094-095: The Psychology of Performance with Dr. Cristina Fink

While most coaches and athletes recognize the role that psychology can play in sports performance, few have invested the time or effort to study it or to deliberately train it. Sport psychologist – and former Olympian – Dr. Cristina Fink addresses a topic that is long overdue. What should coaches and goalkeepers know about performance psychology, and how can they use it to compete at the highest level possible?

After competing for Mexico in both the 1988 and 1992 Olympic games, Dr. Fink earned her PhD in Performance Psychology. She has spent the last two decades training and advising elite athletes across a broad range of sports, including track and field, swimming and diving, cycling, archery, martial arts, and many more. She has also long studied the game of soccer, and her son – Pablo Sisniega – is a professional goalkeeper on the roster of LAFC.

In Part I of a two-part interview, Dr. Fink outlines the importance of psychology to all athletes – but goalkeepers, in particular. She also explains that elements of sport psychology can be taught and trained, and offers a number of strategies and tactics to begin that process.

In Part II, she offers insight on how goalkeepers can manage their emotions and how they can maintain focus in stressful situations. She also explains how coaches can nurture confidence in their keepers, and why mental and emotional recovery is at least as important as physical recovery.

Along the way, Dr. Fink is generous with her advice and with methods for making our athletes more self-aware, more comfortable in goal, and more likely to perform at their best. It’s a fascinating 70 minutes. I hope you enjoy it!

Special thanks to Dr. Cristina Fink for joining me!