On the day of a match, the time you spend before your match is the most crucial period of match preparation. All of the hours of practice you spend on the courts may go for naught if you do not use your pre-match time wisely. What you think, feel, and do before a match will [...]
Frustration may be your most significant obstacle to achieving your ski racing goals. Every ski racer, from juniors to Olympians, has experienced the feeling of frustration when you’re not able to do something, whether physically (e.g., lift a weight), technically (e.g., maintain a wide enough stance), tactically (e.g., be patient with your line): you feel [...]
Dancers have been training for many years and are now physically, technically, and psychologically ready for the performance. They have laid the foundation that will allow them to perform at their highest level. Now all that remains is for them to prepare specifically for the upcoming performance. The following is a compilation of various techniques [...]
Triathlon is obviously important to you. You put a great deal of effort into your triathlon participation. Because of this, you put your ego on the line every time you get to the starting line. When you don’t perform well, you’re disappointed. This may not feel good, but it’s natural because it means you care [...]
Becoming a better tennis player is, at the same time, satisfying and frustrating. It is wonderful to learn to hit new shots or become more consistent. However, improving is a slow and difficult process. Perhaps the biggest obstacle to learning is focusing on the skills as you play. Typically, you will be thinking about the [...]
The roles of the dance instructor are many and diverse. The instructor must be a teacher, trainer, parent, friend, and a psychologist. This is a lot of responsibility for one person, and it takes considerable experience before an instructor is capable of fulfilling all of these roles effectively. Much time and energy has been spent [...]
One important technique dance instructors employ while providing instruction is reinforcement. Reinforcement, i.e., overt approval of desired skills, behaviors, and attitudes, can be used to increase self-confidence and motivation and to develop technical and physical skills. The goal and result of effective reinforcement is to increase the likelihood that a desired skill will be repeated [...]
One of the most difficult things about dealing with the mental side of triathlon is that its not tangible. Unlike physical conditioning where you can see yourself getting stronger by the amount of weight you=re lifting or technical training where you can see progress on video and on the clock, mental training can=t be directly [...]
A major source of stress for professional tennis players, and players at all levels of ability, is the unexpected things that come up before and during matches. The natural reaction to unexpected events is to back off, become tentative and anxious, and lose confidence and focus. Unexpected events hurt performance. During a match, all kinds [...]
Concentration is perhaps the single most misunderstood psychological factor in dance. In fact, in a recent conversation, an elite dancer indicated that she improved her concentration by staring at the second-hand of a watch for an extended period of time. Though she may think she did, most of the theory and research to date suggests [...]