Training a Young Athlete's Mind: Insights from Kate Allgood

John Boruk: 0:07

Hello again. Hope you're enjoying your summer. Thanks for joining us here on Raising a Champion as we examine youth sports and how we can make it a little bit better for everybody involved. I'm your host, John Bork. I know it's been a rather rather quiet here, with all the summer vacations and people out and about with their kids, but we're back as we inch our way towards yet another school year. As always, we're all so appreciative for all of our listeners and for those who subscribe to us. You'll be notified of new episodes and if you can leave us a five star review saying what you like, it's always much, much appreciated as well. Our guest today is a mental performance coach and CEO of a high performance coaching firm that specializes in the mental training of athletes. She's also written a handful of books, including the Athlete Within, how to Build your Mental Game for Peak Performance, and the Best Seller on Amazon, Get Into the Zone the Essential Guide to High Performance Through Mental Training. We welcome in Kate Allgood. Kate, welcome to Raising a Champion.

Kate Allgood: 1:06

Thanks for having me.

John Boruk: 1:07

Yeah, you grew up in not you live in San Diego, but you grew up in Toronto and, like many Canadians, you also played hockey. And you then transitioned into the mental training of athletes. So what led you down this path of psychology where you felt you could help change the course of an athlete through the mental approach?

Kate Allgood: 1:27

Yeah, absolutely. I think it was a, in one sense, a natural progression for me. Being an ice hockey player, I think I knew on some level the influence the mental game had. I think I just didn't really obviously when I was actually playing, truly know what that looked like and pieced it together.

Kate Allgood: 1:48

And as I came towards the end of my career and I was an undergrad, I'd taken some sports psychology classes and so I think there was always a fashion fascination between the mind and the body, and when I first graduated from undergrad I was kind of done with with formal education. It had been a long journey and a long process so I kind of did some body work stuff instead, initially with athletes. But I think there was always that that itch and desire to explore the mind and understand a little bit further, and so I think it was just a natural kind of combination of. I have a great passion for performance and always have from a young age, and then when I was an undergrad the spark and the passion for psychology and understanding the mind kind of was lit and I just kind of decided to in my late 20s kind of go a little bit further with my education so I could work with athletes on the mental side.

John Boruk: 2:42

Yeah, so elaborate a little bit on who exactly that you work with, because, as I'm looking over, your resume talks about athletes National Hockey League, national Football League, the LPGA, even Supercross so you really span the spectrum of professional sports, and so talk about some of these athletes, what you see across multiple fields, and the experiences and what you've taken out of all of that.

Kate Allgood: 3:09

Yeah. So I've been fortunate to work with some, obviously, athletes at the top level of their sports and I love working with different sports. I think you as a practitioner get to learn a lot, and I think there's as much as there's little differences, obviously, between each sport and there are things we have to take into account when looking at mental performance and, obviously, the reality of what exists for them within their sport. I've really been able to see there are some common threads for every athlete and the things that they need to work on. And while I've worked with athletes at the highest level, I do also work with a lot of young athletes, teenage athletes, even some 12 year olds and so preteen athletes, and I think, you know, it's always fascinating to see that whether someone's a teenager or in college or Olympic athlete or professional athlete, there are definitely some common elements.

Kate Allgood: 4:01

Confidence is a big one and you'd think that a professional athlete would be pretty confident and I think you know, with a lot of athletes, a lot of confidence comes from you know how things are going, how well they're doing the wins, the records, the results, the scores, whatever it might be for them. That kind of, I guess, creates what they would consider good performances, and so that need to develop confidence from within, I think is always there at any level. I think everyone can always develop a little bit higher level of confidence within themselves and what they're bringing to the table. And then obviously, another big thing is attention. Right, attention and focus is at the core of everything for an athlete, and so always having to look at how do we help an athlete train their attention, whether they are super cross athlete or grade nine baseball player, I think that's a huge part also to the book that I do.

John Boruk: 4:58

I mentioned off the top of the show. This is the part of the year where you're coming off summer vacations, you've spent time with family and now you got to get back and already football teams high school football teams are starting practicing and they got to go through the physicals. If you're playing in a fall sport, you got to go through a physical. But a physical has to do. You know with the outside of your body, how your limbs are working, you know your knees, you get all that checked, but what's interesting is that nobody you don't go through that sort of process. As it comes to the psychology, are you mentally wired or mentally ready to go? Do you think that there should be more attention paid at that level when you're talking about high school athletes or middle school athletes, to where maybe a school counselor is involved, maybe there is a school psychologist just to ensure that these kids are, maybe they're not experiencing depression or anxiety or whatever the case may be, instead of just the physical part of it?

Kate Allgood: 6:02

No, absolutely, I think, at different levels. I think you absolutely have to also take that check in with the athlete on the psychological side right, they do, as you mentioned, a lot of physicals and I think you do whether it's a school psychologist or counselor when making sure there aren't any clinical or medical things going on that need to be addressed on that side. I think is really important because if that is existing and then they head into the season, then that can obviously make things worse and obviously not help your performance. And then obviously, if everything looks good on that end, I think just having somebody come in and talk to them about the mental side and what are their goals, and just helping them to also look at making sure that they're preparing themselves not just physically during maybe that pre-season or training camp, but also mentally for what's about to come. And I think there's different ways that you can do that.

Kate Allgood: 6:55

Interestingly, training attention is a big one, and there was mentioning football. There was this great study done at the University of Miami on that during pre-season training and the impact that mindfulness meditation had on the athlete's ability to actually strengthen their attentional skill set. And training camp is such an intensive time period that if you don't train it and you don't protect it, it actually can get weaker during that process, and then you head into the season and you kind of not really have this very, very important resource at its full strength. And so I think, at different levels, whether it's medical or clinical, and then obviously everything looks good. Moving into the performance element of the equation, I think more does need to be done and not just focusing so much on physical preparation and getting them ready to go.

John Boruk: 7:45

Yeah. So you've gone through that. You've gone through training camp programs, the preparation that goes into before a season even starts. And if you're a young kid and look, it really takes a very sharp mind shift to go from you know, I've been having fun, I've been out at swimming pools and stuff summer to now trying to gear up to play a very competitive sport. And so often when things don't go well and whether it's two days at football practice or training camp or whatever, when things don't go well, it's so easy to lose the mental focus and you're almost. You go into a season. You're not the starter. You thought that you're going to be the starter. Somebody beat you out, whatever the case may be that you're already mentally defeated before the season starts. So what would you tell parents who may be out there listening and can kind of see that kind of detect that within their kids and make sure that that's not a problem area before the season even starts?

Kate Allgood: 8:44

Yeah, I know, obviously you're correct. Right, you can have expectations or certain things that you're wanting in goals and those are really important. Right to have goals of what you want things to maybe look like, or maybe how, where you want to be on the team when you're entering into the, into the season. But one of the biggest things with goals a lot of people don't understand it. It's a target, but at times you are going to need to reevaluate and adapt and I think that's one thing that if you know an athlete, a young athlete, maybe didn't become the starter and that was their goal or that's what they thought would happen, right, it's okay to understand that you just need to maybe reevaluate for a moment and readjust what you're looking to do. Then, heading into the season Again, it doesn't mean your goal can't be now to become the starter again. But I think that reevaluation is really important to understand that it's not necessarily a failure, that you know you set goals and it helps create direction, helps create purpose. But whether it's the goal itself or the process to the goal, it does always need to be evaluated and reevaluated and maybe adjusted and adapted, and that's something that often is not done with goals and I think, at the same time too, heading in, you know, before even maybe the preseason or the tryouts or whatever it is, is to really make sure you do set realistic, you know, maybe goals and not just the goal being the focus on what the outcome will be.

Kate Allgood: 10:02

You know, being the starter or whatever that might be, and really looking at setting goals as to the process, as to how ready do you want to be and hopefully that puts you in a position to be the starter in this example but to really look at things that are 100% in your control. You can't always control what position you're going to be on a team because obviously there are other athletes who are also vying for that position. They do have a say, the coaches have a say, so there's a lot of things outside of your control as an athlete. And so for parents is really helping you know their children look at what can they control within this process their effort, their actions, their preparation. You know their thoughts, their attitude, and really bringing that to the table and really defining what is a good maybe tryout or preseason that is, you know, extends beyond what the outcome or result of that preseason is going to be.

Kate Allgood: 10:54

It's the same with the season as well. Right, you have to focus in on what are you wanting to accomplish during this time period that isn't a hundred percent based off of what you hope is going to happen in terms of your role on the team, because you know you go through sports long enough and and you're going to come up against the time where you don't have the rule that you want or expected or Thought you should, and you have to be able to still find value in the role that you do have and Defined purpose and and to then still burn a hundred percent effort to whatever it is that you're doing river role that you have.

John Boruk: 11:28

Yes. So in talking about expectations and goals and I don't like to use the word expectations I'll tell you why Expectation is you're expecting something to happen and sometimes, when you put expectation and you tie that into a goal, you're not always in control of the outcome. If you play, if you're hoping to win a district championship in a team sport, there's only so much that you can do. You need everybody else. I mean, it's always a nice team goal. But expectations, when you don't, when you don't rise to the level of meeting that expectation, it leaves yourself open for a lot of disappointment. Whereas, let's say, you meet that expectation, usually the gratification isn't quite there because, well, that was what you expected to do all along. So if you're, if you're a young kid or a parent, should parents sit down with kids and sort of help them Make goals going into a season? Or is this something where talk to the kid and then you know, if you're a parent, kind of help them along the process? Who should take control of that?

Kate Allgood: 12:31

No, I depend on the, on the age of the athlete, of how much control is obviously our help is being, you know, blocked by the parent versus the athlete. I'm a big proponent on it. You know, eventually, and through the process, especially as you're younger, you know the athlete should be more and more taking, you know, full ownership of their, their sports journey and part of that Would be setting the goals and part of that also is maybe asking parents for help with it. That's something that they need and starting to learn that. But if obviously An athlete is young enough, you know I think the parent has to be there to help a little bit with maybe Creating that structure, you know, sitting down with them and helping them, because maybe they don't know how to Set goals properly or what that process really looks like. And then through that, with the parents help, you know, with time, as you proceed through your, you know, high school years, then the athlete themselves can take on maybe a little bit more of that, that ownership of setting goals. And I think, yeah, definitely sitting down and at the beginning of the season and not only setting goals for the year, and Obviously we look at there's all those different goals, you know, result based versus process based, outcome, performance based. There are all these different goals, but I think you know big part of it is, as you mentioned, not putting those goals and tying them into expectations of how things should look Through the season because, as you said, they they become much more focused on or are very much based off of things you can't fully control and you really need to focus on you know a lot of those goals Better within your control. It is.

Kate Allgood: 14:02

It's fine to set a goal Maybe how many goals do you want to score in a season but then you have to kind of put it to the side and also really heavily focus on. You know, as you're going through the season and setting the goals prior to the season, like what's that process? What are the controllables like a hundred percent in your control and where can you place your focus and what can some of those Goals be? So, for example, because of my, my background, you know moving your feet or how many shots you get in a game Much more in your control, right, and those are things that I don't think people necessarily set the goals towards as often and I think that's that's where you do want to place your focus because it's in your control, and they set you up to do some of those other goals that maybe you you really want, but you know, to really be able to focus on Not only the physical goals, though, but also your mental goals, and they think that something also that gets missed a lot.

Kate Allgood: 14:52

Right, we focus a lot on how many goals do we want to score, how many touchdowns, you know, how many Passive past completions do we want, but it's really also looking at Look at those goals that you know what kind of attitude you want to bring your efforts and I know people talk a lot about effort, but I still see it with with younger athletes, where there's still a little bit of Of a hard time giving a hundred percent effort all the time.

Kate Allgood: 15:16

There's a little bit of a worry if they give a hundred percent effort in it and their goals or the things they're pursuing Don't turn out that it was a waste of time, and and so really helping them to understand to give a hundred percent effort.

Kate Allgood: 15:28

And then, you know, also really important at the beginning of the season Not only just goals is to sit down as a family and make sure this is this commitment that you're entering into is something that you Do want to do again, and I think that also does not get Done very much where, as a family, you know the parents or whoever else, sit down with the athlete and everyone makes the decision that this is the commitment but they want to make.

Kate Allgood: 15:52

And I think that's really important because for the athlete, them consciously making that commitment again for another season Really is going to help them through some of those rougher moments during the season. There's always going to be rough moments during the season and Then, if the kid is young enough During the season, if they have those moments or moments they want to quit or walk away or take a break, that's where the parents can step in and say, hey, like we've, we've set this commitment, we're going to see it through. But hey, at the end of the season we can reevaluate this, talk again and see if you want to do it again. And I think, again, that helps the athlete kind of maybe move through some of those moments where they just they're, they're done for the season, but usually it's passing, and then you can reevaluate and see them.

John Boruk: 16:30

Yeah, it's such a good point too and you know this, having grown up in Toronto Even for young kids ages 10 to 13 playing top tier hockey, we triple-a hockey. It's such a big commitment the practices, the games, the tournament, showcases, traveling, everything involved with that that I do. At the end of the season and because trials are typically a month, it could be a few weeks, a month after the previous season has concluded you get into trials and I like to sit down with with with my son and say Do you still want to do this? Do you enjoy this? Because and and it's a and if you don't, it's okay, it's okay, but, but what's important in asking these questions is that you want them to be honest and let them know that there's no, there's no wrong answer. But I think a lot of parents just assume that, going from one season next, that they still want to do it, want to do it, and never really check in with their child.

Kate Allgood: 17:29

Mm-hmm, no, absolutely, and I think you know, the parents know, but also you know as an athlete, I know for myself I didn't. It wasn't something we really thought about. You just go, yeah, I'll go into tryouts and go into the next season, and there wasn't even just a momentary pause to be like Do I still like this, do I still want to do this? There's just that assumption and I think, gagist, having that moment, whatever time of year works best, is both important from the parents as well as the kid, because for the whole family, as you said, it's a big commitment, depending on the sport, the amount of travel, practices, everything right, and I think that's very, very important and not really done.

John Boruk: 18:08

So let's say that a parent is watching their child play a football field, basketball, a court volleyball on the ice rink, wherever, and how can they? Just by viewing their child out there, what are some signs, some telltale signs of perhaps they're mentally not in it or there's something that may be mentally off about their child?

Kate Allgood: 18:35

Yeah, I think some of the I guess I don't want to say core, but one that I definitely hear a lot of and people come, you know, start to maybe ask about my services is one is they're performing one way in practice and differently in competition settings. So they're not really bringing the same level and it's not necessarily an effort-based thing. They're just they're having trouble piecing it together and dealing, maybe, with the pressure of competition or overthinking the competition. Something is not clicking, something. The way that they're viewing the competition isn't the same as practice and so starting to interfere with their ability to perform. That's probably one of the biggest ones.

Kate Allgood: 19:15

I think effort can also be a big part of it. Like, if you're going to practices or competitions, efforts hit or miss right Sometimes it's there, sometimes it's not there Right Then something is going on Like what is? Why is that effort not always 100%? And, as I mentioned, you know, one of the things I've often seen with younger athletes is there's a little bit of that fear or worry that you know, giving 100% effort and things not turning out, it's going to be a waste of time, and so they kind of almost hold back a little bit with their effort, and so that would definitely be another sign.

Kate Allgood: 19:49

I think another one is, you know, after a mistake or after not doing something well, after what they would maybe say quote unquote is a bad performance, you know, obviously really getting hard on themselves and excessively hard on themselves, I think there's obviously going to be a little bit of maybe disappointment. They're just like man, I didn't, I didn't really reach my, my capabilities today or my potential, but if it's excessively hard kind of on themselves, and that's definitely something where maybe you know it's really good to start to see somebody yeah, preoccupation results as well. They're like, oh, really focused on their results and not really focused on the process and having fun and enjoying the process. That would also probably be another example.

John Boruk: 20:31

Yeah, yeah. I see parents, especially some fathers. They'll pull their son aside after a game and they'll say you need to get out of your head, and the child will look at them with glossy look. Not exactly know what exactly that means, but I do believe that you know 90% of the thoughts that are in your head are the recycling of thoughts, and that goes along for adults too. You know where you think about relationships or something pertaining to you. Know work, life, balance, anything where you're constantly having the same thoughts over and over and over again, like a dog chasing its tail, and you can never get rid of them. Is that something that you work with? How to shed that? Because that is so much wasted energy. When you're thinking about oh you know, if you took a shot and you missed a shot, that would have tied the game, and you're constantly thinking about this over and over, it gets exhausting.

Kate Allgood: 21:28

Yeah, no, absolutely yes. That is definitely something I addressed in different ways. One is obviously how to let it go in that moment, right. So hopefully, if we're looking at something like hockey, right, you have a lot of the game left. Right, you have to be able to drop that, let that go and bring your focus back to the present moment. In that, you know, for in competition, that is the. In one sense, the only thing you really need to do is the best thing to do is to bring yourself back to the present moment as best as possible. But that is a skill set, right, so that has to be trained and developed.

Kate Allgood: 21:58

And then, after you know a game or a competition, having you know, an appropriate kind of self evaluation, specifically around at least from my perspective, the mental part of the equation right to be reflective on. You know, were you mentally ready? How well did you focus through the distractions? You know, maybe, what was your self talk like? So, really addressing and thinking about and looking about some of these, these aspects that's going to impact your, your game, and really thinking about not only what maybe needs to be improved on. And then, most importantly, how will you improve on it, what are the steps you will actually take to get better with it, but also looking at things that you did well, because that's going to help us to, you know, build confidence right.

Kate Allgood: 22:41

An athlete, you know, too often only looks at what they don't do well, but we learn a lot and can get a lot of information from what we have done well, because that that teaches us what we need to try to do again and what works for us. And that's also just as important. And so really having that reflection so that hopefully, if you reflected properly and written it down, then you kind of, in essence, close the book on it and so, as you walk away from your performance, then you're, you know, ready to focus on, on the work you need to do to get prepared for the next one and then also just helping to, you know, teach athletes that sometimes are strength. So, for example, there's a lot of athletes I've worked with who are really, you know, good students, very analytical individuals, and that works for them in certain situations, like school work, to their advantage.

Kate Allgood: 23:27

But if you're a very analytical individual and then you maybe do make a mistake in competition, generally, that's going to potentially be something that you fall back on because it's a little bit of a de-stress mechanism. It's kind of your strength, and so for any of us, when we, you know, get into a stressful situation, we generally gravitate to what we know and what we're good at, and if that's just not appropriate in that moment so analyzing right after the mistake, generally in a sport, is not the best time to do it we again have to learn how do we get you to be able to be focused and then, in the appropriate time, right, do some thinking, think about it, analyze it, so that you can move on, take some actions and then again be focused for that next performance.

John Boruk: 24:06

One of the things that I've done this summer is watch a number of documentaries that are out there, and one of them on Netflix is very, very intrigued Whether you like to sport or not, because tennis is a very individual sport. But the documentary point break really digs into the mental approach of playing sports and the roller coaster that these athletes and I can only assume. You know tennis players who play an individual sport and the roller coaster that takes place throughout the course of just one single match. They can be riding high within the first few games and then they drop a few and their confidence is shot and then they've got to find a way to dig back and they explain all of that and it's to me it's just so fascinating to ride that that you know it's really. It's like a tidal wave of emotions and then to try to steer yourself back and to collect yourself.

John Boruk: 25:02

And that's what really defines the great ones and those who are consistent winners and those who struggle back and forth. So when we talk about confidence and I know this is something that you really try to build with your athletes and something that you have stressed within your books is building the internal confidence and then having the tools in order to the tools of confidence in order to reach your goals. So how does that all take place? How does it? Because sometimes it seems like it's a chicken and egg comparison. You either have to have you know with success, then confidence follows, or do you have the confidence, and with that, here comes success.

Kate Allgood: 25:45

Yeah, I know absolutely, if you're correct, chicken or egg, and I think too often, as I mentioned earlier, right, it is about the results and how things are going, and then so it does become a little bit more like a roller coaster your confidence based off of how things are looking or feeling. And I think it's important I tell all, all of my athletes, the results are part of the equation. I'm not going to say that they're, they're not, but they can't be the only part of the equation. Almost like, if you're, if you're baking a cake, it has to be the icing of the cake. It can't be the main ingredient, right? The results cannot be the main ingredient of your confidence.

Kate Allgood: 26:17

And when we're looking at building confidence from from within, there's, there's a couple, of course, I should say, but four core things that I really look at, and they definitely, you know, go a little bit beyond it. But we want to move beyond the results or how things are going. And so number one is looking at mental preparation. Physical preparation obviously falls into your confidence as well, but my focus is usually people aren't doing the mental preparation that they need, and so an athlete's preparation leading into a competition is a huge influence on their, on their confidence and they need to be able to walk in feeling like I've done absolutely everything that I could from what I know at this point in time about how to prepare myself, so that there was nothing more I could have done to be more prepared in this moment. And I and I put in an emphasize the part of what I know right now, because I think there's definitely some athletes who always think, well, I could have been more prepared. And you're always going to learn, you're going to learn how to better prepare yourself as you go through your journey. As you know, have more competition, more performances, so it's really more saying like, at this moment, was there anything more you could have done? Did you do everything physically? Did you do the things? We looked at from a mental perspective, like, were you as prepared as you possibly can be? And hopefully, if they have a resounding yes on that, that's great, that's a, that's part of the equation.

Kate Allgood: 27:35

Number two is looking at helping them to train in adversity and embrace adversity. I think too often athletes train in ideal conditions, but competition is not ideal conditions. There's always going to be some form of adversity, some form of challenge, and so being able to Start to train a little bit with some form of adversity, for whatever that looks like for for their sport, to help teach them that they can handle adversity and to help to trust, start to trust themselves that they can Handle anything that's going to come their way. They're going to be able to figure it out, because an athlete does not know what's going to come, you know, in the competition. But they need to trust themselves that they can handle it and they can figure it out and that's a big part of confidence. And so looking at that part of the equation is really important for starting to build that confidence from within. And then certain mental skills is.

Kate Allgood: 28:27

Number three is mental skills, and there are certain mental skills I really emphasize. Obviously a lot of mental skills will flow into To confidence, but three that I emphasize and they get placed at different points is number one imagery or visualization. That's a really big thing that does actually go back to mental preparation. That's really important for confidence. Number two is arousal control. So being able to control, like, your emotions or energy In the middle of your competition is going to influence your, your confidence.

Kate Allgood: 28:58

And number three, which I think is most important in terms of confidence within your competition is yourself talk. I think that's the thing that breaks athletes trust the most in themselves the self criticism and how hard they are in themselves in the negative self talk. It just chips away at their self trust and that's a big part of confidence. And so really looking to you know, develop that skill of talking to themselves in a way that's going to help them and help build their confidence. Because I tell them I said you could be exceptionally well prepared heading into your, your competition.

Kate Allgood: 29:31

But if, as soon as you walk in there, you start talking really negatively to yourself and your competition, it almost didn't matter that you were that well prepared. It's like you flushed it down the drain. You, if you're that hard on yourself in the moment, like that, is going to have the biggest influence on how confident you are in your competition, how you talk to yourself. And then number four is small successes. Right, really looking at the small successes in your practices, in your daily life, from your competitions. It's not one big thing that's going to just give you the confidence that the big accomplishments are great, but they're fewer and farther between and usually if you get it, you're just now, the next moment, you're on to the next moment. You're and you're looking at, well, what do I need to accomplish next? So really focusing on the small successes of small wins in a day, I think, is also exceptionally important for building that confidence from the.

John Boruk: 30:20

Yeah, I like some of the things that you discussed there. One of them was imagery visualization Visualizing the play, visualizing success. Golfers do this right. They'll stand behind the golf ball and they'll visualize the shot before it even takes place. But but you can do that in in, you know, every other sport for that matter is visualizing. You know, if you're, if you're a baseball player, you're on the on deck circle, you're watching the pitcher and sort of taking a swing, visualizing that you're getting a hit off that pitcher even though you're not actually in the batter's box. But how important is that to the visualization visualizing having success and then obviously transferring that when you're actually in the given situation.

Kate Allgood: 31:06

No, it's big and that's one way to use. You know, visualization is, as you said, like kind of in that moment in competition, if appropriate. Obviously every sports a little bit different golfing, baseball, and definitely great examples where you have that time to do it right before you're about to. You know, go hit the ball or go yeah, go hit the ball for both, both sports, but it's also very impactful leading into it. I have my clients, you know, visualize it five minutes every day.

Kate Allgood: 31:31

You know whether it's developing a skill and visualizing them, you know, working on that skill, getting better at that skill, seeing it in their mind, exactly how they want to be able to do it, and that's going to help speed up that process of them learning that skill and feeling confident in that skill, because that's a big part of it. If your confidence is based off of seeing yourself do a skill well, but you're still developing that skill right imagery can be that kind of in between and being able to actually see it, see that you can do it, you're going to be able to accomplish it, that's also really, really important. And so seeing also even big picture, seeing where you want to go, seeing yourself if you do want to go to college or the you know kind of professional. Just even seeing that to help kind of drive and remind yourself of why you're doing that Can be really important.

Kate Allgood: 32:13

And then also the other end of this, the spectrum, not not right before our competition I definitely don't have my clients do this but a few days out, or, you know, a couple weeks out sometimes it can be helpful to visualize how you would respond to things maybe not going according to plan. So you know, one of the things I do with my athletes as part of their mental preparation is we do look at, you know, the what, if, what, if you know whatever happens, that Either is not something going according to plan and distraction, just something that's going to kind of throw them potentially off performance, or just the you know, not the ideal, you know competition kind of happening or unfolding, and so the visualizing can kind of help with that and just kind of seeing themselves maybe, you know, be able to respond versus react, make the adjustment, and that can also help them with their confidence heading into a competition.

John Boruk: 33:02

Well, one thing that can certainly tear it down and you see this, it seems like that this is because they start this early and earlier is within young athletes is they learn how to trash talk and they try to pick the brains and try to get into the psyche of some of their competitors. And they pick a lot of that up by watching TV, watching clips on social media, but the problem really occurs that many young athletes don't know how to handle it and then, conversely, it affects their physical performance, it affects their confidence and ultimately, I think sometimes it drives them out of the sport altogether. So I know that you mentioned responding, and one of the topics that you'd like to get into is how to respond versus how to react to certain situations, and that's one of those situations where, if you don't know how to handle somebody trying to pick apart your psyche, it can really drive you into the ground.

Kate Allgood: 33:59

Yeah, and absolutely that would definitely. That was, you know, something that I was working with was dealing with. That would definitely be something we would address. And you do that beforehand because you know we can't control the other person and if that's what they're going to do, that's what they're going to do, and so you know we look at, well, what do you want to be able to do in that moment, how do you want to respond? And to really map that out.

Kate Allgood: 34:18

So, rather than trying to think about it or figure out what to do in that moment, you know we kind of create a plan beforehand so that they know what they're going to do and it becomes also easier for them now to just focus on themselves because they know now that if that does occur, they know exactly what they're going to do and they just have to implement that plan in place. And so, yeah, that would be definitely a situation, or an example of a situation, where you know part of that. You know, looking at that, what if? Or you know kind of if, then, and creating a plan is really important and is a part of the mental preparation.

John Boruk: 34:51

Yeah, I read recently too, as it comes down to a child or any athlete's identity and how an athlete whose identity is so strongly tied to their sports is also at a higher risk for developing whether that's mental health concerns or even injury. And I think that's something that you touch upon, whether that's in your books or in some of your training is knowing who you are as a person and then to know who you are beyond being just an athlete.

Kate Allgood: 35:24

Yeah, absolutely, it's a big one. And I think you know something I dealt with I think most athletes who've gone you know firm enough and far enough with their sport they've dealt with is that intertwining of their identity with this one singular thing. And I think you know it extends beyond just athletics. I think a lot of people could could say the same thing with anything that they put a lot of time, energy and effort behind. And I think it's really important to explore that and to know who you are beyond your role as an athlete, and to start that process very young, because when it's going to help you perform better as an athlete, because it's going to lift some of that weight and that pressure, because you know that who you are extends beyond the outcomes and the results that you're getting. And, number two, when that time comes to transition to your next phase of life, which will happen at some point, it makes that easier because that's definitely one of the hardest things for any professional athlete or even a college athlete is transitioning and moving on, because this is all that they know and see, this is all that who they are. That transition can be exceptionally hard and so I think if you've done it when you're young and to know this is something that I'm doing. It's a hat I'm putting on and I'm going to put a lot of time, energy and effort into it, but who I am extends beyond it.

Kate Allgood: 36:38

I think it's going to greatly help and you can do this through different ways. You can, you know, do it through exploring different interests or hobbies, and then I do get sometimes that's hard, based off of how much time athletes put into their sport. So if that's hard, you can then also look at how do you want to develop as a person through this vehicle of a sport, you know, do you want to develop communication skills, teamwork, hard work, develop your attentional skills, like what are things that you can, you know, develop within yourself that are going to extend far beyond your role as an athlete? And then, of course, always knowing that you know who you are is always separate from something you're doing. It is a hat, it's a role you're stepping into and at some point, and even on a daily basis, you do step out of that role and you're, you know, doing different things in life, and then you can step back into it and no matter how much time you put into it, it is still just a role that you're stepping into.

John Boruk: 37:31

Yeah, one thing too that I also like to say for parents is that you know, sometimes if you're a parent it's so easy to get wrapped up in the game, wrapped up in the results.

John Boruk: 37:42

If you see a bad call, that's out there, you know to point it out, to be vocal about it. But to me it kind of goes back to where you know if we're going to sort of transition here to taking ownership. But it's so easy, for if a child hears that from parents in the stands, you know whether they're criticizing it up or a referee out on the ice or any calls that were made. It's so easy to then deflect the responsibility off yourself. And if you're a kid, you know if my mom's complaining or my dad's complaining, you know about the officiating or about the other coaches or about the other players, then I get. That gives me the green light to do it myself. And sometimes I think that it's so important as parents to really kind of watch your behavior and watch your demeanor and how you're projecting yourself, because all of that can get picked up so easily and then that becomes the crutch for poor performance.

Kate Allgood: 38:44

Yeah, absolutely, kids are watching all the time, so and it's a hard thing because they are.

Kate Allgood: 38:50

If you're complaining about the umpire, you said they're going to say that to a green light, your language right.

Kate Allgood: 38:55

Obviously there's a, you know, big topic of the growth mindset versus fixed mindset and, you know, really, using language around, effort right Versus results or talent, very, very important because it does, it does impact the young athlete and it's very, very important for athletes to, you know, take ownership and you said not to deflect because it starts to just become something that they do.

Kate Allgood: 39:21

And I've watched this with professional athletes where you know they get put in a tough position and then their whole focus is on blaming the coaches, the general manager, the system, you know everybody else and you know, obviously other people do have a say and they may kind of put you in that situation and it may even not be fair and it may not have, you know, been the best situation, but you can't control that right. You get to control how you respond, taking ownership of your part and making sure you, you know, do what you can to get yourself in a different position and to work on yourself. So, yeah, very important to kind of, I guess show taking that ownership and not deflecting it or putting that ownership on the other people for what's happening.

John Boruk: 40:02

Yeah, and that's one thing. To take it a step further how you want the athletes that you work with to take a true ownership of their sports performance journey, because it is their journey, it's not their parents' journey. The parents, they've had their time. You've had your opportunity 30, 35 years ago, when you were going through this stage and going through high school, to do all that. So how does that? How do you relay that to your athletes? The taking ownership of their journey, what they can do, why they play, choosing to play and really owning their mental game and owning those small details in between.

Kate Allgood: 40:43

Yeah, I'm absolutely so kind of what you just said and I'll go a little more in depth into each. I kind of mentioned it earlier. One of the biggest things is making that commitment and choosing to play each and every single year. I think that's really really important and that is you taking ownership and saying I'm committing to this again, versus it just kind of being something you just go right back into and that's huge. That's you're saying this is important to me, this is meaningful for me, and this is more meaningful for me than some of the things I might have to miss out on or skip or not be a part of because of this commitment that I am making. And that's I think that is really important. And a big part of taking ownership of your journey is to consciously make that decision and do it every single year, no matter how long you play, because I think it's just it's not done and we too often just roll right into the next season. And number two, knowing why you play I think that's really important. And knowing why you play for yourself, like, why did you start this sport? And hopefully it was for you, and if it wasn't, and you are playing, then you got to make it about you and why you're continuing to play. And sometimes, even if you knew why you were playing when you were younger and it was for you, sometimes it still needs to be checked in on and make sure that's still why you're playing and or why you're deciding to go to college or why you want to go pro or whatever that you know path looks like for you, like why are you here, why are you still doing this? And this to be, you know, really strong, it needs to be stronger and deeper than just, you know, get a scholarship or make a lot of money, right. It has to be a much deeper why? Than just kind of those superficial you know aspects of the equation. And then, as you mentioned, owning your mental game.

Kate Allgood: 42:23

I think it's usually one of the last things that a lot of you know athletes own or take ownership over. I think it's really easy to say, oh well, I just had really negative thoughts today, or I couldn't focus, or, you know, I was tired and have the energy I needed. And those are things that you can work on and those are things that you can develop and they are skills. And if you just work on your physical skills and you just keep saying, well, I just didn't have the energy, or I had a lot of negative self-talk, or I didn't have the confidence I needed, or whatever it is you know, but you're not working on it or you're not developing it, then you're not, you're not fully taking ownership of the full equation right, and to understand that there's more to your performance than just going and hitting balls, for example, and then owning the details is you know, at a certain point all athletes a young kid is going to compete against, you know you're going to have probably the same resources, the same technical training, physical training, the same equipment, or you know, like everything's almost going to be an equal playing field in terms of a lot of these things nutrition and so you have to really take ownership over the small decisions, small details, the things that may seem insignificant in the moment or by themselves, but when you add up all those little small details or small decisions, they make an impact, even if it's just 1%, each decision or each detail.

Kate Allgood: 43:48

If it improves you or helps you 1% or potentially hurts you by 1%, it's still 1%, and you add up all those 1% and it makes a really big difference. And you know, like. An example that I like to give my clients is you know a lot of them. I have them meditate and they'll tell me they can't find the time, but then I say, how much time were you on social media today? Right, and that's a small decision, that's a detail, right, and if you're, you know, spending even 30 minutes scrolling through social media usually is all longer, right, then you have time to meditate, right, you? Even if I'm not being for five minutes to start with, right, so you do have the time. So, it's really said, taking ownership of those small little details that are going to make the big difference.

John Boruk: 44:28

Yeah, we're talking with Kate Olga. She's a mental performance coach, ceo of Quantum Performance Incorporated, based out of San Diego, california, and she's an author. She's written several books. Her number one book, getting to the Zone, followed by the Athlete Within, and then Fortitude. So talk a little bit about your desire to write books and what makes each of these books unique. Yeah, absolutely.

Kate Allgood: 44:55

I think my desire to write books is that I think I always found it a little bit easier to speak or to communicate through the written words when, especially when I was younger. So I think that was a part of it. In all the different methods that you can now, I guess, market yourself or, you know, get out there, I think that was the thing that resonated me with the most, especially with my first book. So Getting to the Zone was the first book and I think also, you know, writing that book came from a desire just to, you know, kind of put something pretty simple together for people just to understand the mental game if they're new to it. Back when I wrote it, you know it was around the mental game and mental performance, but, you know, still less known than other aspects of performance. So I just wanted to kind of, you know, help people understand what it was about and to have something when I went and, you know, talk to local sports organizations to kind of have and give out, and so that's a pretty nice introductory guide to what is mental performance and what are some beginning things you can do. And then the next book was Fortitude, a couple of years later. So I just wanted to really build off of that first one and maybe go a little bit more into that what I knew at that point about mental performance. And then it took me a while, it took me about five years to start writing the Athlete Within, which just came out this past February, so February 2023.

Kate Allgood: 46:12

And so this one is is definitely for people who, you know, have a good, maybe understanding that maybe read a few books, they understand self-talk and injury right, they kind of know the foundational components and this really helps to go to that next level and kind of really pull everything that I've, you know, really discovered over, you know, 13 years of working with, you know, athletes at different ages and levels and sports and really kind of pulling it all together to maybe have a little bit more of a focus on developing your self-awareness, you know, focusing more on what we've kind of talked about today, you know, choosing your own way, responding, taking ownership right, and there's so much you can't control in sports, and you got to really, you know, find an ability to, you know, focus on what you can do, focusing on, you know, inner purpose, constant improvement, taking ownership and then finally really looking at how do you, you know, really become present in the moment and looking at, train your attention and how your energy influences your ability to be in a flow or being the zone, and that's kind of what the Athlete Within covers.

John Boruk: 47:18

And how much of your work is done within an office, an institute, as opposed to now as we're seeing things, as we've seen things over the past few years. You work with people virtually, which means that you now have obviously a lens to anywhere in the world, do you? How much of that? I guess, what percentage is in-person and what percentage of that is if people wanted to say, you know, on the East Coast, they wanted to work with you, how much is that? Can they do that?

Kate Allgood: 47:48

Yeah, absolutely so. As you mentioned, I was already doing a little bit before the pandemic, but the pandemic, kind of you know, made that a lot, I guess, more readily used, and so I'd probably say anywhere from 50 or more percent is probably virtual for me these days. I do have a lot of people in San Diego who will come in person and sometimes even still do remote, just due to time constraints. But, yeah, somebody on the East Coast and I've worked with a lot of people on the East Coast in Canada, in Europe, australia, so all around the world, and you know it's pretty easy to do remote work now and so we just we do video calls and still run them through the same program, just do it via video versus in person.

John Boruk: 48:28

Well, I'll say, over the last five, 10, 15 years that the mental approach, the mental aspect, the mental health of athletes, I think, has come more so to the forefront than it's ever been. You know, back in, I think, when I was growing up and I was playing sports, we just had to toughen it out and just grind it out and grit your teeth and bear it out and find a way to get through it. Now I think we're finally addressing, you know, that these are some real issues and these are things that get in the way and these are things that lead to depression and they lead to anxiety and they lead to if it happens on a playing field, it's certainly you can carry that over into everyday life. So we're, so you know, thankful that people like you and that there are resources, there are books, there's people that you can talk to and people now well versed in the mental performance aspect that can help people that are going through a tough time. So, kate, thank you so much for joining us and thank you so much for being here.

Kate Allgood: 49:30

No, thank you so much for having a great conversation.

John Boruk: 49:32

Yeah, all right, kate, all good, and I'll certainly leave that to you, so please stay tuned. Okay, so the next speaker here is Kate, and she's a mental performance coach, ceo of Quantum Performance Incorporating, and we want to thanks uh thanks all of you for listening. Remember you can subscribe to us wherever you listen. We're available on Spotify, google podcast, apple podcast, amazon music as well. Just go on, subscribe, leave us a review, help us move up the charts and it gets the the greatest swimmer of all time, michael Phelps. You dream, you plan, you reach. There will be obstacles, there will be doubters, there will be mistakes, but with hard work, with belief, with confidence and trust, and trust in yourself and those around you, there are no limits. That's gonna do it for us. Thanks for being with us, thanks for listening, and I hope you'll join us next time.