One thing coaches must consider when evaluating how an athlete performs in practice versus how they perform in competitions is the concept of social facilitation theory. This theory explains how the presence of the social pressure of an audience impacts the mindset of an athlete. To summarize, sometimes the conditions of a competition or practice […]
Coaches and parents would be wise not to overlook an unexplained drop in an athlete’s performance. It’s easy to write this off as a one-time event or an anomaly. Instead of reading the proverbial tea leaves, instinctively parents and coaches want to trust the process and just stay the course. THIS. IS. A. MISTAKE. I […]
Managing the pain of fatigue in sports is 100% mental. This is not to say that the physical capacity of one’s muscles and lungs don’t matter. Athletes must be physically capable of enduring the stress of fatigue. However, one’s ability to endure the stress of fatigue changes as their mindset changes. An athlete could learn […]