rebecca@life-in-sport.com
HCPC Registered Sport and Exercise Psychologist working with Table Tennis Wales, Valleys Gymnastics Academy and MCCU Cardiff. One-to-One clients have included athletes from golf, cricket, rugby, football, triathlon, swimming, fencing, badminton, gymnastics, trampolining, table tennis and taekwondo.
http://www.life-in-sport.com @life_in_sport
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There are a lot of current discussions in elite sport around helping athletes to ‘thrive’ as people (not just athletes). Sport is a great vehicle to develop skills that can help individuals progress in other areas of their lives (e.g. education, work, day to day life). this is just as...
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When athletes talk about the progress that they make, their achievements, their celebrations or how they have overcome challenges and setbacks they often talk about the importance of the support that they had around them through the journey. Briton Goldie Sayers will belatedly receive her 2008 Olympic javelin bronze medal...
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A bit of background on identity… If we start with the wider idea of self-identity, it is a clearly delineated self-definition…comprised of those goals, values and beliefs which the person finds personally expressive and to which he/she is unequivocally committed (Waterman, 1985). Take a moment to think about this idea,...
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The above image is credited IPTL World https://www.iptlworld.com/ Working in various youth sport environments and with several young athletes on an individual basis brings about numerous challenges in relation to athlete motivation and the motivational climate that is created by those supporting young athletes. The topics of this article are...
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The most commonly known use of the ‘Growth Mindset’ approaches have been with education settings, with Carol Dweck conducting most of her mindset research in education settings. Through this research Dweck repeatedly found that students with a Growth Mindset seek out difficult situations and respond to failure by increasing their...
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Expectation is defined as ‘a strong belief that something will happen or be the case in the future’. Expectations can affect athletes in various ways and can lead performers to react in positive ways (Mothes et al, 2017), although often the reaction is negative (Mesagno & Beckmann, 2017). Expectation and confidence… Often...
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Young athletes will experience times when they struggle with their confidence and it is low, they will also experience the opposite where confidence is high, and everything seems to be straightforward. With some effort and the right knowledge and support young athletes can take control of their confidence. This doesn’t...
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University and being a student-athlete is a great experience that many people reflect on with fond memories. Use this article and other resources or support available to you to help you start your journey on the front foot and take control of your experience as a student-athlete. Student-athletes can be...
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Many athletes talk about superstitions that they have in the build up to matches, races or competitions. These superstitions are compulsive actions that don’t necessarily serve a purpose and can be irrational. Often athletes believe that ‘certain actions’ will lead to ‘certain results’ and can be a restriction and burden...
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I previously wrote an article on here titled, ‘why am I doing this at my age? Physical activity or competitive sport? Which looked at the contrast between why individuals over the age of 35 participate in one or the other. This article will focus more specifically on masters sport and...
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The 2018 Commonwealth Games has further reinforced the young age that some athletes are attending such high-profile events At just 11-years-old Anna Hursey became the face of the games in Table Tennis. Anish Bhanwala has become India’s youngest medallist as he earned a gold medal in the 25m Rapid Fire...
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It goes without saying that sport provides us with some competitive mismatches. When looking for examples of these it is difficult to look past the FA Cup or League cup which give us numerous instances of underdogs vs competition favourites. Just this season we have seen Bristol City knock out...