Giving 200 percent: Southlake sports psychology consultant explores mental edge

During his days as a Major League Baseball scout, Vic Wernholm came to a realization that would change his career path and the game skills of his future clients -- successful athletes need a mental edge.

Wernholm gained 11 years of scouting experience with the Chicago White Sox, Toronto Blue Jays and Houston Astros before he decided to go back to college to earn the degrees to become a sports psychology consultant.

"I would see these players and they would reach the Double A level in the minor leagues, and a lot of them would just stagnate," Wernholm said. "A very small percentage would ever move on, and I would look at these players and say, 'They're very similar physically, why are just a few moving on?' That's why I became interested in the mental side of the game."

Since earning degrees from Northern Michigan University and The Pennsylvania State University, Wernholm has worked six years as a sports psychologist -- a psychologist who doesn't like to sport his "doctor" status.

"I don't like to emphasize that I'm a doctor," he said. "When you're dealing with athletes, they kind of see 'Dr.' and think, 'What's wrong with me?' I don't look at myself as a psychologist. The people in this field are typically psychologists first and they try to get into their heads from the issue standpoint. With my background in sports, I deal with things from the athlete's side first, so I kind of do it a little differently than everyone else. I understand what the athlete's going through, I understand they're not coming to me to solve all of their issues per se."

Wernholm said he does not try to downplay the significance of physical ability.

"I'm not here to minimize the physical side of it because if the physical attributes aren't there, then I'm just wasting my time, because you really have to have both," he said. "Some people think sports psychology or the mental side is a shortcut and it's not. It just brings you to a higher level -- you still have to have that physical ability."

Wernholm said the key to his work is examining the other side of the athletic performance coin.

"I think most athletes at all levels all get the physical side of it," he said. "They're all lifting weights, they're running, they have their personal trainers and the mental side tends to be overlooked. You'll here an athlete say, 'I went out and I gave 100 percent or a 110 percent,' and you'll hear people say, 'How can you give 110 percent? There's just 100 percent.' I think if you take that to another level, you can give 100 percent psychically, but then there's also 100 percent of the mental game that's out there. I think most people, whether they be in high school, college or professional, can give it their all, but I would say a greater percentage of them are just scratching the surface mentally. I believe in 200 percent. There are two sides to everything."

Wernholm relies on two key components to set his clients at ease -- confidentiality and informality.

"Everything I do is 100 percent confidential," he said. "Confidentiality is so big. I like to keep things informal and laid back because I think that's what you get the most out of. I've tried the whole 'office thing' and the fact is athletes are different than your typical person seeking a psychologist. They don't like to be in an office in a clinical setting. They like to be sitting at a game or sitting at a Starbucks. It's a lot more beneficial, they're more relaxed and they'll open up."

Wernholm said most of his experience thus far has come in working with professional and Olympic athletes, but since recently moving to Southlake from Michigan, he hopes to work more with high school and college-aged athletes.

"It's more fun for me to work with the high school athletes because they're working their way up," he said. "Working with professional athletes, that's all great and that's what everybody likes to hear about, but they've made it. Here, I'd like to reach the high school athletes mainly and help them to realize their potential, whether it's just being the best high school player they can be or helping them go to college, that's really where I'm at."

Wernholm said the most rewarding aspect of his work is seeing his clients take steps toward greater self-confidence and mental development.

"If you can work with somebody to help them get that mental edge, you can really just see them take off in their career or in their development," he said. "I'm at the point in my career and life where I like to see the whole transformation thing and to help people realize that. They really don't get that there's a whole world out there."

Wernholm said his main goal is to help his clients arrive at a point where their sport comes completely naturally to them.

"Ultimately, what I like to get my players to is a place called automaticity -- that's where they can perform without really thinking -- it's automatic," he said. "The more elite you are, the more you have to be that way ... because the game, whether it be baseball, football, hockey, if at that level, they have to think about what they're doing, the game passes them."

Wernholm said he occasionally meets athletes who don't need his help, such as those who are already "mentally tough and focused" or who don't truly have the desire to develop, especially younger athletes.

"When I deal with younger athletes, I like to meet with them and their parents for the first meeting and see where both sides are coming from," he said. "I like to get the feel [whether] they need me and where they're at, because I don't want to waste their time or my time. If an athlete really doesn't want to take his game to the next level, that's a touchy situation, where you have to meet with the parents and the athlete to get to the core of what we're dealing with."

Wernholm said he sees athletes who play a wide array of sports including football, basketball, hockey, tennis and golf.

"A mindset is a mindset," he said. "You can use it in any sport."

Anyone interested in contacting Wernholm may call 906-458-1867 or email him at vwernholm@gmail.com.

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