Fresno State Athletics
Blake Costalupes: It’s all in your head
3/14/2018 10:23:00 AM | Water Polo
FRESNO, Calif. – Blake Costalupes always thought he was a good athlete growing up, but he heard one sentence from parents and coaches all too often: "it's all in your head." At the time, he didn't know what that meant, but an ACL injury and a subsequent trip to the bookstore changed that.
Costalupes has a prominent baseball background, having played in high school and with Modesto Junior College's summer and fall teams. After suffering an ACL injury in high school, his coach told him to find something to do while he couldn't play. That is when Costalupes stumbled upon a book by renowned sport psychologist Ken Ravizza that altered his outlook on athletics.
"It was a mental skills workbook, and I just started working on it," Costalupes said. "It really resonated with me and it all clicked. By the time I got to junior college, I had kind of realized that moving on as an athlete wasn't going to pan out, so I needed to focus on school."
Costalupes wanted to focus his studies on something he loved, which was still athletics, even if he wasn't going to continue playing baseball. He also wanted to be able to help people, which pointed him toward sport psychology.
Costalupes received his bachelor's degree in exercise science from Fresno State in 2015 and immediately began the school's sport psychology graduate program. The Central Valley native is interning with Fresno State water polo this semester under the supervision of Professor Dr. Jenelle Gilbert, who is certified through the Association of Applied Sports Psychology, as he is nearing the completion of his graduate degree.
"This is my first real experience working with a team," Costalupes said. "Water polo was completely foreign to me when I started. I'm still trying to increase my water polo IQ, which I think makes it a challenge. But while every sport presents different challenges, sport psychology and the mental skills training I do is mostly transferable."
Head coach Natalie Benson has already had a big impact on Costalupes' presence with the team. Having played at the highest level in water polo, she knows how integral mental strength is for her athletes.
"I've been very fortunate to become a lot bigger part of the team than I ever thought I'd be," Costalupes said. "Coach Benson has performed at the highest level so she knows how important sport psychology is. Usually when you start working with a team, you have to create that buy-in. You have to get people to realize your worth. I've been very fortunate in being able to bypass that and just get into what I do."
Costalupes has even gotten the opportunity to travel with the team, having gone with them to the UC Davis Tournament and the Bulldogs' recent trip to Arizona State.
"I've done some team-building with them," Costalupes stated. "We've talked about focus. I'm big on mindfulness so we did some deep breathing. We worked on using the breath as a focal point. When you're dealing with adversity, it's important to be able to recognize what you can go to. Having triggers like your breath that you can focus on is vital."
Furthermore, one notion that Costalupes stresses about his training is the fact that sport psychology isn't need-based. While many athletes use sport psychology for specific purposes, such as recovering from injuries, it is important to recognize it as a process.
"Sport psychology is a process just like when the athletes are out there physically training," Costalupes said. "We want to get to a point where you have your strength and conditioning coach, your athletic trainer and then your mental skills coach. Everyone can use it. It's a kind of training and it's a process. It's something you have to continually work on and that's something I've stressed from the beginning."
Costalupes wants to continue down the applied sport psychology path but his goals have shifted some through his experiences with collegiate athletes.
"It used to always be that I wanted to work in Major League Baseball," Costalupes said. "That was the goal. But after doing this, I would love to work in a collegiate athletic department where I'm getting to help college athletes."
Being a brand new program, Fresno State water polo has been busy setting foundations over the last couple of years. With an exceptional coaching staff in place, the team knows what its goals are in the pool. And now with the help of Blake Costalupes during the Bulldogs' inaugural season, a mental health foundation has been set that the athletes can build on moving forward.
"Just the Ticket to Build Our Community" – The Bulldog Scholarship Fund gives Bulldog alumni, fans and friends the opportunity to support Fresno State Athletics and the student-athletes who inspire them. For information about how you can support the Bulldog Scholarship Fund, please visit www.bulldogscholarshipfund.com or call 559-278-7160.
Follow us on:
Twitter: @FresnoStateWP
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Costalupes has a prominent baseball background, having played in high school and with Modesto Junior College's summer and fall teams. After suffering an ACL injury in high school, his coach told him to find something to do while he couldn't play. That is when Costalupes stumbled upon a book by renowned sport psychologist Ken Ravizza that altered his outlook on athletics.
"It was a mental skills workbook, and I just started working on it," Costalupes said. "It really resonated with me and it all clicked. By the time I got to junior college, I had kind of realized that moving on as an athlete wasn't going to pan out, so I needed to focus on school."
Costalupes wanted to focus his studies on something he loved, which was still athletics, even if he wasn't going to continue playing baseball. He also wanted to be able to help people, which pointed him toward sport psychology.
Costalupes received his bachelor's degree in exercise science from Fresno State in 2015 and immediately began the school's sport psychology graduate program. The Central Valley native is interning with Fresno State water polo this semester under the supervision of Professor Dr. Jenelle Gilbert, who is certified through the Association of Applied Sports Psychology, as he is nearing the completion of his graduate degree.
"This is my first real experience working with a team," Costalupes said. "Water polo was completely foreign to me when I started. I'm still trying to increase my water polo IQ, which I think makes it a challenge. But while every sport presents different challenges, sport psychology and the mental skills training I do is mostly transferable."
Head coach Natalie Benson has already had a big impact on Costalupes' presence with the team. Having played at the highest level in water polo, she knows how integral mental strength is for her athletes.
"I've been very fortunate to become a lot bigger part of the team than I ever thought I'd be," Costalupes said. "Coach Benson has performed at the highest level so she knows how important sport psychology is. Usually when you start working with a team, you have to create that buy-in. You have to get people to realize your worth. I've been very fortunate in being able to bypass that and just get into what I do."
Costalupes has even gotten the opportunity to travel with the team, having gone with them to the UC Davis Tournament and the Bulldogs' recent trip to Arizona State.
"I've done some team-building with them," Costalupes stated. "We've talked about focus. I'm big on mindfulness so we did some deep breathing. We worked on using the breath as a focal point. When you're dealing with adversity, it's important to be able to recognize what you can go to. Having triggers like your breath that you can focus on is vital."
Furthermore, one notion that Costalupes stresses about his training is the fact that sport psychology isn't need-based. While many athletes use sport psychology for specific purposes, such as recovering from injuries, it is important to recognize it as a process.
"Sport psychology is a process just like when the athletes are out there physically training," Costalupes said. "We want to get to a point where you have your strength and conditioning coach, your athletic trainer and then your mental skills coach. Everyone can use it. It's a kind of training and it's a process. It's something you have to continually work on and that's something I've stressed from the beginning."
Costalupes wants to continue down the applied sport psychology path but his goals have shifted some through his experiences with collegiate athletes.
"It used to always be that I wanted to work in Major League Baseball," Costalupes said. "That was the goal. But after doing this, I would love to work in a collegiate athletic department where I'm getting to help college athletes."
Being a brand new program, Fresno State water polo has been busy setting foundations over the last couple of years. With an exceptional coaching staff in place, the team knows what its goals are in the pool. And now with the help of Blake Costalupes during the Bulldogs' inaugural season, a mental health foundation has been set that the athletes can build on moving forward.
"Just the Ticket to Build Our Community" – The Bulldog Scholarship Fund gives Bulldog alumni, fans and friends the opportunity to support Fresno State Athletics and the student-athletes who inspire them. For information about how you can support the Bulldog Scholarship Fund, please visit www.bulldogscholarshipfund.com or call 559-278-7160.
Follow us on:
Twitter: @FresnoStateWP
Instagram: fresnostatewp
Facebook: FresnoStateAthletics
Snap Chat: FSAthletics
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