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Summon The Magic
How To Use Your Mind to be a better Athlete
(or anything else you want to be)
compiled and edited by Ed Jewett
June 2005 upgraded 2015
Summon The Magic is a compilation of readings, quotes, outlines,
guidelines, techniques and mental exercises culled from over 160
books written by top-level college, professional and Olympic coaches,
sports psychologists, educators, performance enhancement experts,
physicians, cognitive scientists, artists and business consultants.
It is designed to allow young student-athletes (and their coaches)
• to explore and absorb, over a period of time, various insights
and techniques that will lead to increased mental capacities and
discipline...,
• to make them aware of the power, energy and control they have
available to them within their lives.
The focus is on athletic performance, although the concepts and
techniques
can be applied to virtually any body/mind discipline or other endeavor.
Initial results through increased awareness can be gained quickly.
With a moderate low-stress effort, and a small investment of time and
self-rewarding energy in the regular and continued practice of even
just a few of these techniques, significant results may emerge over a
period of six months to a year.
Positive change may also emerge within an individual's other pursuits
(academic, artistic, employment/career), and in the way in which the
individual approaches his or her life.
The great goal of education is
to discipline (rather than furnish) the mind,
to train it to the use of its own powers,
rather than fill it
with the accumulation of information from others.
Summon The Magic ranges across the following topics:
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The Mental Skills of Professional, Olympic and Collegiate Athletes
Enabling Yourself To Play "In the Zone"
Proper Preparation, Quality Practice, and Self-Assessment
Programming Yourself for Success
Developing a Relaxed Mental Intensity and Mental Discipline
The Composition and Building Blocks for Confidence
Harnessing Your Dreams: Turning Your Vision Into Reality
Action, Belief and the As If principle
Five Misconceptions about Mental Skills Training
The Central Role Breathing Plays in Your Performance
The Three Ways in Which We All Learn
How To Harness Your Natural Bodily Intelligence
Finding The Right Balance between Excitement and Anxiety
Relaxation Techniques for instant, short-term and long-term use
How To Build Support for You & Your Goals among Those Around You
How To Handle Criticism Effectively; and How To Sidestep Self-Doubt
The Four Dimensions of Motivation
The Four Types of Attention (and how attention benefits you in athletics and life)
How To Develop Your Observational, Awareness and Focusing Skills
How To Develop Goals That Will Work Effectively for You
How To Overcome The 4 Barriers to Commitment
How To Use Visualization, Mental Imagery and Mental Rehearsal
Charting Your Own Performance Curve
How To Relax in Competitive High Pressure Situations
How To Improve Your Self-Composure and Situational Responses:
Control of Distractions, Mental Toughness Rehearsal and Mastery Rehearsal
How To Avoid Choking and Become a Clutch Performer
Flaws, Mistakes, Errors, Slumps and Plateaus
Rituals, Routines, Superstitions, Self-Talk, Cues and Trigger Words
Negative Thoughts vs. Quality Thoughts
Over 50 mental practice techniques and exercises, including Brain Gym & ITP
How To Appreciate Failure
Muscles, Flow and Energy
Using Bench Time to your best advantage
About Faith, Trust, Spirit and Will
The Role of the Coach, and How To Get the Most from Your Coach
Self-Coaching
The Power of Immediacy, Immersion and Intensity
How To Keep Yourself Motivated
Music's Impact in Sports: Rhythm, Timing, Mindset, Movement, Multitasking
Mindfulness and Meditation (the keys to advanced success in any field?)
Situational Awareness, the Psychology of Strategy, and the OODA Loop
How To Recover from Disaster and Injury
About Teamwork and Leadership
It's amazing what people are able to do when
they get their minds in the right place.
From
The Consultant's Guide to Excellence,
by Wayne Halliwell, Ph.D., Terry Orlick, Ph.D.,
Kenneth Ravizza, Ph.D., and Bob Rotella, Ph.D.,
published by Orlick Excel, Chelsea, Quebec 1999.
Human beings are capable of accomplishing incredible things
once they embrace their vision, focus in positive ways and
achieve the mental and emotional states required to perform with
high-levels of consistency and achievement.
People can be helped to become exceptional, to be the best that they can be,
when they seize opportunities and find ways to enhance their own
performance and their own lives by strengthening positive perspectives,
by learning skills that allow them to embrace the challenges of higher-level
achievement, by developing effective strategies for pursuing their dreams,
by harnessing their passion, and by becoming their own best coach.
The editor earned a bachelor's degree in communications
studies from the University of Massachusetts in Amherst
while working as an ambulance attendant. One of the first
EMT's and EMT instructors in Massachusetts, he was an EMS
planner at the area, regional and statewide levels. With over
nine years experience in nonprofit and association
management, he has extensive experience in the
development of education and training programs, as well as
in the pre-production of professional video communications,
and was a design consultant for a software company that
develops team-oriented multi-player
Internet-to-desktop-PC simulation training systems for
military and civilian command/strategy scenarios. The
father of two successful student-athletes, he is a twicehonored softball umpire, was a youth sports coach for five
years, enjoys creative photography, jazz and cooking, and
delights in seeing young men and women succeed.
Ten Tools for Optimal Performance
•
Use deep abdominal breathing regularly and at key moments. It is a direct link to
relaxation and focus. It is, without question, the single most important tool/skill in
your tool kit. Make its use a habit. At least one, and preferably two or three deep
breaths through your nose such that your tummy bulges at the end of the inhalation will
cool your brain, provide good oxygen to your brain and muscles, get rid of the carbon
dioxide from your muscles, keep you relaxed, and help you focus and be in the
moment. Quality breathing is the key to everything.
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Practice frequent muscular and mental relaxation.
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Have fun. Smile. Laugh. Express gratitude for the joys of life.
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Maintain a balance in your pursuits and in your life. Be intense in your pursuit, but then
be willing and able to put your pursuit aside from time to time.
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A sound approach to preparation before performance is always required. Take time to
look around and become comfortable with your environment. Get your uniform and the
tools of your trade in order. Stretch, relax and get into the correct mindset for your
performance. Remind yourself of the techniques that have been working for you, the
qualities you want to bring to the experience, the joys you will take out of it, and the
successful performances you have had in the past. Visualize it happening with all the
senses and as much detail as you can.
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Be in the moment. Pay attention to the task at hand and the detail associated with
that task. Become absorbed and encapsulated within your situation, in a bubble,
playing your game one moment at a time. Continue to breathe with deep abdominal
breathing. Stay relaxed. Smile. To dissolve tension, keep an image or thought available
that always makes you chuckle heartily inside.
•
Get in the habit of asking yourself questions (before and after performances) about how
and what you want to do, be or have during your performance. What was (or will be)
your focus or intent? What qualities did you or will you want to bring to the process?
What happened? What needs to be corrected or changed, if anything? What worked
and needs to be reinforced, continued or just left alone? Your focus should be on
process, not outcome.
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Use as high a quality of affirmation, mental imagery and mental rehearsal as you
can summon. Use them frequently without being obsessed with it or letting it interfere
with the rest of your life when you are fully being over there doing that other thing. Do it
right, or don't do it at all. A haphazard or half-baked approach may do more damage
than good.
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Use quality practice techniques. Do your skill stations as correctly as possible as
often as reasonable. When you do them, pay attention, be absorbed with the process,
and simultaneously use affirmations, mental imagery and mental rehearsal. Fully feel
it, see it, think it, be it and believe it. Never just do them to do them, to get them
over and done with. Never do them incorrectly. If you find yourself doing them
incorrectly, because of fatigue, loss of focus, etc., STOP immediately, and then recycle
yourself to doing them correctly, or go do something else.
•
Believe in yourself and your abilities and talents. Believe calmly, confidently, with a
warm smile of assuredness, without a cocky swagger, but with the knowledge that you
are working diligently towards your goals… and that good things, whatever they may
turn out to be, will evolve from the quality of your process, effort and attitude.
Once there was a master craftsman who made such beautiful things out of wood
that the King demanded to know the secret of his art.
"Your Highness", said the carpenter, "There is no secret.
But there is something. This is how I begin:
When I am about to make a table, I first collect my energies and bring my mind to
absolute quietness. I become oblivious of any reward to be gained or any fame to
be acquired. When I am free from the influences of all such outer considerations, I
can listen to the inner voice which tells me clearly what I have to do.
When my skill is thus concentrated, I take up my ax; I make sure that it is perfectly
sharp, that it fits my hand and swings with my arm. Then I enter the forest.
I look for the right tree, the tree that is waiting to become my table. And
when I find it, I ask "What have I for you, and what have you for me?' Then I
cut down the tree and set to work. I remember how my masters taught me
to bring my skill and my thought into relation with the natural qualities of the
wood."
The King said, "When the table is finished, it has a magical effect upon me; I
cannot treat it as I would any other table. What is the nature of this
magic?"
"Your Majesty", said the carpenter, "what you call magic comes only from
what I have already told you."
In A Way of Working, ed. E.D. Dooling. Anchor Books, 1979,
from the original by Chuang-Tzu. The apparently separate factors
of
mind,
body,
emotion,
intellect
and
spirit
are, in fact, inseparable.
For better or worse, each supports and feeds on the other.
Table of Contents
Introduction
Preface
"The Master Craftsman"
A Mind Map
Ten Tools for Optimal Performance
Tab A Introduction and Overview: On Possibilities and Practice
Tab B The Brain and The Body
Tab C Mental Training and Toughness Training
Tab D The Body and the Brain
Tab E Where Are You Going? How Are You Getting There?
Tab F What's Inside You?: On Belief, Desire, Passion and Intent
Tab G The Link Between Arts and Athletics: Using All Your Common Senses
Tab H When Things Aren't Going Your Way
Tab I Moving Towards Magic
Tab J The Spirit of the Game
Tab K Food for Thinking..., and Doing and Being
Tab L On Mentors, Coaches and Warriors
Tab M Teams and Teamwork
Tab N Leadership
Tab 0 Dynamic Situational Awareness & The Psychology of Strategy
Tab P The Art of Possibility
Tab Q Inner Game Coaching Techniques
Tab R The Ultimate Athlete
Tab S Towards Extraordinary Capabilities
Appendices
Mind Map
Mind Mints
Posters
Bibliography
Index (not yet available)
We do not believe in ourselves until
Someone reveals that, deep inside us,
Something is valuable,
Worth listening to,
Worthy of our trust,
Sacred to our touch.
Once we believe in ourselves,
We can risk curiosity, wonder, spontaneous delight or
any experience that reveals the human spirit.
e.e. cummings