YULEE, Fla. — Athletes who reach the Olympics have worked their entire lives to be at peak physical performance for their shot at Olympic glory. Countless hours, years and years in the gym, working to get faster and stronger for the split second that makes all the difference in the world to them
But the physical game is just one component of sports. Nassau County's Dawn Grant trains athletes on the mental side of sports to overcome hurdles in their mind.
The sport of shooting requires supreme concentration, which isn't always easy for every athlete.
"One of the biggest issues is focus," said Grant, "there's also issues with confidence and overthinking and over analyzing and trying too hard."
Grant is the owner of Amelia Shotgun Sports, but she's also a mental trainer and hypnotist with a list of clients around the globe who utilize her online seminars.
She worked with women's trap shooter Kayle Browning before the 2020 Olympics. Browning won a silver medal at those games and Grant said they worked on harnessing the zone state.
"What happens is they're totally in the moment, everything seems to disappear around them, film, camera crew, a huge crowd," said Grant, "they have a calm mind, they're relaxed."
Another one of Grant's success stories came on the golf course in 2008. Putting issues plagued Vijay Singh, but things changed with a phone call to Dawn Grant.
"He had this belief system that his career was over and that he had a putting problem," said Grant, "through mental training sessions and hypnosis I helped him reverse that thought process and belief system."
In the month after working together, Singh won the FedEx Cup Championship and $13 million in PGA Tour earnings.
Grant said mental training can't be simply turned on; much like the physical side of sports, the mental side must be practiced.
"The practice of getting focused, getting present, getting engaged is one of the exercises I have my clients do," said Grant. "It's easier said than done, if you don't practice something like that and get good at it, you will not be able to accomplish that in that split moment."
A split moment for a shot at the medal stand, but a skill that can last a lifetime.
"I tell my athlete clients, this isn't just about having peak performance in your sport, it's about having peak performance as a human being in life," said Grant.
Amelia Shotgun Sports is located at 86300 Hot Shot Trail in Yulee.