There is a growing awareness of how important mental skills are for school kids. Parents of talented athletes are contacting us more and more frequently. They realise that today it is tougher than ever for their kids to "make it", or even to perform at their potential.

Some areas we deal with:

• Mental skills for coping with performance (and peer) pressure
• Concentration skills - to Zone!
• Letting go of mistakes quickly and effectively
• Growing your childs passion for his or her sport - Being able to have Fun is an important mental sports skill
• Developing self belief

The most common secondary gain we hear feedback about form the parents of talented youngsters is their child's improvement in academics. They use their new mental skills and developed attitude to find success in many other areas of their lives.

Schools are also contacting us more frequently, to work with teams or groups of kids. They recognise that high performance sports skills are also high performance life skills.

In 2008 Kingswood College of Grahamstown ran a pilot programme for their 1st Rugby and 1st Girls Hockey squads. The structure of the programme was to have at least one 1-on-1 (more where possible) with each squad member (and both coaches) as well as to have weekly (where possible) team sessions over the period of 2 months. The 1-on-1 was driven by the coach or squad member, based on what they wanted to work on, or areas that they had heard during the team sessions and that they wanted to develop further.

This was their feedback:

Tim gave me new insight into my interpersonal relations with my players. He provided another perspective from which to base my discussions with the team and with the manner in which I communicate. By providing a fresh look at the manner in which I communicate as well as the message I am trying to get across, Tim has helped provide me with an extra dimension to my coaching.Tim is passionate about his work and his quiet enthusiasm is infectious. He has the uncanny ability to ask exactly the right question that cuts straight to the heart of the situation and then the expertise to help you 'unpack' and process that information.I was very happy with the way the programme ran - it must have been extremely difficult for Tim to accommodate our busy schedule but he did so with calm aplomb.
Graham Carlson – Kingswood College 1st Team Rugby Coach

Working with Tim made me take a look into the mental side of my coaching. It made me question the way I relayed information to players. It also helped me to sum a situation and use the correct tone, to get information across to my team. It has made me a "calmer" coach, who thinks first and then acts. What I learnt has helped me grow as a person, and as a coach. I now find myself being more well rounded in term of coaching. I think he has the correct attitude. He has struck the balance between professionalism and being approachable. Too often mental coaches have over-bearing kinds of personalities. Tim's strength is his ability to sit back, watch and then facilitate. I have enjoyed his input.
Krinesan Moodley – Kingswood College 1st Team Girls Hockey Coach

I learnt that I need to not focus on my mistakes and what I "can't" do, but rather to focus on what I do right, my strengths, and what I’m capable of with hard work. I have also learnt to not make myself feel smaller than other players and to not be intimidated by them.
Instead of thinking that I can never be the best player or as good as others in the team I have tried to tell myself that I can be anyone I want to be, with the necessary hard work of course.
I would say that he knows what he is talking about with regard to the mental sides of sport and even everyday issues that people struggle with. When you go and see him know what you want to talk about because he doesn't ask specific questions.
Kelly Hannah Dixon – Kingswood 1st team Hockey Girls

He Motivated me to achieve higher in different fields... e.g.: (Bowling instead of just batting) by visualizing them on a similar level. Having Visions for both of them in the highest level... instead of one higher than the other... and has defiantly influenced the way I approach training for sport and preparation.. Physically and mentally..
We generally based the interviews on Cricket... which is my passion.. Thus improving in that field in any way is always a task... Tim really help improve my mental preparation... and helped me to not be satisfied with 80s and 90s... as well as help motivate me in a big way to improve and work on my bowling.
He's been a real asset to the way I prepare for my sports... and perform to my full potential and achieve the best more often than not... and hopefully by the end of the year my results will speak for themselves.. And will be an indication of the influence Tim had on me... as well as my already successful tour...
For me the one on one interviews were the most valuable ... as well as the group discussions after a successful game where we highlighted what worked successfully in comparison to the two losses... where we still gained many positives and had a much better understanding of our game after a loss... maybe getting Tim twice... in the beginning of a season and again at the end or at least twice so you can look at what worked and what didn't... The more Tim is involved with us the better... Tim Was GREAT for me.. :)
Brandon Handley – Kingswood 1st team Rugby, Cricket

I enjoyed working with Tim. He helped me keep more composed and relaxed on the hockey field. Didn't let the little things get to me so much. It helped build more confidence and gave me better perspective
He is so cool... you will have many laughs with him. It really helped talking to him and I think that anyone who feels pressure, even if it's not on the sports field, should work with him. I think that Kingswood should do it again, but more people should be offered the opportunity of working with him. Not only the first team hockey and rugby. I think all sportsman can benefit from the program. I also think that it should be done over a longer period of time so that we are able to have more one on one sessions.
Caroline Ross - Kingswood 1st team Hockey Girls

I learnt how to forget about the bad things that have happened and move on and focus on what was more important in the game than to stay angry. That I am in full control of myself. He has the amazing talent to take big problems of yours and make them seem so much smaller. Because of this you don't feel as stressed about them.
Kirsten Jones - Kingswood 1st team Rugby

I learnt to understand myself better on the field and off the field. I took his advice and it improved my performance immensely as I learnt to control my mind in such a way that I remained calm on the field no matter the score or the quality of my performance.
I always used to focus on the negative but he encouraged me to see the positive as it is the most important, and rather learn from my mistakes and improve on them next time no matter how slight it might be - it is still an improvement. He also encouraged me to not pay attention to what others thought of my game or myself - whether they were negative comments or simply not being recognised for the good I did for myself or the team. Most important is what you think, not others even though it is reassuring to get positive comments from the coach. He also emphasized the importance of the word "Team" in that there are no individuals in a team, everyone works together and takes no credit for themselves. Team building is important and a part of life out of sport and I can use what I learnt from him in other situations.

I would recommend him to others but only if they are willing to listen to what he has to say and take it seriously. You must also be prepared to think for yourself as he doesn't spell everything out to you, he helps YOU sort out your own problems. He is a very positive person and I really enjoyed listening to what he had to say, it was very refreshing because positive comments weren't flying around very easily in our team. I would also suggest that he comes earlier in the season so he can help if there are any problems from the beginning.
Candice Hobson - Kingswood 1st team Hockey Girls

He made me think for myself not only about hockey but life in general and how to cope with different situations and make the best possible way to go about certain choices. He helped me not care about what other people think especially while making decisions.
Every day I have to make decisions whether it is for the importance of myself, the school or for the team. In taking time to think about these important decisions I will hopefully make the best choice once thought properly through.
I would say that he is really good especially because he doesn’t answer your problems, he makes you think about it for yourself. If need be he will help but it’s really nice to come out and realise that you have actually sorted out your own issues with his help. He makes you feel a lot better about yourself and gives you more self confidence.
Kate Pearson - Kingswood 1st team Hockey Girls

Tim was really nice and easy to talk to. He let us talk about any issues we having freely and never feel pressured when doing so. I Got to actually realise something’s I was doing was only negatively effecting me and he helped we realise that and improve all aspects of it.
It helped to get me thinking right and be more positive in hockey and in general life.
Tim is a very easy to talk to person who is very encouraging and helpful. He listens and lets you talk freely about anything that bothers you and helps as much as he can.
Shelley Kent - Kingswood 1st team Hockey Girls

I found confidence in myself because I knew that Tim knew what he was talking about and he helped me believe in myself more than anything ever has. He shows you a way to improve in what ever you are doing if you are willing to work and I think I benefitted from him hugely mentally and because of that I then benefitted physically too with my performance
It helped be more influential in whatever sport I played and it helped me in my life in general too as in the way I approached things. He gave me some sort of strength that not many things are able to give you so simply.
Don’t be afraid of what he is trying with you. With him you find your own way. He doesn't boss you around and tell you exactly what to do but he guides you and it really does just boost your confidence if nothing else.
Hugh Savage - Kingswood 1st team Rugby

I think the thing that he taught me was that my emotions are my choice. e.g. if I want to be angry I can but if I decide not to I don’t have to. It has taught me to control my emotions and made me look at it in a different aspect. I struggled with this before but now I don’t.
That he is very beneficial but come prepared. He taught me a lot.
Jeff Rodgerson - Kingswood 1st team Rugby

I learned how to prepare mentally for a game and how to approach areas that create doubt in one’s mind. For me remaining calm and collected was a problem and Tim helped me to focus the correct way. I will continue playing sport after school and with the training of Tim I will stand a chance of making it. His approach was new, exciting and a good experience. It could prove more valuable later in life with business and all aspects of life. Tim is a really sincere and honest guy. Knows what to say when things are looking up and down.
Shaun Curtis - Kingswood 1st team Rugby

I learnt how to look at situation from a different angle and how to deal with situations that I am not used to.
It has helped me deal with things. I now don’t fuss or worry about things i don’t have to worry about.
You have to speak to him because you he helps you overcome barriers you can’t cross by yourself.
James Miller - Kingswood 1st team Rugby

Tim taught me most importantly that I must be more confident in myself and my own ability. Every other person faces what I face so there isn’t really much point in stressing when things don’t go your way, things happen, if you have done everything you can to prevent it e.g. train harder than your opponent, why worry the rest will take care of itself. I also learned to think positively about every situation.
Because when I feel under pressure or have no confidence, I think about what he said to us/me and refer back to it.
I would say that he is a guy that can sort out/better most problems that you are having in life by a different way of thinking.
Clifford Savage - Kingswood 1st team Rugby

I found that by telling myself that I can do things helped me to do them. He also helped me to strive for what I want
It gave me more confidence in sport and in everyday situations. That he is Excellent in what he does. He helped me to enjoy and play sport with confidence.
Anonymous

My mind became stronger and a lot of things started to make sense. I found that things were put into perspective. I was able to see a little bit of how the mind works which to me was very interesting. I have now got a strong mind which will help me greatly in all areas of life because he showed me that a lot of hard work is in the mind.
It is important because what I learnt can be experienced in everyday life. So you could always practice what you spoke to Tim about wherever you were. I always knew that your mind played a big role in your life but he really showed me how I can truly believe that. So now as he has strengthened my mind I believe I can do most things if my mind is in the right place.
He helps a lot with little things that we struggle with in life and has a good understanding of what you talk about so when he helps and gives you advice it really is helpful. He is a friendly guy who anyone can relate well to.
Anonymous