WYC 132 – Mental Toughness – Christian Buck talks Goalies having a ‘Bring it’ Mentality

Chris Buck, President of Get It Done Consulting (www.getitdoneconsulting.net), has his Masters in Exercise and Sport Psychology and is a Certified Consultant and member of the Association for Applied Sport Psychology (AASP). He has consulted with professional and amateur athletes alike, implementing mental conditioning programs in a wide variety of sports, including lacrosse, golf, tennis, soccer, basketball, track/field, crew, fencing, hockey, and baseball.

Coach Buck works with multiple NCAA lacrosse programs as a Sport Psychology Consultant to the team as well as a Goalie Psychology Specialist. He is also the Goalie Psychology Specialist for G3 Lacrosse.

Chris is the author of "Thinking Inside the Crease," a book describing how to become a mentally tough dominant goalie. He also wrote the Level 1, Level 2, and Level 3 goalie coaching certification materials for US Lacrosse.

Chris grew up and played lacrosse in Wilton, CT, winning two state championships during his time there and finished his four-year high school career with a 46-1 record as the starting goalie. After high school, he played lacrosse at Ithaca College.

Website/book: thinkinginsidethecrease.com

Professional Website: getitdoneconsulting.net

Twitter: @GetItDoneCT

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Quote

'What you believe is more important that what is objectively the case' - Albert Bendora

Cringe moment

Chris coached a girls team, and didn't know the difference in the rules between boys and girls rules, so he was telling the girls the wrong things

A-ha moments

Grades are just as important as on-the-field skills to earn a scholarship!

Remove self-limitations, believe you can accomplish huge things. 'What you believe is more important that what is objectively the case' - Albert Bendora

Mental toughness

The physiological affects of fear cause you get into Fight or Flight mode. Chris teaches his goalies to develop a fight mode, 'bring it!' "Let's see how many bruises you can get"

Focus on doing your job, not on impressing others or getting the win

Don't provide physical solutions to mental problems

When making goalie changes - communicate! Even if you are just wanting to get someone else some playing time, they may view a switch as them getting benched. Talk to them about exactly what is going on. Something as simple as 'Wasn't your best game, but you're still my guy.'

Practicing in a game-like environment

Practice doesn't make perfect, practice makes permanent

Ask who wants to take a pressure shot in practice - good way to see who might be clutch player at the end of a game

Flushing routines

Take your hat off, brush some water in your hair, when you put your hat back on you are starting anew

Release, replan, refocus - Turn your back to the field of play, replan, then when you turn back around you are refocused

Serena Williams - has notecards at her bench with 2 or 3 points of emphasis, she looks at them every time she changes sides

Evaluative environment vs Expressive environment: Players don't perform well when they feel they are being evaluated every single play, they perform much better in a expressive environment

Dump card - write down everything that is stressing you out - then leave it in their locke...