Proper breathing reduces stress and helps you stay focused for competition. You can look up the various breathing techniques on-line, it is up to you to choose which works the best for you and train this technique. For me the technique mentioned in the book Mental Training for Peak Performance works really well. It uses the following principle: You need to image that the lungs consist of three parts.
You probably think that you will take a few deep breaths before the run and that will do the trick. You are wrong. You need to practice this type of breathing. Otherwise you won´t be able to apply it efficiently as a part of your mental preparation. Remember: breathing and relaxation is what helps you put yourself together after a bad run. You can re-focus your mind and get positive energy for the next run.
2. Technique of affirmation
Focus on positive thoughts – if you tell yourself you will get eliminated on a difficult sequence in the agility parcour, you probably will. If you tell yourself you will fall on the canicross track because of mud and bad weather conditions, you probably will. Keep telling yourself you can do it. Stir your mind away from thoughts like „the ring is too small“, “bad obstacles” or „it is too hot, too technical, etc.“. You have to learn to give yourself a pep talk to boost your self-confidence. Think of possible negative situations like bad obstacles, hot weather, late for course walking, headache, etc & work out beforehand arguments to respond to it positively. Create trigger words to initiate positive response to negative event.
When I feel fatique creeping up on me during a long run, I like to use my trigger phrase „hello bitch“. I concentrate on giving my fatique a personality so it it easier to throw it out of my mind (together with all my negative thoughts). For this I use the trigger phrase „leave now“ and imagine the feeling I have after a great run, workout or after I pushed my limits – the feeling of a champion. You can develop similar trigger words or phrases, that help you boost your confidence, to manage pressure & stay relaxed even after a knocked bar during agility run or 0 points for a certain exercise during obedience performance – e.g. „get over it“, “focus”, etc.
3. Guided Imagery technique
Guided Imagery can help improve your skills & manage fear or anxiety. Anyone can master this technique and benefit from it. You need to learn how to develop vivid images & control them. How you access your visual pictures is very individual. Imagine a car passing by. Do you see it, hear the sound of its engine, smell the exhaust or a combination of all? You need to find out what works the best for you – sight, sound or feel or combination of all – and practice it. You can use guided imagery to rehears the whole competition day, to visualise a trial run or to go to your „happy place“ and clear your mind.
You can practise every day, only during training or on the day of your competition. Again, the schedule is individual, adopt it to your needs.
Mental preparation for Dog Agility
Some time ago, Susan Garret published a mental prep routine for agility called The Mindset of a Champion. I have adapted it to my needs & been using it ever since. You can easily adjust it to your particular dog sports. Here is a short summary of how it looks like:
In principle you start with breathing technique & relaxation. At this point you should avoid talking to friends, watching other runs, etc. You can use your playlist to help you relax. After you cleared your mind, visualise your run from starting line up to crossing the finish line. Imagine every cue, timing, where you need to stand. If you make a mistake, rewind back, correct your mistake and continue visualising. Go over the run again several times to make sure you have imprinted every part of the course in your mind, especially the tricky parts. This way, you will be prepared for the “real run”: when you hit the tough spot, you already experienced it (in your mind) and know how to act!
I prefer to do this alone and before I start with my or my dog´s physical warm-up routine.
Few minutes before the run I visualise the run a few more times. I use my trigger phrase to stay focused – e.g. “hey, focus!”. If I feel under too much pressure, like running for finals or similar, I have created a snapshot of my “happy place” together with Caspi. It takes practice to make quick images like this instantly affect your mindset, but anyone can learn this. For me it is a quick visualisation of Caspi running towards me on an empty beach. It makes me calm, happy and instantly fills me with positive energy. Shortly before start I use my extra trigger word for kick like “whippet power”. I personally do not like to use lucky charms like lucky socks, shoes, leash or toy – the possibility to forget it at home is too high. I have rituals on the day before the competition and in the morning on the day of the competition that help me stay focused and clear my mind.
Mental practice, imagery & visualisation is available to anyone, who is willing to give it a try. However, you cannot implement your mental practise overnight. You need to train mental practise & imagery skill as well as you train your physical skills. Create your trigger words, visual snapshots and practise breathing. Implement your own rituals, that make you feel comfortable and charge you with energy. Make this a routine that works and believe in it!
Train hard, mentally & physically!
Martina
Resources:
Susan Garret: The Mindset of a Champion, mp3 released in 2017
Mental training for peak performance – Paperback, Sep 15, 2005 | ISBN 9781594860287