Squash provides an extraordinary mental challenge, helping players to learn and practice mindfulness – something which is especially essential when competing in close matches.
Mindfulness Acceptance Commitment (MAC) programs have demonstrated positive impacts on sport performance both collegiately and professionally, but this study investigated its use with national sub-elite squash athletes.
Focus on your strengths
Squash is an exciting, fast-paced physical game requiring skill, hand-eye coordination and quick reflexes for maximum success. Squash also makes an excellent cardiovascular workout and endurance builder; Forbes Magazine even named squash the healthiest sport, beating rowing, cross-country skiing, swimming, running, boxing and basketball! Plus it burns calories year-round regardless of weather!
Stressful times often prompt negative thoughts and emotions to surface, including feelings of anxiety and irritability that can interfere with concentration or sleep, sometimes even leading to headaches or stomachaches. To cope, try staying positive; just give yourself time.
However, one effective way of relieving stress is to focus less on negative thoughts and more on things you can control – like deep breathing exercises or using mindfulness practices like viewing photos from a favorite album, listening to soothing music or tasting gum can all help relax and unwind the mind.
Consider an instance when you successfully handled a stressful situation – personally or professionally, like managing a difficult relationship, weathering a health scare, or handling conflict at work – and identify which VIA Core Strengths character strengths contributed to its resolution or alleviation – this will provide valuable insight into how you can use these attributes to manage future stressors more successfully.
Learn to say no when people or situations sap your energy. If someone causes stress for you, limit interactions or end the relationship; if traffic or grocery store trips become an ordeal for you, take an alternate route; remember it’s never too late to ask for assistance when needed – reach out to your GP or contact a voluntary organization for support and guidance as they may recommend therapies and treatments that could benefit you, or refer you directly to psychotherapists if needed.
Create a refocusing cue
Squash is an engaging sport that demands fast reflexes and excellent eye-hand coordination, requiring quick reflexes and great eye-hand coordination from players of both genders on an enclosed court. Victory in this two-player sport comes from forcing an opponent out of play by returning shots quickly enough that you return quickly into position to return the next shot; concentration must also be at its highest levels to prevent distractions such as chatty opponents or weather changes from disrupting gameplay.
Many athletes struggle to refocus during competition. One effective solution is creating a “cue,” or phrase, to remind yourself to regain focus and concentration. Your cue could range from physical objects or words/phrases – make sure it’s personal, believable, and easy to remember! Once your cue has been created, practice it often and try using it in competitions or stressful situations.
Athletes can use cues to combat negative self-talk. Negative self-talk is an inherent source of stress for athletes and can have negative repercussions for performance, thus needing something to redirect their thoughts in a constructive direction can help improve mood state, focus and attention, as well as confidence levels.
Cues should be tailored specifically to each athlete and tailored to their learning style. A visual cue may work better for some athletes while sound or kinesthetic cues may work better for others. This allows athletes to refocus in a manner most beneficial for them and is easier to implement during practice than competition.
To create a refocusing cue, place an object from your sport – medal, trophy or ball – directly in front of you and study it closely. When your attention wanders from this object, use the refocusing cue to bring it back onto it; repeating this action can help strengthen mental toughness and focus during matches. This method should increase mental toughness.
Squash is an extremely versatile vegetable, and its seeds are often ground into paste or ground into oil before being consumed raw or ground into paste for other recipes. Furthermore, its leaves, tendrils and shoots can all be eaten as part of its edible landscape – an important staple crop among Native American diets.
Practice self-awareness
Mindfulness helps you become more self-aware, an important aspect of managing stress and bringing about positive changes. Self-awareness involves understanding your strengths and weaknesses as well as how your behavior might be impacting others – practicing this form of awareness will allow you to design the life that’s perfect for you and create a happier, healthier, more productive version of yourself.
Your thoughts and emotions likely have an influence over how you act; for example, knowing when impulsive behaviors might trigger negative responses in others. But due to an overwhelming amount of stress you might not have an accurate picture of your inner workings.
Self-awareness requires both time and practice. One way of cultivating this awareness is through meditation, which can help cultivate nonjudgmental, moment-by-moment awareness. You can also discover your innate physical and psychological responses to stress through programs like Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR).
Journaling can be an effective self-awareness practice. You can either use traditional notebook and pen or an app with writing prompts; either way, journaling provides numerous benefits, including being able to reflect upon past experiences and identify patterns which might inform future behavior.
Journaling alone won’t do the trick when it comes to increasing self-awareness; another effective strategy for doing this is asking trusted friends, family and colleagues for feedback on your strengths and areas for improvement. Acquiring this feedback may be challenging, but it is an integral component of self-realization.
An awareness of your stress reactions and what triggers them is an essential step in improving self-awareness. But you can also work on this through more formal therapeutic interventions such as cognitive behavioral therapy – where trained professionals teach techniques designed to overcome negative emotions or habits – or you could consult the International Association of Behavioral Medicine and Wellness, which offers a directory of practitioners in your area.