BUSTLE: SUPPORTING THE MENTAL GAME IN THE WNBA

Behind every great team are people supporting the mental side of the game. Dr. Kim Hollingdale spoke with Bustle for their article on the unsung roles in the WNBA — including sport psych professionals like Dr. Kim, who help athletes manage pressure, confidence, and recovery.
Check out Dr Kim’s comments below and the full article here: https://www.bustle.com/life/sports-psychologists-chaplains-wnba

“Buzzer-beating shots, constant travel, roaring crowds — it’s a lot of pressure. To ease the burden, many teams work with sports psychologists or mental performance coaches, like Kim Hollingdale, Psy.D., LMFT, CMP, a former competitive swimmer and psychotherapist.

Sometimes, she meets with them during a scheduled time, but often her encouragement happens on the fly. “It’s about being there when they need it,” she says. Hollingdale helps them manage feelings while recovering from injuries and offers techniques to cope with stress, especially when games aren’t going their way.

“This often involves using breathwork to get the body into the right level of energy, calm visualization to prime the body and mind, and cues to remind [them] what they’re made of,” she says. Her goal is to keep nerves steady, minds sharp, and confidence high.

Hollingdale also prescribes vision-boarding. “The prompts will vary according to the goal we’re trying to achieve,” she adds. “In the past, I’ve had players [make them] a specific performance goal, like improving their three-point accuracy or their conditioning.”

While the athletes often curate images on Pinterest, she also encourages them to go old-school and make a real vision board out of magazines, craft supplies, and fliers — something tangible they can put on their walls and look at every day to manifest success”.