I’ve been reading my Sport Psychology textbook lately with a lot of interest. It talks about mental training and how it may be just as important as physical training if you’re planning on competing in some sort of competition. Lately, I’ve had a lot of problems with the mental aspect of things in speedskating (e.g. knowing I’m going to lose the race even before it starts, getting real anxious at big meets, etc) so reading this book and hearing it talk about this stuff, I felt like the book was written directly to me.
My question is, do any of you who have competed in …pretty much anything, have experience in psychological training (visualization, arousal regulation, etc)?
The book also talked about sport psychologists being able to help you develop and perfect these psychological skills. Have any of you had experience seeing sport psychologists? If so, what was it like? How much did it cost? Any info you could give me would help.