Hype Dial - Part 1

NOTE: This journal activity will be the first of 3 that help athletes fully understand the HYPE DIAL and how to use it to their advantage. The next two weeks will build off of this week’s journal activity.

Many athletes that I work with can struggle to be consistent in their performances. One week they perform great, the next they are on the struggle bus, and they ebb and flow between highs and lows. A mental tool that I share with them is something that we call the HYPE DIAL. Imagine a dial, like the one shown below, that you can set anywhere from 0 to 10. If you get the setting right, you find the gaps between your performance highs and lows much smaller meaning you are more consistent.

A setting of 0 basically means you are not hyped up at all, for most of us that happens when we are actually asleep. So having your HYPE DIAL set at 0 basically means you are asleep. If you’ve ever had a coach say something to you like “Hey, let’s wake up out there,” your dial may have been too close to a 0.

A setting of 10 means you are cranked up as high as you can go. You feel like adrenaline is coursing through your veins, everything that comes out of your mouth is basically yelling, your muscles are ready to explode! If you’ve ever had a coach say something to you like “Hey, let’s slow down out there and make the simple play,” your dial may have been too close to a 10. Having your HYPE DIAL set at 10 means you might look like this:

The idea behind the HYPE DIAL is to encourage athletes to think about where it needs to be set for them to have the opportunity to perform near their best. The HYPE DIAL isn’t a one setting fits all situation. Each individual will have a setting that works best for them, however that may even vary depending on what they are doing.

Let me illustrate this a little further. If I am working with an athlete 1-on-1, I perform best when my HYPE DIAL is at a 2 or 3. If I am speaking to a larger group of people, maybe 100 or more, and in a large room, I perform best when my HYPE DIAL is at a 6 or 7. When my son and I jumped off a 30 foot rock into Crater Lake, because I have a small fear of heights, I needed my HYPE DIAL at a 10!

Now, we need to understand how our HYPE DIAL setting impacts us. For most of us if our dial is too low for a particular activity, we are flat, lacking energy, and under-perform. If our dial is too high, we tend to try and do too much, play too fast, and are basically out of control.

I’ve also found that a really high HYPE DIAL setting is like a shot of adrenaline…big energy that doesn’t last very long! If your event is relatively short (completed in less than 15 seconds) with long breaks (10+ minutes) in between reps and explosive by nature — you might be able to crank your dial up to a 10. However, most athletes are work with are in the 4-8 range based on their sport. Golfers and endurance runners tend to be on the lower end of that range, while volleyball and football players tend to be on the higher end of that range. But again, this number is very individual.

JOURNAL ACTIVITY

Reflect back on times when you have performed your best at your sport or activity. What was your HYPE DIAL set at?

In terms of your performance, what does it look/sound/feel like when your dial is set…

• just right?

• too low?

• too high?