Dr Erin Ayala is one of the more grounded sport psychologists working with endurance athletes — a PhD in counselling psychology, former Senior Editor at the Journal of Sport Psychology in Action, and founder of Skadi Sport Psychology. Her framing of self-efficacy as task-specific (rather than 'general confidence'), and of motivation as a habit problem rather than a willpower problem, is the cleanest articulation of the mental side that the show has run. For riders who plateau on the mental side faster than the physical, her work is the right starting point.
The major positions Ayala is known for in cycling and endurance sport.
Every appearance by Erin Ayala on The Roadman Cycling Podcast — 1 episode in total.
“selfefficacy is actually more important for performance and that's basically it's more specific type of confidence and your ability to for example Sprint 200 meters at the end of a you know in a field Sprint at the end of a criterium race um or a stage race right so self- aacy is going to be like sprinting climbing cornering technical descent um other kind of tactics it's going to be specific to the situation and the sport or the discipline”
“the only actual lever that we have that we can pull on out of all of those things that we've actually got control over is our breathing so what athletes can do if they need a really quick State change if they're way too anxious and revved up it sounds cliche but it's effective the deep”
“she finished I think 303 which was still a 15minute PR incredible um but it was because she was mentally prepared for all of the things that could go arai and she knew it was going to suck so that's the thing too as I always tell athletes is like we can't prepare for us to feel like a superhero if you're actually racing at your limit it's going to hurt”
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