Monthly Archive for October, 2015

Tennis killer instinct fundamentals

The killer instinct fundamentals

The NEVER rule

  1. Never think that it will be easy to win.
  2. Never relax when you’re winning a game.
  3. Never fall down/angry after a series of mistakes.
  4. Never exceed in confidence.
  5. Never think about the final result.
  6. Never think that your opponent is just doing winning shots.
  7. Never rush the action during the pauses.
  8. Never will prove to be the best.
  9. Never stop running.
  10. Never begin a negative self-talk.

Valentino Rossi fell into Marquez’s trap

Around Valentino Rossi in the last week it has been created the opportunity for the perfect storm which triggered in the race, having its epilogue with the fall of Marquez. It was predictable? Yes, it was. It was avoidable? Maybe. The contenders are a group of young adults, professionals, who have turned their love for motors and the speed in work and they c to those ompete to establish who he’s the fasstest and the best in the world, together with their teams of technicians, managers , companies, working to put them in the best position to fulfill these dreams of glory. These are young talents willing to take any risk in order to win and the curves are the place of the duel. Valentino Rossi is the pack leader of this group of young opponents, others want to take his place, and for a while they succeeded, then he came back and now tbefore the last race he is leading the championship. Only one of the best he can challenge him, not Lorenzo who competes to win the championship, would be too risky, it’s the Marquez job ,who is angry with him because he has taken away in the race for the win and so they clash at Sepang at the rate of fifteen passes, only nine in a lap. Difficult to react calmly to these Marquez provocations without any reason and Rossi fell into the trap of accepting this challenge, that it could end only if the other fell down and this is what happened. Mike Webb, the race director said that from the images “it was not possible to determine whether or not Rossi has hit Marquez with a kick” and that Marquez has certainly provoked Rossi albeit within the limits of the rules. The fact is that Marquez wanted to show that if he can stop Rossi and then to assert its leadership on the circuit; “A prank” except that in this way he was altering the  race and the world outcome, that in any case he saw him defeated. Previously he had done nothing to prevent being overtaken by Lorenzo, the main rival of Rossi for the world title. Marquez had nothing to lose by doing the bully against Rossi, the worst in the duel would fall and it would be passed to the victim and Rossi like the champion  that can no longer win without committing misconduct. Nothing to do with the reason, it was a clash of emotions at high speed. Valentino Rossi still had everything to lose in accepting this duel, if it was falling over, if he committed misconduct as well, if he was behind and waited patiently had a chance to cool the challenge and continue the fight for the final success. This reasoning is very difficult to do so while dueling with your opponent. It can be previously programmed. If I know Marquez wants to pay me, I have to prepare a plan of the type: “And if that happens … what I decide to do?” This is what I expect from a champion like Valentino Rossi, the planning of mental adverse situation that today, given the context highly emotional that it’s determined, may occur. In this case, he might ask (or those of his team could advise him): “If I feel provoked what is reasonable to do?” Everyone is free to make their own choices, the important thing is not to fall into the trap built by opponents and be able to say at the end of the race to have competed exactly as it was been planned. Unfortunately this did not happen and now Valentino Rossi will have to decide what to do, personally I hope that he races.

(On http://www.huffingtonpost.it/../../alberto-cei/caro-valentino-eri-mentalmente-impreparato-alla-trappola-di-marquez_b_8388120.html)

A fair play great story Twickenham

This picture, credit of Getty Images, tells a great story of the battle of Twickenham.

Collegamento permanente dell'immagine integrata

Success depends upon previous preparation

In preparation for big sport events it’s crucial to get to opening day with the belief to be ready and that nothing can distract from the performance to do it. Reaching this state of mind is already a major achievement for any athlete. It does not mean to feel calm, but rather to be confident, having done everything it needed to get that appointment at the best. It’s like saying: “I am prepared to express myself at the best in this competition, I can do it.”

The preparation ends at that time and the next step is to do it. Now in the athletes’ mind emerge decisively anxieties and fears, that the athlete have to manage but who are limited by their confidence to feel ready.

In a little more than 10 months, the Olympics and Paralympics Games will start, the best athletes are engaged in qualifying and for all it will be important to reach those days feeling prepared at the best. The work of the sports psychologists will be very important for them to build this kind of mentality.

Success depends upon previous preparation, and without such preparation there is sure to be failure. (Confucius)

Back to Kenyan runners town

Heat one of the 5,000m at the Iten championships in Kenya,the town of the Kenyan runners. Around 75 runners turned up to compete in the race so the organisers said (only half-joking) that the first heat was for those who had run under 13 minutes. That’s fast. (The Guardian)

In tennis can you learn the winning mind?

In tennis many people talk about the winning mind. Some confuse it with the male attributes while others consider it as the expression of an extreme self-confidence, others think it is a question of character and therefore the responsibility of its emergence would depend on an innate factor and not trainable, finally there are also those who believe that a low social status determines the will to succeed that show the champions. These explanations are used to build a rigid and ​​magic idea ofwinning mentality and put the tennis players in a position to suffer their origins, if they did not match the above said they will never emerge as a winners.

Based on my experience with many successful athletes, including 10 medal winners at the Olympic Games and as documented by sportpsychology in relation to top athletes the question is a very different and more detailed. In this short article I want to provide some practical advice that every tennis player could commit to follow with the confidence to improve the performance, which of course i twill be tailored to her technical level, fitness and play style.

Don’t have expectations, be committed to do your best – Every player wants to win the game that will play, but she has to put in the farthest point of the mind this idea and think just playing. No one knows what it will happen, otherwise everyone can stay focus on the present, on serve and response. In the hands of the tennis players there is the opportunity to be committed at their best but not to win a point, then the focus should be only on the game … and then at the end of the exchange he will see if the maximum has been sufficient or if the opponent has been better.

Be patient, the negative moments are coming – Tennis is a game where the player who makes fewer mistakes than the opponent wins the match, the goal is to make less mistakes than the other. The negative moments are there in each set and you should not believe  that time will not come. We must accept this limit and when it happens there is no need to get angry or depressed but show patience and keep the focus on play.

Do not let the score determines your emotions – The players with little experience and many teenagers get excited when they play well and lose control emotionally when they lose points. These players show little stability in their behaviors. Thus, their mood determines how they will play. Often I say to these people that they should be the biggest fan of themselves, but instead they behave like those fans who applaud when their team wins and whistle when it loses.

Manage competitive stress and accept your fears – In tennis many male players are so afraid of their fears that they prefer to believe that: “today I did not feel the blows,” “I was stiff, the legs woody”, “the other did the game of life “. The girl player however are often more emotionally swaying, loading or unloading on the basis of  won or lost points. Tennis players must have the courage to accept the fears, learning how to manage them. This is one of the big differences between the champions and other athletes.

Think about the game – Whatever it’s the technical level, the tennis players have to think about how they want to play. It can also be a simple “run and throw it over there” but they have to think. This approach is particularly evident in the serve: “how distressed I put my opponent?” “What did I do when I won the points.” There are technical thoughts and thoughts useful to support the motivation and an active approach to the game. They need both.

Why to study Sport Psychology

Le domande più frequenti che mi sono state poste in questo periodo dagli psicologi che mi hanno contattato per avere informazioni sul Master di II Livello che stiamo organizzando con l’Università Telematica San Raffaele.

  • Sono psicoterapeuta cosa imparo da una formazione in Psicologia dello Sport?
  • Da anni lavoro come psicologo professionista, perché dovrei frequentare un master in Psicologia dello Sport?
  • Sono psicologo, mi piace lo sport ma so che è difficile trovare un lavoro come psicologo dello sport cosa devo fare?
  • Sono psicologo e atleta/allenatore cosa imparo dalla Psicologia dello Sport che già non so?
  • Con questa crisi economica dove trovo lavoro come psicologo dello sport? E quindi perché formarmi?
In Italia vi sono circa 600.000 allenatori, 7.000 scuole calcio, 250 psicologi lavorano nelle Scuole Calcio, solo nel Lazio vi sono 700 Scuole calcio (5-12 anni) e in ogni Regione vi è uno psicologo referente della FIGC- Settore Giovanile Scolastico.
  1. Almeno nel calcio, lo sport più diffuso, il bacino dei possibili clienti degli psicologi dello sport è molto numeroso. Le società sportive sono imprese piccole e medie imprese, che gestiscono centinaia di bambini, almeno una decina di allenatori e un numero molto ampio di genitori. Questi numeri le rendono particolarmente sensibili al lavoro dello psicologo dello sport nel lavoro con i bambini, gli allenatori e le famiglie.
  2. Per sua formazione lo psicologo e lo psicoterapeuta non hanno nessuna cognizione teorica e pratica sullo sviluppo del movimento e sull’apprendimento motorio nonché sui principi della metodologia dell’allenamento. Sono invece temi importanti per essere in grado di parlare il linguaggio dello sport con persone che sono esperte in questo ambito.
  3. Lo psicologo e lo psicoterapeuta non hanno una formazione in Psicologia dello Sport (PS) e in linea di massima ignorano anche la Psicologia della Prestazione e la ricerca del talento. Non per colpa loro ma perché queste tematiche non sono insegnate durante il corso di studi. Dico sempre ai giovani: “Se non sai citare almeno 10 psicologi dello sport e parlare delle loro ricerche, vuol dire che tu non lo sei”.
  4. E’ un’area di ricerca e professionale specifica le cui conoscenze e pratiche non possono venire tradotte dalla psicoterapia, dalla psicologia del lavoro o dalla psicologia della salute. Certamente la PS si serve di strategie e tecniche tratte da questi ambiti ma ne ha elaborate di proprie che richiedono studio e applicazione da parte dello psicologo professionista (ad esempio, l’allenamento dell’attenzione).  A tale riguardo ricordo che esistono 6 riviste scientifiche dedicate alla PS.
  5. Svolgere già da tempo il lavoro di psicologo dello sport senza avere avuto una formazione in questo ambito, riflette le buone capacità di avere saputo adattare le proprie competenze a un ambito diverso da quello previsto e direi che a questo punto una formazione in PS consentirebbe di continuare in modo specifico la formazione continuativa a cui dovrebbe aprirsi qualsiasi professionista.
  6. La crisi economica non dovrebbe essere un limite imprescindibile, poiché la formazione post-laurea è oggi una necessità imprescindibile per chi aspiri a diventare un professionista competente. Certamente è poco realistico pensare di sentirsi a proprio agio e fiduciosi nel proporsi a società sportive, federazioni o singoli atleti senza avere avuto una formazione adeguata. So che “molti colleghi provano” a fare questo lavoro senza essersi formati in PS, potrebbero impiegare i loro primi guadagni in un Master di PS.
  7. Infine, voglio dire che la formazione deve essere continua, perché è una necessità. Come svolgevo la mia attività 10 anni fa e sostanzialmente diverso da come la svolgo oggi e questo non solo a causa della diversità delle esigenze fra i clienti di oggi e quelli di ieri ma anche per lo sviluppo delle nuove tecnologie, delle conoscenze e delle modalità di sviluppo della consulenza che sono cambiate in tutto il mondo e che non possono essere ignorate.

Nobody knows how many young with disabilities are physically active

In Italy, the students with disabilities in the school system are 216,013, representing 2.4% of the population (close to 9 million students).

  • kindergarten represented 1.2% (average 1 student with disabilities every 80 pupils)
  • primary education are 2.9%
  • school secondary level are 3.5%
  • school secondary level are 1.9%

“The relief (between non-profit company) is the activity directed at people with specific difficulties. They are 6,816 (13.6% of the total of non-profit institutions that provide services to people with affected by some disease) the sport institutions that over 2011 have provided services to particular categories of disadvantaged people. The 72.5% of these have been provided, in particular, to individuals with disabilities or not independent. In most cases the services cover the organization of sport training (84%) and/or sports events (69.7%); 8.8% of the institutions considered have implemented actions for the social integration of vulnerable or at risk people; 8.2% was involved in the management centers of aggregation and socialization and 7.9% have organized trips and excursions. ” (Istat)

BUT

how many young people lead a physically active lifestyle

NOBODY KNOWS !!!

A country that does not know itself, can’t help itself

To walk or run15 minutes every day improve the children life

We do so few things to promote the movement amog the children, that news like this one become immediately virals and demonstrate how it could be easy to do much more with only the good will.

“As son as the children at one primary school in Stirling hear the words “daily mile”, they down their pencils and head out of the classroom to start running laps around the school field.

For three-and-a-half years, all pupils at St Ninians primary have walked or run a mile each day. They do so at random times during the day, apparently happily, and despite the rise in childhood obesity across the UK, none of the children at the school are overweight.

The daily mile has done so much to improve these children’s fitness, behaviour and concentration in lessons that scores of nursery and primary schools across Britain are following suit and getting pupils to get up from their desks and take 15 minutes to walk or run round the school or local park.”

(The Guardian)

The courage to fail to have a chance to win

The courage is the acts that risk life and limb to uphold a virtue. Martin Luther King said: “If a man hasn’t discovered something he will die for, he isn’t fit to live.”

In relation to sport or any human performance, which however is not at stake their physical safety, have courage means being willing to fail while pledging to better themselves.

And you?

The Martian movie quote