Jim Thompson is founder and CEO of Positive Coaching Alliance, a national non-profit organization he started in 1998 to transform the culture of youth sports into a Development Zone™ with the goal to develop Better Athletes, Better People. Addressing high school and youth sports as an ecosystem, Jim developed models for coaches (the Double-Goal Coach®), […]
Theories of Motivation Motivation is a key aspect of sport and can be used to predict an individual’s behaviour during a performance depending on what is driving them. It can be defined as: ‘the hypothetical construct used to describe the internal and/ or external forces that produce the initiation, direction, intensity and persistence of behaviour’ […]
Anything is possible! The famous scream from Kevin Garnett, who won a NBA championship with the Boston Celtics in 2008. A statement so simple and full of emotion that even the most cynical person would be hard pressed not to give a nod of approval. So how do athletes find success when the odds are […]
Rugby union is a game which is easily won, you put a physical person in a physical position. At the international stage there is arguable no better team at doing this the New Zealand a.k.a the All Blacks. Their spectacular pre performance warrior’s dance known as the haka, perform before matches is called Ka Mate […]
There has recently been a lot of speculation regarding the use of medication for treating thyroid problems across the athletic population. It therefore seems fitting to try and grasp an understanding of the current issue surrounding the controversial stance of thyroid medication across athletes and why we should all be wary of the contrasting literature […]
Social influence looks at how behaviour can be changed through pressures from others within a social context, once this pressure is understood it can be in turn used to influence participation in physical activity and exercise (Darlow & Xu, 2011). In exercise it has been shown how when the social pressures within an exercise group be […]
Parent-coaches are very common in youth sports. This is not necessarily a negative thing— there are plenty of parents who do a great job—but it often seems as through the club could be doing a better job of getting their own, senior-level athletes into coaching the youth teams. This could create an environment which would […]
THEORY: Focus is an essential component to sporting success. Focus allows performers to attend to the cues in hand and concentrate on tasks to achieve success. The ability to focus is important because it allows performers an opportunity to achieve their goals. PRACTICE: Focus is something that we can develop in training and take into […]