Monthly Archive for February, 2020

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The training keys: commitment and persistence

Published on February 13, 2020 in Allenatori, Calcio, Corsa, Generale, Giovani, Mental coaching, Olimpiadi, Stress, Tennis and Tiro a volo. 0 Comments Tags: errori, impegno, persistenza, pigrizia.

In training intensity and persistence are the two aspects that most frequently determine the athletes’ mistakes. Many are satisfied to train good enough, without being aware that it is precisely this way of thinking is slowing down their improvement.

The performance quality cannot be manifested with a good enough commitment, this seems to me an aspect that young athletes often do not consider as decisive for their improvement. At the same time, coaches can also fall into this trap, when they do not consider commitment at the first place in their teaching strategies, because too focused on correcting the sport technique.

Robert Singer wrote that at the end every performance is determined by three factors, of which the last two are much less considered than the first:

personal potential
sincere commitment to practise, condition and improve oneself
ability to do well under competitive stress

The latter two are in fact often explained in terms of natural skills or instinct and in this way they are less trained than the other skills. On the contrary, the experience of top athletes, by their own affirmation, has taught us that it takes years of intense and continuous dedication to achieve remarkable results.
The mantra of these top athletes is “try and try again”.

This does not happen because today’s young people are lazy! It happens because we think it’s just a matter of technical training and physical preparation and time. While the lack of improvement is interpreted in terms of a block that will go away at the first success, of parents putting pressure or lack of confidence.

It is infrequent to think that young athletes may be wrong because they do the exercises in training with the same mentality with which they do (or used to do) their homework. For them it is enough to do the exercise and they do not bother to prepare themselves to do it not only well but in the best way they are able. They just do it. For them this means being concentrated. By this I mean that they are not aware of how they have to prepare to do the best they can and they do not know what mental and motor skills they have to put in place to meet the demands of the task.

In general terms, they train without a personal purpose, rather with the only aim of meeting the needs of their coach. Without a personal goal, they will not be able to fully develop their skills as an athlete, but above all they will experience the misunderstanding that they are trying their hardest while it is not true.

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Charles Darwin remember us the relevance of the scientific thinking

Published on February 12, 2020 in Allenatori, Generale and Giovani. 0 Comments Tags: Charles Darwin, Origine dell'uomo, pensiero razionale, scienza.

On the day of the birth of Charles Robert Darwin (Shrewsbury, February 12, 1809 – London, April 19, 1882) I took up my copy of “The Descent of Man” in its first Italian translation in 1872 by Michele Lessona and read some paragraphs that it is always necessary remember, to reflect on the importance of science and the rational thinking.

“The nature of the following work will be best understood by a brief account of how it came to be written. During many years I collected notes on the origin or descent of man, without any intention of publishing on the subject, but rather with the determination not to publish, as I thought that I should thus only add to the prejudices against my views. It seemed to me sufficient to indicate, in the first edition of my Origin of Species, that by this work light would be thrown on the origin of man and his history; and this implies that man must be included with other organic beings in any general conclusion respecting his manner of appearance on this earth. Now the case wears a wholly different aspect. When a naturalist like Carl Vogt ventures to say in his address as President of the National Institution of Geneva (1869): Personne, en Europe au moins, n’ose plus soutenir la cration indépendante et de toutes pièces, des espèces, it is manifest that at least a large number of naturalists must admit that species are the modified descendants of other species; and this especially holds good with the younger and rising naturalists. The greater number accept the agency of natural selection; though some urge, whether with justice the future must decide, that I have greatly overrated its importance.”

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Many murales for Kobe Bryant

Published on February 11, 2020 in Generale. 0 Comments Tags: kobe bryant, murales.

Sorry, this entry is only available in Italiano.

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Give a meaning at our daily action

Published on February 11, 2020 in Allenatori, Calcio, Giovani and Libri. 0 Comments Tags: Camus, Galeano.

Raising our eyes above everyday life helps us to live it with greater acceptance and to give meaning to our actions and thoughts that not only makes immediate sense but expresses a deeper way of being.

Eduardo Galeano helps us a lot in this work and through him we know the experience of another unique, Albert Camus.

“Nel 1930 Albert Camus era il San Pietro che custodiva la porta della squadra di calcio dell’Università di Algeri. Si era abituato a giocare da portiere fin da bambino, pecche quello era il ruolo in cui meno si consumavano le scarpe. Di famiglia povera, Camus non poteva concedersi il lusso di correre in mezzo al campo: ogni sera la nonna gli controllava le suole e gli dava una solenne lezione se le trovava consumate.

Durante i suoi anni da portiere. Camus imparò molte cose: – Ho imparato che il pallone non va mai verso un giocatore dove lui si aspetta che venga. Questo mi ha aiutato molto nella vita, soprattutto nelle grandi città, dove la gente solitamente non è quel che si dice retta -.

Imparò anche saggezze difficile: a vincere senza sentirsi Dio e a perdere senza sentirsi spazzatura, e capì alcuni misteri dell’anima umana, nei labirinti della quale seppe successivamente indagare, in un pericoloso viaggio lungo il cammino dei suoi libri”.

(Eduardo Galeano, Splendori e miserie del gioco del calcio, p.66)

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Why are there no reactions from Juventus players after the defeat against Verona?

Published on February 10, 2020 in Allenatori, Calcio, Generale and Stress. 0 Comments Tags: calciatori, Juventus, Sarri, Verona.

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How to go from a mistake to the right action

Published on February 10, 2020 in Allenatori, Calcio, Corsa, Generale, Giovani, Mental coaching, Olimpiadi, Stress, Tennis and Tiro a volo. 0 Comments Tags: errori, reagire, sbagliare.

One of the reasons why we often continue to persevere with habits and behaviours that we consider to be wrong is because we are afraid of the risks we might run if we decide to change, first of all making another mistake despite the fact that we are changing.

It is certainly easier and less demanding to let ourselves be dominated by the desire to complain telling the classic phrase: “I knew it would end this way”. We continue to defend ourselves by saying that we don’t know what to do, that it’s someone else’s fault, or the bad luck that comes our way, or the fact that there is no other solution.

These are common thoughts in which it is easy to fall into and which serve to mask our deepest fears. When the athletes make the same mistake again and again I often tell to do something different, without being worried about the result, in the worst case they will make another mistake but at least it will be different. To justify this lack of initiative we hide in saying “what if it doesn’t go well?” More rarely we think if it doesn’t go well I will try to do something else until I’ll do right.

This happens because we are emotionally afraid of change and the more we feel the need for it, the more we tend to hide behind reasoning instead of acting differently.

It is important to learn to dialogue with ourselves, accepting mistakes. I propose to write a reflection on “what are mistakes for me and how do I react to them? Think about what you do in different situations in your sport:

in competition and in training
when you’re ahead or behind
with what words you accompany what you do right and wrong
when you’re happy in training and racing

Write and then read again and decide how you would like to react and which behaviors and parts you would like to eliminate, and then start training.

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Letter to the parents

Published on February 7, 2020 in Allenatori, Calcio, Corsa, Generale, Giovani, Tennis and Tiro a volo. 0 Comments Tags: genitori.

Dear Parents,

Do not insult the referee and do not cheer against opponents when your child’s team is playing.
Instead, be correct in demonstrating your support in a positive way to all players, coaches and the referee.

Do not shout at your son what he has to do on the pitch, do not replace the coach.
Instead, let him play and make the choices he wants to make.

Don’t yell at her when she makes a mistake or when he plays badly.
Instead, support the commitment and show that you’re proud of her.

Don’t criticize the choices of coaches and referees a priori.
Instead, listen to them, put yourself in their shoes and try to understand their point of view.

Don’t get angry when your son’s team loses, don’t feel disappointed and don’t yell at him.
Remember, however, that the game is for the children, it’s not you who lost.

Don’t tell her that she has deeply disappointed you and that she will never become a champion.
Instead, make sure that sport is a fun and exciting experience.

Don’t pretend nothing when your child is disappointed or angry about something that happened while she was playing, but don’t tell her that a fool took it.
First, instead, listen, let him talk and show him that you understand his mood and then find a solution together.

Don’t teach with your behavior to have no respect for others, whether they are teammates, players of opposing teams, coaches or referees.
Show that you have respect for all of them and that you expect her to show it too.

Do not ally yourself with those coaches who only let the best players play and who show more attention to the best player.
Instead, demand that coaches give everyone the same opportunities to learn and show enthusiasm in working with children.

Don’t just talk about sports with your child, don’t just watch him on TV.
Instead, practice it together, in the open air playing, engaging in any physical activity that the whole family enjoys.

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Letter at one tennis player

Published on February 7, 2020 in Allenatori, Giovani, Mental coaching, Stress and Tennis. 0 Comments

Dear tennis player,

Don’t insult yourself when you make a mistake and don’t cheer against yourself.
Always support your commitment in a positive way, even when the ball is out or you’re down.

Don’t yell at yourself, you’ll play worse.
Play joyfully, freely and make the choices you want to make.

Don’t criticize how others play, just to make it look like you understand tennis.
Support your friends in the club, make them feel your support.

Remember that excessive tension is harmful, even if you’re playing the Wimbledon final.
Have fun, use humor to reduce your fear of making a bad impression.

At the end of the game don’t tell yourself that you’re deeply disappointed and that you’ll stop playing.
Accept defeats, even those that burn the most.

Don’t always blame the racket, the time or the bad luck.
Remember that your mind is in control of technique and tactics and not viceversa.

Don’t show with your behaviour disrespect for others, be they companions or opponents.
Show them respect in all your behaviors on the court.

It is never the others who make you wrong.
It’s you who couldn’t respond to a hit or didn’t adapt to that game.

Don’t always make the same mistake, don’t insist on a hit that doesn’t fit.
When you make a mistake, do something different and change the way you play.

Don’t play to close games as soon as possible.
Take the time to build the point.

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Be against you destroy the focus and the performance

Published on February 6, 2020 in Allenatori, Giovani, Mental coaching and Tennis. 0 Comments

During a tennis match it is very easy to see and hear one of the two opponents starting to speak against him/herself and to show behaviors (shaking the head disconsolately or shaking the racket like a stick), denoting a negative emotional condition and damaging the concentration on the next game. These sketches occur more rarely among professional players, they have been trained to effectively manage these moments of competitive stress. They are instead frequent among young people and above all they are very common among those tennis players who may be technically gifted but who have not understood that playing a match is not only a matter of physical strength and tennis technique.

To play tennis well, whatever your level, you need to want and know how to think and this becomes very difficult if you are in a state of anger or self-devaluation. Otherwise you don’t know to direct the attention. Everyone wants to win, the prize consists of hundreds of thousands of euros or an aperitif at the tennis club, and the moment you start the first exchange the emotional tension begins to grow and if you do not act to control it, already at the first 15-0 for the opponent you will have the opportunity to start to torment yourself, distracting yourself from the game. Tennis tests everyone’s beliefs: you can’t draw like in football, you can’t put the responsibility on your teammates, you can’t blame fate, there are too many shots you have to send out to lose a game. You have to take responsibility for the way you’re playing and reason to do something different from the very first moments of losing attention.

The question is, therefore, to do something different, easy to say when you watch someone else play but more difficult when you have to apply this simple rule to yourself. You build this positive attitude, first of all by becoming the main fan of yourself and not the main denigrator. The tennis player after a mistake must always do two things to return to being focused on the game: encourage himself + give himself a simple technical instruction to avoid repeating the previous mistake. Only in this way will he be focused on the game. The game is like a battle, in which to overwhelm the enemy you have to trust the instructions received from your commander, which in this case is ourselves. Of course there may be exceptions to this way of acting, but precisely because such exceptions must be rare. Therefore, encouragement is necessary to maintain a high level of concentration and control of emotions while the technical instruction serves to indicate to the tennis player what / how to do to effectively spend this mental energy.

If this kind of attitude is not demonstrated on the court, the tennis player’s mind will be like a sailboat without the helmsman, that is, prey to the opponent’s play. I suggest to tennis players to establish a priori a checklist of things to do and to pay attention when they are in difficulty:

What to do when the first serve is out or in the net
What to do when I want to finish the game too quickly
What to do to reduce my anger or disappointment at ta specific moment

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Autism and football

Published on February 5, 2020 in Allenatori, Calcio, Corsa, Generale, Giovani and Stress. 0 Comments Tags: AS Roma, autismo, disabilità intellettiva, Roma Cares.

Yesterday simple twitter had 2353 views. It’s a photo of a meeting of our staff discussing the new training program for children with intellectual disabilities and largely autistic, to improve their motor learning and teach football.

The interest it has aroused shows how the theme of sports practice for these children (6-13 years) is topical, there are few who are regularly involved in sport, we do not really know how many of them, how often and what activities they do. Research data shows these children practice individual sports, mainly running and swimming. Programs involving them in football schools are extremely rare, as they require competent coaches and psychologists. Often football is not recommended for these children because they are placed in groups with young people with typical development and coaches who do not have time and skills to teach them.

Roma Cares, AS Roma and the Integrated Football Academy have been designing and implementing the “Calcio Insieme” project for 5 years, which currently involves 70 children with intellectual disabilities. It involves a staff of 10 coaches, 5 sports psychologists, 1 speech therapist, 1 doctor, 1 manager of relations with families and schools, 1 technical manager and 1 scientific manager. It is a complex project that involves children from October to June twice a week. The results obtained and published in scientific journals have shown significant improvements in the motor and psychosocial areas.