#pill 18- Testimony, the value of mental training applied to young athletes
Testimonial:
“My name is Angelica, I am 14 years old (Donna Allieva), I have been practicing cycling since 2021. Today I compete at regional and national levels. I practice multi-discipline (road, mountain bike and cyclocross) in the I Cinghiali evo team of Novi Ligure. After moving into the youth categories I felt the need for help to better approach the races that have slowly increased and are still increasing in level. Gaia’s work for me was that push that is leading me to improve not only as an athlete but also as a person. Initially we worked on my self-confidence which thanks to guided hypnosis and visualization exercises I was able to completely achieve. Lately, in view of the Italian Cyclocross Championships, we have worked to better refine my mentality and attitude in the race and the results have definitely been seen, from a last or second to last place on previous Sundays, I started doing cyclocross only this year, I managed to be focused on the present without having external thoughts and 100% determined without any fear and I earned a very important 12th place out of 36 starters. I recommend this Mental Training to everyone, athletes and non-athletes, you feel really strong emotions and they help us to change for the better.”
I have been following Angelica for some time now and I have been able to appreciate the commitment and dedication that she and her family put into pursuing the dream of doing their best in this difficult sport that is cycling. Sacrifices, renunciations, ups and downs, many defeats and the great life lesson that lies behind learning for pure passion to rejoice in the small changes and improvements of every day…
With Angelica we worked with Kinesiology and muscle testing, on the objectives and on hemispheric integration to rebalance her limiting and blocking beliefs linked to traumas stored in the body after bad accidents in the race, on self-esteem and the belief of being up to the objectives she sets and finally a specific work on the Italian Youth Cyclocross Championship competed yesterday in Tuscany in Follonica.
For this last appointment a specific session of hypnosis and visualization was done aimed at the 3 phases into which we divided the race with particular attention to the “start” (a key moment in cyclocross races unlike road cycling and even more so for her starting at the back).
Furthermore: After careful postural evaluation with kinesiological tests it was possible to ascertain that an orthodontic problem (covered bite) led to a notable loss of strength especially in the pelvis and legs.
A small bite was therefore made to regularize the bite and therefore allow the muscles to work regularly and in balance, as the goal is always to maintain or restore balance in the system without leaving weaknesses.
The result 12th out of 36 starters starting in last position is only the consequence of immense work done previously that led her to be able to put it into practice on the right day of the year and of the courage (trained) and demonstrated by Angelica in the race to go and get what was intended for her that day.
This testimony also leads us to reflect on the importance of working on oneself for the management of emotions and concentration, of mental states even on young athletes; sport is changing, becoming more precocious in every sense, now already in the youth categories a certain professionalism and commitment is required and this if not well managed can put unnecessary pressure on the kids that will inevitably affect the performances on which they have worked so hard in training unless they learn to manage everything; this ability to manage emotions will help them in competition and not only; to manage pressure at school, at home, with friends; when an internal change occurs it is never in watertight compartments but it goes to influence the whole system…
