He has been meditating a lot lately. He originally liked learning about the brain, so he learned about it from time to time, but now this practice has become part of his Shand daily routine.
Shand is sitting in his room or walking on the embankment. He sometimes meditates with his eyes open while driving.
“There are no rules to meditation,” Shand says. “Sometimes it’s just breathing. Sometimes it’s visualization meditation. Sometimes it’s therapeutic, like remembering a painful part of your body and sitting and imagining that part getting better.”
With the help of a mindset coach, Shand began meditating regularly in January as he looked for ways to improve ahead of his senior season with his new defense. The coach combined meditation with lessons on breathing, visualization and inner energy to help Shand reach a flow state during practices and games. Or, as it is well known, become zoned.
Shand also bought a $40 juicer on Amazon to make her own vegetable and fruit juices to improve her hydration. We believe this will enhance your mental training.
He makes one recipe that uses cucumber, apple, celery, turmeric, cayenne pepper, and coriander, but it’s “not very tasty.” The other one is strawberries and Fuji apples. Drinking it regularly reduces cramps and improves concentration.
“I go to Mother’s and buy about 10 cucumbers at a time,” Shand said.
This all started because Shand wanted to work on his reaction time and processing speed after his junior season. In his first year as a backup defenseman after transferring from Arizona, Shand recorded 17 tackles, five tackles for loss, and two sacks. His playing time fell behind starter Saivion Jones in the second half of the season.
“I felt like I played well, but I’m always trying to get to that point,” Shand said. “It’s not just sometimes. It’s always at a high level. You always play hard. That’s never a problem. But can you play hard and be in a state of flow all the time?”
Shand had been researching possible methods, but was unable to find a proven method to improve reaction time and processing speed. So instead of taking a purely physical approach, he asked himself, “How can I get better at soccer in my head?” Shand concluded that once concentration reached a sustained level, “reactions would naturally improve.”
After LSU’s season ended in early January, Shand contacted Steve McCarthy, a self-taught mental coach in his hometown of Toronto. McCarthy, 49, began using these techniques to control his emotions about 30 years ago after growing up in a “violent” household. That tactic soothed his anger.
While practicing grounding meditation in his backyard last year, McCarthy thought about teaching what he had learned to athletes. He started an Instagram page and began building a clientele, which now includes players from his Canadian Football league and other schools. McCarthy, who runs a flooring company, doesn’t charge for lessons.
“I’m helping them strengthen and enhance their ability to control their focus and turn their focus inward,” McCarthy said. “Essentially, I take people on a journey to self-mastery, using breathing techniques, meditative states, and visualizing their inner energies.”
McCarthy has created a four-step program and teaches it through weekly one-on-one calls. The first step focuses on breathing techniques. He calls it “the bridge to all techniques” because it regulates emotions. The second is meditation. Visualization takes place in his third step, and the process ends with understanding internal energy. When mastered together, McCarthy said, you can access the flow state.
“Competition moves so quickly that by not having spikes and peaks in your brain every second, it changes something,” said LaKeitha, head of the LSU Athletics Department of Sports Psychology and Counseling. Dr. Poole said. “How to bring your mind into a state where you can always remain calm, neutral if necessary, or ready to adjust to avoid overstimulation, regardless of what is stimulating you. is to find out.”
McCarthy said how well the technique worked depended on the player’s level of effort, and Shand supported the technique. Shand is a deep thinker with a variety of interests, and he majored in political science because he wanted to practice international law. He enjoyed learning about how the brain affects performance. Mr. McCarthy called Mr. Shand “one of my favorite clients.” Because he often asked about things he could try, like drinking natural fruit juices.
By starting now, Shand hopes the work will help her stay focused in the fall. The first time he tried meditation, Shand walked along an embankment and completely cleared his mind for five seconds. He is now able to clear his head for 20-30 seconds. As a result of decades of practice, McCarthy has become able to maintain his meditative state for two to three hours.
“If you can continue to improve your focus like that from now until the season starts, imagine how much more control you’ll have when the games start,” McCarthy said. Ta. “He’s studied it thoroughly and tried to keep getting better every day. It’s a time when he can control his concentration.”
There are other ways Shand needs to improve before the season starts. He has been working on his pass rush with new defensive ends coach Kevin Peoples, focusing on his hip and shoulder rotation to avoid blocks with any movement. Shand is intentional about how he controls his body in his practice and then reviews his form in shooting sessions.
Despite completing the program, Shand speaks with McCarthy regularly. He continues to focus on his breathing and uses the juicer. Shand also keeps a diary from time to time, which further helps him clear his thoughts when meditating. He tries to connect all his techniques to football and intentionally trains his mind to do his best.
“Some people think I’m crazy,” Shand said. “But I feel like it’s working.”
