It depends what you want to achieve. Here are some examples:
You can
Improve your performance
Get more out of your training
Improve your attitude to training and competition
Concentrate with more focus
Increase your mental and physical energy
Develop a greater positive mental attitude to your life and your sport
Develop a thick skin
Prepare for matches more effectively
Have greater self belief
Manage distractions more effectively
Overcome bad decisions easier
Concentrate for longer
Gain a mental edge over your opponents
Manage stress
Achieve your objectives faster
Improve your techniques
Recover faster from set-backs
Win more often
Get better press coverage
Relate more effectively with your coach
Gain greater respect from your players
Improve team member performance
Develop your full potential as a manager, coach or performer
A slight improvement.
Well, I do call myself a coach sometimes but I don't mean in the traditional sporting sense. I don't teach you the technical aspects of your sport - I "coach" you in psychological techniques. However, I do occasionally offer little-known drills to help practise techniques that clients have found very useful.
I have studied how people learn for over a decade. I have coached, lectured, tutored and instructed people of various ages from a range of backgrounds and cultures (from Taiwan to Glasgow). So, by getting to know a bit about you, I can fine tune my approach to suit you.
What this means is that I can help you take different approaches to training and learning your sport.
I have many influences, teachers and sources. It all started by learning some of the skills when I studied yoga as a youth. Later, my ideas were shaped through learning fencing, karate and judo. I learned very much about the mental side of sport from my karate instructors - Tommy Morris and Hamish Adam.
In 1979 I gained my MA Hons in Psychology from University of Edinburgh and got a lot from that programme of study - probably more than I realized at the time.
Since those days I have studied many different writers and practitioners - from Bruce Lee to Milton Erickson. In the last few years, I learned skills directly from Richard Bandler, Stephen Brooks, Paul McKenna and Gil Boyne. I also study talented managers and performers and learn from them.
The techniques I use are approximately 10% original and 90% borrowed and adapted from a variety of sources. However, be clear about two things. It can be 1% of my original 10% that makes the huge difference.
Also, the "borrowed and adapted" techniques are subtly different from what other people do. What makes me different too is that I adapt my approach to suit the client. This means that what I do with one person will work a treat but if someone else tried it on another person it won't work so well.
Some of my techniques come from conventional sport psychology, others come from different branches of psychology. Some ideas come from different sports or from disciplines other than psychology. Some are conventional, others are not. I've collected what works and continually improved these techniques or secrets to get the best and quickest results.
I must also acknowledge all the people I've helped who also helped me refine what I was doing.
Some of the things I do may appear "different", sometimes "strange", but I use them because they bring results.
Many things. First, to state the obvious, I earn my living through psychology. Second, I like helping people so I get to do that. Third, I enjoy working with people who are serious about what they do - be it in sport, TV, business or whatever. Also, I still use many of the techniques on myself, friends and family.
What about confidentiality?Everything you tell me is confidential unless you wish it otherwise. Some of the things I tell you are confidential and I ask you to respect that. I have never signed a confidentiality contract with clients but I would do so if the client thought it necessary.
Most people come to me when they have a problem and work one-to-one with me until they solve the problem. This rarely takes more than five or six sessions. The vast majority of clients make significant improvements after only one or two sessions.
Some clients continue to work with me when they've solved their problems - to accelerate their development and reach even greater heights. You don't have to be bad to get better.
Things will get better - even although you might not be totally sure how some things are happening!
Well, I won't publish my fees over the internet. However, I can tell you that I've used the following price structures.
Cost per session.
Percentage fee - a percentage of your prize money over an agreed length of time.
Or some combination of these.
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