Being a good athlete is much more than just being great at sport. There is a mental side to it. Great athletes prepare their mind and attitude for performing at their best, whatever their sport. The combination of a champions mindset, and good physical and technical preparation helps these athletes continue to improve and push the boundaries of human performance.
Working with a coach is inevitable as an athlete improves. The coach’s role, apart from being an expert in the sport, is to help the athlete stay on-point with all aspects of performance. A great coach will ensure you have attainable goals, and remain committed to them. They will help you find engaging ways to improve.
Addressing individual weaknesses is as important as developing your strengths. Helpful information for athletes will assist in improving skills. Improving skills and other components of performance helps sustain long term development. Mixing up your routine may help improve your overall ability and possibly decrease injury risk.
Staying focused in your training is not easy for everyone. You may find your mind wandering at any time. Learn how to focus, stay focused, and refocus. Being passionate about your sport is a great indicator of how you get through tough days. Enjoying what you do will reduce overall stress, which will in turn help you recover better from practice or injury.
Maintain a positive attitude, and pursue excellence. It will take effort and planning. So, set some goals to start you on your path. Goal-setting is a skill we can learn, practice, and improve. Keep in mind the end goal, and imagine what success feels like. Along the way, celebrate your accomplishments. This will help you feel confident.
These articles will outline helpful information for athletes, at all levels.
Taking care of yourself is important for your wellbeing and overall health. It involves getting the balance right on a number of elements; from nutrition to sleep, exercise to personal care. As a sports professional, there’s a number of ways in which you can help boost your mental health, here’s just a few important…
Arianna Huffington once said that failure is merely a stepping stone to success. Thomas Edison found 10,000 ways to not make a light-bulb. In no small part, it’s why every athlete from Michael Jordan to Tom Daley have bounced back from setbacks. Yet, learning from failure is no mean feat. It requires guts, determination…
In applied sports psychology, the area of debriefing is given due consideration. The process of reflecting back is said to help with understanding, as well as aid psychology recovery – but only when conducted in an efficient and effective way. Debriefing helps athletes to divert their attention from past events and also to build…
As the saying goes ‘we learn from our mistakes’. Embracing failure is the reason why parents let their children fall down and get back up when they’re learning how to walk. It’s the reason why students re-sit exams, and it’s the reason why sports athletes have comebacks after major defeats. So important is failure…
If you’re old enough to remember Karate Kid, you might recall the genius of Mr Miyagi. The thoughtful and wise leader believed in focus and wellbeing, facing adversity head-on and the importance of never giving up. Some say he was ahead of his game, because many of these practices ring true today, often used…
To the untrained eye, or for those who rely on the movies for enlightenment, being a sports coach could wrongly be viewed as a one-way street. The reality of course couldn’t be more different. Improving athlete engagement is a mainstay in the role played by coaches. Ok, so shouting from the side-lines and giving…
It can be said that the role of a sports coach is quite similar to that of a parent. It involves nurturing, developing the right behaviours, creating structure and building independence. So, when coaches support their athlete’s needs, they can expect to see their fledgling talent grow from strength to strength. Much like with…
Emotions play an important role in sports, after all we are driven by our passions. As such, dealing with pressure is a by-product of being an athlete. For better or worse, it’s something you’re going to face in its every form and quite regularly too. From training to competitions, from ourselves and each other;…
He was the greatest heavyweight boxer of a generation, and still remains one of the most admired sports people of all time. Muhammad Ali left an indelible print on the world, with his quick wit, boxing prowess and unwavering belief in himself. Dubbed ‘The Louisville Lip’, Ali used the sport to bridge cultural barriers,…
Keeping a positive mental attitude is a crucial part of being an athlete. Talent aside, a key strength that any sports person needs in their athletic training programme is; the ability to deal with winning and losing, pressure in a competitive environment, and coming back from injury. In short; you’re going to need to…