Monthly Archive for April, 2013

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Woods’ and Snedeker’s resiliency

Published on April 15, 2013 in Stress. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , .

After three days of competition at the 77th Masters Tournament in Augusta, Tiger Woods has shown what it means to be resilient. He was penalized two points for a technical mistake, severe penalty when you play at this level. Back to the field for a new round, Woods was nervous and made some ​​mistakes caused by this situation, then he changed his state of mind in a positive way, concluding in the 7th position +4 from the tournament head (Snedeker and Cabrera, 209) and with the opportunity to continue to compete for the victory.

Snedeker, ranked fifth in the world, is not there for holiday. The American remembers  that he leads in the final round at Augusta five years ago but crumbled under the pressure and finished tied for third. He is another example of resiliency:

He said: “I’ve spent 32 years of my life getting ready for tomorrow and it’s all been a learning process … I’m not here to get a good finish. I’m not here to finish top-5. I’m here to win.”

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The new calmness of Federica Pellegrini

Published on April 13, 2013 in Giovani, Mental coaching, Olimpiadi and Stress. 1 Comment Tags: , , , , , , , .

The story of Federica Pellegrini  shows that even one of the most talented and successful athlete,  needs at some point in her career a period of recovery after years of very intense work. She has not taken a year off but she has reduced the competitive commitments, the training hours and she is dedicated to a different swimming specialty. The example of Federica Pellegrini is true for everyone, not just for the athletes to the Olympic level. It teaches us that recovery is part of the sport career that you can not put stress on for years without having a recovery period. You can not always push hard, because in the long run this attitude leads to drop out and loss of serenity. You have to desire to train and to sacrifice yourself and to feel joy in being tired, when it becomes a burden you have to stop or reduce the commitment. This is also important for amateur athletes, who must not win anything but too often they consume themselves without ever taking a moment’s rest. We must never forget that the recovery is part of the workout.

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Coaches’ competences

Published on April 12, 2013 in Allenatori, Generale and Olimpiadi. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , .

In the same survey conducted a few years ago by the U.S. Olympic Committee conducted interviews with the athletes of US Olympic team  in the period 1984-1998, they were asked what were for them  most important coach’s skills.

These athletes ranked at the the top, the ability to teach skills and the ability to motivate and encourage. Following the more typically skills related to the training knowledge  and strategic knowledge of sport. Therefore, given that the coaches must be able to plan and conduct their work technically, however, are their interpersonal and psychological skills  to make effective their work. These data should make used by those who organize training courses for coaches, in which most of the hours are devoted exclusively to the technical component of this work and little time is dedicated to the development of those skills that instead the top athletes  perceive decisive for their success.

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The planet toughest foot race

Published on April 12, 2013 in Corsa and Generale. 0 Comments Tags: , , , .

Marathon Des sables

It’s taking place the “toughest foot race” on the planet: the Marathon des Sables. The MDS is a multi-day event through 150 miles of the Sahara. Runners are largely self-sufficient (although organisers do stick up a shelter and give you water rations) and it’s a massive challenge in terms of physical and mental strength.

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To dream is very important for the young athletes

Published on April 10, 2013 in Allenatori, Giovani and Olimpiadi. 1 Comment Tags: , , , , .

For many athletes the year after the Olympics is a period of transition. Often those who have achieved great successes in the four previous years use this year as a time of recovery, to be ready next year to start a new challenge. For younger athletes, however, can be an important year to prove their value in international competitions in a time when the best are not making pressure. And it is on these that I want to focus, with the question: when does a young athlete (girl or boy) begins to dream that she/he could be part of the Olympic team of her/his country? And then it makes sense to dream?

I found support for this idea in a study conducted some years ago by the U.S. Olympic Committee, it was asked this question to the athletes who have been members of the US Olympic team in the period 1984-1998. These are the results:

  • The athletes began to dream of becoming Olympic athletes in the period in which they obtained their first successes at the local level (between 10, 9 and 18 years).
  • After about 3,5 years they decided to pursue this dream.
  • After about 1,7 years they thought that their dream was realistic at an age between 13,4 and 22,4 years.

The differential of age are due to the fact that gymnastics and swimming are sports earlier specialization compared others such as shooting, rowing and track and field athletes where the athletes reach maturity at an older age.
These findings teach us that boys and girls need to nurture their dreams and that they pass from an initial desire to one in which you decide to commit to make it last that it is considered realistic implementation. Second, another strongest trend to emerge from these data was the short period of time between the decision to become Olympian and the belief that it was possible.

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Tiger Woods: “I want to become better”

Published on April 9, 2013 in Generale, Giovani and Stress. 0 Comments Tags: , .

It was asked Tiger Woods after his victory at the Arnold Palmer Invitational last month if he had aspirations to recapture his finest touch. The answer? “I don’t want to become as good as I once was. I want to become better.”

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3rd International Congress of Coaching Psychology

Published on April 9, 2013 in Generale, Mental coaching and Stress. 2 Comments Tags: , , , , .

The  3rd International Congress of Coaching Psychology 2013  will be held in Rome 16/17 May organized by SCP Italy (Society for Coaching Psychology Italy), Italian partner  of ISCP (International Society for Coaching Psychology). It will be focused on the following three main themes:

  • Surfing the Edge of chaos - the contribution of Coaching Psychology and patterns of self-organization in managing the complexity of organizational and socio-economic contexts;
  • Third Generation Coaching - the contribution of Coaching Psychology as a development lever for organizations who, in addition to developing the potential of the individual, also want to build a culture of coaching and develop a management style and methods that are sustainable and integrated with their stakeholders;
  • Evidence-Based Approach to the profession – the contribution of Coaching Psychology in the development of professionalism is founded on evidence-based practice that gains strength from research and on research that gives value to the practice. On this model of professional development the coach psychologist, as scientist-practitioner, builds its professional identity and distinctiveness and can offer added value to the coachee and the organization.

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Doping is a social fraud

Published on April 8, 2013 in Allenatori, Corsa, Generale, Libri and Stress. 0 Comments Tags: , , , .

Doping can be defined as a fraud towards society, because it is a behavior intended to infringe the rights of others through deception, that is to compete on equal terms. Destroys the sport making it unnecessary to apply the rules and the value of personal engagement.

Read more on: http://www.huffingtonpost.it/alberto-cei/il-doping-e-un-inganno-so_b_3022234.html?utm_hp_ref=italy#comments

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Are you able to put in a corner the worst performances?

Published on April 6, 2013 in Allenatori, Calcio, Generale, Giovani, Stress and Tiro a volo. 0 Comments Tags: , , , .

I’m here in Malta to follow the competition of a friend of shooting. Today he did 23 out of 25 the first round and then made 19 and 23. Tomorrow he still has two trounds to show that the 19 was just an accident. Another story, today Juventus is playing with Pescara, easy game on paper but it is essential to win to keep high the team’s mood and confidence and to show themselves that the defeat against Bayern was an accident the psychological impact of which can be recovered with a good performance.

What do these have in common?! They are so far from each other by level and interests involved: that in any case when competing no matter what you did before, it counts only the skills to provide the best performance of which one is capable at the next. What was it is just a story that must be able to set aside.

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Psychological Support Brings Olympic Success for Korean Athletes

Published on April 5, 2013 in Mental coaching, Olimpiadi and Stress. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , .

The Republic of Korea has enjoyed its best Olympic Games results since 1988, finishing 5th in the medal table in London, with a total of 28 medals including 13 golds. Two of its most successful teams, archery and shooting, both benefited from psychological support programmes. 

Support for the Korean archery team was provided by Young Sook Kim, from the Korea Institute of Sport Science, during an 11-month period preceding the Games. Support was provided in 1-2 hr sessions, 2-3 times per week, and included psychological profiling and psychological skills training that was progressively individualiszd in training and tailored towards the Olympic competition. The archery team won 3 gold medals and 1 bronze medal in London.

The Korean shooting team was even more successful in London, winning 3 golds and 2 silvers. Support was provided in the two years preceding the Olympic Games by ByungHyun Kim, also from the Korea Institute of Sport Science, an applied practitioner of 20 years’ experience. Support emphasized anxiety control, concentration, confidence, and coping with the high expectations of the Korean public.

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