With 40 years combined sport and mental coaching background I believe I have a wealth of experience, expertise and wisdom to offer my athletes.
A set of nine basic sport psychology skills sets the foundation for my work. Visualization, breathing, relaxation, productive self-talk, and goal setting are just a few of the essential mental tools to be put into practice.
In addition, I’ve created a variety of strategies, systems, worksheets, questionnaires and activities to help my athletes better understand and put into action the concepts of mental performance. Whenever possible I love observing my athletes and teams in training and competitions. Watching them perform and sharpen their mental toughness is always a fun and rewarding experience.
Mental skills are beneficial for all areas of work, family and life!
“Our daughter loves working with Gail and we consider her a VERY important part of the coaching team!
As a mother of a very competitive Irish Dancer, it became clear that as parents, we were not the right resource to support our daughter with the challenges around mental attitude, stress management and anxiety.
Gail has been a great resource for our student athlete bringing her expertise, experience and insight along with objectivity (that parents cannot always provide) in helping create focus and a more positive mental attitude. “
Mom
International Competitive Irish DancerIndividual Consultations
One-on-one sessions are customized to allow the athlete to address his/her needs and to work at his/her pace. Individual meetings allow them to develop a trusted relationship and add a resource to their “team.”
Personal meetings will benefit the athlete looking to learn about mental skills and how to best utilize them in their sport. We cover the 9 basic skills, explore topics like confidence, focus, consistency, and resilience and address current training and competitive situations. The goal is to fill their mental toolbox with as many tools as possible in preparation for whatever challenges their sport may throw at them.
One-on-one meetings are the most effective method for athletes facing current specific obstacles, such as mental blocks, fears, coach or teammate issues, pressure or competition anxiety. We begin our work by looking at the best way to view and understand what’s happening and then creating a plan together to resolve the issue. A combination of sport psychology skills, strategies and systems are utilized to help them overcome the problem and move forward.
“I am so thankful to have Coach Gail in my life!
I consider her an integral part of my athlete performance team as she has worked with me for 15 years to improve my sport performance. She was a great support to me as I navigated training and racing half and full Iron distance triathlons and guided me as I prepared for the Paralympic Games in the sport of shooting. I am grateful to her for “talking me off the ledge” more than once. I appreciate her calm nature and her ability to ask all the right questions to get to the best answers.”
Tricia Downing
2016 Paralympian, triciadowning.com
On-Staff Team Mental Coaching
This service is for teams who want mental performance coaching to be a consistent part of their program and athlete training. Teams meet during practice on a regularly scheduled basis (weekly, bi-monthly, monthly) with or without coach participation. This is a predominantly pro-active instructional program designed to educate and encourage athletes in all aspects of mental skills use. Team sessions allow athletes to explore topics such as team dynamics, trust, cooperation, role responsibilities, culture, and leadership.
“Gail Royce is essential to the success of our program!
Gail Royce has been a member of the Colorado Gymnastics Institute family for 20 years. She brings numerous gifts to the table including strategies to overcome fear, how to deal with competition anxiety, how to focus, and how to set short term and long-term goals. Gail meets with our competitive team once a week to instill the importance of using mental tools during workout. During the competitive season Gail’s sessions focus on creating the right mind set for our athletes to compete at their best.
At CGI we feel that having Gail as our mental coach puts our program a big step ahead of other programs.
Lindy Franzini
Co-Head coach, Colorado Gymnastics InstituteCamps/Clinics/ Workshops
Add a unique and memorable presentation to your camp or seminar! Programs are available for athletes, teams, coaches, parents, and administrators. A few of the educational and motivational topics are:
- “How To Be A 10.0 Parent”
- “Breathe, Relax, Center, Compete”
- “The Delicate Balance of Parenting a High Level Athlete”
- “Creating a High Performance Mindset”
- “Change Your Thinking, Change Your Performance”
“As figure skating coaches working with athletes of all ages, we have found our connection with Gail invaluable.
For over a decade we have called on her to work privately with the skaters and have had her do many mental strength seminars and clinics for the Denver Figure Skating Club as well. Coach Gail has helped our skaters by giving them individual exercises, visualization instruction, and most importantly goal setting skills for pre and post competition. Gail sends out regular postcards and newsletters with reminders and recognitions of her athletes and makes every athlete feel important. She has even made herself available before events for last minute pep talks and encouragement.
Adding sport psychology to our training program has been so beneficial in building confidence for the skaters and given them some accountability for their thoughts and mental preparation. We love coach Gail!!”
Amy & Billy Schneider
Coaches, Denver Figure Skating Cub
Injury/Surgery Rehab – Healing Mindset ©
Being an injured/rehabbing athlete can be a difficult and frustrating experience. You hurt. You’re missing practices and feeling like you’re getting behind. You’re losing fitness and your sport skills may be getting rusty. You may be missing out on important opportunities and competitions. You’re bored. You miss the camaraderie of your teammates. You wonder about how you’ll be when you get back. You experience many different feelings, worries and concerns. But by strengthening and disciplining your mind you can effectively manage these issues and be better prepared for a strong and successful “comeback.”
Having a plan and a program for rehabbing and recovery can make a world of difference. The use of sport psychology skills has the ability to speed up the process and improve the quality of the rehab time. Although it’s difficult to concretely measure the effectiveness of mental skills use in rehab recent research strongly suggests that mental skill work is related to a shorter recuperation period.
Healing Mindset © is a comprehensive mental program designed to help the athlete progress through the injury/surgery/ rehab process as efficiently and productively as possible. Having someone outside your sport to work with and talk to during this stressful time can be very worthwhile and reassuring.