Podcast: Needham girls coach Lindsay Miller talks performance psychology

Lindsay Miller is the new girls head coach at Needham.

Lindsay Miller boasts one of the more unique career backgrounds in New England high school basketball.

Westwood’s all-time leading scorer, Miller won two state championships in high school before playing in college at Harvard, where she captured three Ivy League titles and played in the NCAA Tournament, and then professionally overseas. After her playing career ended, Miller worked in criminal investigations for the FBI before returning to the court as a coach. She spent five years as an assistant at Harvard and coached briefly at Rivers before recently taking the head coaching vacancy at Needham.

Miller also developed her own practice as a counselor and performance psychologist. She’s officially a Certified Mental Performance Consultant (CMPC), and as part of her practice, often works with athletes in a range of age groups to help them develop confidence and security in themselves and their performance.

On the HoopWise Podcast, Miller discussed her work in the space and the trends she notices in what young athletes face today. She also discussed strategies for developing confidence and reflected on her basketball career, including taking the Needham job and preparing for the upcoming winter season.

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Highlights

You’re a Certified Mental Performance Consultant — can you describe what that means?

Miller: “It’s someone that works with athletes, coaches, teams to maximize performance or help people kind of overcome injuries. It can be both sides of the spectrum — when I say it’s enhancing performance, being at your best, or if people are dealing with anxiety or struggles related to their performance, I’m someone that would come in and try and help work with them to kind of get back to their baseline or ahead of their baseline.

“My work as a CMPC is combined with (that) I’m a licensed mental health counselor, so a lot of times the line is gray. Sometimes people are like, ‘I only need performance work,’ but as you know, in life, missing free throws or being stressed on the court can also be related to other stuff going on in your life outside of that. So I feel like it’s really helpful to be able to be a generalist in mental health and therapy, but also have this lens for high performers, athletes and teams.”

You’ve mentioned that community is very important to you. How is that tied to you returning to coaching at Needham?

Miller: “Well, I live in Needham and I love Needham, and I had a phenomenal high school experience at Westwood High School, and I just think the value of community is unmatched. I’ve coached in other places maybe that don’t have that same hometown connection, but I will say, as someone that’s played in the NCAA tournament and also played in front of a sold-out crowd at Westwood High School of my friends and my parents’ friends, — I think that was better than playing in the NCAA tournament.

“I just think that sometimes we look to the next thing, and really, what we have in front of us is so, so special. And I think this community here in Needham is incredibly supportive. Our team is really close-knit and really exciting. I think that having a community that’s behind you and invested is just awesome for the girls and awesome for the community.”

Listen

The HoopWise podcast can be streamed here and on major platforms, such as Apple Podcasts and Spotify.