Fri Sep 03 2010
Barnesville native Dr. Nicole Detling Miller is a sports psychologist currently working with the U.S. Speed Skating Team. She has worked with that team for two years, previously working with the U.S. ski team for six years.
In explaining what she does for athletes and performers, the daughter of Rev. Tom and Bonnie Detling said, "I don't sit down with athletes on a couch. I tell people I'm a 'stretch' not a 'shrink.'" Nicole said she helps her clients enhance their performances through mental skills training.
"Basically, I'm a coach, but a physical one, not a mental one," she said. "I teach them confidence and how to deal with anxiety and pressure and how to let go of mistakes -- anything mental that affects performance."
Nicole said that when athletes reach the Olympic level, they already know what physical conditioning they need.
"The difference between who is on that podium and who is not, is mental fitness," she said.
She will be accompanying the team to Vancouver, Canada for the Winter Olympics Feb. 12-28. Nicole will be away from Utah and her husband and two sons, five and three, for three and a half weeks.
She will be one of four people with credentials in the U.S. speed skating team delegation. Nicole said for security and logistics reasons, credentials are difficult to get.
"It is an honor to have been chosen," she said. "Obviously the team recognizes the benefits of my services as being essential to their performance," she said.
Nicole was a standout athlete at Barnesville High School, lettering in three sports. She believes her track record still stands.
After graduating from BHS in 1993, Nicole received her BS in psychology and sports science from Ohio Wesleyan University, her MS in sport psychology from Ithaca College, and her PhD in sport psychology at the University of Utah. She also completed an internship in sport psychology and sports medicine at the Mayo Clinic.
She currently teaches undergraduate courses at the University of Utah and is the Chief Instructor and Subject Matter Expert of the School of Sport Psychology at Ashworth University.
She will be keeping a blog for the University during the games that can be viewed on the university's Web site.
Nicole will also be seen on an upcoming episode of The Colbert Report on Comedy Central (Feb. 1 or 2). Colbert, who took over sponsorship of the U.S. speed skating team, was assigned as Nicole's "assistant" after trying to "make" the skating team.
She is being flown to New York to shoot the episode, although she doesn't know what will be in store.
"It will probably be pretty funny," Nicole said.
Nicole has given numerous international, national, and regional presentations at professional conferences and has been a guest speaker at several coaching clinics throughout the U.S.
Nicole has co-authored book chapters as well as professional journal publications. Her professional affiliations include the Association of Applied Sport Psychology (AASP), the International Society for Sport Psychology (ISSP), the American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance (AAHPERD), and the National Association for Sport and Physical Education (NASPE). She also has a coaching certification through the American Sport Education Program (ASEP).
Nicole has loved sports her entire life and was a three sport athlete (basketball, indoor track and field, and outdoor track and field) at the collegiate level. She maintains an active lifestyle by playing soccer, rock climbing, downhill skiing, and mountain biking, as well as any other sport she can get into. Her love for athletics has led her to successfully work with some of the best athletes in the world.
Nicole has been consulting with athletes and performers since 1998. Some of the sports that Nicole has worked with include: baseball, basketball, biathlon, billiards, cross-country, disabled alpine skiing, downhill skiing, dressage, equestrian, figure skating, football, freestyle aerials, golf, ice hockey, long track speed skating, luge, mountain biking, nordic ski jumping, sculling, skeleton, snowboarding, soccer, swimming, tennis, track and field, and volleyball.
She currently works with two major league baseball players, including John Buck, a catcher for the Toronto Bluejays.
Nicole's client list has also included musicians, dancers, (she currently works with a 13-year-old Irish dancer), real estate agents and medical professionals.
She balances a full work load with a family and said her children have met many professional athletes who come to see her at home.
"The kids get to know them as people," Nicole said. "The Olympic athletes are ordinary people with extraordinary abilities and gifts. My children are learning to understand that by connecting with them as people."
Despite working with professional athletes and performers and appearing on television, Nicole still credits her upbringing in Barnesville as one of the reasons for her success.
"Barnesville is where I became who I am," she said. "I still identify it as my hometown. It never leaves my mind. I am proud to be from Barnesville."
She said many people from Barnesville supported her over the years and helped her to pursue such a unique career.
"I had great coaches and others who believed in me. I owe a lot to those people for getting where I am today," Nicole said.
"I am one of the fortunate few who love to get out of bed and go to work. I love what I do. I am blessed to be where I am and have this opportunity."
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