Strategies to Help Break Through Mental Blocks

       The dreaded mental block. Something all coaches, parents, and athletes hope they never have to encounter. While mental blocks can be very frustrating for everyone involved, there are different ways to help diminish the effects of mental blocks on athlete performance.
The term mental block refers to the concept of an athlete being hesitant or fearful of performing a particular skill, whether that be tumbling, stunting, or other various skills. There are many different ways that mental blocks can develop, it is important to understand the source of the block in order to be able to reverse it. Potential causes of mental blocks include:

• Fear of injury while performing the skill
• Fear of re-injury following a previous fall/injury
• Increased pressure to obtain a certain skill
• Personal stress due to factors outside of cheerleading

    There are many other potential causes of mental blocks and many athletes can have a combination of different factors that can produce a block, but at the root of most mental blocks is typically a fear of failure. Sometimes multiple factors can build upon each other. The mental block is not usually the start of the problem, but is often the result of several other problems that have accumulated on top of each other. For example, an athlete could be returning from an injury that was caused by under-rotating a full. When she comes back she is hesitant to throw the full again due to a fear of re-injury. Because of this, she has lost her spot on the team and is now being constantly pressured from coaches, teammates, and parents to regain the particular skill. This can lead to more stress, increasing the negative effects of the mental block.

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Thankfully, there are various strategies that can be used to help curb the block, including the following:

• Be Supportive, But Don’t Pressure
  • Let the athlete know that you care and that you want them to get the skill back. However, pressuring them can create a negative response. Telling an athlete that if they don’t throw the skill, they will lose their spot is generally counterproductive.
• Increase the Athlete’s Confidence
  • Try to have the athlete practice more basic skills to increase their confidence. If they are fearful of doing a round off back handspring back tuck, have them work on the round off, then the back handspring, then combine them. Breaking the skill down into different parts can help to decrease the anxiety of the whole skill. Also, having the athlete working on something that they are able to perform consistently is more beneficial than avoiding practice altogether and will help to increase their confidence.
• Provide Positive Reinforcement
  • Once an athlete shows progress towards regaining a skill, no matter how small the progress, reward the athlete. This doesn’t have to be something tangible, positive words and encouragement will help to boost the athlete’s confidence.
• Avoid Highlighting the Mental Block
  • Allow the athlete to perform the skill off to the side on their own if needed, or provide a spot if the athlete requests it. Avoid bringing attention to the block, especially in front of teammates as this can cause unnecessary increased stress on the athlete.
• Use Distributed Practice
  • Distributed practice refers to the act of switching up the skills that are being practiced. A potential strategy to use would be to pick a number of repetitions and stick to it. For example, have the athlete perform 3 repetitions of the particular skill they are blocking on and then move on to something else, regardless of the performance. Work on other skills and then return back to the 3 reps of the desired skill. Even if the athlete does not perform the skill during any of the reps, practicing other skills in between will be helpful for the athlete’s mindset (and a good time to use the tip above to work on more basic components). Repeat this cycle for the desired amount of time. Having small breaks between the sets of 3 reps can help prevent the athlete from putting too much focus on the skill and allows them to get their mind off of it for a moment.

     Now these are just a few of many, many strategies that can be used to help an athlete overcome a mental block. Some of these strategies may not work for some athletes while they are the key to helping other athletes. The tough thing about blocks is that no 2 athletes respond the same way. It is highly beneficial to talk to your athlete to help understand what the cause is to help create a solution.

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