by Simon Clements, Director, EXACT Sports

Welcome to the first edition of the Go Mental eJournal.  As I’ve traversed the country speaking to coaches about their ongoing challenge of player development, it’s become clear that there is no accessible publication currently available that provides coaches with ongoing guidance on the psychological frontier. EXACT has built out a strong network of experts in the field, and it’s time to connect them with our vast network of coaches at all levels.

The Mental eJournal exists under one premise:  “All coaches are amateur psychologists”. A coach’s primary task, no matter what the sport or field, is to guide a group of disparate personalities towards a common goal. If you believe in that fundamental truth, I hope you keep reading. The Mental eJournal is an open conversation with coaches about the various challenges you face on a daily basis. Each month, we’ll select a topic and will invite 6 different psychologists and performance experts to provide their commentary and knowledge from many different angles.

May’s topic is Confidence. In “The Big C”, Dr. Jennifer Gapin (SIUE) shares key components of building confidence in athletes. Dr. K.C. Wilder identifies a set of guidelines to maintain a high level of confidence in “The Art of Sustained Confidence”. In “Working with Overconfidence”, Mike Margolis offers tips to the unique challenge of dealing with the overconfident athlete. Our featured articles are supported by 2 monthly sections. Hot Off the Press takes a look at the new book, Coaching Wisdom, by Make Harrity. We finish it off with Take it to the Field, an excellent breakdown of activities to try with your athletes by performance coach Greg Liberto.

We look forward to your comments and critiques. Our excellent group of psychologists and performance experts have worked to put together a guide that will improve your mental approach. Your feedback and commentary is encouraged. I’ll see you next month as we explore the topic Learning Mindset.