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the sport psychologist, and the athlete; The Results: Out of Our Control
however, a knowledgeable and interested Acknowledging that is important for the
coach can learn basic psychological skills athlete, followed by focusing on capitalizing
and impart them to the athlete, especially on things within one’s control. “If you’re a
during actual practice. basketball player and your jump shot is
struggling, perhaps focus on controlling
Performance Anxiety: your efforts on rebounds,” Mikesell says. “By
Identify The Reality, Name It, and Tame allowing yourself to say that hey there are
It - Different athletes experience different things in my control that I can do, that takes
pressures when it comes to tryouts. For a some of the pressure off of hitting every
seasoned player, it may be ‘What line will I single jump shot.” At the end of the day, it’s
play on?’ while for another athlete it may be important to recognize that pressure and
‘I just want to make the team.’ Regardless nerves are a normal part of tryout week, and
of the situation, the worries often stem experiencing them isn’t a sign of weakness.
from a common denominator. Mikesell Yet when the going gets tough, gratitude
emphasizes that it’s important for athletes can be a great way to center oneself and
to acknowledge and recognize that. After remind us why we’re there.
that? Changing the mindset from viewing
things as a threat to instead, a challenge. Branches of Sports Psychology:
“There’s fear of people’s opinion and that • Social Psychology: The study of group
can feel threatening and then we focus on dynamics, including the social behavior
everything that we’re doing wrong, “(When of sportsmen in play situations, with group
you start feeling nervous when coaches are and society is one of the important parts
watching), come back to what is important of this discipline. This also deals with
at the moment,” Mikesell says. “Think about cooperation, attitude toward competition,
where your attention is at. If it’s about being group formation, group maintenance,
judged by the coach, then it’s in the future group cohesion, sociometry, leadership,
and we’re playing the what-if game. You management, and social and cultural
have to bring your attention back to the effects on the performer.
present because that’s the only way you’re • Educational Psychology of Sports: This
going to perform well.” is connected with the motivation and
It’s okay to be nervous, and even more learning of the athletes such as retention,
important to acknowledge it. When those reminiscence, transfer of coaching, and
nerves kick in, we often go from cruise control teaching. Athletes must receive process
that results from thousands of previous reps and retain information for subsequent use.
to manual autopilot, focusing on mechanics The coach is responsible for creating an
that prevent us from playing freely. To get environment in which information can be
back to cruise control, Mikesell recommends efficiently received.
using tactical breathing and focusing on • Developmental psychology: This deals with
sensations rather than mechanics. “It the growth of human beings from birth to
could be building in a deep breath, maybe death. 1) The heredity and environmental
focusing on how we want the movement influence on the performer during
to feel,” Mikesell says. “Instead of thinking I competition 2) optimal age for learning the
want my arm to be here or my release point skills of different types 3) The peak years of
to be here, it could be ‘I want to feel smooth. performance 4) The sex and age difference
of the competitors and its influence on the
performance level.
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