2022, Vol. 9, Issue 5, Part D

There is a conversation that goes on in your head while you are riding, and it doesn’t mean you are crazy. Take a look at it. Are you encouraging yourself? Worried? Beating yourself up? Self-talk can have a big effect on sporting performance. Increasing your awareness of negative self-talk and correcting it could become your most important mental skill.

I can’t clim, so this race was a waste of time, I played badly in a game last month, so I may do badly in this game today also, I am so nervous, I just feel something bad is going to happen, I am so much weaker than her – I’m really a weak player, I can’t win this game, so why bother playing? I was just lucky today… The team’s going to fire me if I keep doing so poorly, I should be a better player by now.