I’m about a year or so away from my 4th degree black belt test in ITF TKD.
I feel good about my ability to sharpen my skills to testable levels but I really want to do some serious work on my mental game.
I want to be as confident as a possibly can when I go into that test next year.
Part of that confidence will come naturally as I practice and study in preparation for the test.
But I want to do some specific mental practice, too.
I want to be more comfortable with the intensity of preparation. I want to be less stressed in the days preceding the the test. And I want to improve my ability to visualize my actions during the test itself.
To that end, I have been watching some videos and reading articles* to figure out what practices and techniques might work for me.
One thing I’ve noticed (of course) is that a lot of the sports psychology videos I’ve found are by male athletes and coaches. Their advice has been interesting and some of it has been valuable but I would like to have a broader perspective on the subject.
Can you recommend any videos or books about sports psychology/mental game/visualization that are more gender-diverse?
*And I am attending a TKD Sports Psychology online seminar in a few weeks.
My first thought was of Simone Biles, while reading your essay. Yes, she’s a gymnast, but the head game is similar in my opinion. Please check out the link:
https://www.gymnasticsmentalcoach.com/simone-biles-sports-psychologist/
You might ask the company if they have martial arts specific material too. In any case, I hope this helps. Best wishes on taking your 4th degree black belt test.
Thank you for the good wishes and for the link!