october newsletter

mncNEWS

OCTOBER 2007

in this issue

• Learn from one of the World’s best kickers

• Book in for Mental Toughness!

• 50% Discount for friends

• MNC team & their meditation experience

• MNC Media hits the web

Matt is ready to start the first Mental Toughness for Sports Program in Brisbane next week! Look out for some mentally tough individuals in late November after they have finished the workshop series. This month’s mncNEWS will continue to offer a 50% discount for those participants who bring a friend to the Program…Making it Mental Toughness for Two! The MNC team experienced a MNC Meditation training session with Simon which we’ll share with you in this mncNEWS. The Rugby World Cup has provided live demonstrations of focus and accuracy through implementing routines, and thus huge successes for England so far.

MNC PROGRESS
MNC Australia
• The countdown is on for the commencement of Brisbane’s first Mental Toughness for Sports Program. There is one week to go, so enroll now if you are interested! Contact Matt using the email below to secure your spot.

• Lisa has been busy concentrating on her own performances. She is competing in the Queensland State Championships in Jondaryn and the National Championships in Kingaroy for gliding in late September until late October. We hope to hear from her with her experiences as a competitive athlete in November’s mncNEWS!

• As this month’s mncNEWS will get to you before I get a chance to hear from Tracey about her Rugby World Cup adventure we will leave that until next mncNEWS too.

• Half of the MNC team discovered just why meditation is so good for you! Kylie, Matt, and I participated in a meditation training session with Simon. All three of us can vouch for Simon’s skills in helping us to create a ‘quiet’ mind. Simon guided us to an extremely relaxed state, which given the busy minds of this part of the team, was definitely a job well done! My experience with meditation to date has been in a group class and it seems that most people I have spoken to have had similar experiences. MNC has created a unique environment where you will be in a 1on1 environment and Simon will tailor the meditation training sessions to your personal goals. Try MNC Mediation; Matt, Kylie and are now keen to compare notes after our training session!

• For November I will visit each of the following clinics for 1 day each: Sunshine Coast Sports Medicine Clinic – Tuesday 13th, Queensland Sports Medicine Clinic – Wednesday 14th, Body Industries – Thursday 15th, and Sports Super Centre – Friday 16th. If the clinic times do not suit you please get in contact with me so we can work something that works for you.

•Body Industries continue to take MNC bookings and they have the days, times, and dates of where we all are consulting from. Please call Jen, Bella, or one of the other BI girls on 3891 6525 to make appointments. Despite having ‘set’ clinic days, most of the team are happy to consult outside of those hours at your sporting training venue or even do home visits at a mutually suitable time.

MNC Asia
• Since the regatta in China, the travelling has slowed down however there was a golf trip to Bangkok which is further adding to the adventures and experiences in Asia working with both locals and ex-pats. MNC is continually expanding the number of countries, cultures, and nationalities it works with!

• MNC is in the process of gaining another team member based in Singapore which will be great for more team work and promoting the MNC spirit!

• There are multiple golf tournaments being played locally on an amateur and professional level. One of the major events is the major of the Asian PGA Tour – Barclays Singapore Open. The Asian tour players get to mix it with some of the World’s best golfers. The event is magnificent and a prime display of what it takes to make it to the top of their sport.

• Check out the MNC website for updates, in particular our new link called MNC Media. It features articles that the team is contributing to other websites, magazines, and newsletters nationally and internationally.

MNC Events & Programs
One week to go until Mental Toughness for Sport begins…

MENTAL TOUGHNESS FOR TWO…
REFER A FRIEND TO THE PROGRAM
RECEIVE 50% OFF YOUR COST OF THE PROGRAM

• Please contact Matt Ahlberg on his email for all the relevant information.

• Here is the program outline and
associated dates:

Wednesday 24th October
Leading with the Mind!
Saturday 27th October
Become Mentally Fit to Perform

Wednesday 31st October
Bounce Back Factor
Saturday 3rd November
Develop Emotional Control
& Resilience under Pressure

Wednesday 7th November
Relax!
Saturday 10th November
Pathway to a Calm Relaxed Body & Mind

Wednesday 14th November
Mind Chatter
Saturday 17th November
Fine Tuning the Conversation Within

Wednesday 21st November
Optimistic Performers
Saturday 24th November
Positive Expectations for Success

Wednesday 28th November
Train your Brain like your Body
Saturday 1st December
Making Time for Mental Skills Training

Johnnie the ideal Big Stage Performer - Notes from the Rugby World Cup
by Andrea Furst & Matt Ahlberg

It is probably not a favourite topic to discuss amongst Rugby enthusiasts, particularly those supporting the Wallabies, but from our end, the head game end, Johnnie Wilkinson deserves some attention and praise.

Despite being under a great deal of pressure from his team and his country, he goes out on the pitch and it is business as usual. He appears to be able to ‘step up to the plate’ and transfer all of his hard training to the competitive environment.

It is obvious to everyone watching his penalty goals – he has a set routine which he uses all of the time. It is distinct, it is unique to Johnnie, and it is consistent.

Over the past four or so years I have spent some time discussing the similarities of golf and rugby with Johnnie’s kicking coach of the Rugby World Cup 2003. He likened the golf swing to an upside down kick in rugby. We spent hours deliberating over routines and how to link the two sports. He clearly knows his stuff when it comes to kicking routines and when you see how his student performs in the big games the theories are well tested.

There are a few things that he mentioned, in addition to observations and reading about this incredible athlete, that are valuable for any athlete wanting to become more consistent and thus perform at a higher level:

• Johnnie is known for his hard work ethic. The colour of his skin is a good indicator of spending more time practicing outdoors than some of the other English team members. He has also been known to over-practice in the years gone by but seems to have recognised this trend and tamed the hours spent repeating the same technical movement.

• Johnnie uses a particularly narrow target focus when he kicks. He pictures a person in the crowd; I have been told that it is a lady called Doris holding up a Coke can that he aims at between the two goal posts. This external narrow target keeps him focused on the specific task of getting the ball from him through the goal posts and not on the internal thoughts or environmental distractions. This narrow external focus is a good way to stay relaxed and maintain composure.

• He uses the exact same routine and focus imagery during practice as he does during a game. He is committed to becoming a consistent kicker and through the development, training, and implementation of an individualised pre-kick routine he has become one of the best kickers in the World. This is through practice of both the routine and the kick in training. The routine must be incorporated into training.

The primary points to take away are clear but there is something else that is perhaps not being processed as it could, or even should be….There is a reasonable amount of scoffing that is going on regarding the fact that England can win games through kicking, and in particular due to one man’s extreme skill and dedication to the perfection of the kicking game in Rugby. What about learning from his example and taking on board his skill set of discipline, dedication, focus, and commitment…?

MNC Food for Thought
A note from Lisa, MNC Sunshine Coast
– “In a surf magazine I was looking at in a coffee shop recently I saw the most awesome photo of a massive wave heaving and crashing about a small strong figure on a surfboard. The caption read ‘Kelly Slater attributes his two most recent world titles to an ability to stay relaxed amidst the maelstrom.’ This eight times world champion says it all”.
Ed. - Thanks Lisa.

Quirky Facts
• Rugby World Cup Records: Spotlight on England and their favourite son, Johnnie Wilkinson.

• There are 11 players who have scored 100 or more points in a Rugby World Cup - England's Jonny Wilkinson comes in as number three with 182 points - one try, 18 conversions, 39 penalty goals and eight dropped goals).

• The number of dropped goals that have been kicked by England players in the Rugby World Cup is more than by representatives from any other country. Jonny Wilkinson has kicked eight (which is also the most by any player in the history of the World Cup).

• The number of penalty goals that Jonny Wilkinson has kicked in Rugby World Cup matches is more than any other player in the history of the tournament.

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85 Juliette Street
Greenslopes Qld 4120

t 07 3891 6525

andrea@mentalnotesconsulting.com.au
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www.mentalnotesconsulting.com.au

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