Performance goals can improve focus in the ring by keeping the mind in the present instead of concentrating on the outcome result. Bring performance goals into the ring for each show with advice from a sport psychologist in this video on horseback riding techniques.
Hi, I'm Tonya Johnston, I'm a sports psychology consultant, and it's my job to help riders be psychologically prepared and mentally tough. In this segment, we're going to talk about improving your focus by bringing your performance goals into the ring with you. Have you ever felt distracted on course, have you ever had a moment where something happened, maybe you made a small mistake? Or you almost felt like you were thinking behind yourself, or similarly, ahead of yourself, by thinking about something difficult that was coming up? It's really helpful to bring your performance goals into the ring with you, to help you keep your focus in the moment on what you're doing. A performance goal is something entirely within your control, where you're trying to improve on a particular skill. An example of a performance goal would be keeping your eye up. Now maybe this is something you've talked about with your trainer, and they're really interested in seeing you keep your chin up and keep your eye ahead of you. So this would be an excellent performance goal. When you bring it into the ring with you, you want to look for specific places in the test or course, where you could focus on that, even for a brief second. For example, in a show jumping class, if you jump through a combination ahead of time. You would maybe pick a focal point to keep your eye on through the combination. So that it would help you remember to keep your eye up and ahead, and help maintain your balance. Similarly, in a class where you are going through a corner, you might pick a specific point, which I call a check point. To think about, okay, as I canter by that tee, I'm going to think eyes. So I have a very specific queue and a very specific way to remind myself to stay in my body and stay on track. Bringing performance goals in the ring with you is a great strategy for keeping yourself focused in the moment.
Specialty: Sports Psychology
