Martha Gillis Delafield, LCSW

Specializing in  Peak Performance, Energy Psychotherapy and Neurofeedback
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Peak Performance

Fundamentals of Peak Performance

“Performance  =  Potential  - Interference.”      

W. Timothy Gallwey, The Inner Game of Tennis

 

“A tennis player first confronts the Inner Game when he discovers that there is an opponent inside his own head more formidable than the one across his net. He then realizes that the greatest difficulty in returning a deep backhand lies not in the speed and placement of the ball itself, but in his mind’s reaction to that ball: his own thinking makes the shot more difficult than it is. Further, he becomes aware that these same mental obstacles which keep him from playing his best tennis prevent him from living his best life.”   Gallwey, The Inner Game of Tennis

 

109 Conner Drive, Suite 103   Chapel Hill , NC  27514

336 John Horton Road, Apex, NC  27523

Mgdelafield@marthadelafield.com      (919) 781-1707               

Performing at your best first requires the dedication and commitment to put in whatever time is necessary to learn and grow in your sport. In order to have the confidence that you can do what you want or need to do while performing, you need to have put in the hours to train and develop your body. Confidence comes from physical experience.

 

As Coach K of the Duke Blue Devils basketball team says, “pressure” comes from feeling that the demands being placed on your performance exceed your ability to perform them. Learn to physically perform whatever you’ll be asked to do in your athletic endeavour, so you know you can do it. If you need to be able to run fast, practice running faster; if you need to develop the stamina to perform at a high level for a long game or match, increase your fitness level; if you need a “money-shot” in tennis, then learn how to do one well enough so that you can depend on it when you need it. Put the work in during practice, so that you can let your body do what it has learned to do when in competition and you can have confidence that it has learned to do it.

 

Using energy psych techniques can help you learn the mechanics of your game more quickly and with less interference. Whatever negative yammering goes on in your head when you’re learning anything new – frustration, anxiety, boredom, impatience, etc -- can be reduced or eliminated with energy techniques. Without your internal conflicts and arguing pulling your energy in opposite directions, you can progress farther, faster.

 

“EFT made it easier to improve the mechanics of my game much faster than I was able to without it -- my coach noticed it right away. When I’m playing a match, EFT enables me to relax and focus on the point more easily instead of getting distracted by stress.” TG, tennis player

 

 

 

 

 

 

”EFT has enabled me to get into my golf game at the beginning of the round instead of after the fourth or fifth hole. It’s helped me stay relaxed and focused throughout the round, and as a result I’ve taken 10 strokes off my game.”  JK, golf pro

 

“[After you me taught me EFT] I noticed a tremendous improvement in my performance and how I was able to have so much more fun and just relax [when I’m diving]...I now find myself tapping before or during doing my homework sometimes if it is a heavy load to get myself through it and relax.”  ET, collegiate diver

 

“[Using the energy psych techniques] has helped me feel like I can get rid of the negative energy that competition can bring and that I can overcome it to dive the way that I know how. Thank you so much!”   CW, collegiate diver

 

“EFT made it easier to improve the mechanics of my game much faster than I was able to without it -- my coach noticed it right away. When I’m playing a match, EFT enables me to relax and focus on the point more easily instead of getting distracted by stress.” TG, tennis player

 

“[EFT] tapping has helped me calm myself down when I feel myself getting frustrated with people, and even calm myself when I feel overwhelmed with homework. It has been such a great tool to use throughout the season and this semester. I can see a change in my confidence when it comes to school, and my grades are getting better as well. Thanks, Martha!”  BG, collegiate diver

 

 

 

Sessions are tailor-made to suit the needs of you and your sport. I can meet with just you, or you and your coach, and talk about what is happening with your game. We may meet in my office or on your court, pool, or playing field. We’ll talk about where you are, where you want to be, and what you think is in your way. If you’re on a  team, it’s helpful to get your coach’s viewpoint about what s/he sees in your game and what it is they want.

 

We’ll work up a list of specific, measurable goals you want to attain for your level of performance, and define where you are in relation to them currently. We’ll figure out what’s holding you back or getting in your way – it might be a bad habit, an unconscious pattern you’re not aware of yet, old limiting beliefs,  past trauma that may or may not have anything to do with the sport you’re playing or performing, negative habits of self-talk, or something else.

 

We’ll also identify what’s working well for you – your strengths, talents and skills – and strengthen and anchor those. We’ll use whatever combination of techniques and tools will help you achieve your goals the fastest and most effectively. And I’ll make sure you have tools you can use immediately to improve your game on the spot, in the moment, and as part of a daily practice.

 

 

 

 

Using energy-based techniques you can:

Here’s what some athletes I’ve worked with have said about using EFT and other energy techniques:

 

The Physical Game

As Gallwey noted, performance is equal to potential, minus interference.  Interference can come from physical, psychological, and emotional sources. Physical interference can come from fatigue, injury, lack of physical training, lack of fitness, and the like. Psychological interference can arise from limiting beliefs, negative thinking, negative interpretation of events as they unfold, and so on. Emotional interference comes from the emotional responses to all of the above: anxiety, frustration, anger, fear, shame, and the rest.

 

Using energy psychotherapy techniques and neurofeedback can intervene at each of those levels to bring out the best in your game.

 

 

The Mental Game

Once the muscle memory of the mechanics of the game is in place, what separates good athletes from great ones is the mental game. “Mental toughness” means that you have ways of effectively dealing with the stresses that come with competing.  Pre-game jitters, staying focused, staying centered, dealing with being down in a game, dealing with being up in a game, dealing with the winning shot, match point, final putt, field goal, trash-talking from the opposing team or crowd – all these and more are part of the mental game.

 

Many sport psychologists stress the importance and power of visualization, and it is key to achieving success in anything. You can only achieve something you can imagine as being possible. If you can really imagine it, you can do it. Energy psych can help intensify the power of your visualizations, so that they are anchored at a deep, body level and aren’t just “wishful thinking.”

 

But visualizations alone are not enough, and they don’t give you tools in the moment when your game is heading south. There are a number of techniques I can teach you that you can use in the middle of a game, without anyone necessarily knowing what you are doing. They can help you get back into flow, and back into your game.

 

Being “in flow” is more of an energy state than a nervous system state.  Research has shown that the meridian system on which EFT is based transfers information up to ten times faster than your nerves. Using the energy techniques described here as well as neurofeedback, can clear your channels of interference and increases the ease with which you can cultivate and maintain that peak state.

 

Managing your anxiety, anger, frustration, impatience, boredom – anything that carries either an “undercharge” or an “overcharge” is the key to becoming the top athlete all your hard work and practice is training you to be. Getting re-centered when things don’t go the way you want them to go can be the difference between winning and losing. Having the tools to make that happen can give you the edge you need.

In addition to the in-the-moment issues that can impact your performance, there are other patterns that can interfere with your performing at the level you want. We all carry “limiting beliefs” in our minds that are often outside of our normal awareness, but that have an enormous impact on our achievements and lives. The forms they take are virtually limitless, but they are often variations on these common examples:

 

 

Using the energy techniques and more, I can help you identify and eliminate the beliefs that are percolating under the surface of your awareness and torpedoing your performance (and happiness). We can then “install” beliefs that are more true, more current and more what you want to create for yourself and your life. These might be:

 

What are the sessions like?