Too many times athletes lose sight of the big picture and become distracted. It doesn’t matter if Amy Van Dyken spits in your lane, Martins Dukurs lays down three great skeleton runs before you, or another team seeking home court advantage wins their final game by a large margin, you can only do your best. Keep your eyes on the prize and win. The rest will take care of itself. Don’t become consumed with anger, fear, or doubt; don’t let an imbalance of noradrenaline, adrenaline, adrenocorticotropic, or corticotrophin take you out of your zone. Focus on what simple actions must …
Get Confident, Stupid
Whether athletes achieve their goals seems intricately connected to their feelings about themselves. Coaches over the years have seen body language, a lack of energy, and fear of making a mistake result in poor performance just as players have noticed how their self-talk, mental imagery, and focus on specific objectives contribute to their success. LeBron James dropped thirty-one points in the first half on Portland tonight but the Trail Blazers reversed their fortunes by coming out for the second half with much more determination. They moved the ball and took better shots. They played improved team defence and curtailed Cleveland’s …
Teaching Self-Evaluation
The Globe and Mail posted a curious article regarding how humans learn (and perform) complex skills. Initially, we learn each skill separately and combine the individual actions as we progress. Instead of thinking “jab-step, explosive first-step, jump-stop, and pull-up jumpshot” great players think “make an open shot” and execute all the components together. If told to go slowly, an expert will deconstruct the movement in their mind and make it harder for themselves. On the other hand, a novice needs to consider each skill distinctly in order perform the entire action successful. The article illustrated the point with a putting …