Daniel Abrahams's banner
Daniel Abrahams's profile picture

Daniel Abrahams

@DanAbrahams7755,125 subscribers

Sport Psychologist (HCPC), author, and host of @sportpsychshow. Currently consulting with a number of clients…

Shorts

Put a footballer in an activity with moderate to low emotional stress and they will execute actions with positive intent (approach behaviour) Now put them on the pitch in a game perceived to be important…behavioural inhibition can kick in This is one reason why session design and coach behaviour are prime mediators of player mental skills And it’s why coaches need a psychological framework as a template to help player and team mindset Attention Intensity Intent “In the most important games, our players compete in their High Performance Mindset…with attention, intensity, intent. I know this because every player has their own unique mental framework and our team is committed to High Performance Mindset as a collective… …I know this because we’ve trained High Performance Mindset in every activity in every session every day…through our designs and through our instructions” Every activity Every session Every day

Put a footballer in an activity with moderate to low emotional stress and they will execute actions with positive intent (approach behaviour) Now put them on the pitch in a game perceived to be important…behavioural inhibition can kick in This is one reason why session design and coach behaviour are prime mediators of player mental skills And it’s why coaches need a psychological framework as a template to help player and team mindset Attention Intensity Intent “In the most important games, our players compete in their High Performance Mindset…with attention, intensity, intent. I know this because every player has their own unique mental framework and our team is committed to High Performance Mindset as a collective… …I know this because we’ve trained High Performance Mindset in every activity in every session every day…through our designs and through our instructions” Every activity Every session Every day

13,941 Aufrufe

Videos

DanAbrahams77's profile picture

Great video this… I have 20 years working at Premier League clubs (six contracts) and the last two seasons at Feyenoord (winning the Eredivisie under Arne Slot)… …and I firmly believe that players can be the most impactful psychologists (without being psychologists themselves). Coaches who exploit this phenomenon will give their team a better chance to experience success. Players need to be able to influence their team mates and follow their team mates… To influence To follow This is easier said than done at the very highest level. Players are wracked with social anxiety, caring too much what their teammates think of them. Too many aren’t given an opportunity to build conversational skills they can use in small groups to discuss the games’ challenges rationally. And too often players are at a club where the coaching culture is (very respectfully) overly top-down and not autonomy-supportive enough (which isn’t to suggest that a degree of top-down isn’t important…it probably is). Coaches at this level would do well to up-skill their players in leadership and teamwork, and create a coaching practice that provides players with opportunities to utilise those skills. A final thought: I would respectfully broaden Mr Keane’s player leadership model - leadership as action. Players can lead by action, but also by energy and instruction. Some (but not all) can use their voice as well as their body to influence others… (Note: my comments above have nothing to do with Manchester United or Bruno Fernandes specifically)

Daniel Abrahams

444,328 Aufrufe • vor 6 Monaten

DanAbrahams77's profile picture

I enjoyed watching this simple activity set up by Millwall manager, Neil Harris for his players… These kinds of stripped back activities are important for players to practice during a long season of successes and failures…ups and downs… Where can Mr. Harris take these? 👇🏻 He can slowly start to crank up the fidelity of the activity. What does ‘fidelity’ mean. Simply, he can start to make the activity look more like the game…incorporating more and more information sources that players will be faced with in the actual game. This can be important because fidelity promotes transfer of learning (players are more likely to transfer their practice into the game). For example, a defender can be added. At first, this defender can be asked to defend lightly - at 50%. Then to defend a little more vigorously - at 75%. From here, another defender can be added (and defenders can be given specific instructions in order to tailor the practice of the forwards). Mr. Harris could also add in some randomness. For example, he could give his wide players opportunities to practice a varied array of crosses…in this way the forward players would receive different types of deliveries which they’d be challenged to cope with. All the while, Mr. Harris could facilitate the session - he could ask the forward players to find different solutions to problems posed (by the defenders) which can spark useful coaching conversations between reps. When Mr. Harris does some of the above, he’s engaging in several coaching processes involved in learning: 1. Scaffolding: to support player learning 2. Variability: each rep is different due to the unique variation experienced in the game 3. Randomness: each rep is uncertain…meaning players have to really focus and process the experience (increasing learning) 4. Coach behaviour - asking questions, offering suggestions, providing choice, explicit instruction Players benefit from an array of experiences - they enjoy simple activities and more complicated ones. They enjoy being overtly instructed and brainstorming problems themselves…

Daniel Abrahams

760,253 Aufrufe • vor 1 Jahr

DanAbrahams77's profile picture

Roy Keane: “It’s just an act…” 👇🏻👇🏻👇🏻 Below is perhaps one of the most insightful clips I’ve watched related to the psychology of adult elite sport (the professional level of sport). Tucked away…silently…in a BBC interview quite some years ago. A small section of an interview with Roy Keane, one of the Premier League’s greatest players… “It’s an act. Of course I had self-doubts, but I kept an act up. The skinhead. A few sendings off. I fear nothing. Some sort of machine. Which is nonsense. You act, don’t you!” Roy Keane was a great actor. He acted when he took to the pitch. He had, what I call a ‘Game Face’. I wrote about my mental technique of ‘Game Face’ in my first book Soccer Tough (a book that I’m proud to say Gareth Bale called life changing). And I expanded on ‘Game Face’ in Soccer Tough II. A ‘Game Face’ is a term I use to describe a player’s best ‘mental state’ and ideal ‘competitive persona’. It’s a pictorial metaphor that helps players think about, imagine, and then self-regulate around who they want to be in the heat of battle and how they want to execute their actions. “I’m my Game Face no matter what. I say it, be it, do it, act it…embody it, enact it” To bring this alive I’ll provide some examples… I spent five years working with someone considered one of the best defenders in the world. He had a ‘Game Face’ of ‘Dominant & Relentless’. These last two years working with Feyenoord as they won the Eredivisie and the Dutch Cup, one of the players had a ‘Game Face’ of ‘Positive Upbeat Benzema’ When England played in the final of the rugby World Cup in 2019, one of the players had a ‘Game Face’ of ‘Aggressive Energetic Lion’ (I was lead psych prior to the World Cup). You see, these are pictorial metaphors consisting of action-based words, often combined with a model player or concept such as an animal. Metaphors are wonderful linguistic tools for self-regulation, and can help human beings execute actions at a high intensity level, as well as engage in a competition with approach behaviour (on the front-foot, energy forward). Ultimately, sports competitors would do well to be great actors when they need to be. This doesn’t mean there’s anything inauthentic about their style of play. On the contrary, a ‘Game Face’ is robust in that it offers a description of ‘who they are’ and ‘who they need to be’ when kick-off arrives. It offers a dynamic descriptor of ‘who they are’ and ‘who they need to be’ in-game when the pressure is on. A ‘Game Face’ is a mix of authentic and inauthentic mental (and personality) states that enable players to adapt and flex when they need to. Roy Keane had a ‘Game Face’. He was an actor when he needed to be. In his words, it helped him find ‘the zone’. A ‘Game Face’ is the most powerful technique I’ve devised over the years…one that enables me to help players take charge of themselves and take control no matter what. To dominate their mindset and own their mindset no matter what… …no matter what!

Daniel Abrahams

640,725 Aufrufe • vor 1 Jahr

DanAbrahams77's profile picture

I think it was comedian, Jimmy Carr, who said that happiness is your current situation minus expectations. Perhaps he stole this from someone else. Either way, it feels true. Jannik Sinner, having lost to Novak Djokovic in the semi-finals of the Australian Open looks devastated. Professional athletes tend to be when they lose. My thirty years in high performance sport has shown me that the ability to recover from disappointment is such a crucial part of being a high performance athlete. Most are going to lose…they’re going to lose a lot! Most have to experience an overwhelm of emotion following a loss and then very quickly go again. Go again Go again Go again Easy to say. Devilishly difficult to do. The sensorial memory of loss can linger in mind and body. The stinging sense of defeat can emotionally burden for some time. And so the ability to flex and shift back to high mastery and a high performance mindset with speed is critical. The same holds in the corporate world. Disappointments aplenty - that missed job opportunity, that lost account, that failed pitch - none of these can be allowed to cripple enthusiasm. None of these can be allowed to render you ‘actionless’. But that’s hard! And so back to Jimmy Carr. Happiness is your current situation less expectation. Direct your expectation appropriately. “All I expect from myself is to start and stay in a high performance mindset. All I expect from myself is to deliver in my competitive persona. All I expect from myself is my competitive process. That’s all!” The greatest athletes must expect great things from themselves. But for mood regulation and to remain mastery-oriented, those expectations must be aspects they can control…

Daniel Abrahams

113,295 Aufrufe • vor 4 Monaten

DanAbrahams77's profile picture

The ever impressive Sean Dyche… “We’ve gotta run and run and run some more” - there’s nothing complicated to it he claims. Now, Mr. Dyche is one of a few Premier League managers I haven’t had the pleasure to meet…but if I did I know what I’d want to talk to him about. I’d be bold. I’d give him a knowing smile and a little wink: “Come on Mr Dyche who are you kidding? This is years of playing and thinking. This is years of study that you’ve wrapped into a simple framework you can take with you anywhere…” Simple masking complex… Now, of course, he might push back: “No Dan this really is simple” - but there’s nothing simple about team shape, pressing, recovery lines, working in synch… No, Mr Dyche, no…this is just darn good coaching. And darn good coaching is neither simple nor easy. It’s complex and hard. I love the fact that Mr Dyche speaks about the importance of a framework. And that players can then explore from that framework. They ca explore and create. But a solid base is needed. This resonates with me because my work as a sport psychologist functions in a similar vein. I want the players and teams I work with to be passionate about High Performance Mindsets. I want them to be students of mindset. I want them to take control and take charge of three mental skills - attention, intensity, intent. From this framework I believe they can optimise the execution of their technical, tactical, and physical actions. From this framework I believe they can their best possible performance. From this framework I believe they can be tough to beat (not impossible to beat…but tough to beat)… The ever impressive Sean Dyche sells you his simple. But his simple is enveloping the complex. His simple is years in the making…

Daniel Abrahams

142,427 Aufrufe • vor 5 Monaten

DanAbrahams77's profile picture

Carlos Cuesta chooses his words carefully. He orients them towards the positive… Perhaps the former Arsenal assistant coach (now head coach of Parma in Serie A, Italy) has read Professor Lisa Feldman Barrett’s book ‘Seven and a Half Lessons About the Brain’. In it, the Harvard neuroscientist describes how the language centres of the brain are connected to the insides of the body. Words and sentences influence heart rate, blood flow, and hormonal release. Coach Cuesta wants Arsenal defender, Ben White to feel great. He wants him to reflect on his strengths. A confidence-enhancing trick designed to release a cocktail of hormones that help Ben feel more ‘can-do’. Obvious maybe, but something coaches can do more of. Compliments are something coaches should never tire of. But let’s be clear. The brilliance of this short snippet of communication lies in the last five seconds. “So now it’s only a question of angles and body shapes” In other words, your anticipation is fantastic. You read the game better than any one else. To become more complete you need to focus on angles and body shapes. We can work on this together. A hook…a punchline! You reel ‘em in (this is what you’re great at) and then deliver a juxtaposition (this is what we can work on to help you improve). You’re great AND you can get even greater - and I can help you with that. Commit to me. Commit to this process. I can take you places you’ve never been before.

Daniel Abrahams

125,826 Aufrufe • vor 10 Monaten

DanAbrahams77's profile picture

A manager trying to rouse his players… Cortical arousal…a call for mental activation and physical intensity… Mikel Arteta using words, sentences, phrases enveloped in tone, volume, rhythm, pause…trying to tap into memory, striving to evoke pain and pleasure, cautioning threat while willing reward. Motivation - to move towards and to move away from. Mental activation… The challenge for any coach is to recognise the cause of performance lapse. Do my players need to rise in intensity or do I need to cool the nervous system? Might a rise be true for one and a drop be true for another? Should this come from me or should this come from my players? Questions…questions! For me…pre-planned: -individual mental frameworks -a team mental framework Then time for: -players to group together to speak -the coach to assert the tactical plan enveloped in those mental frameworks -mini individual conversations An all-in feel…an integrated approach. Cortical arousal, narrative, and meaning in competitive sport are strange things. One player is best served in a state of physical dominance while another is best suited to a playful state akin to playing mate’s football. Player one: dominant, relentless, strong Player two: playful, focused, free No hard, fast rules other than this - each and every player has their ideal mind and body state that helps them to anticipate, make decisions, co-ordinate their body, and execute at an appropriate physical intensity. And that state must be found and maintained in each and every game. I love Mikel Arteta’s passion. I love his energy and his vibrancy. I also love the complexity of the human. With 11, 13, 15, 18 plauers all gawping at you, hanging on every word you say…you never quite know whether the content or the delivery is suited to everyone in the room… …you never quite know… And that’s what makes sports coaching so much fun and so intriguing. That no matter who you are and no matter what level you coach at…coaching is a decision-making process where even the very best and even the very famous are making a best guess most of the time. A best guess most of the time…

Daniel Abrahams

221,932 Aufrufe • vor 2 Jahren

DanAbrahams77's profile picture

Richie McCaw, one of the greatest sporting captains ever has a quiet moment to reflect on his in-game cues… What do you notice about these cues? What’s a common thread, a common theme? They’re all pretty controllable. No ‘complete my passes’; no scoring; no win all my tackles…those kinds of performance objectives being out of a player’s control. In Chapter Four of my new book, Compete, I introduce ambitious competitors to a Match Script. A Match Script consists of in-game cues that are specific, controllable, and positive. A Match Script aids the mental skills of Attention, Intensity, and Intent… Compete is the culmination of twenty years working as a registered and qualified sport psychologist…with some of the best players and coaches in the world. Coaches such as Eddie Howe, Arne Slot, and Eddie Jones. 𝐏𝐫𝐞-𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐞𝐭𝐞 𝐭𝐨𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐞𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐲 𝐛𝐢𝐫𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐩𝐲 𝐚𝐭 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝟏𝟎% 𝐨𝐟𝐟 𝐞𝐱𝐜𝐥𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐚𝐭 𝐇𝐚𝐰𝐤𝐬𝐦𝐨𝐨𝐫 𝐏𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 (𝐬𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐲 𝐠𝐨 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐇𝐚𝐰𝐤𝐬𝐦𝐨𝐨𝐫 𝐏𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐞𝐛𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐫…𝐚 𝐆𝐨𝐨𝐠𝐥𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐩 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬)

Daniel Abrahams

31,703 Aufrufe • vor 2 Monaten