Monthly Archive for July, 2021

Master in psicologia dello sport

28° Edizione del Master in Psicologia dello Sport

Due edizioni: Milano (ottobre 2021) e Roma (Gennaio 2022)

OBIETTIVI DEL MASTER

  • Promuovere nello sport l’intervento di psicologi professionalmente competenti.
  • Consentire ai partecipanti l’acquisizione delle competenze di psicologo dello sport attraverso l’attività didattica, il confronto con esperienze di eccellenza, stage presso federazioni e società sportive, project work e testimonianze di valore assoluto.
  • Sviluppare la professione di psicologo dello sport, attraverso la realizzazione di un percorso formativo strettamente correlato alle diverse esigenze del contesto sportivo.
  • Diffondere i risultati ottenuti dai principali centri internazionali d’eccellenza, mutuandone strumenti e metodi, adeguandoli al contesto italiano.
  • Creare l’opportunità all’inserimento lavorativo nelle società sportive con la realizzazione e successiva implementazione del Project Work sviluppato durante il Master.

    DOCENTI

    Il corpo docente del Master è costituito da Psicologi professionisti esperti in psicologia dello sport e della prestazione, docenti Universitari, dirigenti sportivi, allenatori e atleti di livello assoluto.

    Direttore Scientifico è il Prof. Alberto Cei

    PROGRAMMA DEL MASTER: 9 MODULI FORMATIVI

    1. Osservazione e valutazione dell’atleta
      Osservazione abilità e motivazione dell’atleta, strumenti di valutazione e assessment psicologico.
    2. L’allenamento
      Insegnare per allenare: i fondamenti dell’allenamento sportivo. Aspetti psicologici e sviluppo dell’autoefficacia.
    3. Le tecniche in psicologia dello sportTecniche psicologiche: respirazione, mindfulness, attivazione/disattivazione, self-talk, flow, allenamento ideomotorio, imparare dall’esperienza, playbook.
    4. L’attività giovanileAttività giovanile, sport di squadra, dinamiche di gruppo e leadership. 
    5. La preparazione mentale nel tennis e negli sport di situazioneStrategie e tattiche per gestire la competizione e allenare gli aspetti mentali specifici.
    6. Dagli sport di precisione agli sport di lunga durata Dagli sport di precisione agli sport di lunga durata: resilienza, attenzione e tenacia.
    7. La CompetizioneLa preparazione alla competizione: condizione pre-gara ottimale, routine, partenza, gestione degli errori, gestione degli eventi inattesi.
    8. Inclusione e benessereLo sport per le persone con disabilità; benessere: ottimismo, infortuni, doping, stile di vita dell’atleta.
    9. Outdoor - Conclusione del Master
      Presentazione finale del Project Work, team buildinge esperienza residenziale.

      Ulteriori informazioni: 

      Chatta su WhatsApp con +39 351 759 2912

      E-mail: psicosport@psicosport.it

Biles and Osaka: The super-winner weight of the expectations

Feeling the weight of the world and not being able to shake it off or living with the duty of holding up any pressure are these the devils that two successful women like Simon Biles and Naomi Osaka carry inside. Talking about them as successful women is also little compared to what they represent. In fact, they belong to that small group of people who are often remembered as super-winners. These are planetary-level athletes, serial winners, not winning often but almost always. The world asks them to meet all kinds of expectations that business, their States, the media and their followers demand of them. At the same time, however, all this must not distract them from leading the life as an athlete, made up of thousands of hours of training each year, injury management, constant travel and, above all, competitions to keep winning. And then it can happen to hear statements such as that of Naomi Osaka, who said about her defeat at the Olympics: “For me every defeat is a disappointment, but today I feel that this disappointment sucks more than the others … The pressure on me here is so much, but I am at my first Olympics, and I was not able to handle this pressure. Along the same lines, Simon Biles responded to a question about what had been the happiest moment of his career, saying, “Honestly, probably my time off.”

These female athletes (but so are the men) are captive to their expectations of perfection and a mental approach to competitions that does not include defeat. The stress generated by this absolute conception of sport, and ultimately of one’s life, that does not include compromises or alternatives to victory plays a special role in the development of mental disorders, especially depression. Scientific research has shown that such totalizing expectations are dysfunctional, since they determine a perception of personal identity based on a single interest and not on a plurality of factors. In psychology, the concept of immunization has been introduced, which describes any strategy implemented by the person to reduce the effects of this absolute conception. This means that alongside the perception of themselves as a winning athlete, other ideas of themselves as bearers of other interests must be placed. In this way, the main focus remains the success of the sporting career but is integrated into a broader and equally valid idea of themselves. Thus, feeling like a more interest-rich person is the most effective way to contemplate defeat not as a loss of oneself but as a realistic event that one is able to overcome.

The first Olympic medal for skateboard

Skateboarding made its debut at the Olympics and many female athletes said they hope to be an inspiration to girls around the world. The three girls who won a medal are very young: Nishiya Momiji, gold Japan 13 years old, Rayssa Leal, silver Brazil, 13 years old and. Funa Nakayama, bronze, Japan, age 16.

“Girls can skateboard,” said Momiji while Leal stated that “there is no gender barrier in sports.”

Those are the ideas of those before them, like Leticia Bufoni, 28, Brazil, five X Games gold medalists and who missed the final here by one point. She said, “Convincing my father was harder than getting to the Olympics.”

It’s the same situation as when free-style disciplines were introduced into the classic world of skiing at the 1992 Olympics in Albertville. Even then it seemed a scandal0 to integrate these sports practiced by young people who lived outside the recognized rules and who were carriers of a different lifestyle.

So, may the first medals of change be welcomed.

 

Gold medalist Nishiya Momiji, of Japan, is 13,

Silver for Diana Bacosi

The first medal for Italian skeet shooting has arrived. Diana Bacosi, won the silver medal in skeet, losing the gold medal she won in Rio by a whisker. To be reconfirmed 5 years later is an exceptional feat that only champions can repeat. In the last 40 years, only Luciano Giovannetti, Andrea Benelli, Giovanni Pellielo and Chiara Cainero have been able to repeat this feat. Volley shooting is a sport that requires total concentration on an action that lasts less than a second and precision and speed of execution. Self-control is the mental discipline that shooters undergo on a daily basis, and breaks between shots are an essential factor that puts them in a position to carry out the technical action.

The fencer is alone with himself on the platform, his work consists, in fact, in a work of estrangement from the context represented by any other stimulus (the opponents, the environment and the public, the score) that is not his action.

So, congratulations to Diana Bacosi and may her victory be a good wish for the next competitions of the other Italians.

L’Italia sfila a Tokyo

L’Italia sfila alle olimpiadi di Tokyo

Come sempre è una grande emozione

Tokyo:cerimonia,entra Italia con Viviani-Rossi portabandiera - Primopiano -  Ansa.it

Why an athlete must participate in the Olympics

Many athletes of all nationalities will not participate in the Tokyo Olympics, the reason most often given is that of injury and for some this is the best justification to hide their disinterest in this event and, in this edition, also the annoyance for the limits imposed by the pandemic.

Everyone is obviously free to make their own decisions, so in my opinion individual decisions are not debatable. However, I am equally convinced that it is important to understand what sport represents in our society and what is the road and the path of the sport movement that every athlete has to travel for the stretch corresponding to the period of his or her sporting life.

The road of the sport movement has limits and negatives like any other human activity. Nonetheless, sport is culture and, together with school education and the arts, it participates in the development and maturation of human beings throughout their lives. It has been so since the time of the Greek Olympics and the excellence that is pursued was already defined by Aristotle with these words: “We are what we constantly do. Excellence therefore is not an act but a habit.” A concept very similar to what is demonstrated today by research in sports psychology. In addition, the introduction of new sports to the Olympics comes from the interest of wanting to continue to keep young people interested in this event. Free climbing, surfing and in the future esports represent the realization of this motivation.

In terms of economic return is not an event comparable to what you get in other sports by participating even just in a tournament, who participates should be the bearer of values that go beyond this factor. Sport at international level also hides many pitfalls, first of all doping and drug abuse, and on this subject I published years ago a book entitled “The Lords of the Pitfalls”. Beyond these illegal and economic limits, sport is still an exceptional transmitter of values and positive practices. The responsibility of the best-known athletes is precisely to use this impact on the younger generation and their peers to believe in these values as the foundation of their lives. For this reason, one cannot refuse to participate in the Olympics.

Use of the visualization to win the medal at the Olympics

Winning a medal at the Olympics means being able to stay focused on your performance for the duration of the event, regardless of your score, your opponents, the weather, the crowd, your own expectations or those of others.

For many it represents the competition of a lifetime and for this reason the pressure and expectations are so high that they can destroy an athlete or a team.

Visualization is the psychological technique most used by athletes to live these moments in a way that is positive and effective for them. Below are some statements from the last 35 years that confirm its validity.

“Athletes confirm in their statements the validity of this approach: Alex Baumann (gold in 200 m and 400 m swimming, Los Angeles olympic Games): “The best way I learned to prepare myself mentally for the race was to be able to visualize it in my mind” [Orlick and Partington, 1986]. Sylvie Bervier (gold in diving, Los Angeles Olympics): “I was constantly replaying the dives in my head. At night, before going to sleep, I always repeated my dives. Ten dives [...]. I was doing everything as if I was really there” [Orlick and Partington, 1986]. Franck Dumoulin (gold in pistol shooting at the Sydney Olympics): “I use mental imagery a lot on different occasions, especially when I’m looking for quality. Technique is the base but thinking about technique evokes feelings and it is enough to think about the feelings for the technique to be immediately ready” [Ripoll, 2008]. The Japanese national judo team, holds the record of 72 medals won at the Olympic Games, including 36 gold: “Mental training was integrated into the daily collegiate schedule. Athletes did exercises at 7 a.m. every day. Activities included attitude training, laughing, listening to soothing music, talking with teammates, breathing exercises, meditation, and playing back their best performances in a slowed down manner [Terry et al., 2014)” (From Cei, 2021).

What are you excited to see in Tokyo?

These Olympic Games may be like no other, but one thing is guaranteed – we will still see plenty of top sporting action until the final day on 9 August.

Four new sports will make their debuts – karate, skateboarding, sport climbing, and surfing – while baseball/softball returns to the Olympic Games. New disciplines and events will also take place in other events.

Here are our top five picks of what we’re looking forward to seeing:

1.    The new sports. Of course – who isn’t excited to see the new sports? Karate has a huge tradition in Japan, having been developed in Okinawa; skateboarding and surfing will both thrill with the crazy tricks; and sport climbing will provide perhaps the fastest Olympic event in the 15m speed climb, part of the combined event.

2.    3X3 basketball – a new discipline at the Olympic Games, but no stranger to the Olympic Movement, having been an event at three Summer Youth Olympic Games! Expect fast-paced half-court high-octane action with mad skills.

3.    Who will Usain Bolt’s successor be? The big question in athletics. The Jamaican won both men’s 100m and 200m gold at Beijing 2008, London 2012, and Rio 2016. Now that he’s retired, the question of who will take the mantle of fastest Olympian on the track is unanswered. Will André de Grasse, Noah Lyles, or Trayvon Bromell step up?

4.    How will Simone Biles rebound? After being outscored by Sunisa Lee – a first in the all-around by any gymnast since 2013 – on the second day of U.S. Trials, is this the warning to Biles that she needed that she is not infallible or just a blip? She is, and will still be, the greatest of all time, but she will want to emphasise that at what could be her last Olympic Games.

5.    Despite all the challenges, the athletes are finally in Tokyo, and five years after the last Games will finally get to shine. We’re most definitely looking forward to the incredible sporting action in all 339 events as the athletes go Faster, Higher, Stronger – Together.

Tokyo flower bouquet

The Tokyo medalist bouquet have been made with flowers grown from areas greatly affected by the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake These are the bouquets that will be presented to the medalists.

 

Olympic memories

After 24 years, since the Atlanta 1996 Olympics, this is the first time I have not followed medal winning athletes at the Olympics. They have been exciting experiences when they have won but also when those who could have because they were favored did not deliver their best performance and perhaps did not even enter the final.

I remember all these situations and I can go through the most significant moments as if they had happened yesterday. The Olympics generate unforgettable emotions not only in the athletes but also in those who worked with them.

Now I work with young boys and girls, I hope that someone goes to the Olympics and can experience them as a favorite.