A detailed notebook and a smartphone with a scorecard app Tour professionals often speak about wanting first tee nerves; they understand these feelings as signals that sharpen focus and heighten awareness for peak performance. Yet for many golfers we work with, anxiety transforms these natural responses from helpful arousal into performance-disrupting tension that undermines years of technical practice. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) offers sport psychology practitioners

Core shame is an instinctual judgement about the self, and it results in a sense of worthlessness, a fear of being found out, and a desperate striving for perfection (Cozolino, 2016). We see or feel this worthlessness, fear of being found out and a desperate striving for perfection throughout sport. We want and need to be worthy and feel part of the team or squad. This want and need has its origins in our evolution because our safety depended on our connection and contributio

Athletes scatter mistakes throughout sports practice and competition. Mistakes are an avenue for learning; however, how many mistakes does it take to quench an athlete’s motivation to improve and keep improving? When we think of sport and the coaches among others working with athletes and teams, we think about their words of support and encouragement, but also their anger and criticism over mistakes. Fellow team mates follow suit and criticise the player for a poor pass or th

Shame is an unwanted feeling that we associate with avoiding and withdrawing. When people feel shame, they just want the floor to open up and swallow them. In sport, our shame is public. We might run down the field in Croke Park with an opportunity to score a point and put two points between the teams, and we kick the ball into the goalkeeper’s hands. She plays the ball quickly up the field and the opposition score a goal. Now we are two points down. The feeling of shame is w