A Master Procrastinator

As a master procrastinator, it should come as no shock that the blog I intended to start back when I started this stage 2 journey in April, is only starting in the middle of June! With that being said, it almost makes sense to have waited a couple of months. I now have plenty to reflect on – so there should hopefully be no writer’s block! This blog will cover my entire journey up to the date of writing. Going forward, there will be a new blog every month, so please keep coming back to check in!

I think I got stuck at the very start of this journey. I got so caught up in developing a practicing philosophy, my head buried in books, that I convinced myself I needed a polished philosophy before I started working with clients. I can’t believe how wrong I was. Do I go Socratic (guide) or didactic (instruct)? Should I focus on performance or welfare first? I eventually concluded that I was putting off getting started and using “building a philosophy” as an excuse. Just getting started was the best decision I made.

The beginning of my journey brought a great range of experience in putting proposals together, as I searched to expand my client base. I presented to elite sporting organisations, to budding professional sports people, and to local sporting organisations. Understanding the nuances of each proposal and selecting the correct approach, was something I felt I did well. The few proposals that I presented were thankfully all successful and I am still working with each client two months on.

At the back end of May, I went to my first professional sporting event as a client’s Sport Psychologist in Training. Not that this career needs reaffirmation, I know it’s what I want to do – but if it did need reaffirmation, this would have been it. Walking around the players’ lounge, seeing behind the scenes of an event, and helping someone on a big stage was such a beneficial couple of days for me personally. I was challenged professionally, as being in that environment, around perfect sporting facilities, I had to refrain from asking to have a go myself! I was there to do a job though, so do the job I did.

In early June, I completed the Primary Certificate in Rational Emotive Behaviour Therapy (REBT) and Counselling. This really was a fantastic experience. I think of athletes in their primes: Roger Federer, Leo Messi, Ronnie O-Sullivan, Tiger Woods, Joe Root – they make their sports look so easy. You feel like you could just go and replicate what they do right away. I never thought that would be the case for psychology, enter, Dr Stephen Palmer. Dr Palmer taught the course, and as he came around into our breakout rooms to find us exploring how to effectively deliver his lessons, he made asking the right questions look so easy (it isn’t)! I was glad to be partnered with a fellow sport psychologist. It allowed us to have insightful discussions about how REBT can be applied to a sporting context – it’s something I decided to include in my workshops at the golf club, and the clients took well to it. I’m not sure I would have had the confidence to present REBT had it not been for my partner’s kind words about how I explained REBT to them when we role played as practitioner and client. So, if they are reading this blog – thank you very much.

Yesterday brought a conclusion to my first psychology workshop, hosted at Penwortham Golf Club. Over the last five weeks, we covered a vast range of topics; from the introduction of golf psychology as a concept, to developing an effective pre-shot routine. The first session back in mid-May feels like a lifetime ago. From week one to week five, the crowd remained consistent. This was handy for all of us, as it sparked somewhat of a group relationship to build over the course of the workshops. That allowed me to easily refer to previous weeks and build on them, rather than having to explain every concept again each week. A big thank you to that group.

I said in a message to my supervisor, I sometimes feel a minor inferiority complex in psychology, as a lot of the people I engage with have vastly more experience in the field than I. It was therefore eye-opening to deliver a workshop and watch people’s faces display approving, interested, and intrigued looks. It helped me realise that I am knowledgeable, I can hold a room, and I can make a difference to people’s performances.

Here's to the immediate future, I can’t wait to continue expanding my client base and help more people achieve their sporting goals!