Back on the horse

Question
QUESTION: Hey David?

I play CB and blow out my knee making a tackle 2 years ago..ACL cartiledge, the whole deal. I've been back on the field for about a year now. My problem is i seem to now have a mental block when it comes to tackling in the open field. It's not an agression thing, i still jam at the line, lay hits on recievers and engage blockers like i used to.. it's just making the face to face, 1 on 1 tackle that's a problem..

Any Ideas?

ANSWER: Hello Oscar

I've been thinking about this and in order to give you a good answer I need to know some more information about when you hurt your knee two years ago:

- what was the situation
- was it face to face
- do you still play against the other people involved
- was it day/night/weather/team/etc.
- any other details you can provide

Thanks

David

David Kenward - The Mental Coach
Sacramento, California
http://www.thementalcoach.com
Win the Mental Game: Overcome mental blocks and improve performance
Private sessions ?Seminars/Workshops

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: It was early in the first quarter of an afternoon game. The rain had stopped coming down, but the field was still wet.

I know was playing on the right side of the field..i think we were in Cover-2 if that matters..

It was a sweep to my side, i engaged and shed the WR. The lead back got good position on our contain man, and the ballcarrier bounced it outside. I just remember attacking the back head on as he turned upfield. I got low and wrapped him up. He fell forward, and i got my cleet stuck in the ground causing my knee to twist as i fell backward. I returned later in the game not knowing the extent of the injury.

I have no idea whether or not i have played against the same back again. I don't know his name, and i don't remember his number. I have played against that team a bunch of times since..  

Answer
Hello Oscar


What's happened is that your subconscious mind has formed a belief, because of your experience, that it's not safe to hit face to face, one on one.

I've been struggling with answering this for a bit because this is an easy fix in the office - I work with things like this every day and it's usually a two-session fix - one on one.

But, the human mind is incredibly powerful so here is something you can do:

Get relaxed, close your eyes, and take five slow deep breaths.  Then, picture or imagine a time, pre-injury, playing the way you want, making the tackles you want.  Really focus on that, everything you see, hear, feel and experience.  Notice how focused you are.  Now change to another scene where you play the way you want to.  Notice again how you feel - confident and focused.  And do it again, the same thing.  This helps you get in the mind set of doing well.  Open your eyes, get up, stretch it out and repeat.

Now, take a deep breath, and as you exhale, say to yourself, POWER, while imagining playing the way you want with the confidence you want.  Do that five times, then take a deep breath, open your eyes, stretch it out and repeat.  

What you're doing is training your mind to associate a word - POWER - with feeling confident and playing great, making the tackles you want.  It's simple cause and effect - say POWER and feel confident.  We do this anyway, associating words to emotions.  The more you practice this tool, the stronger that association gets.  After you've practiced it the POWER routine at least twenty times, you are ready to start practicing it on the practice field.  We can only feel one emotion at a time, and when you train your mind, you can wash out a negative emotion and substitute it for one of your choosing - like POWER.

When you've trained your mind to the point when you say POWER you feel that confidence on the practice field, then you are ready to do it in competition. You start doing this before the game even starts, to get yourself into the success zone (which you've trained yourself to do).  Then, in a game, before the snap, take in a breath, exhale and say to yourself POWER and you'll discover you'll feel that confidence and power to do your best.  Remember, the more you practice, the better you get.

Good luck and let me know how it goes.

David

David Kenward - The Mental Coach
Sacramento, California
http://www.thementalcoach.com
Win the Mental Game: Overcome mental blocks and improve performance
Private sessions ?Seminars/Workshops