Archive for the 'Mental coaching' Category

Qualities of a great sports coach

The International Olympic Committee has published this text concerning the identification of the main qualities of a great coach. They are interesting, as beyond individual differences, they describe psychological dimensions very similar to those of any other leader who guides successful groups in other areas.

There is no single correct way to coach an athlete. You have your own unique coaching style that works and that no one else can replicate. Nevertheless, there are some traits that are common to all great coaches, no matter how they are applied.

  1. UNDERSTANDING THE SPORT  - To be able to teach effectively, you must have in-depth understanding of the sport from the fundamental skills to advanced tactics and strategy. You may even have experience from a career playing the sport. Coaches must plan for the season, know the progressive nature of training adaptation, know the rules, and provide a simple, structured environment for athletes to succeed.
  2. EAGERNESS TO LEARN - While a good coach knows a great deal about a sport, you must continue to learn and develop new training techniques. Staying up-to-date and informed of new research, training and everything which supports the coaching process is a sign of a great coach. Attending classes in a range of subjects such as sport psychology, nutrition and exercise physiology is a great idea and is readily accessible for any coach who wants to grow and improve.
  3. SHARING KNOWLEDGE - Obtaining knowledge is important but having the confidence to share and seek others’ views, especially those outside of your sport, is a key quality. The best coaches clearly understand they are there to educate the athletes. Most athletes spend most of the time training on their own, so the more they really understand what they are doing and why they are doing it the better they will train and practise.
  4. MOTIVATIONAL SKILLS - A successful coach is a motivator with a positive attitude and enthusiasm for the sport and the athletes. A coach who can motivate is able to generate the desire to excel in their athletes. When motivating a player, a good coach stresses trying to reach performance goals, not outcome goals. Enjoyment and fun are the cornerstones to successful coaching.
  5. KNOWING THE ATHLETE - Being aware of individual differences in athletes is an important ingredient in coaching excellence. Emotional displays may work for some athletes but could have a devastating effect on others. Individualising communication and motivation to specific athletes is vital to successful coaching. Paying attention to your athlete’s emotions, strengths and weaknesses is the responsibility of a good coach.
  6. COMMUNICATION - An effective coach communicates well and exudes credibility, competence, respect and authority. You should be able to explain ideas clearly. Clear communication means setting defined goals, giving direct feedback and reinforcing the key messages. Acknowledging success is also essential for good communication. Language is a key part of coaching and keeping everything simple and easily understood can be vital.
  7. LISTENING SKILLS - Part of communicating effectively is listening. You should be compassionate and welcome an athlete’s comments, questions and input. An effective coach will actively seek out information from athletes, and work in an environment where athletes are encouraged to present ideas and thoughts.
  8. DISCIPLINE - Athletes need to adhere to a reasonable set of rules both on and off the field and if these are ignored you are responsible for discipline. Trust between athlete and coach is of paramount importance at all times and essential for successful coaching. An effective coach clearly states a code of conduct up front and adheres to it. Evidence supports that for discipline to effectively change behaviour, it must be mild, prompt and consistent.
  9. LEADING BY EXAMPLE - An effective coach also leads by example. You should adhere to the same rules you expect of athletes. A coach who wants respect should also show respect and a coach who wants athletes to listen should also listen to athletes.
  10. COMMITMENT AND PASSION - The best coaches are in the profession because they love it. Besides being strongly committed to the sports and success, the best coaches display a clear commitment to looking out for the best interest of the individual athletes. Coaching is an around the clock job, as top coaches live and breathe the art of coaching.

The abuse within élite sport

Giffin, C.E., Schinke, R.J., Wagstaff, C., Quartiroli, A., Larivière, M., Coholic, D., Li, Y. (2024). Advancing Safe Sport Through Occupational Health and Safety a Thematic Meta-Synthesis Exploring Abuse within Elite Adult Sport Contexts. International Journal of Sport Psychology, 55(1), 1-31.

Occupational health and safety management systems (OHSMS) promote healthy workplace environments through regulating hazards and health promotion activities. Abuse within elite sports is one hazard that threatens the health and safety of elite adult athletes.

Despite the widespread existence of evidence-informed guidelines to safeguard youth athletes, few safeguards have been developed for elite adult athletes, despite sport being their primary occupation.

Through a critical realist lens, we used a thematic meta-synthesis to search, appraise and synthesize 20 articles conducted with elite adult athletes who have experienced abuse. We present three themes to highlight: (a) how abuse types (sexual, psychology, physical, and financial) are fluid and expand over time, (b) the contextual factors that influence abuse (individual, relational, structural, cultural), and (c) temporal impacts of abuse throughout athletes’ early, late, and post-sport careers.

The present work is discussed in relation to perceived advancement of OHSMS and safe sport through protecting athletes from the hazards present within their occupational environments.

First women alpinist expedition on K2

Seventy years after the Italian ascent of K2, the CAI (Italian Alpine Club) is preparing by going beyond the dimension of pure sports achievement: 9 women – four Italian athletes, four Pakistanis, and one doctor – will depart in June for the second highest peak on Earth, ready to leave a mark on Italian sports, but also an imprint on a social and human level.

Federica Mingolla, Silvia Loreggian, Anna Torretta, Cristina Piolini, Samina Baig, Amina Bano, Nadeema Sahar, Samana Rahim, and Dr. Lorenza Pratali: they were the protagonists of the project presentation day organized by CAI with EvK2CNR, an association dedicated to scientific and technological research at high altitude.

It won’t just be a sports achievement but a shared experience that can create strong bonds, a blend of challenges, joys, and difficulties that will leave a mark on each of them. The objective is to tell the female perspective within the context of a Himalayan expedition that sees mountaineers from different worlds and cultures climbing together. Agostino Da Polenza, a highly experienced professional and profound connoisseur of those mountains, will coordinate the climbers. The project will start with training days on Monte Bianco (March 15-18), where the climbers will prepare to face K2.

Damn penalties

Once again, penalties decided the outcome of an important match like the direct elimination game between Atletico Madrid and Inter.

The history of top-level football is filled with glaring failures, such as Roberto Baggio’s mistake in the World Cup final against Brazil, as well as many lesser-known errors that occur continuously on football fields around the world. The success of such executions is determined by two factors: total concentration on performance and timing.

The first factor involves the player focusing entirely on the optimal execution of the sporting gesture. Before starting the run-up, the player concentrates on the sensations related to the movement, knowing that when this happens, the result is positive.

Thus, before the action, the player should mentally rehearse the shot to have exactly what they will do in the next minute at the forefront of their mind. With this image in mind, the player prepares for the actual execution.

The second essential element that every player should adhere to is the timing required to perform the action. It’s a time that takes into account individual preferences and those specified by the rules of football. Often, a penalty is missed because it doesn’t correspond to these requirements. An error can occur by rushing the shot preparation, acting more impulsively than controlled. Other times, the preparation may be too long, almost as if one wants to delay the moment of execution.

An essential aspect of these precision tasks, which is part of the timing and mental rehearsal of the shooting action, concerns the player’s gaze orientation during those moments, as it’s likely that wherever the player fixes their gaze, their attention is directed there.

Where does a player look while about to take a penalty kick? Eduardo Galeano illustrated this in a literary and elegant manner, speaking of a famous penalty kick taken by Meazza:

“It happened in the 1938 World Cup. In the semifinals, Italy and Brazil played their destiny, do or die.

The Italian forward Piola suddenly collapsed, as if struck by a gunshot, and with his only finger still alive, he pointed at the Brazilian defender Domingos de Guia. The Swiss referee believed him, blew the whistle: penalty. While the Brazilians shouted to the heavens and Piola got up, dusting himself off, Giuseppe Meazza placed the ball on the penalty spot.

Meazza was the beauty of the team. A graceful little man in love, an elegant penalty taker, he lifted his head inviting the goalkeeper like a matador with a bull in the final assault. And his feet, as flexible and wise as hands, never missed. But Walter, the Brazilian goalkeeper, was good at saving penalties and had confidence in himself.

Meazza took the run-up, and just as he was about to strike, his pants fell down. The crowd was stunned, and the referee almost swallowed his whistle. But Meazza, without stopping, grabbed his pants with one hand and beat the goalkeeper, disarmed by laughter. That was the goal that propelled Italy to the championship final.”

However, the fact that penalties also represent a difficulty always ready to present itself is confirmed by analyzing the conversion rates of penalties taken by the Italian national team throughout its history. In fact, penalties taken by the Azzurri in all competitions have been 86, of which 67 were scored and 19 were missed. Therefore, the missed ones represent 22% of those taken.

Gen Z and Millenials: Stress and anxiety remain high

Young people born between 1996 and 2010 (aged between 28 and 14) belong to Generation Z, while Millennials refer to those born between 1980 and 1995 (aged between 44 and 30). These distinctions are somewhat rigid because these categories consider differences of about 15 years between the two age extremes, and obviously, a teenager starting high school at 14 is very different from a 28-year-old who should already have years of work experience. The same goes for Millennials, where some have passed 40 years old while the other extreme is approaching 30.

So, keeping these differences in mind, it is still interesting to consider the data from a study conducted in 2023 by Deloitte to analyze these types of groups. The results were as follows:

Nearly half of Generation Z members (46%) and four in ten Millennials (39%) report feeling frequently stressed or anxious at work.

Their long-term financial futures, day-to-day financial availability, and the health/well-being of their families are the main sources of stress, as well as concerns about mental health and work-related factors such as high workloads, work-life imbalance, and unhealthy team cultures. Generation Z and Millennials are reporting increasingly high levels of burnout due to work-related pressures.

More than half of the participants acknowledge that their employers are taking mental health more seriously, and that their efforts to improve workplace mental health are having a positive impact. However, mental health support and resources are still underutilized, likely due to the social and workplace stigma that still surrounds them.

Generation Z and Millennials have conflicting feelings about the impact of social media on their mental health. Nearly half say they have a positive impact, but over 40% state that they make them feel lonely or inadequate and that they feel pressured by constant online presence.

The coach mindset

I quote this text by Vern Gambetta on the mindset that every coach should possess.

Regardless of how many years you have been coaching, always approach what you do with a beginner’s mind (“Shoshin” in Japanese). Never lose this perspective, because it is full of possibilities. It helps to see with a child’s eyes. It is seeing what is actually there, as opposed to seeing what we think is there. Erase confirmation bias. Expect nothing, and you will be surprised with what you see.

Getting better, step by step –some practical pointers:

  • Have a clearly defined vision and mission statement. Turn the words into action and live them in coaching and in life. The vision statement is a statement of purpose; it is why you do what you do. The mission statement is a clear description of the route; it is how you will do it.
  • Practice daily self-reflection, and make it a habit. Debrief after every training session. It can be formal or informal; do whatever fits your situation. Keep a journal and answer these questions: What did I plan to do? Did it get done? Was it exceptional, average or good? Why and why not? What do I need to do better next time? Taking time to answer these questions is a simple but effective way to constantly improve.
  • Read everything you can – read books, articles websites and blogs. Learn from anyone you can. Try to have a focus or the theme to direct your reading. Take notes. Discuss your reading with others.
  • Write – keep a journal. Tie this to your self-reflection and debrief. Take notes on your reading and things you hear or read.
  • Do it yourself –try it and feel it. There is no better way to teach a skill than to learn it yourself. That will give you a feel for what the athlete has to do when they are learning.
  • Network & Collaborate –work together with someone. Together is better. Seek diverse opinions and critical evaluation of your work.
  • Find a mentor both in and out of coaching. Find someone who has been there before and is willing to share their success and failures.
  • Go outside your sport and outside of sport – go far afield. I have found a wealth of ideas look- ing at design thinking. Look at the performing arts.
  • Know what you know, and know what you do not know. Be confident, but never be con- strained by either.
  • Remember that communication is the essence of good coaching. It is also the cornerstone of getting better. It demands intention and attention: intention that the meaning be shared and at- tention that it has been shared. Pay attention!
  • Observe –watch good coaches coach, and for that matter, watch bad coaches coach. You can learn what to do and what not to do. Watch and read interviews of coaches.
  • Specialize in being a generalist –get uncomfortable and go outside your area of expertise. Make connections between seemingly unconnected areas. This will allow you to make more diverse connections to deepen, as well as broaden, your knowledge.
  • Practice tech free coaching days
  • Leave your iPhone and iPad in the office. Put the Go Pro away.
  • Stop! Look! Listen! Heighten and sharpen your observational skills. Don’t worry about bar

Football and autism: To enhance the sports and psychosocial skills

Cei, A., Ruscello, B., Sepio, D. (2023). The role of Football in Enhancing psychosocial skills in Youth with Autism spectrum disorderInternational Journal of Sport Psychology, 54(5), 373-388.

Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) exhibit deficits in social interaction, understanding of tasks, and verbal and nonverbal communication (APA, 2013). Several studies have examined the role of physical activity and sports in promoting skill acquisition in these areas and also in improving psychological and social abilities (e.g., Cei et al., 2017; Cei and Luiselli, 2017; Bremer et al., 2016; Luiselli, 2014).

The main reason for increasing these activities in children with ASD is to counter their predominantly sedentary condition (Lalonde, 2017), enhancing their body functioning, cognitive and emotional processes, as well as enriching and improving interactions with peers and adults. These are certainly ambitious goals but are the same ones developed and valued by typically developing peers in sports clubs.

Up to now, the dissemination of physical activity programs in youth with ASD has been neglected, even though research data show motor, psychological, and social benefits from continued practice over time. Additionally, sports can serve as effective support for therapies involving these youth. Despite these positive findings, it remains more likely for a young person with intellectual disabilities to lead a sedentary lifestyle, which in turn contributes to problems like obesity, cardiovascular diseases, and respiratory issues (De, Small, and Baur, 2008; Kahathuduwa et al., 2019).

In contrast, engagement in physical activity programs, even at moderate levels of intensity, can improve flexibility, increase muscle strength, reduce weight and body mass index. It also impacts psychological issues by reducing behavioral difficulties (reduction of stereotyped movements and self-stimulating behaviors), improving self-concept, and developing cognitive functions (Luiselli 2014; Sowa and Meulenbroek, 2012).

Major literature reviews have highlighted that the activities mostly involve individual sports such as running, cycling, weight training, roller skating, horseback riding, walking, and water activities  and treadmill use (Bremer et al., 2016; Lang et al., 2010; Sowa and Meulenbroek, 2012; Lancioni et al., 2009). These studies have shown that short and intense exercises can facilitate learning and reduce behavioral problems during and immediately after training sessions.

The reason why individual sports have been used more frequently compared to other sports lies in the apparent ease of teaching strategies and the reduction of practical cooperative activities and development of social skills compared to team sports. However, team sports and group activities might facilitate those prosocial behaviors and interpersonal communication that play a more marginal role in individual activities.

To address this need, Cei et al. (2017) developed a naturalistic intervention to study the effects of a football-based training program on children with ASD. In the initial phase, “Calcio Insieme” (Football Together) project recruited 30 children (6-13 years old) with ASD from the public schools.

To assess the impact of the training program on psychosocial skills (collaboration, communication, socialization, problematic behaviors, self-support), interviews were conducted with parents and school teachers before and after the training period. The results showed that after 8 months of activity, parents and school teachers perceived that participants had improved their psychosocial and motor skills, with differences based on the severity of their condition.

Coach and psychologist role to develop the young

To teach young athletes to compete with satisfaction, deriving pleasure from the competition with their opponents and from solving the difficulties that are usually present in competitions, it is necessary for coaches and psychologists to work together to guide them through this experience.

Today, young people often experience competitive situations with insecurity compared to the past. As repeatedly mentioned, an important cause of this psychological condition stems from growing up from childhood to adolescence in environments almost always organized by adults, where play managed autonomously by them has been and continues to be almost entirely absent. In these situations, there are always adults teaching them how to do things, thus creating a vicious circle in which teachers, family members, and coaches completely organize their lives.

In this way, young people must constantly be accountable to an adult and are rarely free to behave spontaneously.

This way of living leads young people to never feel fully responsible for their actions, not learn to correct themselves, and never decide how to do an activity because it is already organized and they are expected to participate while respecting the rules.

This is one of the reasons why these young people tend to become less autonomous and develop a psychological condition of low self-confidence. On this basis, no professional can alone solve the situation. The coach cannot become a psychologist on their own, but together they must integrate their skills to promote the sport and psychological development of the young people they work with.

It is quite obvious that young people may be more influenced by the coach because they spend all the time dedicated to sports with them, compared to the psychologist with whom they do not have such daily contact. However, it is the adults first, the coach and the psychologist, who must interact frequently with each other to decide how to act with the young people, each respecting the different professions to make the young people they work with increasingly autonomous.

It is an exchange of work that should take place on a weekly basis, like a real training program that develops gradually. It would be a serious mistake if the coach’s work took precedence even in the psychological area because they do not possess the necessary skills.

Walking is good but at least more than 2200 steps

We have been told for years that walking 10,000 steps a day reduces the risk of heart disease and premature death, even in those who spend the rest of the day sedentary.

Recent research has highlighted that the minimum number of steps is 2,200 per day and that health risks decrease as we increase our steps throughout the day. The risk is significantly reduced among people who take between 9,000 and 10,500 steps per day, with a 39% reduction in the risk of premature death and over a fifth reduction in the risk of a heart attack or stroke.

Although the results have shown that any number of daily steps above 2,200 was associated with lower rates of death and heart disease, regardless of sedentary time, the benefits increase with more steps taken by individuals.

These new studies indicate that every single step toward reaching 10,000 steps a day counts in reducing the risk of death and heart disease.

So let’s stay active for our health as advised, through 150 minutes of moderate exercise per week. And in any way possible, we should strive to reach 10,000 steps a day.

It’s truly alarming if global health organizations have to remind us to walk, to engage in the simplest and most natural action a human can take.

Nevertheless, we must follow this advice because, as the saying goes, “it’s a matter of health.”

Physical activity and interventions on psychopatology

Singh B, Olds T, Curtis R, et al. Effectiveness of physical activity interventions for improving depression, anxiety and distress: an overview of systematic reviews. British Journal of Sports Medicine 2023; 57:1203-1209.

PA was effective at reducing depression and anxiety across all clinical conditions, though the magnitude of the benefit varied between clinical groups. The larger effect sizes observed in clinical populations may reflect that these populations experience above-average symptoms of depression and anxiety and have low PA levels, and, therefore, have a greater scope for improvement compared with non-clinical populations.

All PA modes were beneficial, including aerobic, resistance, mixed-mode exercise and yoga. It is likely that the beneficial effects of PA on depression and anxiety are due to a combination of various psychological, neurophysiological and social mechanisms. Different modes of PA stimulate different physiological and psychosocial effects, and this was supported by our findings (eg, resistance exercise had the largest effects on depression, while Yoga and other mind–body exercises were most effective for reducing anxiety). Furthermore, our findings showed that moderate-intensity and high-intensity PA modes were more effective than lower intensities. PA improves depression though various neuromolecular mechanisms including increased expression of neurotrophic factors, increased availability of serotonin and norepinephrine, regulation of hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis activity and reduced systemic inflammation. Therefore, low-intensity PA may be insufficient for stimulating the neurological and hormonal changes that are associated with larger improvements in depression and anxiety. Overall, our findings add further support to public health guidelines, which recommend multimodal, moderate and vigorous intensity PA.

PA was effective at reducing depression and anxiety across all clinical conditions, though the magnitude of the benefit varied between clinical groups. The larger effect sizes observed in clinical populations may reflect that these populations experience above-average symptoms of depression and anxiety and have low PA levels, and, therefore, have a greater scope for improvement compared with non-clinical populations.

All PA modes were beneficial, including aerobic, resistance, mixed-mode exercise and yoga. It is likely that the beneficial effects of PA on depression and anxiety are due to a combination of various psychological, neurophysiological and social mechanisms. Different modes of PA stimulate different physiological and psychosocial effects, and this was supported by our findings (eg, resistance exercise had the largest effects on depression, while Yoga and other mind–body exercises were most effective for reducing anxiety). Furthermore, our findings showed that moderate-intensity and high-intensity PA modes were more effective than lower intensities. PA improves depression though various neuromolecular mechanisms including increased expression of neurotrophic factors, increased availability of serotonin and norepinephrine, regulation of hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis activity and reduced systemic inflammation. Therefore, low-intensity PA may be insufficient for stimulating the neurological and hormonal changes that are associated with larger improvements in depression and anxiety. Overall, our findings add further support to public health guidelines, which recommend multimodal, moderate and vigorous intensity PA