Our Extended Q&A Interview With Kyle McDonald Mental Performance Consultant at Competitive Will Performance Consulting   By Mim Haigh, Sports Writer – Athlete Assessments When we interviewed Kyle McDonald for our recent article “Ensuring Your Game Preparation is Complete” there were just too many valuable insights for only one article. To overcome this, we’re sharing the extended Q&A here. You work with athletes and teams performing at the pinnacle of their sport, in the professional leagues and the Olympics. What aspects of their mental approach really differentiate them as elite athletes?What differentiates an elite athlete is their willingness to have a conversation and show some vulnerability when it comes to their perception of stress and pressure. The elite athlete holds the mindset that it is not a particular technical skill that will separate them (such as their free throw or wrist shot), but instead it’s how they see themselves, it’s their internal perceptions, dialogue, and breathing. In general, it’s their development of preparation and performance skills. Can you outline the relationship between hardiness and high-performance? I’m aware that your MSc Sport Psychology focused on this area.This is a great question. I think that in general our society really likes outcomes and labeling. Mental toughness is a label and I thought hardiness brought to the forefront some tangible aspects that are discussed in relation to being stress resistant. The concepts of challenges, commitment, and control functioning in stress resilience are crucial in environments. My research began with professional ice hockey coaches and how they perceived the elements of hardiness. I started with coaches because I felt they are the ones who shape environments for athletes. The relation to high-performance is that if a coach can exhibit hardiness, they could influence their athletes in this element. There still lots of room for education and acquisition in this field. Change is difficult but, in your experience, what builds an athlete’s ability to handle change and become resilient?I think commitment and willingness to embrace adversity. Games are never perfect and nor are we as individuals. Stress and pressure can take a toll and can even bring us to some pretty low points, but commitment and being self-aware in our own process is crucial. There is always resistance in change, but an ability to persist in challenges is such a great aspect. Is there a time in an athlete’s development that is most beneficial for them to learn mental skills?I used to think that mid-teens were the right time, however I have had an increase in conversations with families of athletes who are around 10-12 years of age. I think sport can be difficult, especially in this day and age, so the sooner we can start discussing and educating individuals on areas like attitude as a choice, motivation as a choice, and share stories on how athletes work through difficult times, the better. Mental skills are just that – a skill and need to be worked on daily. Why is developing a strong mental game as important as developing strong technical and physical skills?When we look at elite performance, the technical, tactical, and conditioning aspects are so intact among the best individual athletes and teams. It is only a thin line that separates the great performers from the elite, therefore, I believe the mental skills developed for individual and group effectiveness are the deal breakers at the top. Being human, our perceptions of success and stress should be discussed, and the mental skills pillar of development gives us that ability. You would never meet an elite athlete who didn’t have a tactical skills development plan or who didn’t have nutrition and conditioning plans – so why would you allow a gap by not having a mental skills plan? What gets you excited / what do you look forward to most in your work with clients?I like winning just as much as the next person, but I also believe each of us have a process scorecard we should pay particular attention to. This process is what gives us meaning, purpose, and passion for our endeavors and I absolutely love being part of many high performing individuals’ journeys on their process. Seeing clients perform and being part of their team on a daily basis as they chase their unique goals, is pretty special. To have a front row seat to performance every day. I’m pretty lucky. What have been the top 3 things that have helped you succeed in your work with clients? Being an active listener, who focuses on the athlete’s thinking and not just the issue or problem they’re bringing to the table. Building a relationship with each of my clients, which also includes the trust to have some difficult conversations. As cliché as it is – Having passion and commitment to better myself in my profession and having a willingness to always continue to learn. What feedback do you receive from your clients about the best thing about working with you?There are probably two pieces that are the best thing about working with me. The first is that the client is seeing performance improvements because of the work that we are doing together. The second is feedback from clients that I am there for them when they needed it – whether it’s a pat on the back or having a tough conversation. I hate the saying about not taking performance aspects personally; it is personal, because athletes care. Personal is human. Being able to have conversations that they may take personally is a trademark of a great relationship and I think the athletes I work with understand that. I think they would say that I helped create self-awareness in an effort to understand emotions and the effect they may have on performance. Is there an example of your work with a client or clients that stands out for you? That highlights the great work that you do. (You can leave out names to keep confidentiality.)I think there are so many to choose from.