Sports Mastery

Relationships never get tested until they get tested. People are of infinite complexity and you can spend a lifetime watching them without ever fully understanding them. So it is all the more important, then, to begin your education now. In doing so you must also keep one principle in mind: Never discriminate as to whom you study and whom you trust. Never trust anyone completely and study everyone, including friends and loved ones. How can we better prepare for the dark side of others. We must first look within and better understand our own troubling emotions. What if we could understand why we are so compelled to desire what other people have, or to identify so strongly with a group that we feel contempt for those on the outside? What if we could find out what causes us to lie about who we are, or to inadvertently push people away.

HOME WORK:

Define Hindsight

Define Insight

Define Foresight

Mental toughness is…

…when you, your body, the competition, nature, or the environment has the best of you so that you’re physically tapped out and need to figure out how to pull something out of yourself… not in a robotic way—in a way that’s mentally aware and engaged. It’s not just the ability to keep moving but to keep doing it in a way that’s engaged and competitive in the environment you’re in, whether that’s competing against the clock or other human beings. It’s easy when you feel good physically. It’s when that physicality leaves you.

Why you’re stronger than you think you are...

What you’re physically capable of in athletic environment is more determined by your mental strength than your physical capabilities… your body can go beyond what your physical perceptions of tiredness or fatigue are. Your brain will be telling you “You’re tired. Stop.” It’s trying to stop you from killing yourself. The mental limitations kick in before the physical limitations.

On training for mental toughness

Visualization is a piece of the training that is incredibly important. You don’t have to do anything physically—you can be meditating or walking, anything where you’re in your mind, playing it out in advance. You’re imagining the start, the route, the competition, those points that your body is saying, ”stop,” or that you’re suffering. You’re mentally training yourself to push through those barriers.

How do you spot the potential in something thats looks ordinary?

What does potential which has not yet found expression look like?

How do you spot a superstar who is not yet a superstar?

What does talent that whispers look like?

These are some of the questions that we tackle during this episode. You'll also hear from two collegiate athletes that share a story of hard work, diligence, and belief.

CONSIDERATIONS

• It's not about the performance - it's about the story behind the performance
• Understand the difference between a fatal flaw and an opportunity
• Put passion above skills

What you should never forget about TALENT IDENTIFICATION

1. The world is full of overlooked talent. If you look in the same way and in the same places as everybody else, you'll get what everybody else gets.
2. Great potential does not necessarily manifest itself in current top performance.
3. Hire for skills and fire for attitude.
4. Talent identification is not about talking. It's about listening. Listen for what you can't tread in a resume.

SPORT SPECIALIZATION CONSIDERATIONS

Skill Acquisition and Motor Performance Perspective

Perhaps the greatest and most obvious benefit of specialization is the acquisition, development, and proficiency of motor skills related to success in a given sport. An athlete who practices a skill or set of skills with increased frequency and duration, considering he or she does so in a scientifically appropriate manner, may become more proficient at the skills than one who practices them periodically and irregularly, as may be the case with diversification. With the relatively short career of most athletes and a perceived finite amount of time with which an individual can reach peak physical performance, many athletes and coaches believe that it is foolish not to specialize.

However, studies from the former Soviet Union, in which early specialization was widely practiced, have provided evidence against its effectiveness. It’s widely recognized that only a minority of Soviet athletes from single sport backgrounds were able to improve performance later in their careers and that most diversified athletes attributed success to a multi-sport background. Athletes who specialized early in their careers experienced quick performance improvement, they achieved their best performances by age 16, then performed much less consistently and quit their sport sooner than those whose training programs were diversified.

 No sport program should restrict the diversification of physical skills or social development of athletes under the age of 15. The child must also be permitted the participation in - - other sport and non-sport activities without the associated guilt sometimes experienced by talented athletes who are pressured by adults to remain in a sport.

Coaches and parents must understand and plan for long-term periodization of training. The phrase "a champion cannot be made overnight," while taught to athletes to ensure adherence and loyalty to a demanding schedule, ideally is the guiding philosophy by which a long-term training program is structured. Such a program should allow for appropriate training breaks crucial for physiological and psychological recovery from training, at which time an athlete could balance complete rest from the sport with participation in other sports or activities at a lower level of intensity. When a child reaches an age in which he or she is physiologically and psychologically mature enough to handle increased training loads, specialization at that time may be justified to optimize the positive adaptations accompanying the advanced intensity and duration of training. Most importantly, at the center of periodization should be the needs and wants of the young athlete and the incorporation of other important variables into a training season, such as educational and social opportunities outside of sport. Under these conditions, young athletes have an optimal chance of attaining athletic success under the proper physical, social, and psychological development afforded to them through sport.

Nevada shooting guard Jazz Johnson is looking forward to his senior season. He was the Wolf Pack's leading 3-point shooter last season. In a candid interview, he sits down with me and co-host Leland Johnson (Father) to discuss:

• Overcoming Adversity
• Training
• Mental Toughness

After coming off the bench for all but one of his 33 appearances last season, Johnson was named the Mountain West's sixth man of the year. He averaged 11.0 points in 28.6 minutes per game. Stay tuned!

Self-talk is your internal dialogue. It’s influenced by your subconscious mind, and it reveals your thoughts, beliefs, questions, and ideas.

Self-talk can be both negative and positive. It can be encouraging, and it can be distressing. Much of your self-talk depends on your personality. If you’re an optimist, your self-talk may be more hopeful and positive. The opposite is generally true if you tend to be a pessimist.

Positive thinking and optimism can be effective stress management tools. Indeed, having a more positive outlook on life can provide you with plenty of benefits. 

If you believe your self-talk is too negative, or if you want to emphasize positive self-talk, you can learn to shift that inner dialogue. It can help you be a more positive person, and it may improve your health.

Why is it good for you? Self-talk can enhance your performance and general well-being. Research shows self-talk can help athletes with performance. It may help them with endurance or to power through a set of heavy weights.

It’s not clear why optimists and individuals with more positive self-talk experience these benefits. However, research suggests people with positive self-talk may have mental skills that allow them to solve problems, think differently, and be more efficient at coping with hardships or challenges. This can reduce the harmful effects of stress and anxiety. Listen in to learn more.

HOW TO HAVE A POSITIVE ATTITUDE…

A positive attitude–optimism, expectancy, and enthusiasm–makes everything in academics, sport, and life easier. A positive attitude will fuel you when you’re down and supercharge you when you’re already “in the zone.”

Here’s how to cultivate a positive attitude, regardless of what’s happening at school, practice, or at home:

#1 Link positivity, creativity and attention. In addition to physical benefits, a positive attitude produces a “broad, flexible cognitive organization and ability to integrate diverse material.” These effects improve your attention, creativity, and ability to learn. Positive emotions also improve a person’s ability to cope with minimal playtime, upsets, and a difficult coach.

#2 Reframe negative moments as positive ones. Take time to reflect on your latest bouts with negative self-talk. Spend some time reframing these negative self-discussions in a way where you can get positive emotions out of these experiences.

For example, if you experienced your coach yelling at you, reframe his intentions as positive constructive criticism . If you felt embarrassed about an error or mistake in a game, think about how it is actually silly or laughable to be thinking about it 3 days later. Even if your coach was upset about you throwing an interception, mistakes happen from time to time. With any luck, maybe your coach will see the humor in it also.

If you don’t treat smaller mistakes as life-altering experiences, you will be able to handle situations better. One way to handle the game losing interception, is to watch more film with your offensive coordinator and quarterback coach. Next, you can offer to work on the plays that beat blitzing linebackers.

#3 Recover from negative life events more quickly. Building and maintaining a positive attitude can help you be more resilient to negative life events such as a below average SAT score. People who experience positive emotions when discouraged tend to develop healthy long-term plans. Having goals and plans will result in an overall better sense of well-being after suffering setbacks.

DeShawn Fontleroy

HOW TO HAVE A POSITIVE ATTITUDE...

A positive attitude--optimism, expectancy, and enthusiasm--makes everything in academics, sport, and life easier. A positive attitude will fuel you when you're down and supercharge you when you're already "in the zone."

Here's how to cultivate a positive attitude, regardless of what's happening at school, practice, or at home:

#1 Link positivity, creativity and attention. In addition to physical benefits, a positive attitude produces a “broad, flexible cognitive organization and ability to integrate diverse material.”  These effects improve your attention, creativity, and ability to learn. Positive emotions also improve a person’s ability to cope with minimal playtime, upsets, and a difficult coach.

#2 Reframe negative moments as positive ones. Take time to reflect on your latest bouts with negative self-talk. Spend some time reframing these negative self-discussions in a way where you can get positive emotions out of these experiences.

For example, if you experienced your coach yelling at you, reframe his intentions as positive constructive criticism . If you felt embarrassed about an error or mistake in a game, think about how it is actually  silly or laughable to be thinking about it 3 days later. Even if your coach was upset about you throwing an interception, mistakes happen from time to time. With any luck, maybe your coach will see the humor in it also.

If you don’t treat smaller mistakes as life-altering experiences, you will be able to handle situations better. One way to handle the game losing interception, is to watch more film with your offensive coordinator and quarterback coach. Next, you can offer to work on the plays that beat blitzing linebackers. 

#3 Recover from negative life events more quickly. Building and maintaining a positive attitude can help you be more resilient to negative life events such as a below average SAT score. People who experience positive emotions when discouraged tend to develop healthy long-term plans. Having goals and plans will result in an overall better sense of well-being after suffering setbacks.

Coachable athletes are obedient athletes. Being obedient means a player not only listens to coach's instruction, but is willing to complete the responsibilities of his role in that instruction.

In an athlete, obedience breeds discipline, and discipline is a requirement for anyone hoping to reach their full potential. There are not a lot of paths to a player becoming his best.

Discipline makes a player trust worthy in the eyes of his coach, and that trustworthiness reboots the process from the beginning, motivating the coach to find new ways for his player to grow and succeed.

Sports-parents. The goal you should have for your student-athlete is for the sports experience to prepare them life. Most likely, working under a coach will be preparation for working under a boss someday. It's not hard to draw some parallels between the experience of being coached and a future on the job.

How To Overcome Adversity #3

Travis Daugherty explains in his book, THE LENS that the ability to overcome adversity is a hidden talent. He further explains that the ability to overcome adversity can be taught, developed, and cultivated in a student-athlete. Listen in as we supply the sports parent with answers to help their student-athlete overcome adversity. Below are 5 ways to help you get through adverse situations in sport or life.

1. Have the right mindset. Your thoughts are essential; they frame the triumphs or tragedies of your life. Getting past adversity requires a change in your belief about challenges. It is not what happens to you, but how you respond to it that is important here.

2. Stop making excuses. Excuses are the lies we tell ourselves when we’re too afraid of the future. Whatever you tell your mind will become a self-fulfilling prophecy. If you don’t achieve your dreams, it will be because you made the decision to be detained by excuses.

3. Have faith. It takes more energy to live a life full of fear than to live one full of faith. To fear is to convince yourself to live in the walls you build yourself. To have faith is to convince yourself to embrace change.

4. Don’t take “no” for an answerTrials will occur in life, but endurance requires you to never stop trying. Trials are one of the greatest teaching tools of life. Dare to do the impossible!

5. Let each success energize you. With every success, we are strengthened and empowered for greater victories. You cannot become enslaved by disappointments. You must realize that every disappointment is being engineered for your destiny.

The Takeaway Life can get us down, but we can pick ourselves back up. We must learn and not be limited by the experiences of our lives. We are strong, and we all have a dreamer inside of us. Anything is possible if we are willing to persevere.