In this ultra competitive world of athletics, one of the more important psychological phenomenons is: Playing Not to Lose.  What often seems like a safe and sound way to prepare an athlete for success is more often a recipe for disastrous disappointment.  And here’s why…

When athletes play NOT TO LOSE there is an underlying fear of that potential loss.  In order to battle through and conquer this fear, athletes often turn to thoughts of what they will not do as they prepare for a big competition.  The NOT TO LOSE strategy often sounds something like this:  “DON’T FALSE START,” “DON’T DQ,” and most critical to the strategy, “JUST DON’T LOSE!”  How could such preparation become a recipe for a loss? 

Simply put, the brain doesn’t process the words Do Not in the way that we would like.  What happens when I suggest, “Do not think about a Purple Elephant with Black Pokka dots.”  I said DON’T think about that elephant!  What happened was your brain’s way of thinking about don’t.  Your brain pulled up a memory of an elephant, manipulated the color, added the Pokka dots, and finally reminded you NOT to think about that again.  The same thing happens when an athlete has thoughts of DON’T LOSE.  Their brain creates an image of that loss and then plans not to think about that again.  To make matters worse, those thoughts become a form of mental imagery.  The result is visualizing the JUST (DON’T) LOSE, and who would choose to intentionally practice that?

The impact that this preparation has during competition is a self-fulfilling prophecy of the loss.  Athletes who have been practicing thoughts of what they won’t do are often on the look out for those plays or problems.  Because they have actually been seeing the errors during their mental imagery they are now more likely to perform to that mistake during the meet.   Once the error has occurred, that’s all the athlete needs to fulfill the rest of the prophecy… the loss.  The spiral downward begins and all the don’ts they have been practicing begin to unravel. 

Luckily, these thoughts can be changed!  If you are an athlete preparing NOT TO LOSE, contact Dr. Casey for a constructive way to approach your meets with a WINNING MENTALITY.

Dr. Casey Cooper, Sport Psychologist
www.drcaseycooper.com
(949) 420-3067

These days it seems like students need to be NASA engineers with 1800 hours of community service and A+’s in every class they’ve ever taken to get into college.  While this is clearly an exaggeration, many parents are increasingly anxious about their student’s chances for acceptance. They see their students working hard in high school, delicately balancing intense academic workloads with sports schedules, volunteer work, and SAT Prep classes.  Will these efforts pay off?  What are the colleges really looking for?

For the next several columns, I will address your concerns about college.  You will learn valuable information here, but I also find that information tends to illicit more questions.  Please do not hesitate to contact me with any specific questions you have! 

Dear Jennifer,
My daughter is a junior in high school and is a very good student – by my standards anyway.  She works hard in school and gets mostly A’s and B’s in her classes.  She plays tennis for her high school team, and is active in ASB.  Despite all of this, I am so worried that she won’t get in to college!  What are the colleges looking for in a student?
-Becky M., parent

Dear Becky,
This is a complicated question because there is so much variance from college to college, in terms of what they emphasize most in the criteria they use for admissions.  I strongly advise you to find out specifically about each school that your daughter is planning on applying to, but here are the general components that colleges use to evaluate candidates:

• Academic Record: Colleges will look at your daughter’s transcript from grades 9 through 11, and the courses she will be taking her senior year.  The higher her GPA and class rank are, the better.
• Academic Rigor: This goes hand in hand with the GPA.  Colleges want to see that students have challenged themselves in the courses they’ve taken.  A student who receives straight A’s in regular classes (4.0 GPA) with no honors or AP classes is at a disadvantage for many colleges as compared to a student who took Honors / AP classes, got a B or two, and obtained a 4.0GPA. 
• Test Scores: The SAT, ACT, and SAT II’s are included here.  Each college has specific requirements for tests, but most schools ask for some type of standardized test score.  It is acceptable, and advantageous often times, to take the test more than once to improve the score and/or to find out which test your student does better on.
• Extra-curricular Activities: Sports, clubs and volunteer work are included.  For your daughter, tennis and ASB would be considered here.  Colleges want to see that a student is passionate and committed to what they choose to do outside of school, no matter what it is.  Students can best show this passion and commitment through the amount of time they spend doing an activity.  The more hours per week, and the more weeks per year that a student participates in an extra-curricular activity, the more dedicated she seems.  This speaks to her strengths outside of the classroom.
• Essay:  Most colleges require a college essay that asks the student, in some way, to describe what makes him or her unique. This is an opportunity to set him/herself apart, and let the admissions officers get to know what the student is really like.  In a world of ultra-competitive college admissions, the essay is increasingly more important at many schools.

These are five of the criteria most colleges examine for college admissions.  Also important are a student’s leadership roles, letters of recommendation, and in some cases, interviews. 

While it is understandable to be nervous about college admissions, you can help your student most by preparing early.  Ask questions, consult experts, but don’t have your student take on too much.  We don’t want our students to be so stressed out about college that they completely miss out on all the fun opportunities high school has to offer.  There are over 2500 colleges in the U.S..  It is likely that you will find one that meets your student’s needs!
           
About the Author:
Jennifer Connellan is a former Nadador swimmer.  She is the Co-founder and President of Future Focused, a local business committed to helping students reach their full potential. Future Focused is the leader in academic services for students, offering tutoring, academic coaching, and college counseling programs for high school students. With two Master’s degrees in psychology and years of experience dealing with adolescent issues, Jennifer is more than qualified to address your questions and concerns regarding your students.