The Importance of Soccer Psychology
Jaki Hitzelberger, co-creator of SoccerPsychologyTips.com, grew up in Orlando, Florida where she played competitive soccer throughout her life. Jaki played both division 1 and division 2 college soccer and was a scholarship athlete. Jaki earned a masters in Mental Health Counseling and specializes in Sports Psychology. Her lifetime experience in soccer has given her the awareness of how the mental aspect of soccer can either help or hurt performance. Jaki’s goal for Soccer Psychology Tips is to give all athletes the mental edge they need to compete at their best and get the most enjoyment out of sports.
When I played competitive soccer in college, sports psychology was not as well accepted or utilized as it is today. Now that I’ve earned my masters in counseling and specialize in sports psychology, I realize how important mental training is to players’ performance. Throughout club and into collegiate soccer, I was exposed to many different facets of training, such as speed, strength, fitness, technical, and tactical training programs.
A missing link in my training was sports psychology for soccer. Coping with pressure, blocking out distractions, reducing anxiety and tension, believing in your ability are super important to a player’s success.
Why are these factors so important?
Well if you’re a competitive soccer player, you may relate to my story. I really wanted to WIN! Winning was so important that it created a lot of pressure to play great every day.
Why is Sports Psychology for Soccer Important?
I personally was very hard on myself, expected perfection, and was often unsatisfied with my performance. The same mental game qualities that push soccer athletes to become successful, such as dedication and competitiveness, can turn into mental barriers to success. Many soccer players focus too much on results or outcomes, perform with low confidence, do not mentally prepare well, and are afraid to fail.
If you want to perform your best, you must have a good mental game. The pressure I put on myself did drive me to work very hard and earn a college scholarship. However, at times, the harder I tried to succeed (because I wanted it so badly), the more my performance would suffer. My lifelong involvement in soccer was an amazing experience and has taught me many valuable lessons, though sports psychology for soccer would have really helped me and should be an important part every athlete’s training.
At SoccerPsychologyTips.com, Dr. Cohn and I will provide cutting edge tips and strategies for competitive soccer players. Competitive soccer can sometimes feel like a battlefield because of the amount of training and pressure you feel to succeed. You want to learn how to overcome mental game barriers so you can perform your best and get the most out of your soccer performance!
~Jaki Hitzelberger, MA
Download our free e-book, “7 Mental Game Challenges that Block Soccer Player’s Success”, and learn how to overcome other mental game barriers soccer players face.
Do You Make Any of These ‘Costly’ Mental Game Mistakes?
Download our FREE soccer psychology report and discover if you make any of these ‘costly’ mental game mistakes that can block your success.
You’ll discover:
- How your soccer mind can be your best or worst asset on the field.
- How frustration and dwelling are your worst enemy.
- If you are using your soccer mindset effectively before games.
- Learn the important mental game of soccer skills you need to master to boost your confidence and performance.
7 ‘Costly’ Mental Game Mistakes That Block Soccer Players’ Success
What are soccer psychology subscribers saying?
“I have enjoyed and benefited from your emails over the past year or two. I have been a player, parent, and coach in soccer over the past 40 years. Thanks for the assistance with the mental game resources.”
~Kyle Congleton, Soccer Coach and Parent
Learn Mental Game Secrets to Soccer Confidence!
Does your confidence seem to disappear when you go from practice to games and don’t know why? Do you get nervous and anxious in big games or when you are under a ton of pressure? Do you get so frustrated when you make a bad pass which causes your confidence to sink?
Check out Soccer Confidence: Mental Toughness Strategies For a Competitive Edge
Learn proven strategies to improve focus, composure and confidence so you can perform at your peak in games!
Players: Get the mental edge by learning how to take control of your confidence, mentally prepare for games and perform with composure under pressure.
Trainers: Learn how to give your students the mental game advantage.
Coaches: Boost your team’s confidence using simple proven mental strategies.
Parents: Help boost your soccer player’s confidence. Don’t let their mind hold them back any longer.
Soccer Confidence: Mental Toughness Strategies For a Competitive Edge
What are soccer confidence customers saying?
“Our son plays academy level soccer. Jaki taught him how to focus on goals for each game and practice and understand that mistakes are necessary to grow as a player, and helped his perfectionism. We saw a noticeable difference within one month with improvement each month thereafter. He was more confident, happy, and was having fun again at soccer.”
~Linda, Ryan’s Mother
Mental Game Coaching for Soccer Players
Master mental game coach Dr. Patrick Cohn can help you overcome your mental game issues with personal coaching.
You can work with Dr. Patrick Cohn himself in Orlando, Florida or via Skype, FaceTime, or telephone. Call us toll free at 888-742-7225 or contact us for more information about the different coaching programs we offer!
We look forward to helping you improve your mental toughness!
What are our mental coaching students saying?
“Jaki is amazingly talented. She has a pretty cool way of guiding you to find those issues that are holding you back in your game. Through some pretty clever questions she’s been guiding me to discover the real issues behind my doubts and lack of confidence. With the tools she’s been giving me, I can say with full confidence I am on my way of signing a better professional contract.”
~Lucas Gonzales, Professional Soccer Player in Australia
Leave a Reply