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Beckham’s mental coach: “Athletes have an innate resilience that must be exploited”

Mental coach and teacher of complementary sports techniques at the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart in Milan, Dr. Stefano Tirelli is one of the leading experts in the sector. In his Milanese studio it is easy to meet Serie A footballers, but also many professional sports women, the goal is the same for everyone: to combine physical performance with mental performance. “About 30% of my clientele is made up of women”, reveals Dr. Tirelli, “I am mostly targeted by volleyball players, basketball players and runners”.

Years of experience allow Tirelli to indicate the strengths of sports. “Women have an innate resilience that needs to be exploited», She explains,« the female mind is strong and this positive energy can and must be channeled to avoid it being wasted or worse, ending up venting into wrong behaviors ».

To do this, Tirelli adopts different techniques, from visualization exercises to voice messages with WhatsApp. «I like working with women, they are more reactive of their colleagues and the results come in almost half the time. On the other hand, I understood that there are more risks than an emotional alternation, so we need to work constantly on this to avoid peaks, both top and down ».

«When an athlete comes to me it is because he has understood that he can improve his physical performance with the right mental attitude. And it is true. The many experiences I have had confirm this to me ».

Among the sports that Dr. Tirelli followed, Francesca Schiavone, one of the best Italian tennis players of recent years. “I worked for her in the 1990s. She had had a shoulder injury and I, also being a physiotherapist, was called to help her recover. I remember that I proposed to use isokinetic machines. When I saw her pushing like crazy I knew she would become a champion ».

In times of a pandemic, there is a risk of moral breakdown. «Obviously the lack of competition is frustrating», underlines Dr. Tirelli, «for this reason the work focuses a lot on positivity and attention. It happens that due to Covid-19 it is not possible to work in presence, but thanks to technology it is easy to solve this problem. For example, I send my athletes voice messages with WhatsApp, in which I not only tell them which exercises to do and how, but I motivate them through words and music. The choice of frequencies is very important, the right ones activate the brain waves in the optimal form ».

«To reach the peak of performance, physical power is not enough», Stefano Tirelli concludes, «we also need total control of the mind».

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