Focus with Sports Psychologist Scott Goldman

I met Scott Goldman, a sports psychologist at the University of Arizona, a couple years ago in Big Sky, Montana. He shared a couple of his writings that he said I could post on my blog. If you have ever heard athletes talk about getting in the zone it all begins with the cues that they set for themselves. While we may not all have the luxury of a sports psychologist, these techniques can make all the difference when the pressure is on. They seem even more important with the amount of distractions competitive and every day athletes face on a daily basis. Here is part 1: Athletes are often told by their coaches “C’mon, Focus!” However, it is rarely described what focus means or how to do it. In any performance, there is a ton of information to consider. Some of these cues may be external such as the position of the outfield while others may be internal such as how fast your heart is beating. Another differentiation to consider is if the cues are broad such as scanning a football field or narrow such as preparing for a putt. Additionally, some of these cues may be relevant such as how much time is left in the game while other cues are irrelevant such as fans booing. Thus, the best definition of “focus” is being aware of everything that is going on while concentrating only on the key elements that will lead to a successful performance. • How well can I be completely “in the moment” while competing, yet be relaxed during breaks in the performance? • How well do I put aside distracting thoughts at practice or competition? • Are there times when I am so absorbed in what I am doing that I don’t notice what’s going on around me? Choose to Focus On What is Relevant • For example, class is the time to focus on school and practice is the time to focus on The ability to focus is a skill that can be trained like any other skill in sport. The following are some recommendations for improving your focus: sport. If you are thinking about your midterm at practice, it is time misspent. Similarly, if you are thinking about your sport while in class, it too is lost time. • Identify potential distracters and how you plan to cope with them. Similarly, it may be helpful to practice with distractions present. Practice Eye Control • Focus on simple cues of your sport such as the ball, the floor, a piece of equipment, etc. Try to ignore distractions such as crowd noise. • One technique to improve eye control is the “Spotlight” technique. The object is to create a beam of light from you to your desired goal. For example, a golfer may visualize a lighted trail from their ball to the hole. Employ Non-Judgmental Thinking • Don’t evaluate the play as good or bad. Instead, focus on what needs to get done to execute a better performance

Out with the Old, In with the New...

I'm not sure if there is a polite way to tell someone that in order to prevent the same problem from happening again and again they are going to have to lose 20 pounds or do more than 5 minutes of core work a week. Remember those crazy electric football games where you end up with a scrum of electric player figures that got all jammed up in the middle of the field? That's kind of how some of us go through our preventative injury programs. Doing some antiquated old school nonsense. For some men it's "I can't be caught dead in a yoga class" yet I'll be caught with L4L5 disc herniation running like an old man because that's what we KNOW. It's not easy to change what we do. It requires effort and discipline. You also need to know if your muscle, fascia and tendon tissue are just plain worn out or if there is a tear. Tools like diagnostic ultrasound can delineate The DEGREE of injury. That's why you see the doctor for a sports injury; not because you have no idea what it is. Only YOU can change that paradigm. And guess what? It doesn't happen overnight. It's about a lifestyle not a boot camp with someone yelling at you. Last time I did anything remotely close to that I reinjured my ACL in a sports conditioning class doing a standing broad jump relay race on a gym floor with running shoes. Keep crashing up against those old cast iron players on the electric field and keep getting the same result or do something different and put yourself on the line to improve.

The Skinny on Lasers and Toenail Fungus

People have been fascinated with lasers going all the way back to the iconic image of James Bond being nearly split in two in the movie Goldfinger. Goldfinger was the first blockbuster movie ever. No doubt this brought the idea of lasers as being cutting edge into the American psyche. Lasers have been used in medicine for everything from zapping off warts to whitening teeth and now for treatment of those ugly thick fungal toenails. Another unforgetable scene on the Hollywood silver screen highlightd the social stigma attached to feet that aren't pretty. Eddy Murphy from the movie Boomerang pulls back the covers of his bed to reveal that his sleep over guest has jacked up feet. Lasers are part of a program that can help with the thick fungal nails and are an alternative to oral medication. The should not be thought of as effective as the oral but there are no potential side effects unlike oral aGENTS. Sports like running skiing and soccer increase your risk of getting toenail fungus because you sweat inside a closed shoe or boot and you are subjecting your toenails to repetitive microtrauma. The treatment should be only part of a regiment for a pesky problem.
The laser helps eliminate the fungal spores that lie within and underneath the nail. Just as in fading with laser teeth whitening the nail fungus can come back. It should be used as an adjunct treatment either with an oral or topical treatment. It is also important disinfect the areas the fungal spores reside, so the nail does not get reinfected. There are now ultraviolet lights to do this. Lysol is not a great idea because you are subjecting your skin to strong chemicals but there are other more safe disinfection sprays for shoes available. Health insurance does not cover the cost of this treatment. The treatments are administered once a month over three months and do not require anesthesia. You don't have to hiode your feet. You can flash them like your teeth with or without the teeth whitening!

Warts & the Wolfman

No this post isn't about a new Wolfman movie. It's actually about trying to get rid of plantar warts. Warts are a virus. They are a strain of HPV. Plantar warts are a partiicularly hardy strain and they can reside on pool surfaces, bathroom surfaces and the skin itself. Do you remember the old Wolfman movies wear the nice guy turns into a werewolf and they film it time lapse style? I call a treatment I use on warts the reverse wolfman because when it does work it cause warts to fade away. It uses a dectivated yeast called Candida which gets the body to recognize the foreign antigen because it sometimes cannot recognize the wart virus. The treatment takes about 2 months to work but it sometimes has no effect since everyone has a slightly different immune system. Lasers can also be used for warts. They work by damaging the blood vessels that provide nutrients for the warts. If you look at a wart you will saee little black dots; those are the blood vessels. Although some warts go away on their own, plantar warts tend to be tougher to get rid of without treatment.

Marathon Man

I just read how would be Vice President, Paul Ryan "mis-remembered" his marathon time from 20 years ago and I think it says a lot about him and our country's obsession with perceived accomplishment. Who does not remember their marathon time?? I mean it's a race against the clock and there is only one winner. I remember my best time over 30 years ago- it was 3 hours 42 minutes 12 seconds. Who cares? It's about what you can do. Now don't get me wrong. I hate losing. When our bike race team failed to make the "Little 500" my Junior year at I.U. after giving about every ounce I could to train not only could I not watch the race, I went to train the next semester by myself at Virginia Tech staying in my brother's dorm to wash away the disappointment before returning in the Spring to I.U. Now you can say,as Paul Ryan did, my brother ribbed me about rounding down to 3 hours and that might be exusable if if you're at the maturity level of a pre-adolescent but not the person of character I want a heartbeat away from the presidency or coaching young people. Nothing wrong with the run/walk thing. Self actualization in sports is about laying it on the line and being content with what YOU can achieve.

Meat Tenderizer, Aging and Plantar Fasciitis

I've been watching the Olympics with the rest of you but thought I'd squeeze out a quick post about tissue and healing. I also happen to love the meat locker scene from Rocky. When you get old your tissue degenerates and your collagen that makes up tissue begins to crosslink. Think botox for wrinkles. Medical technology has brought us shockwaves (ESWT)for heel pain, lasers and growth factors to attempt to jump start the healing process. How well do they work? Well the evidence is not gold medal; that's for sure but there are some that may work in some people and a bronze for some is better than no medal at all! Of all the new treatments shockwave therapy (ESWT) is the most promising and seems to have the biggest bang for the buck. Amol Saxena DPM, a consultant for USA Track and Field, is a big believer of early use of ESWT. I am an not advocate for platelet derived growth factor considering the cost of the procedure. I welcome colleagues and patients to share their experience. Enjoy the rest of the Olympics!

Sports Nutrition 101

I'm always intersted in what nutritionists suggest not only for recovery and performance but to help heal injuries faster. http://www.bicycling.com/training-nutrition/nutrition-weight-loss/recipes-success-0

A Look Back Down The Hall: A Swim Legacy Before Michael Phelps

With the London Summer Games around the corner before you know it I thought it would be fun to talk with a former Olympic athlete of the '72 and '76 games, Gary Hall. Of course everyone remembers Bruce Jenner and Mary Lou Retton but what was Gary Hall's story? He defined uber student athlete, he was going to medical school at the time he competed in 1976 Summer Games and was given the honor of flag bearer for the US in the opening ceremonies. It is clear that he would like to make his Worldfit program his legacy outside of the swim world. Worldfit is a middle school walking program to fight childhood obesity . I had a chance to talk with him about this, some technical things he is doing with swimming and his son Gary Hall Jr. How is your Worldfit program progressing? So far we have 30,000 student and we are trying to expand into the schools in Virginia. I am going to Washington DC to continue my efforts for inclusion in the schools. What do you consider your greatest swimming accomplishment? (without hesitation) Gary Hall Jr. Were the dryland training ideas your thoughts or Gary's? I take no credit for any of it. Gary disliked the monotony of training in the pool and needed variety to stay engaged. It was really a collaberation of Gary and his coach Mike Bottom that shared his philosophy of non traditional training methods. Gary would not have thrived under a traditional swim coach. Some people confused his approach with Gary not wanting to work hard but he worked very hard within this regimen. What idea or ideas do you think were the most innovative? Well there were a lot of little things but I think the underwater diving and spear fishing to develop aerobic capacity was the most unique. Gary and some of the other elite swimmer would go down an just hover for 3 or 4 minutes. when I went with them on occasion I would surface several times while they were still under. You can only go 7 minutes without oxygen. What do you consider to be your greatest contribution technical contribution to swimming. I am working on some elements with the pull. I recently wrote a piece on breathing for Triathlete Magazine.(this past month) It involves extending your head back more which may lose some of the sreamline efficiency but gains in terms of biomechanic efficiency. It is employed with a 3/2 breathing pattern which gives you about 50 breaths a minute vs. the tradiditional 35 or so with ever other stroke. Do you have any funny moments you encounterd in the swim world you would like to share? Well there are a lot of Gary(Jr.)stories but one that was maybe not as funny at the time but more in retrospect was Gary's second International Competition at the Pan Am Games in Argentina. Gary was 19 at the time and he got to the blocks for the 100 meter free and realized he had his drag suit on instead of his technical suit right before the start. He had the presence of mind to call a timeout which I was not even aware was something that was possible but he made it happen. Then he runs and grabs a towel off to the side and someone throws him a technical suit and he makes the wardrobe switch underneath the towel. The spectacle drew some laughs from the Americans. Gary now charged up with adrenalin probably swims his fastest 50 meter split but crashed and burned. He still managed to end up fourth. As any REAL father would want Gary Hall,Jr. would go on to surpass Gary Sr.'s accomplishments in the pool becoming the "Godfather" of swimming in the 50 meter free and doing it his way. That's really all a Dad could ever ask for.

A Look Back Down the Hall: Who Knew There was a Swimming Legacy Before Michael Phelps?

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With the London Summer Games around the corner before you know it I thought it would be fun to talk with a former Olympic athlete of the '72 and '76 games, Gary Hall. Of course everyone remembers Bruce Jenner and Mary Lou Retton but what was Gary Hall's story? He defined uber student athlete, he was going to medical school at the time he competed in 1976 Summer Games and was given the honor of flag bearer for the US in the opening ceremonies. It is clear that he would like to make his Worldfit program his legacy outside of the swim world. Worldfit is a middle school walking program to fight childhood obesity . I had a chance to talk with him about this, some technical things he is doing with swimming and his son Gary Hall Jr. How is your Worldfit program progressing? So far we have 30,000 student and we are trying to expand into the schools in Virginia. I am going to Washington DC to continue my efforts for inclusion in the schools. What do you consider your greatest swimming accomplishment? (without hesitation) Gary Hall Jr. Were the dryland training ideas your thoughts or Gary's? I take no credit for any of it. Gary disliked the monotony of training in the pool and needed variety to stay engaged. It was really a collaberation of Gary and his coach Mike Bottom that shared his philosophy of non traditional training methods. Gary would not have thrived under a traditional swim coach. Some people confused his approach with Gary not wanting to work hard but he worked very hard within this regimen. What idea or ideas do you think were the most innovative? Well there were a lot of little things but I think the underwater diving and spear fishing to develop aerobic capacity was the most unique. Gary and some of the other elite swimmer would go down an just hover for 3 or 4 minutes. when I went with them on occasion I would surface several times while they were still under. You can only go 7 minutes without oxygen. What do you consider to be your greatest contribution technical contribution to swimming. I am working on some elements with the pull. I recently wrote a piece on breathing for Triathlete Magazine.(this past month) It involves extending your head back more which may lose some of the sreamline efficiency but gains in terms of biomechanic efficiency. It is employed with a 3/2 breathing pattern which gives you about 50 breaths a minute vs. the tradiditional 35 or so with ever other stroke. Do you have any funny moments you encounterd in the swim world you would like to share? Well there are a lot of Gary(Jr.)stories but one that was maybe not as funny at the time but more in retrospect was Gary's second International Competition at the Pan Am Games in Argentina. Gary was 19 at the time and he got to the blocks for the 100 meter free and realized he had his drag suit on instead of his technical suit right before the start. He had the presence of mind to call a timeout which I was not even aware was something that was possible but he made it happen. Then he runs and grabs a towel off to the side and someone throws him a technical suit and he makes the wardrobe switch underneath the towel. The spectacle drew some laughs from the Americans. Gary now charged up with adrenalin probably swims his fastest 50 meter split but crashed and burned. He still managed to end up fourth. As any REAL father would want Gary Hall,Jr. would go on to surpass Gary Sr.'s accomplishments in the pool becoming the "Godfather" of swimming in the 50 meter free and doing it his way. That's really all a Dad could ever ask for.

THE BODY KNOWS

You want to know the single most inportant factor in monitoring your training and preventing injury? Are you ready? YOU! That's right just like Ali dodging a death blow from Frazier in the "Thrilla in Manilla". Why? Because his body knows instinctively how to protect itself. That's how we're wired. But many people don't listen to their bodies. They just keep going. There's a signal the body gives us. It's called pain. I'll give you a personal example. I went to New Orleans and packed only a pair of Adidas Sambas and a pair of sandals. Now if you don't know what Sambas are they are the most comfortable turf soccer shoe for walking and playing soccer. Not so good for running,pounding the city blocks of New Orleans on an old knee injury. Now, finally, some new research to confirm what we know intuitively about efficiency and inury prevention. Recently presented at the Canadian biomechanics Conference was a paper coauthored by Benno Nigg PHD suggested that those that preferred forefoot running had less adaptive damping forces than those that didn't. Now heres the kicker, those that prefrered heel strike running did better with that. It's how we're wired. THE BODY KNOWS.

Fatigue, Overtraining and Injuries

Who could forget Rocky Balboa getting up at a crazy hour in the morning, washing down 3 raw eggs for breakfast and running the streets of Philadelphia. Forget the fact that he was wearing his Chuck Taylor's during training. When it comes to running and other sports injuries just as important if not more than the shoes we wear is how much recovery sleep we get,not over training and paying attention to strengthening his core and other leg stabilizing muscles in our trunk . A study by Tracy Dierks, assistant professor of physical therapy at Indiana University, found that toward the end of a normal running session, runners generally displayed an increase in motion in their hips, knees and ankles. It is thought that larger movements lead to more injuries. This coincided with the runners' perceived level of exertion. In a separate study conducted at the Manchester Marathon the running form of marathoners changed between the 10 and 32 km points. At the beginning most runners were using a forefoot to heel pattern while at the end it reversed. We all know the effects of individual muscle fatigue on injuries, your leg muscles get tired and all of a sudden you injure your knee. EMG studies have shown that the anterior shin muscles fire 85 % over their fatigue threshold in running. Hence it is no surprise that many runners develop shin splints. It turns out that over all fatigue plays an important role just as localized muscular failure to an area. No one has been able to prove decisively why this happens but it is probably multifactorial. As our form degrades with fatigue we are in a less stable position to prevent injury. It is also reasonable to assume that as you fatigue the brain's ability to execute precise movement patterns also degrades. What to do? Develop the core and support muscles. Heighten the body's spatial awareness with agility drills. This is why track work deconstructs the running stride and uses drills to help perform more efficiently. So what can we conclude? Improper sleep, fatigue and over training are big factors relating to injury. To help counter this we can do specific training exercises to strengthen some of the muscles that degrade before injury. Maybe Rocky was on to some by not wanting to break training with Adrienne!

Let The Side Show Begin, Hurry! Hurry! Step Right on In

You ever find yourself up one night clicking through for the local ESPN station and come across one of these hucksters pushing some magic elixir that's going to change your life?? It's pretty funny. It is also shocking how many people get on board the cable and internet health train. Just a modern version of the traveling medicine man pedaling stuff out of the back of a wagon, really. This particular guy goes on a rant how there is no good evidence supporting supplements with glucosamine and then tells you how you are going to become arthritis free with their natural product backed by studies. Guess what the magic ingredient is?? Right, glucosamine! What about the satisfaction guaranteed part? How many people that buy this stuff off a cable TV ad have it together enough to save the receipt , unused product and get it sent out to the post office in 30 days? I'm guessing about the same number that have an old Motown Blue Magic "Sideshow" 45 somewhere in their attic.

FIELD OF DREAMS VS. HARD SCIENCE

Much is written about biomechanics. The breadth information is overwhelming and only some of it is relevant. Many conclusions presented are based on trying to sell a shoe, a book or an opportunity to be in the spotlight. Podiatry can claim partial success in staying current with the literature and leading new research. It is important to have an open mind regarding what is scientific fact in and what is folklore. Another field that has undergone an overhaul moving from conventional wisdom to applicable science is baseball. Players were rated by scouts on the basis of their looks i.e. solid chin and archaic metrics. Then a former aeronautic engineer named Eric Walker,decided to write a pamphlet that bucked against the conventional wisdom. The pamplet was implemented by the Oakland A's and is the subject of the book and movie "Moneyball". He decided to review how winning teams did based on statistical criteria that had more relevance to a player and teams success. One example:when baseball was first played players had no baseball gloves and so fielding errors measured as a statistic were an important part of the game. Now errors can actually penalize a gifted player that was fast enough to run to make a play or smart enough to be in the right spot to make a play. The statistic is less relevant to the modern game and this is how we should be viewing what we are applying in our practices. It turns out that in baseball a on base percentage is a more telling statistic of a player's intrinsic value to a team than anything else. In peeling another layer of the onion, a team's aggregate on base percentage was more indicative of success than whether one or two dominant players. Some variables are important but one must look at how the data is applied. As an example, scouts look at foot speed which is based on a timed straight run but that does not always translate precisely to running the bases, for example, rounding first for a double and the slide into second. In talking with Benno Nigg, Phd, this same philosophy becomes evident. He has been on the investigative side as a hired consultant for shoe companies before he has largely turned his focus to pure research. He is regularly interviewed in magazines like Runner's World. He is very careful not to draw conclusions that are inferences when he reviews studies. As an example when I asked him recently about a study that Dan Lieberman did on heel vs forefoot injury patterns in shod cross country runners he pointed out that you cannot compare this to barefoot running. He also pointed out that the subjects were cross country runners which does not translate exactly to everyday runners. Be careful not to jump to conclusions when the next web browser update or magazine exclaims a new finding as it may not be relevasnt.

Boimechanics:Field of Dreams Vs Hard Science

Much is written about biomechanics. The breadth information is overwhelming and only some of it is relevant. Many conclusions presented are based on trying to sell a shoe, a book or an opportunity to be in the spotlight. Podiatry can claim partial success in staying current with the literature and leading new research. It is important to have an open mind regarding what is scientific fact in and what is folklore. Another field that has undergone an overhaul moving from conventional wisdom to applicable science is baseball. Players were rated by scouts on the basis of their looks i.e. solid chin and archaic metrics. Then a former aeronautic engineer named Eric Walker,decided to write a pamphlet that bucked against the conventional wisdom. The pamplet was implemented by the Oakland A's and is the subject of the book and movie "Moneyball". He decided to review how winning teams did based on statistical criteria that had more relevance to a player and teams success. One example:when baseball was first played players had no baseball gloves and so fielding errors measured as a statistic were an important part of the game. Now errors can actually penalize a gifted player that was fast enough to run to make a play or smart enough to be in the right spot to make a play. The statistic is less relevant to the modern game and this is how we should be viewing what we are applying in our practices. It turns out that in baseball a on base percentage is a more telling statistic of a player's intrinsic value to a team than anything else. In peeling another layer of the onion, a team's aggregate on base percentage was more indicative of success than whether one or two dominant players. Some variables are important but one must look at how the data is applied. As an example, scouts look at foot speed which is based on a timed straight run but that does not always translate precisely to running the bases, for example, rounding first for a double and the slide into second. In talking with Benno Nigg, Phd, this same philosophy becomes evident. He has been on the investigative side as a hired consultant for shoe companies before he has largely turned his focus to pure research. He is regularly interviewed in magazines like Runner's World. He is very careful not to draw conclusions that are inferences when he reviews studies. As an example when I asked him recently about a study that Dan Lieberman did on heel vs forefoot injury patterns in shod cross country runners he pointed out that you cannot compare this to barefoot running. He also pointed out that the subjects were cross country runners which does not translate exactly to everyday runners. Be careful not to jump to conclusions when the next web browser update or magazine exclaims a new finding as it may not be relevasnt.