Anders Ericsson carried out extensive research on what it takes to become an expert. Ericsson (1993) says that it takes 10,000 hours (20 hours for 50 weeks a year for ten years = 10,000) of deliberate practice to become an expert in almost anything. ‘10,000 hours, brilliant I’ll become a pro golfer in 10 years’! If […]
I was recently re-reading Terry Orlick’s In Pursuit of Excellence, and in the chapter on Coaching Relationships, Orlick was discussing coaching communication and wrote that coaches’ pregame pep talks don’t motivate the athletes, but instead serve as “a method of tension release for the head coach”(p.276). While Orlick wrote this to make athletes aware of why […]
This article discusses the interventions that can be put in place to help performers to adopt a healthier attitude towards their sport. It follows on from a previous article ‘Motivation & Fear of Failure’ (February Articles) which discussed performers’ goal orientations, these being either dominantly task, or ego orientated. As research points out being highly […]
In today’s world, it is rare to see individuals competing for pure pleasure, relaxation and innocent recreation. Rare too is the phrase “it does not matter whether we win or lose” – a mantra which is considered increasingly old fashioned. The world in which we live today is seemingly more obsessed with success and with […]
I was invited to a conference on Behavioral Health and Addictive Disorders. I went to hear Harriet Lerner, Psychotherapist and Author of ten books. She was going to be speaking from one of her books, The Dance of Fear. This is about dealing with fear and anxiety. Her talk was called The Secret Life of […]
I was originally going to write a post just about the power of the placebo effect in sport after watching the film Senna. This led me to watch another documentary about him on YouTube titled “Ayrton Senna: the Right to Win” – full subtitled version at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ShPc3nY5m5w After watching this, I changed my mind. Senna […]
Throughout sport, exercise has been universally acknowledged as a healthy habit which can have many psychological and physical benefits for an individual (Szabo & Griffiths, 2007: Bouchard, Shephard & Stephens, 1994). Paradoxically, exercise behaviour is now being looked at in a different light due to obsessive exercise being seen as a type of addiction (Garman, […]
We’ve all seen that one parent on the sideline, shouting out inappropriate comments at the top of their voice that are not only directed at their own child, but often at their teammates, teachers or coaches and the referee. How much does this behaviour influence the sporting experience of their child? How much should the […]
Motivation is often thought of as simply having the energy and enthusiasm to carry out a behaviour, task, or activity such as exercising and practicing. However motivation goes much deeper than this and can play a huge part in how happy and successful we are in life and sport. There are many theories of motivation […]
Why is it that some player’s who are labeled as being “less talented” become more successful than their “more talented” peers? This question has frustrated many coaches over the years, and Carol Dweck a professor from Stanford University, believes the answer is down to mindset. Dweck has extensively examined mindset, and argues that there are two […]