40. The Mind as a Secret Weapon in Sports - feat. Christian Straka

Slow Down, Man

He coached multiple top 10 players throughout their tennis career and was the personal coach for Victoria Azarenka (former world #1) and Andrea Petkovic (former world #10). Not to mention, he himself was also a tennis player on the international circuit.
For the past decade his focus turned to mindset training for peak performance through evidence-based mindfulness skill development, which he incorporates in his function as the Global Mindset Coach for adidas Runners as well as with his personal and corporate clients.
Our guest today, Mr. Christian Straka has been at the forefront of the mindfulness movement in pro sports for many years.
Today we get into how he has seen the sport world shift more towards mind training and mindfulness as a key piece of driving performance.
How there is this stereotype out there that mindfulness is ONLY to be used to help treat issues in our lives (i.e. deal with difficult relationships, with anxiety etc.). But the reality is, there is so much value in working on our minds through the good times as well. To improve our performance and how we are showing up on a daily basis.
How the self-critic, negative thoughts and negative emotions are not all inherently bad. And what a healthy relationship with these looks like.
The things Christian does to train the minds of elite level athletes so that they can RESPOND and not REACT in the big moment.
Enjoy.
To connect with Christian Straka:
Instagram
MindSize Performance Training Program
Christian Straka's Website
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