Challenges Help you Reach Goals It can be difficult to stay motivated and train at a high level throughout the competitive season. Practices can be monotonous. Depending on the sport, training sessions can be long and grueling. Seasons are lengthy. There are ups and downs all through the year. Injuries and discomfort can pile up during the year. A lot of time and energy are expended … [Read more...] about How to Stay Motivated in Training Sessions
Sports Psychology Articles
BIG Competitions Mindset for Athletes
How to Approach an Important Competition Do you wish you could play BIG in BIG moments? All athletes want to come up BIG in BIG moments such as: The gymnast who hopes to nail her routine in a championship meet.The golfer who dreams of sinking a birdie putt to win a golf tournament.The basketball player who wants to sink the final shot to win a playoff game.The baseball reliever who dreams … [Read more...] about BIG Competitions Mindset for Athletes
Figure Skating Improvement Plan to Avoid Frustration
How to Improve your Figure Skating Performance Significant improvement is the reason figure skaters practice every day for hours to reach higher levels. Making improvement requires that you remain focused and temper expectations… Having high expectations that you should master new skills in a short amount of time will lead to disappointment. Motor learning is not that easy. Making … [Read more...] about Figure Skating Improvement Plan to Avoid Frustration
Coping with Pressure By Managing Expectations
How Athletes Can Manage Expectations Pressure is a normal part of sports for athletes. In fact, you would be hard pressed to find athletes not make some type of reference about pressure they felt. As you become more competitive, pressure seems to increase and, for many athletes, that can be an overwhelming aspect of the athletic experience. Athletes respond to pressure in different ways. … [Read more...] about Coping with Pressure By Managing Expectations
How to Stay Confident Despite Obstacles
Why Stable Confidence is So Important Confidence is important for athletes… But confidence in the face of adversity is hallmark of champions. When having success, high confidence is much easier but, when obstacles appear, keeping your confidence high becomes more difficult. For example, the baseball pitcher who was awarded the MVP for two consecutive years but gives up game-winner home … [Read more...] about How to Stay Confident Despite Obstacles
Why Top-Seeded Teams Lose
How to have a Champion Mindset for every Competition There are no guarantees in sports. Being the top-seed does not guarantee victory… Being ranked higher than your opponent doesn’t guarantee winning… Having a faster seed time entering a competition doesn’t mean you are assured winning a title… Being the defending champion does not guarantee a repeat. Yet so many top-seeds suffer … [Read more...] about Why Top-Seeded Teams Lose
How to Turn Losses into Lessons
Growing Pains in Sports “The thrill of victory and the agony of defeat.” This phrase was the introduction to a sports show called "The Wide World of Sports" to describe the human drama of athletic competition. Athletes seek a sense of joy and accomplishment when they succeed in sports. Likewise, you sometimes have pain when you fall short. That pain can be disappointment from working … [Read more...] about How to Turn Losses into Lessons
How UVA Handled Pressure Successfully
Are you Successful under Pressure? Each individual athlete responds to pressure in his/her own way. Kobe Bryant stated he played his best when the pressure was on, "Everything negative – pressure, challenges – are all an opportunity for me to rise." Brazilian soccer star Neymar Jr. implied he doesn’t feel pressure, “There is no pressure when you’re making a dream come true.” Younger … [Read more...] about How UVA Handled Pressure Successfully
How to Thrive as an Underdog in Sports
The Underdog Mindset in Sports The definition of underdog is a team or individual that has a small chance of winning a competition. Here are a few examples when you may be considered the underdog: Playing against an undefeated team this seasonCompeting against higher ranked or seeded opponentPlaying against a team that you have never beatenCompeting against physically stronger or faster … [Read more...] about How to Thrive as an Underdog in Sports
Drought or Slump? Getting Back on Track
Maintain Confidence during a Performance Drought A drought or a slump… that is the question. The distinction between these two terms will determine how quickly you break through when you are not having your best athletic performances. When athletes label a couple of bad performances as a “slump,” they imply that it as a long-lasting problem. These athletes enter a competition with the … [Read more...] about Drought or Slump? Getting Back on Track