Xenergie Coaches Connacht Rugby Academy Summer 07
By Lorna McDowell, Friday 02 November, 2007
It appears to be the case worldwide in sport that physical training is accorded more time and recognition than mental or emotional training: it is an observable fact that coaches and athletes spend most of their time training physical fitness, and technical and tactical sports skills.However, as most players, coaches and observers of sport would agree, the major obstacles to improved performance in sport are generally not physical at all, but rather mental or emotional obstacles - such as lapses in concentration; pre-performance anxiety; poor motivation; loss of confidence; negative mental attitude; 'choking' under pressure; and so on. It's the person with the mental and emotional toughness who succeeds most often on the playing field.
Xenergie worked with The Connacht Rugby Academy of promising under-age players in order to develop future representative players for Connacht and Ireland (17- 20 years) with individual 1:1 coaching sessions for contracted rugby players and group facilitation during 8 weeks focusing on the components of mental fitness (Commitment, Confidence, Control, Concentration, Communication, E-motion). Visualisation and hypnotherapy were the parts of the course players found the most interesting in order to become more focus and increase their self-esteem and confidence.
