Why not train the young athlete to think. Is it expected that an athlete (as well as a child) reflects on what s/he is doing ? How many coaches ask at the end of an exercise: ” What did you do? How could you have done better?” That these are precisely the questions or others it does not matter, what it’s important is to spend the time to ask and encourage a deeper awareness in relation to the technical execution . Another thought: do the coaches believe that talking with their athletes is helpful for learning? Or do they believe that it’s a waste of time? For the reason the athletes are still not sufficiently experts to understand and therefore is it better to follow the coach’s instructions and stop? How many times have you faced on this issue with other colleagues? Is it important to train and develop the athletes’ awareness? My idea is that this is a topic which is discussed too little, because the coaching science is dominated by physiology , biomechanics and medicine, disciplines that do not question themselves on mental (cognitive and emotional) and of social factors of motor learning. As long as there will not be a unitary conception of the individual, the coaches will continue to act largely ignoring the role of thought in sports teaching .
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The match of tonight is Roma-Napoli, the first against second in the Italian championship, and we expect a very good match between two teams who take few goals and that mark with ease. The two coaches are individuals who are not wasted in controversy between them and they are teaching players to think about one match at a time without fitted to the head of their achievements in the league. Roma have to fear of a team that has scored 10 goals so far only in the first half of the matches, which although often do not decide the game, of course, give a practical and emotional advantage . A mistake that teams must avoid is to think about what it will happen if they win, they must not bring his head to the future, especially those who will score first they have to continue to maintain the same kind of concentration had up to that time. For Napoli it will be more useful to have in the eyes the victory with Borussia and certainly not one with Arsenal. It ‘s always best to remember the victories rather than dwell too much on the flaws. What it can stop the game of the two teams is the fear of losing, not being used to playing high-level matches like this one. The role of the coaches i , in relation to this aspect, absolutely decisive to transmit confidence to the players as a team. The confidence with which they will start the match is dependent on them and on how the most significant players in each team will effectively interpreting their role. Have fun.
Although many coaches recognize the decisive role played by the mind in favor/hinder the sport performance, there are still many who think that mental difficulties are overcome by training more or participating in more competition. Typically those who think in this way are convinced that at some point the athlete will be unlocked and will start for him/her a new winning phase of the career. Briefly, you have to compete, gain experience and then, won the first tournament, things will settle. I meet many athletes and they tell me stories like these one but with a different and negative end, because they still have the same problems, affecting more and more their self-confidence. They say that they train well and in competition they always repeat the same mistakes. I then explain, what I have repeated hundreds of times and that is that to have the technical skill (whatever sport) does not mean to know how to cope with the race, which is a different thing. When these athletes become aware of this difference, usually calm down and at this point I can explain to them that follow a program of mental coaching is really helpful to learn how to drive your own mind in the race.
The career of the athletes is lengthening more and more, especially that of most who continue their winning streak. From Roger Federer to Valentina Vezzali or Francesco Totti are many the sport stars who find themselves in this situation. So what it’s the basis to take the decision to continue rather than to give up the sport. Putting aside any physical problems that may prevent or limit the continuation of the career, the decisive element to be taken into consideration is the motivation and dedication that must continue to be strong and intense.
- Motivation means that they will reach the goals set through their commitment.
- Dedication is referred to the intensity with which the purpose is pursued and results in the commitment with which they are working on a daily basis.
When the athletes show these two psychological dimensions they know that it’s not yet time to withdraw and their coaches have a sure parameter to measure the will of their athletes, instead of relying only on the chronological age or years of career variables that can stimulate the prejudices and stereotypes of the coaches.
It starts a new sport season for all children enrolled in schools football (7000 in Italy), tennis, volleyball, swimming and so on. I hope it will be a happy year for play and learning for all, where it will be possible to learn that the sport means loyalty, commitment, fun, cooperation and respect. Children acquire easily these concepts and behaviors that follow, but they must be led by coaches and parents who act to meet these needs. Some suggestions for these adults:
- I will encourage sportsmanship by supporting all boys and girls, as well as coaches, parents and judges.
- My first goal is the physical and emotional development of boys and girls.
- I know that training must satisfy the young and not the adults.
- I will teach boys and girls to respect their opponents and judges.
- Regardless of skill level all will have to fun.
- I will fight against every abusive behavior showed by other adults.
It starts a new football season, this year even more important because it will end with the World Cup in Brazil. There is therefore a further reason for the players to want to play your best, with the aim to be among the 22-man squad for the World Cup in South America. In any event, each team will have its goal to be achieved: for some will not go back, for others to get into the UEFA or confirm the result of the previous season, for others it will be to win the championship or play the Champions League. Beyond the technical and tactical level possessed, each team will show its value only if the players on the field, the bench, the coach and the president will demonstrate a high level of emotional control. The management of the competitive stress affects everyone, without exception. In Italy we were often champions of stress. We have the record of coaches fired during the championship by presidents who can not contain their fears or their wounded narcissism also by a few negative results. We are also a League where the players make too many fouls and it is not true that the players would not be able to avoid them, because when they play at the European level they did less. In Italy they feel free to not respect the rules, protected by fans, coaches and presidents always ready to blame the referees, to talk about a conspiracy against their team or to not have understood that football permit the physical contrasts. The coaches knowing that half of them during the championship will be probably fired risk to live in a dramatic way the negative results of their team, for many it is a temporary job, certainly very well paid, but risky as climbing an eight thousand knowing the number of victims it kills every year. Despite these uncertainties, however, it’s absolutely necessary that the protagonists of football know to keep a cool head, reminding themselves the team’s objectives and how to achieve them. Self-control, effective stress management, aggression loyal and respectful of the opponents must be the basis of the behavior on the field, in other words it means knowing how to manage the emotions in a context, the match, which itself is a highly emotional situation. Therefore the teams have to live for 90 minutes this mental condition showing able to manage it effectively. This is in my opinion the challenge that each team must prepare to face and win each match, as well as the final result.
“I race to win, of course. But even before to win, I run to run. The fastest possible” (Gilles Villeneuve).
It ‘s always useful to reflect the thoughts of a champion that emphasizes how important it is to practice sport first of all because like carrying out that activity. “I run to run.” This approach should be an inspiration to coaches and young people, who often do not live their sport in this way, but only as a job to do every day. I run for the pleasure of running, says Villeneuve, in other words, it’s an intense inner motivation that drove him to do what he did. Who trains the young should thus organize training sessions based on this principle, young people should feel committed to discover and nurture their own pleasure to play that particular sport and parents should encourage their children’s choices and not force them to practice what they as adults prefer.
The new doping scandal in athletics and the doubt that the next winner of the Tour de France is doped represent facts and questions that lead to the sport destruction. We enthusiasts look “our” athletes, for a moment we their best fans but then we wonder if what we look at is true or if we are looking at the crooks. Maybe that’s why we’re so excited about the London Paralympics, because we cannot imagine the possibility that they are doped. What to do? Argue that we must abolish the fight against doping as some say? Of course not! A first answer might be not to leave alone the young who are into sports, alone with coaches, parents, doctors or managers who can convince them to make wrong choices. I would like to talk to these young people and tell them to talk about this big problem and what are the reasons why you may fall into this trap and what they need to be convinced that they can win without getting hurt. We have to talk and talk and talk without ever leaving alone them with their own ghosts and with the suggestions of the dishonest people. I am convinced that no organization of the sport has never acted in this way, because for them it is only important to say doping is bad for health and it is persecuted by law. But no one is interested to the fears and ghosts of these young people. We continue with this biological vision of the athlete but we cannot hide ourselves behind the “I told you.”
Some of the John Wooden‘s best sentences to remember when we lose our confidence.
“Ability may get you to the top, but it takes character to keep you there.”
“Don’t let yesterday take up too much of today.”
“A coach is someone who can give correction without causing resentment.”
“It’s the little details that are vital. Little things make big things happen.”
“The importance of repetition until automaticity cannot be overstated. Repetition is the key to learning.”
One of the factors that limit the diffusion of the mental coaching among athletes lies in the resistance that coaches show toward this activity. For many of them the psychological preparation is “something more” to use only in those cases in which athletes show obvious mental limitations that hinder their performances. Coaches usually send to the sport psychologist those athletes that they call “athletes good for training” and that they have poor performances in the race. In other words, they send those athletes on which after having “tried everything” cannot “unlock”. Athletes who start a program of mental improvement from a negative state hope to achieve positive results in a short time, which is very difficult for athletes who often have the same problem for years, have never done anything to change and live every race with the hope that will be the one that will overcome their problem. In addition, these athletes are not used to invest economically on them, except for a few sessions of physiotherapy for physical problems, and then think about having a mental coach for at least a year with which to carry out a specific program becomes an additional obstacle. In favor of the athletes must be said that in Italy the sports federations and sports organizations of the State do not offer any support and, to be more clear, this sport side it’s completely misunderstood. Consequently, what are the athletes who attend programs of psychological preparation? They are usually the strongest athletes, those can win a medal in the international competitions, they understand the added value of mental work and are willing to invest financially. They are also the parents of those who practice sports such as tennis, golf and shooting in the planning of future career also consider this aspect and these athletes are generally motivated to follow these programs. To reduce the economic impact on the individual, sports clubs could arrange meetings with their athletes, but nobody else does. On the other hand it is extremely rare for a coach to follow a program of psychological training, so while on the one hand we tend to ever more extreme knowledge for physical and technical training, with regard to psychological ones we are still left at the principle of the stick and the carrot that everyone interprets according to his/her personal experiences.
