Enhancing Sports Performance in Elite Athletics with PsychologyIf you can't accept losing, you can't win. -Vince Lombardi, Football CoachElite athletes stand out from non-elite athletes through a few things: first, it’s their years of practice and training. Secondly,...
Common Mental Barriersto Peak Performance in Student-AthletesPressure is a privilege. It only comes to those who earn it. - Billy Jean King (BJK). You’re probably training hard already. You’re setting big goals and feeding your motivation daily. But regardless of how...
How can a Coach (unintentionally) Create more Mental Barriers in Their Student-athlete? Success is the ability to go from failure to failure without losing your enthusiasm. -Sir. Winston Churchill...Even if you are a great and experienced coach, you might use words,...
How Coaches Can Help Student-Athletes Improve their Mental Barriers"The road to easy street goes through the sewer" -John MaddenAs a coach, your role in a student athlete's life is critical. You’re not only teaching some skills or correcting postures. You’re guiding...
Optimizing Your Daily Routine to Conquer Mental Barriers in Sports No one has ever drowned in sweat. -Lou Holtz, Football Coach As a student-athlete, no matter how talented, hard-working, and skilled you are, you will struggle to fulfill your highest potential if you...
Improving the Coach-athlete Relationship: How Does this Help with Mental Barriers? No one has ever drowned in sweat. -Lou Holtz, Football Coach Relationships are the foundation of coaching. Even though every relationship is a two-way street and requires the...
The Future of Student AtheletesOver the years the landscape for student atheltes has been changing and improving. Student athletics' future looks bright with the increased focus on student-athlete health and wellness, academics, technology, and professional...
Friendships through Sports Sports participation can help youth build friendships and social skills that can be important for maintaining involvement in sports, particularly for females who may be more likely to drop out during their teenage years. No one has ever...
Sports Psychology in Student-Atheltes Student-Athletes are under a lot of pressure to perform. Parents, Coaches, and Fans put athletes on a pedestal and expect them to win at all costs. This can often lead to negative consequences like drug use, cheating, and...
The Traits of a Bad AthleteThis blog discusses four traits that can hold athletes back from reaching their full potential: making excuses, looking out for oneself, being unable to take criticism, and having a poor work ethic.Dare to be honest and fear no work. -...
Finding "The Zone"Every athlete is in pursuit of ‘the zone’. But what exactly is it and how can you achieve it? Read below to find out everything you need to know.When you're in that zone, there's nothing really the defense can do. It doesn't matter who's sticking you...
Emotional Intelligence. Great athletes are smart in more than one way. They have game sense and physical intelligence, sure, but they also have the maturity and self-control to recognize and handle their emotions no matter how unfair the call was, how uneven the score...
Strength and Conditioning for Student-Athletes There's a difference between interest and commitment. When you're interested in doing something, you do it only when it's convenient. When you're committed to something, you accept no excuses, only results. -Kenneth...
From the Field to the Classroom: The Impact of Bullying on Student AthletesLorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniamYou cannot do a kindness too soon, for you...
Club sports vs. high school sportsOver the past decade or more, the debate over participating in club sports versus high school sports has grown more intense. Much of this has been driven by factors stemming from the increasingly competitive and commercialized nature...
Nerves and StressUnderstanding The Biggest Mental Barrier In SportsAll athletes will experience nerves and stress from time to time. Using them productively can be the difference between success and failure."Never let the fear of striking out keep you from playing the...
Seeing yourself as an athlete is often one of the biggest challenges facing student athletes. Learn how to develop the winning mindset by clickingEven professional athletes struggle with their image as a sportsperson from time to time. For student athletes, though,...
Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, more commonly referred to as ADHD or ADD, has become a prevalent diagnosis among children and youth across the world. Based on a 2011 survey of parents, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevenon (CDC) put the number at 11%...
From student-athletes to professional stars, all sportsmen and women appreciate the fact that tiny margins are often the difference between success and failure. While training the body is essential, it is equally crucial to develop a strong mind. However, a winner’s...
"Toughness is in the soul and spirit, not in muscles." - Alex Karras. Football Player.In sport (and life), nobody can expect everything to run smoothly. When testing moments surface, physical attributes like speed and skill will only get you so far. Frankly, a strong...
Confidence, when combined with the right resources and knowledge, can be a key to success. It's crucial in all aspects of our lives and is cultivated from a young age. As we grow older, our confidence helps us tackle life challenges even when the odds are stacked up...
Statistics say that 70% of kids involved in sports drop out after becoming teenagers. Such is the case for many reasons, but, in general, it boils down to a loss of enjoyment from participating. In numerous studies of youth athletes, fun was repeatedly identified as...
In the past, it was easy to get on a youth sports team if one wanted to play. Whether through community recreation leagues or school sports, very few barriers to entry existed for young people, who could easily get a hold of the necessary equipment. This was...
Sports are a terrific medium for learning a range of skills and building habits that are essential for life. Goal setting, time management, relationship management, recovering from setbacks, and disappointments are just some of the lessons that are learned navigating...
We hear it all the time, player X is compared to player Y. It is a regular part of the talk surrounding sports at all levels- that’s why there are rankings of all kinds. However, we don’t really stop to think about how comparing players can become a damage for some of...
Getting injured is an inevitable part of taking part in sport. Some are unavoidable- a matter of bad luck from making the wrong movement or over- stretching while trying to make a play. Others are simple bumps and bruises that only cause discomfort for a short period...
The temptation to experiment with drugs, both illegal and legal, is something faced by every teenager in our society. There are many reasons why teenagers choose to use the multitude of drugs that may become available to them- as an escape, boredom, trying to be/ seem...
List of best books for building an athlete10. The Champion's MindSports participation—from the recreational to the collegiate Division I level—is at an all-time high. While the caliber of their games may differ, athletes at every level have one thing in common: the...
“You can’t build a great building on a weak foundation. You must have a solid foundation if you’re going to build a superstructure.” ~Gordon B. Hinckley Offseason training For all athletes, the offseason is one of the most important periods of the year as it can be...
“I hated every minute of training, but I said, Don’t quit. Suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion.” Muhammad Ali If you are playing sports during your high school years, chances are you have at least thought about whether or not you will play...
“Start by doing what’s necessary; then do what’s possible; and suddenly you are doing the impossible.” St. Francis of Assisi Most successful student-athletes at the college level and those who go on to compete professionally in their sport, usually count on a...
Life’s problems wouldn’t be called “hurdles” if there wasn’t a way to get over them…. Over the past few years, concussions and player safety in sports has become a topic that is frequently discussed. A large amount of the concern with the injury surrounds the...
"The best preparation for tomorrow is doing your best today" H. Jackson Brown, Jr. As a teenage athlete, practice sessions are an extremely important part of your sporting experience. Practice sessions play the most important role in your development because...
Train like an athlete, eat like an nutritionist, sleep like a baby, WIN like a Champion…. The human body is a fantastic machine that allows us to do a mind-boggling range of things. It can be extremely flexible or extremely brittle, it heals itself, whether after...
“The life which is unexamined is not worth living.” Socrates One of the pillars of a successful sporting career is communication. As a member of a team, how you interact with your teammates is essential to building the atmosphere around the team. A positive feeling...
“I’ve learned that something constructive comes from every defeat.” Tom Landry, Head Coach of the Dallas Cowboys (1960-1988) Recovering from disappointment and responding to setbacks is an important lesson learned from playing sports. These disappointments and...
“Stay committed to your decisions, but stay flexible in your approach.” Tony Robbins In the past, playing one sport all year round was not common. However, as the industry becomes more intense and youth athletics become hyper-organized, many parents and coaches...
“Most of us have far more courage than we ever dreamed we possessed.” Dale Carnegie Sports participation can have a phenomenal positive impact on teenagers. As they grow towards adulthood, sports can teach a number of life skills such as commitment, perseverance,...
I've never known anybody to achieve anything without overcoming adversity." Lou Holtz, Pro Football Player, Author, and College Football Hall of Fame Coach. Sports are a competitive arena in which the object of any game or match is for one team to beat the other....
"There is no better coach than the bench." Anson Dorrance, UNC women's soccer coach, 22-time NCAA champion If you are one of the select few playing sports in high school, it will become abundantly obvious that the main concern of coaches is to win games. Gone are the...
Accountability is the first step in the process of setting yourself apart as a leader. It means you say what you will do and do what you say! Accountability (noun): The fact or condition of being accountable; responsibility. Accountable (adjective): Required or...
“The more I practice, the luckier I get.” Gary Player, pro golfer with nine World Golf Championships Over the past few years, there has been significant debate among coaches and parents as to which approach to teaching athletic skills is best. Coaching used to be...
"Where focus goes energy flows." Tony Robbins Every athlete eventually needs to start setting goals. Knowing how, what and when to set goals is the key to achieving them. It's a new year, and it’s fair to assume that you have made New Year's resolutions,* as did many...
by Sheldon Garrison (Freshman, Portland, ME.) Did you know that Michael Jordan's first love was baseball? He was a very determined athlete that set his goals high at a young age. Even after he was cut from his high school basketball team, he still wanted to achieve...
by Dell Hudson (7th grader, Portland, ME.) It all started in 1891 in Springfield, Massachusetts and was created by Dr. James Naismith an Educator. He split a class of 18 people into two teams the game consisted of peach baskets and soccer type ball. The baskets were...