Monthly Archive for September, 2015

Recordman at 105 years old

Published on September 30, 2015 in Corsa, Generale and Giovani. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , .

Most centenarians are thrilled to be able to walk. Not Hidekichi Miyazaki! This 105-year-old Japanese man wants to run, and that too, competitively. Hence, it was only natural for “Golden Bolt” to celebrate his latest birthday with a record-breaking 100-meter sprint.

The epic race took place on September 23rd, the day after Mr. Miyazaki turned 105. It took the sprinter a mere 42.22 seconds to cover the distance. While that earned him a place in the Guinness World Records as the fastest man in the over 105-year-old category, Mr. Miyazaki was not happy. That’s because “Golden Bolt” who celebrated by striking a lightning pose just like his namesake Usain Bolt, had hoped to complete the 100-meters in 36 seconds, like he had been able to, during training.

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Juventus low motivation

Published on September 28, 2015 in Allenatori, Calcio, Generale and Mental coaching. 0 Comments Tags: , , , .

In soccer, the sport competition is a situation where the performance of a team is compared to the standard required for that event. In addition, each team should show on the field the desire to overcome difficulties through collaboration among the players, while to the opponents should be dominant the competitiveness. Certainly a team needs talent players but nobody definitely win if there is no integration amomg the players’ behavior, if it lacks the group cohesion. These concepts are not to be thought of as good intentions, general and non-specific, because they are the basis of the winning teams. If you apply these principles to the present condition of Juventus it’s evident, at a glance, that the behaviors of the players in the field do not match, if not in small part, to these simple rules. It lacks the so-called team spirit and a united group, which are important objectives to address effectively to cope with with a  challenging season and highest level. We do not forget that the motivation should be a psychological dimension always present and independent of the quality of the game. Indeed, precisely when there may be uncertainties or difficulty performing the work required by the coach, as it’s true for Juventus at the start of this season, it becomes imperative for the players to be on the pitch with the fighting spirit and tenacity required to whom is part of a team. It’s maintaining high the motivation to play that the players, the team and the coach could think only about the technical aspects of the game and not on the misbehavior of the team, not so motivated in the field. In moments of crisis it serves the leader, Allegri, send a few ideas that are clear, specific and perceived by players as achievable since the next game. The team needs to know that it takes time to improve the collective quality of the game but that combativeness and toughness are mental qualities that should be present until the next match. Otherwise Juventus will continue to play with the excuse that if the team does not have a good play or it’s few time that the players are together, this approach will determine the lack of confidence in following the instructions of the coach. In addition, the core of the team represented by the defense players as a whole has done little to show on the field this attitude and to motivate their mates, they will have to commit much more. Juventus now has a team humiliated by the superficiality with which it approached this new season. The biggest mistake by the managers was to say it would be a transition year, thus giving players the perception that it would not be so important to maintain the standards of the past. Now they have discovered that losing the games, because of the inability to be a team and to react immediately to mistakes pleases no one and leading the team into an abyss; we’ll see if they will be able to motivate everyone to play with the right intensity to show the capabilities of the team. The task of Allegri is not only technical but he has to help the team to change emotional minset, he will have to explain that there is no excuse for anyone in the field and that it serves combativeness and toughness.

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Perfection is not attainable

Published on September 25, 2015 in Generale. 0 Comments

Perfection is not attainable, but if we chase perfection we can catch excellence. - Vince Lombardi

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Sentences to think

Published on September 24, 2015 in Allenatori, Calcio, Corsa, Generale, Giovani, Mental coaching, Olimpiadi, Stress, Tennis and Tiro a volo. 0 Comments

Master technique and then forget about it and be natural. (Alice Abrams)

Great works are performed not by strength but by perseverance. (Anna Pavlova)

Practice means to perform, over and over again in the face of all obstacles, some act of vision, of faith, of desire. Practice is a means of inviting the perfection desired. (Martha Graham)

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Advanced workshop on sport psychology and coaching

Published on September 23, 2015 in Allenatori, Calcio, Corsa, Generale, Giovani, Mental coaching, Stress, Tennis and Tiro a volo. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , .

 

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Guidelines to promote the movement among adults

Published on September 22, 2015 in Allenatori, Calcio, Corsa, Generale, Stress, Tennis and Tiro a volo. 0 Comments

Summer is the time of year when it’s easier for us as adults take a lifestyle more physically active. Now early autumn it would be positive not lose this habit to move more, trying to insert between the duties of the day a moment of care of themselves through movement. The pyramid of the movement shown here reminds us how our well-being depends from the movement. Each person can move following the own way but it should at least practiced 2 hours and 30 minutes per week of moderate activity or 75 minutes a week of aerobic intense activity. Adding others 5 hours per week of moderate activity or 2 hours and 30 minutes of vigorous activity adults would get more benefits.

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Guidelines to promote the movement among young

Published on September 22, 2015 in Allenatori, Calcio, Corsa, Generale, Giovani, Stress, Tennis, Tiro a volo and Young and Football. 0 Comments
At the beginning of the new year at school, we remember some main guidelines to promote the movement among children and adolescents.
  • Children and adolescents should do 60 minutes (1 hour) or more of physical activity daily.
  • Most of the 1 hour or more a day should be either moderate- or  vigorous-intensity aereobic physical activity.
  • As part of their daily physical activity, children and adolescents should do vigorous-intensity physical activity on at least 3 days a week. They also should do muscle-strengthening and bone-strengthening activity on at least 3 days of the week.
  • Work with the children and adolescents with special needs should be done identifying with their health care provider the type and amounys of physival activity appropriate to them. When possible they should meet the guidelines for children and adolescents – or as much activity as their condition allows. Children and adolescents should avoid being inactive.

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Book review: Children and Youth with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)

Published on September 17, 2015 in Allenatori, Generale, Giovani and Libri. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , .

Children and Youth with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)

James K. Luiselli (Ed.)

New York, Oxford University Press

2014, 266 p.

http://ukcatalogue.oup.com/product/9780199941575.do

My interest as sport psychologist in the autism disorder is born from the idea that the motor-cognitive activities and sport could affect this mental disorder in positive way improving globally the youth life style and their psychosocial and motor skills. It could seem obvious to underly this concept but it’s not, for the reason that till today it has been very few to involve these individuals in sport or motor programs on regular basis. From my side as practitioner reading this book I received a lot of updated information about autism spectrum disorder (ASD) as  a relatively new diagnostic label which reflects the variability in the differentiation of symptomatology among children and youth commonly described as having autistic disorder, high-functioning autism (HFA), and Asperger’s syndrome.

Skillfully edited by James K. Luiselli Children and Youth with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a book of 15 chapters describing not only the theories about the autistic disorders but in same time presents the current best practices emerged from the evidence-based research, research-to-practice translation of empirically supported procedures, and consensus-driven recommendations from multiple disciplines.

For sport professionnels like coaches, sport managers, physicians and psychologists this book provide al leats three kinds of main information. The first is that also for these youth the sport determines healthy effects on their life. Second, in the same time, it’s not clear which could be the best coaching program to provide them and third we have a lot to learn from the other settings of their life, with the aim to adapt the strategies used in school or in other naturalistic approaches to build a program. Goal of the program is to develop self-management and self-regulation of their life starting from easy tasks. In my opinion, the most relevant chapter, after that ones of the first section devoted to diagnoses, assessment and measurement, is in the second section and it’s titled “Self-management and Self-regulation”. It provides the main frame to understand the goal of the interventions in the different area of the life while all the other chapters cover specific topics to achieve this goal of self-management.

All the other chapters are very interesting and each reader will find that one that will be more useful to reach his/her goals with these guys. The seven chapters of the section two describe best practices and from all of them sport practitioners can receive information and support to build their programs. Sections three (with the chapter on Exercise, Physical Activity and Sports) and four discuss in deep topics regarding food, sleep, mindful caregivers, cognitive-behavioral therapy and behavioral family intervention.

I recommend this book to all work in sport with youth of mental disorders, it provides information research-based and best practices to know in order to improve the program with youth with special needs

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Review book: Physiology of Sport and Exercise

Published on September 4, 2015 in Allenatori, Calcio, Corsa, Generale, Giovani, Libri, Stress, Tennis and Tiro a volo. 0 Comments Tags: , , , .

Physiology of Sport and Exercise

(Sixth Edition)

W. Larry Kenney, Jack H. Wilmore & David L. Costill

Human Kinetics, 2015, p.627

www.humankinetics.com

Physiology of Sport and Exercise, Sixth Edition With Web Study Guide, frames research findings in physiology in a reader-friendly format, making this textbook a favorite of instructors and students alike. This resource offers a simple way for students to develop an understanding of the body’s abilities to perform various types and intensities of exercise and sport, to adapt to stressful situations, and to improve its physiological capacities.

I agree with these Publisher words and going back to my job as sport psychologist I believe that each colleague, young or with more years of practice, could significantly enrich his/her professional expertise reading this book. For this reason I believe that its weak side is in the brief space devoted to the relation between the Central nervous system, the Autonomic  nervous system and  the other physiological functions. Concerning this topic to provide a more specific psychophysiological knowledge could be very useful for all working in sport and exercise to fully understand the relation between mind and body.   Globally the book treats the main topic of sport and exercise physiology. It’s divided in seven parts concerning: exercising muscle, cardiovascular and respiratory function, exercise training, environmental influences on performance, optimizing performance in sport, age and sex considerations in sport and exercise, physical activity for health and fitness. For the sport psychologists contains a world of relevant information. The first are related to the main concept that usually are in coach and athlete words, like VO2max, lactate, regulation of carbohydrate metabolism, kcal/min, blood lactate concentration, aerobic exercise, glycogen depletion, peripheral or central fatigue, acute exercise, HRmax and so on. Psychologists have to know the meaning behind these words to stay on the same track with them. Second from part 3 to 7 all these sections aspects of sport and exercise that can have an impact also on the practice of our colleagues. For instance part 6 is totally devoted to the sport and exercise through the different phases of our life. The same it can be said for part 7, here the topic is the prescription of physical exercise to recovery and reduce specific pathology and to improve the wellness in the population. For these reason I recommend this book to my colleagues in sport psychology.

Written by a team of distinguished researchers, all past presidents of the American College of Sports Medicine, this updated sixth edition has been enhanced with new elements to facilitate learning comprehension. The redesigned photos, illustrations, and medical artwork of the fifth edition that clarified difficult concepts and illustrated how the body performs are now complemented by new digital components. Seven animations have been added, bringing the total to 25 and providing a dynamic way to experience course material. The 60 audio clips provide explanations of complex physiological processes to aid students’ understanding of important illustrations in the text, and 29 video clips from leaders in the field discuss recent developments and real-world applications to help students connect theoretical and practical concepts. Corresponding icons throughout the text notify students when digital elements are available to complement the materials.

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