I attended the Paducah Tilghman vs. Mayfield game recently. The stadium was packed. Standing room only by the time my husband and I got there. I look forward to this game every year. Especially when it is held at Tilghman’s stadium. I was emotionally invested in the outcome of that game, as was most of the crowd.
As I stood there watching, I couldn’t help but appreciate the amount of pressure these high school kids are under to perform. The entire week was spent celebrating the long tradition of this game in various ways, but what it all came down to was these moments and the hopefulness of a favorable outcome. Certainly, these kids are physically well trained, perhaps in the best physical shape they’ll ever be for the rest of their lives. But one might wonder what effect the proper mental training might have on their performance.
I recently sat down with Justin Lewis, a licensed psychotherapist and endurance athlete. Justin is no stranger to mental toughness. He meets physical challenges head on as he has recently rode his bike across Iowa, completed 3 century rides, 4 half marathons, and is weeks away from completing his first full marathon.
In the time he’s spent perfecting his own performance, he has noticed the incredible benefit of investing in mental training to improve physical performance. He set out to learn how to use his 14 years of experience as a therapist to benefit athletes. It’s what he’s done his whole career, but he has now added specialized training specifically to athletics. (Where was this when I was in high school?!)
There are countless stories of athletes of all kinds unable to answer the call when it really counts. They have the strength, mobility, skill, knowledge, and yet can be left unable to perform even the simplest of tasks when the pressure is just too high. Justin is training athletes who have the physical skills, but want to have the mental skills to help them do the best they can on the day of performance. And these skills are not just useful for sports performance, but for life. Some of the areas covered include goal setting, finding creative ways to maintain motivation, and how to handle “game day.”
I think we can agree that being skilled in your sport is useless when mental obstacles make it hard to execute. So a consultation with Justin is well worth the security of knowing you’ve got the mental toughness needed when it is time to perform!
You can find him at Psychology Associates of Paducah, located on Broadway, not far from IdealFit Physical Therapy, in Paducah, KY. Give their office a call to learn more about how he can help you!
Dr. Rachel Atufunwa PT, DPT