Coaching Above the Shoulders

While many scholar athletes have agents, managers or older family members who control their financial affairs, the skills of money management are fundamental to success, throughout the player's career and indeed, long after their retirement from sport.

“If we command our wealth, we shall be rich and free. If our wealth commands us, we are poor indeed.” ~Edmund Burke

Read more about Basics of Money for Scholar Athletes >

Whitespace advisors are often asked about the importance of the “mental game” which may encompass diverse areas including, focus, concentration, confidence, visualisation and attitude? While most athletes admit that they spend little time participating in sessions designed to improve these ‘above the shoulder’ mental factors, confidence is key to winning.  The realisation that huge performance increases can be attained by preparation of the “muscles between the ears,” delivered in short and interesting skill sessions, is growing in popularity. "One important key to success is self-confidence. An important key to self-confidence is preparation." -- Arthur Ashe Read more about Coaching Above the Shoulders >

Whitespace offers advisory sessions for both teams and individual athletes who need to confront and indeed metamorphise into successful winning entities. Metamorphosis comes from the Gr μεταμόρφωσις, to transform, transforming. This is not the typical ‘embrace change’ and ‘overcome team resistance’ to new strategies, but an emotional inventory of the upsets caused by our human proclivity to maintain the homeostatic balance, in other words, stay the same.

"There is nothing permanent except change" ~ Heraclitus 4BC

Whitespace believes that athletes need to ‘change often’ and we use the term ‘metamorphise’ because, like the biological transformative process from tadpole to frog or caterpillar to butterfly, athletes have their change requirements which may include new rules, new teams, new coaches, with new strategies and which result in emotional upsets. The loss of position whether in individual rankings or displacement to a teammate may result in an emotional crisis which only professional objective counselling can overcome. Whitespace is available to help the transition of professional athletes into their following careers.  The loss of intensity felt in competition and indeed the often lower income which professional athletes experience upon retirement necessitates dispassionate understanding and planning to transition successfully to a new productive life. Whitespace will review and refine the key objectives of your athletic organisation to insure that the boardroom is contributing to the success in the competitive arena. We look to improve the teamwork which can transform a successful season into a dynasty.

"To improve is to change; to be perfect is to change, often." ~ Winston Churchill

Whitespace has demonstrated that within each of us is created true genius. The unrealised potential each of us is given, requires a self-awareness and commitment, which few people experience. Genius is defined with words like exceptional, creativity and intelligence and in many cases a rich combination of all those characteristics denotes a genius. Whitespace methodology is able to inventory the moods and emotions, which stifle genius. Dreams are rekindled and spark into intentions, which fan the flames of goals and plans rather than mere thoughts and ideas. The benefits to your company are happier employees who analyse information in greater detail and make decisions with greater accuracy.

“Everyone is born a genius, but the process of living de-geniuses them.” ~ R. Buckminster Fuller

Would you like us to explore with the executives in your company the characteristics which can develop their Genius? We can tailor a simple methodology which will kick-start the process of becoming a genius.

S.A.S.S.Y.Y. WOMEN is an acronym for the Whitespace offering designed to help ladies achieve Self Assured, Self Starting, Yin and Yang training. The cultural prohibitions preventing women from excelling in non-domestic roles, requires an understanding of the male and female energies found in each of us. The self awareness and communication skills developed in our program are designed to shatter the glass ceiling which continues to be constructed and supported by inhibited women. We have worked with several universities in formalised educational settings, to deliver programs designed to enhance the performance of their female students. “Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one’s courage.” – Anais Nin Read more about S.A.S.S.Y.Y.  Female Empowerment

Athlete’s health and well being is of primary importance to a successful career. While the physical training with strength and conditioning techniques, as well as sports’ nutrition, have made huge advancements, Whitespace offers a new technology to increase your competitive edge. While most athletes have consulted with nutritionists who can recommend wholesome diets designed to build muscle and energy, the individualised identification of food allergies and sensitivities is seldom considered.  Our technology does not prescribe the elimination of gluten or dairy, often mentioned as foods to avoid. We use bio-feedback technology which employs similar engineering to electrocardiogram and skin response measurement equipment. These examinations are non-invasive and look at hundreds of foods and their positive or negative effects on each of the athlete’s biological systems. The sensitivities each athlete has to certain foods is seldom considered but the mitigation of deficiencies can make huge increases in energy, reaction time and performance.  An example of one success was the elimination of migraine headaches by identifying that the athlete enjoyed chocolate, peanuts and citrus fruits, all of which cause cerebral blood vessel constriction.  Another of our sportsmen spent almost all of his waking hours practicing indoors, seldom receiving natural light.  His immune system lacked Vitamin D, sometimes called the sunshine supplement and this caused an inordinate susceptibility to colds and flu virus. Whitespace employs the latest technology and offers the best supplements to enhance your training regime and improve your overall health.  All of our recommendations are vegan approved and vetted as to the latest controlled substance prohibitions. A second area which Whitespace offers its Sports Dynamic clients is in the area of rehabilitation.  Injury in many sports, even non-contact events, is a common problem. While physiologists can offer appropriate exercises they seldom deal with the emotional difficulties the recovering athlete is bound to experience. Whitespace confronts the mental stress which every rehabilitation produces with the uncertainty of recovery and return to competition.  Not being able to participate in one’s passion is emotionally unsettling and Whitespace is able to coach the athlete to focus on a stronger and more rapid return, which mitigates the pain and drudgery of gym time. Whitespace is excited to work with teams, academies and individual athletes to reach sustained performance. It’s not enough to reach the zone of optimum achievement occasionally, but winning as a habit, is the goal of our offering. We examine the fear of loss, excitement of triumph and the emotional roller coaster which most athletes experience. One’s self-awareness is of primary importance to repeat competitive excellence. Our professionals help the athlete see outside himself, his team and sports industry to have a holistic and realistic view of his chosen profession. The reduction of stress and intensity of focus which Whitespace offers is a winning combination cherished by our clients. Whitespace would be please to discuss a program which can be personalised for your needs and goals.

Boredom, anger, sadness, or fear are not 'yours,' not personal. They are conditions of the human mind. They come and go. Nothing that comes and goes is you. ~Eckhart Tolle For the injured competitor, even the best physical recovery program can be more effective when combined with techniques which address the rehabilitation of the athletic mind.  The emotional difficulties encountered by the sidelined athlete, which often include “boredom and anger,” as mentioned in the Tolle quote above, can easily deteriorate into depression. With Whitespace Rehabilitation of the Athletic Mind, we work with the medical experts, coaches and family members to focus the athlete on recovery. We emphasise three major aspects of mental strength conditioning.

• Personalised professional, dispassionate counselling; non-judgemental listening
• Scheduled milestones and checkpoints to track mental and physical progress
• Inclusion with coaches and teammates to keep the athlete involved

First, personalised counselling provides the athlete with an objective view to understand the emotional stress which injury can cause. The commitment to recovery includes new ways of thinking about rehabilitation and includes focus on returning sooner and stronger. Secondly, Whitespace develop a written schedule of milestones, which help make the recovery finite and manageable. Success and failure is dealt with and analogous to the sports experience. The competitive mentality of the athlete is harnessed to speed recovery. The third important area for recovering athletes is to mitigate the feelings of loneliness and isolation, considering most of the work is done away from the comraderie of the team which the athlete dearly misses.  We work with coaches and teammates to insure inclusion. The common fears of injured athletes; that they won’t be able to compete at the level they aspire to, is mitigated by increasing self-awareness which helps the injured player realise, that the emotional trauma unlike the physical injury can be conquered. We would be pleased to discuss with your team administrators and athletes to propose a program to return your injured players, sooner, stronger and happier.