About | Fencing Sport Psychology

About us

Our Mission

Fencing Sport PSYCHOLOGY IS FOCUSED ON MIND AND BODY IN ACTION FOR SPORT, HEALTH AND PERFORMANCE.

Fencing Sport Psychology develops training materials which blend contemporary sport psychology and behavioral medicine with traditional Asian Mind-Body systems.
These are based on Dr. Heil’s work with Olympic, Professional and aspiring athletes, as well as his experience as a coach and athlete. They also incorporate input from coaches and athletes.
Fencing Sport Psychology’s underlying unifying principles, services and products reflect mind-body interaction and performance under pressure.

Our Training Guides

Training to master the psychological aspects of fencing

Fencing Sport Psychology’s training materials are designed to systematically prepare the fencer for a competitive environment which demands rapid cognition, complex decision making, frequent attention shifting, instinct-like action and intensity control, and for a long duration competition game day. Fencing Sport Psychology’s overall program supports a broad set of performance skills ranging from the specific, like goal setting, to the holistic such as optimizing sport-life balance.

These training materials are based on Dr. Heil’s work with USA Fencing, where he served as an Olympic team consultant for the Atlanta, Sydney and Athens Games, and as Chair of Sport Science and Medicine for 15 years. The Fencing Competition Master Plan is a result of a team collaboration with Olympic coach, Paul Soter and members of the Athens Olympic Squad.

Fencing Sport Psychology training materials fill a unique niche within sport psychology in that they are fencing-specific. The visual enhancement of the otherwise traditional eye-closed approach to mental training offers a wider range of applications and enhances the skill transfer from training to performance.

DR. JOHN HEIL, DA, FAASP, FAPA

My focus on mind and body in action began at Devon Prep as a high school distance runner, where I was coached in the Zen tradition. It continued at Lehigh University where I pursued a degree in psychology, continued competing as a distance runner and developed an interest in Asian Mind-Body systems. A series of running injuries requiring extensive rehabilitation introduced me to the psychology of sport injury. While working on a master’s degree in Clinical Psychology at St. Louis University, I began training in fencing, sparked by an interest in Modern Pentathlon. I continued to explore various mind-body systems and meditation in and out of the classroom, applying these to sport training. Back at Lehigh University, I completed a doctorate in Sport and Health Psychology, began coaching fencing and distance running, and started training in stage combat.

While on the psychology faculty of Roanoke College, I began a sport psychology practice and taught mediation in the classroom, while continuing to coach fencing, running and stage combat. Subsequently, I completed Post-Doctoral training in Behavioral Medicine and Pain Management at the University of Utah Medical School, while continuing a sport psychology practice.

Currently, I am a partner in Psychological Health Roanoke where I have a combined clinical and sport performance psychology practice, while doing extensive research and writing in the psychology of sport injury.

Credentials

Licensed Clinical Psychologist
Certified Mental Performance Consultant
United States Olympic Committee Sport Psychology Registry
Fellow, Association for Applied Sport Psychology
Fellow, American Psychological Association
Major League Baseball-Substance Abuse Counselor
Past President, Society for Sport, Exercise & Performance Psychology

Affiliations

Psychological Health Roanoke, Roanoke, VA
Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine, Roanoke, VA- Lecturer, Psychiatry (since 2009)
Carilion Clinic, Roanoke, VA-Psychology Consultant, Medical Rehabilitation Unit (since 2019)
Veterans Affairs Medical Center Psychology Internship, Salem, VA (since 1992)
Roanoke City Police Academy, Roanoke, VA (since 2003)
International Swim Coaches Association, Sport Science Board (since 2013)
USA Fencing Sport Psychology Consultant (since 1995)

Click Here to View Full CV

Chip Magdelinksas

Chip Magdelinskas has been involved in the field of communications for over 35 years. For 12 of those, Chip headed Focal Point Productions, a corporate communications firm he founded. Here he worked with a roster of Fortune 500 clients including Sports Illustrated, CBS Broadcasting, Forbes Magazine, and Group W Broadcasting.
Productions for Readers Digest and LifeFleet have been Telly and New York International Film Festival award winners.
Chip has also held senior communications positions in the health care field at CareLine, Inc., MedTrans, and American Medical Response.
Currently Chip performs communications consulting services while serving as head of Celebrate Life! Productions.