Sport Psychology Coaching

Coaching Policies

Please read and be aware of these polices that help us all make the coaching and consulting program run more smoothly.

• Recording Coaching Sessions
  I strongly suggest that clients make every attempt to audio record our coaching sessions. You can use an extra cell phone or other device to record if your computer is unable to record. If we use Zoom, and you are using a computer, you should be able to record. Please test this in advance. If you are using a tablet or phone, for some reason having to do with Zoom, recording rarely seems to work. In our office, you can use your cell phone to record. I will be giving you very precise, specific phrases and words, procedures and strategies you'll want to capture so you can complete your homework. I take my own notes in shorthand, but I don't send them out, so I suggest you take written notes as back up for yourself. If you record our sessions, parents will have an easy, reliable and archived way to know what we did in the session. This saves time for everyone. All homework assignments will be found in the audio recordings. I do not assign homework to students after class.
  
  
• Updating Parents On Their Child's Progress
  We are happy to provide parents a brief update on a child's progress from time to time. This is best done at the start or end of a scheduled class, to save everyone time, and for efficiency. Any extended time spent speaking with parents outside of "officially scheduled class" is a consult, and this time also counts as part of the package you purchase. This is also true for coach consultations. Any time spent speaking to or emailing coaches (beyond brief replies) outside of "officially scheduled class" counts as part of the package you purchase.
  
  I do a large number of "parents only" and "coach only" consults and when you desire that sort of meeting, please let me know and we can arrange that. They are extremely helpful sessions where I give you strategies to help your child become more motivated, more compliant with their homework, practice and training, and to become more accountable and responsible for the success of their sport experience. I also help parents learn how to be better sport parents.
  
  Some parents or coaches ask for a detailed summary of sessions with their child by email. I can do that, but aside from a brief summary, any time past that of course takes time, and this extra time also would be counted as part of the package you purchase. Certainly, requests for detailed class summaries are better met by scheduling a dedicated parent or coach consult. Since I strongly encourage students to audio record our coaching sessions, a full accounting of session material, including homework, will be found there.
  
  I know that parents want their child to learn the skills of independent thought, accepting responsibility, and taking ownership of their sport. I strive to foster all of these in our coaching sessions. This also reduces pressure on parents to have to micromanage the child in their sport. I always update parents if there might be any potential issues parents would need to know. I do that immediately with a quick email or phone call.
  
  
• Homework Policies
  I assign homework in all coaching sessions and expect students to complete the homework by the next class. In each class I ask students to show me their homework and I evaluate how well they performed on it. Before we end a class I make sure each student not only understands the homework to be done, but that they know how it is to be done, and the benefits from doing it. I have students write down their homework tasks as we go through the coaching session. If homework involves actual mental exercises I have the child demonstrate these before we conclude class. If students forget the homework tasks, they can easily consult the class audio recording.
  
  Homework is usually a combination of experiential activities, exploratory activities, reading and ongoing practice of mental skills. Mental skills should be practiced daily, and these procedures are outlined in the PDF included with the two books sent by email before our first class.
  
  I encourage all students to keep a dedicated mental training notebook and to write in it as we go through each class, as well as outside of class. They should keep a dedicated section with a running list of questions that come up through the week. Students can ask these questions in class. This is one way we customize each class to each student's curiosity. I always have a plan for each class, but I also always ask students what they want to cover at the start of each class.
  
  We will cover between 4-10 or more new mental techniques or action items in each class. As we do each one, I will name it, describe it, demonstrate it, and show you how to do it. You'll actually experience it. I'll show you how to practice it. You'll demonstrate it to me so I know you understand it. I'll show you how to use it in training, as well as in a competition, if appropriate. Your responsibility is to then take those techniques home and test them out, practice them, learn them and apply them in your practice sessions. Then when we next meet, I'll ask you how all that went. You'll give me a nice full report on each technique.
  
  I may or may not have a specific handout on each technique we cover (we cover so many), so it's each student's responsibility to capture all the pertinent details in their notes as we go. I frequently ask you if you understand what we're doing many, many times throughout class. That is your opportunity to seek clarification. I strongly encourage students to audio record our coaching sessions. The fastest learners then listen to these recordings and sharpen their notes from them. When you record, nothing is lost, and we don't need to repeat things from a given session.
  
  
• How To Make Best Use Of Your Coaching Sessions: Client Responsibilities In This Mental Coaching Program
  I want my students to make the very best use of their coaching sessions. Over my four decades of coaching I've made a study of noticing what the most successful students do. These folks get the most out of their coaching sessions and make the fastest progress. I've captured what they do in this checklist. Please read this and utilize as many of their strategies as you can.
  
  

1. Make a commitment to follow this mental training program for at least six months, regardless of how frequently we work together. That time frame gives the best results. Maintain realistic expectations about progress and results. Rarely do miracles happen overnight. You have to plant the seeds, do the hard work and then be patient. If your mental challenges have been long-standing, they'll generally take longer to resolve.
   
   
2. Take responsibility for the results you achieve in this program. The coach is your guide, but you will be doing the actual work.
   
   
3. Make a decision to explore both your inner world and outer world. Be prepared to get to know yourself better at these levels: mental, emotional, behavioral, somatic, interpersonal and spiritual. Be action-focused, and make significant changes in your emotions, mind and behaviors. Take the mental lessons you learn and turn them into wisdom and action steps.
   
   
4. Review your notes and audio recording from the prior coaching session. Organize your thoughts before the session. Create some quiet time to begin focusing in before we meet. Visualize how you’d like the session to go in advance. Come to each coaching session with your own plans and ideas for what you want to accomplish. I suggest you have a list of action items you want for the coaching session. Have a list of questions you want to ask me. Turn in your coaching call prep form before each session on time, one full day ahead. Be able to give a full report on the action items you agreed to do since the last session.
   
   
5. Take notes and record the session. It's very important to be engaged that way. Actively contribute during the sessions. Ask for clarifications on any material you don't understand. Between sessions, reflect on the issues and methods we discuss in class. Complete all written assignments in a timely manner. Write in your mental training journal on a regular, preferably daily, basis.
   
   
6. Be honest with yourself and with me, your coach. Openness and genuine self-exploration will give you huge results. Don’t hold back on anything you’d like to say in the session. Disclose your hunches, intuitions and gut sensations. Anything you sense is fair game to discuss in the session. If there is something you don’t like about your coaching sessions, or something you’d like to change, please feel free to speak to me about that anytime. I'm here to help you grow as an athlete, and as a person.
   
   
7. Our coaching sessions are frequently used as practice sessions, in addition to what else we do together. However, you should schedule regular daily and weekly mental practice times on your own, and/or with practice mates. That's the only way to master the skills you learn in class with me. A one-time introduction to the concepts and skills in our sessions will not provide you with the opportunity to lock these in to your brain. You must do this on your own. Set aside a specific amount of time each week for this training. Practice the techniques and training methods so they become natural and automatic.
   
   
8. We will spend less time in our sessions describing and reliving negative situations and their effects, and more time devising solutions to change them into success. Do your best to answer questions I pose to you with thoughtfulness and completeness. Take constructive criticism in a positive manner, and engage in healthy, non-defensive conversations about that material. Increase your insight about yourself as a person, and as a learner and performer. Keep in mind that a coaching session is not a therapy session or a counseling session.
   
   
9. Talking is great, reflection is wonderful, self-awareness is fabulous, but taking action on all this is what counts in the end. Be prepared to convert this insightful self-knowledge into usable action steps. I'll help you do this. Switch gears between seeing the big picture and taking a concrete approach. Being stuck in just one is not desirable.
   
   
10. Be ready sometimes to speak, sometimes to listen, sometimes to analyze, sometimes to synthesize. You will take on many roles in the course of a session. Sometimes we'll talk, and other times you'll be doing mental exercises where you remain silent. Give a fair test in trying out the techniques I suggest and report honestly on how they worked for you.
    
    
11. If you maintain an open mind, you will hear and learn things you probably never quite heard before. As far as is possible, drop any preconceptions you may have about the coaching process, the coach, or the topic and simply experience it anew. If you remain insightful, remain open to change, and make significant behavioral adjustments to your life, you will succeed in big ways.
    
    
12. Secure a health screening from a physician, should you have any limiting medical issues.
    
    

• Handouts And Copyright Policies
  The written content we provide you is proprietary and copyrighted. Please don't share any of it with others. Never post it on line. The PDF books we send you at the outset of our engagement are at no extra charge. We will also send you various other written checklists, articles and assessments as we progress with your coaching. These are also proprietary and copyrighted. If we were to charge for each item like this, the cost would be at least $5-$10 each. The assessments we sell on our website cost a minimum of $150. This is a valuable extra set of resources we provide you, at no extra cost
  
  
• Taking Notes In Coaching Sessions
  I take limited notes in class, for myself, and they're in shorthand, so I don't send them to you or a parent or a coach after class. Therefore, I strongly suggest you take your own notes, even if you are recording the session. Sometimes recordings fail for technical reasons. I also suggest that parents not take notes in place of their child. A student who takes their own notes as they go is more engaged with the material and has better recall of the material. However, if you truly want me to send you my notes, I can do that. I would need to type them into email, and the cost for that would be whatever time the re-writing takes. We'd take that time off your package. I will only do this at your direction.
  
  
• Note Taking And Coaching At Your Club Or School Training Sessions And Competitions
  When I observe you in action at a practice or a competition I take notes and prefer to go over them with you at that time, at the venue, while things are still fresh. If we are unable to do so then, we will review them in our next coaching session. Perhaps we can do this by phone or video.
  
  If we are unable to have a coaching session quickly, and you need these notes sooner, I can speak them into a text message and send them to you that way, if you have a phone that accepts texts. Alternatively, I can call your phone and read the notes into a voicemail so you have a recording of them you can play back whenever you want. My calling or texting like this is at no extra charge. However, it's impractical and time-consuming for me to type these notes, unless you want me to, but I can do that. The cost for re-typing the notes would be whatever time that this typing takes, unless it's a very brief time. If longer, we'd take that time off your package. I will only do this at your direction.