Sports Psych - Monthly Tip
September 2023
BURNOUT
For young athletes, burnout has become more and more of a worry. With athletes training 12 months a year, they can become exhausted both emotionally and physically and the love and natural exuberance of the sport becomes a thing of the past. Burnout is our body’s reaction to chronic stress caused by overtraining or several external stressors. How to keep from getting burnt:
1. GIVE YOUR BODY WHAT IT NEEDS – eat a healthy and balanced diet, hydrate your body before, during and following your workout. Work on your breathing while working out and through activities like yoga. You can boost your athletic performance by something as simple as working on your breathing.
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2. GET ENOUGH SLEEP – The research shows us that athlete burnout can be prevented and even treated with quality sleep. Sleep helps you recover faster from injury, lower stress and improves immune function. In addition, gains made in our sport are transferred from short-term to long-term memory through our sleep.
3. FOCUS ON FUN – everyone wants to win, but we also need to enjoy what we are doing. If you stop enjoying a sport, chances are you will stop participating in it. Don’t define success only by winning, but also by your ability to improve you stills while still having fun. Remember, no one becomes a great athlete overnight, it takes time, patience, and setting realistic goals.
4. PARTICIPATE IN MULTIPLE SPORTS - young athletes should be encouraged to try multiple sports. When young athletes have a voice in sports they participate in, they grow more committed and the possibility of success also grows. In addition, college recruiters looks for athletes who play more than one sport, as it keeps athletes health physically and psychologically, and the possibility of burnout decreases.
5. TAKE A BREAK – this is extremely important. After each workout & practice, you need to rest and recover. Athletes burnout within a year if they train too hard for too long. After a season, you should always take some time off to let your body and mind recover.
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August 2023
"THE SECRET" - EVERYONE IS NERVOUS. Whether you are an Olympic or professional athlete or a middle school athlete, WE ARE ALL NERVOUS. We are nervous stepping on the line and we are nervous stepping into the batter's box! As a collegiate athlete, I often experienced significant performance anxiety, what I didn't realize is that my idols in track and field experienced the same anxiety. Embrace the anxiety, the adrenaline burst will make you faster and stronger!
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July 2023
1. Self-talk - in athletics, self-talk is extremely important. Successful athletes talk to themselves the way they talk to their best friend. Use self-talk to regulate thoughts, feelings, and behaviors during competition. Successful athletes maintain their self-confidence during difficult times with realistic, positive self-talk. Jackie Joyner Kersee, one of the most decorated Olympic athletes, used positive self-talk to overcome her performance anxiety.
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2. Errors in performance - Edson Arantes do Nascimento, better known by his nickname Pele, looked at mistakes in play as opportunities to get better. You can't get better unless you makes those mistakes. Retrain your mind, thinking of a mistake as an opportunity to get better.
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June 2023
At the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, before bedtime, many athletes utilize visualization and imagery techniques in order to commit various aspects of sports' technique to memory.
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Visualization occurs when athletes are able to create images of their sport in their minds without external prompts or stimulation. While visualizing their sports, their mind will record it as if it really happened. Visualization helps athletes to stay confident, focused, mentally tough and to mentally practice their sports without overtraining or overworking their bodies.
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May 2023
One of the defining characteristics between elite and non-elite athletes is mental toughness. How do we achieve mental toughness. It is becoming more and more apparent that the mental game is just as important as the physical in athletics.
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Most of you have been told to log your workouts and log your miles, but have you been told to log your mindset prior to a workout or log your mindset prior to a race, game or meet.
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By logging your mindset, you can evaluate what works for you and what doesn't. What are you thinking about when you have your best performances? What are you thinking at the start of a game, standing on the foul line, standing on the starting line or standing in the batter's box. By paying attention to what you are thinking, you can change your thought processes, and influence your performance in a positive way (by simply your thoughts alone).
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