Golf may be the ultimate head game. And the Vikings have dominated the Big Sky Conference in the sport over the last few years.
To keep the Viking women in that position, Golf Coach Kathleen Takaishi teamed with Head Women's Softball Coach Tobin Echo-Hawk early this year to begin working with Sport Performance Consultant Elliott Waksman of the Sports Psychology Institute of the Northwest (SPINW.COM).
“You're on the course from five to 13 hours, depending on whether you're playing 18 or 36 holes. You have lots of time to think about the previous shots, lots of time for distracting thoughts to get in the way of focusing on the routine, taking it one shot at a time,” says Takaishi.
Last January, Waksman began meeting weekly with each team. He gives homework assignments, has paperwork and then follows up with individual sessions with each athlete to dig more deeply into personal sports-related issues to tailor an individual program according to each person's needs.
“I want to get their mental game to the next level, teach methods and skills they can apply...increase their mental toughness and confidence,” says the Portland native, who attended Lincoln High School and the University of Arizona prior to earning a master's degree in Sport Psychology at Argosy University.
In Portland, he has worked with Athletes in Motion Baseball, All In One Basketball, Lincoln High, the Irvington Tennis Club and the Multnomah Athletic Club among others. His motivation to enter the field came from his experience playing competitive baseball, basketball and soccer.
“I saw there was usually little mental preparation coming from the coaches. I tell athletes 'I wish I had someone like me when I was playing',” he says.
While golf may have more mental hazards than most sports, he finds many of the same issues across the board.
“Golf, softball, basketball, soccer…they bring up the same issues…loss of confidence, nervousness, setting the right goals (just to name a few),” says Waksman.
“I have a private client (wrestling) who said he's really looking forward to his competition and that he'd never have said that last season. I helped him find the competitive energy to get back out there. Now he's looking forward to working on things that will help him with his skills. That's what I like, I'm motivated by that kind of success,” he says.
In golf, he talks a lot about refocusing, “staying positive and changing the thought process, thinking about the thing you're going to do, rather than dwelling on what has happened. Stay positive. Think about what you can control.”
Waksman teaches techniques that he thinks can help and some things are more complicated than they seem.
Visualization, for instance, is just seeing the shot in your head, right? Not so, says Waksman. “Visualization incorporates all five senses. I want them to visualize where they want the ball to go, teach them how to visualize in the correct way. And, when to use it in their pre-shot routine,” he says.
In golf, “we talk a lot about refocusing, staying positive and changing the thought process. It's probably the ultimate head game. Not only do you have a lot of time between shots, but the physical game changes depending on the mental game.”
In softball, there's a lot of time between at-bats…time to think. “They may be struggling at the plate and even with a ground ball, we don't want them thinking about the last time. If there was a problem, don't think of that mistake,” says Waksman.
Confidence is a big issue with all athletes as is handling the return from an injury.
“I want student athletes to compete with confidence, to stay positive, stay focused in the heat of battle. No distractions. I want them to be aware of their body language…for there to be some swagger, if you will,” he says.
With the driving competitiveness of college sports, Takaishi and Waksman say sports psychologists are becoming more common tools for coaches. It's becoming more common among some of the more successful college golf programs, says Takaishi.
“In the past, we've read books and discussed them with the team, but this is the first time we've used a professional,” she says.
Since Waksman just began working with the Viking programs in January, it's early days yet. But Takaishi says she already has seen small changes and is confident he'll have an impact over time.
“I want him to help my players realize how they are feeling, to recognize when they're getting out of their comfort zone. We want to help them get back into their routine, to focus on what they need to focus on…help get rid of bad thoughts,” she says.
It's all about focus. “Sometimes there are a lot of distractions…that previous bad hole, negative thoughts. It's not like a fast sport where you just have time to react to something. You have a lot of time to think in golf. This is something I've felt we needed for a long time,” Takaishi says.
