The Need For Quickness Training

As a speed coach, I get asked by parents and coaches if speed and quickness are different, or the same, or if one is more important than the other. Every coach and parent wants the same result, for their athlete(s) to be faster and quicker. I always say that usually athletes need to be quicker to get to one point before their opponent does and then speed to finish off the play. In most sports the average time of a play is a couple of seconds. For example, in football the average play takes about 3-5 seconds. In addition, athletes are required to cover a small amount of distance in a short amount of time. You seldom see athletes that are required to run for a long distance or for a long period of time.

So to answer the question they both speed and quickness are important in order for the athlete to be successful in whatever sport they are participating in.

Quickness training is one of the most overlooked areas in speed training - and sometimes seldom addressed or forgotten.

Just as the myth that some think that athletes are born with speed, the same applies with the concept of quickness. Quickness too can be taught and learned over a period of time if taught properly.

Quickness is how fast someone responds to a stimulus; whereas, reaction time is a part of someone's quickness and can be trained. Quickness training drills can be implemented in an athlete's agility training so that they can also train for speed and quickness during the same session.

Here are some training drills you can use for quickness development:

-Ball Drop
Your partner holds a tennis ball out in one hand. You start in an athletic stance and when the tennis ball is released/dropped, you sprint to the ball and snatch it before it bounces more than once. This is a great drill for first step quickness training.

You can change the distance that you partner stands away from you.

-Partner Mirror Drill
This is like the shadow game that you use to play as kids. This drill is performed between partners. One partner starts moving and the other partner follows and doesn't allowed to be juked. You need to try and mirror the movement and match each reaction.

-Fox and Hound
One person will be designated as the fox (leader). The other will be designated as the hound (chaser). The leader’s/ fox job is to try to elude the chaser/ hound as much as possible without the hound touching him/her. Place four cones in a square and designate the distance between the four cones, with a fifth one in the middle. The fox can run around the cones in any order or direction trying not to get touched. Remember the hound has to follow the same pattern as the fox. Note: have the fox run out about five yards or 5-6 seconds before releasing the hound to make the drill harder for the hound if the goal is to work on reaction for the defensive player. For offensive player, have the hound released earlier to have the fox work harder to elude and cut harder.

Variation(s): Have a third person (coach) with a watch or a whistle to time the two for a designate amount of time during the drill. At the beginning, the coach yells “Go!” and the drills begin for the amount of 20 -30 seconds. Then the coach yells “Stops!” The roles are switch. Points are awarded to each player. If the hound is able to catch and touch the person he/she is awarded one (1) point. If the fox is unable to get caught, he/she is able are awarded two (2) points. Penalties: (1) one point is taken away from the fox if he/she runs outside the designate boundaries. Also if the hound dives, then one (1) point is taken away. Have the loser perform a designated amount of push ups or some other form of punishment in order to make the game or drill better. For a more reaction and situational setting have the coach blow the whistle at unexpected times to change the role from the fox to hound and vice versa.

These quickness training drills with help your athletes become faster and should be added to every sports speed training program.

Speed and Performance Coach in Charlotte, NC

Top 5 Sports Every Child Should Play

As a kid, my mother never allowed me to play organized football early on, even though each year I would ask her to sign me up in the local Pop Warner organization. However, what she did do was sign me up for a plethora of other sports such as soccer, t-ball, baseball, and basketball to name a few. I never really understood why she wasted her time (and mine) with making me play those boring sports when she knew my heart was in football. Maybe she knew that I needed those motor skills from the other sports to make me a better athlete in football. (Nah! I think she was scared seeing her only son out there on the football field). I guess whatever the reason I thank her for it because it made me a better athlete overall in the long run.

When I work with youth athletes the main stories that usually have me cringe and run for cover deal with the adults (coaches and parents).

The first scenario deals with the over-zealous, poorly educated coach that prides his program or team on how many wins or league championships that he has taken then to thus robbing the kid of a great experience and potentially being one of the factors that cause the kid to drop out early in that particular sport never to play again. Instead, less focus should be placed on the outcomes of the sports (though we do want our athletes to develop that drive to be the best that they possibly can be without developing a quitter's attitude), and more focus should be placed on teaching and instructing the proper way to play the sport and building a firm foundation not only physically but mentally by addressing the motor skills needed at that particular age.

Coaches are so often limited in their knowledge about the necessary building blocks needed for physical success for the age group that they are coaching. In many cases, they are just volunteers, who may have had some experience with sports because they either played or watched the game and have been asked by the head of the organization to coach the team because no one else is proficient enough to take on the task. Less time is spent on building a foundation of motor skill development and addressing the bio-mechanical needs of the group, while more time is spent on drilling the kids with age-inappropriate drills that usually predispose the child to learning the technique wrong (in which most cases an expert has to re-teach the drill correctly) or predispose the child to injury.

The second most common scene is the parents who are way too invested in the success of their kid. They either themselves are constantly training their kid, or the kid is participating year round in sport. Many children today start specializing in one sport way too early -- playing year-round, joining competitive club or travel teams and participating in specialized training programs -- believing they'll put themselves on the fast track to college scholarships or maybe even a pro sports career.

But for too many of these kids, that fast track leads straight to injuries, sometimes serious ones. More concentration should be on allowing the kid to participate in as many different sports as possible so that it exposes them to a variety of motor skills and different presentations/ situations for those motor skills.


A story was once told to me about a parent who had their kid participating in baseball. This kid played pitcher. The parents were so invested in wanting their kid to be the best in town that they had enrolled him into three different leagues simultaneously in three different towns that were in close proximity with one another. The kid would play the first game, hop in the car drive over to the next town and pitch in second game. Once the second game was over, he would participate as the starting pitcher in the final game one town over. When the story was presented to me, the storyteller posed the question should this be considered a form of 'child abuse'? Of course, this story is extreme but my point is that year round training exactly stunts the growth of the athlete in the long run because it can predispose them to detrimental outcomes (1) burn out/ early drop out which could result in being turned off to fitness altogether and (2) overuse injuries i.e. Little Leaguer's Elbow.

Youth sports have become big business in this country. If you don't believe me, then turn on your television, you can find some type of sporting event sponsored by some big corporation promoting the youth event. Don't get me wrong, I am a firm believer that sports are one of the best tutors to nurture and develop kids into becoming great leaders and possessing great skills sets that can be utilized over a lifetime; however, the emphasis should not be placed on the wins and loses. The emphasis should be on developing a 'global' athlete and preparing them for the next phase in their athletic career.

My athletic career is similar to the above. I loved to play football. I couldn't get enough of it. Even though, some of my best experience during the years was learned playing football, I truly felt as if I was underdeveloped as an athlete skill wise when transitioning from one competitive level to the next. It was seen when I moved from Pop Warner to high school football. I had to learn twice as hard as my teammates because I couldn’t comprehend and demonstrate the necessary skill sets needed to play on the high school level. While playing Pop Warner, the coaches' main focus was outcome driven- going to the next bowl game or trying to have a perfect season. Less time was spent on the fundamentals of football i.e. receiving a hand off properly from the line of scrimmage or switching the ball from one hand to the other properly. I just couldn't do it. So, I had to practice and teach myself the fundamentals during the off-season or after practice so that I could compete and keep up with my teammates. Likewise, the same happened when I transitioned from high school to college (which I was constantly reminded daily by my college defensive back coach). There were areas that my college coaches were amazed (and usually frustrated with me) because I couldn't perform. As you know, on this stage the stakes are the highest and usually patience for error is at a all time low. The end result cost me playing time and even scholarship money. I always felt like the kid that had to "catch up" with learning the skills needed to excel not only in the sport but excel at the position that I was playing. This is the reason why when I train youth today, the majority of my coaching style is based upon teaching the fundamentals needed to not only excel with performance at the current level, but be a ‘global’ athlete with a strong foundation of motor skills.


So what sports should a young athlete start off participating in?

Here are the top 5 sports that a young athlete should play early on:

1. Tennis-it's fun and keeps the child in shape and develops the child hand-eye coordination and kinesthetic differentiation of ball play. Kinesthetic differentiation refers to the knowledge of how much force is necessary to produce a desired result. Kids have to judge how hard they need to hit the ball in order for it to stay in play and score. Likewise, it teaches great mental development in strategic play with placing the ball away from the opponent to score. Also it's great for developing balance and reaction skills.

2. Soccer-improves on foot dexterity and hand-eye coordination. It is a great opportunity to also stimulate their mental capacities as well base upon the tactical nature of soccer which can be applied to other field and court sports. Examples of tactical development is seen with learning the give and go, moving without the ball to invade the opponent's space, etc. Also it is great for developing change of direction (i.e. agility), explosive movement and acceleration and deceleration training- going from a near standing position to a full sprint and back to static position.

3. Swimming-every muscle is used in this sport which builds great mobility in the shoulder and hip joints. At the same rate, it adds a great deal of pliability to the frame of a young athlete. Additionally, kinesthetic differentiation is developed in this sport. Swimming is the essence of building kinesthetic differentiation – kids simply won’t last long in a pool if they put as much force as possible into every stroke.

4. Gymnastics and dance (yes, dance is cool thanks to former NFL running back, Emmitt Smith and 'Dancing With The Stars')-spatial awareness, flexibility, upper and lower body strength, coordination, being able to control and manipulate their body, dynamic and static balance, etc are all learned with participating in these sports. Just the ability to learn how to fall properly is priceless because it can prevent injury for any sport that they participate in.

5. Martial arts-not for the brutal or self defense component, but to stimulate their mind and teach self discipline (which is important in sport and life), balance, spatial awareness, coordination development, as well as overall fitness.

Here is a mock annual calendar for the youth athlete:

Summer-Dance/gymnastics
Fall-Soccer
Winter-Indoor Swimming
Spring-Martial Arts/ Tennis

Parents should seek out a programs, performance coaches/trainers, and/or coaches that expose their child to a wide variety of components in motor skill development. They should enroll their children in seasonal sports instead of year-round programs geared towards one sport. If parents keep to a schedule as the above then they will alleviate a lot of the risk discussed in this article (1) their athlete will stay stimulated and engaged because of the constant change in activity. (2) injury due to overuse injuries is minimized. (3) the child is able to develop the motor skills needed to become a 'global' athlete which spells FUTURE SUCCESS.

Until next time, keep playing and keep active.

Reference: Brian Grasso http://www.DevelopingAthletics.com

Personal Trainer in Charlotte, NC

Sportsmanship: Teaching Kids How to Lose Gracefully and Healthy Part II

"No fair!"

"You cheated!"

"It wasn't my fault we lost!"

Have you ever played on a team with somebody who hated to lose? Or maybe you have a tough time if you lose anything — even a game of ping pong. Such omnipresent multimedia messages combined with a "winning is everything" philosophy embraced by increasing numbers of parents and coaches - makes it harder than ever for adults to teach kids that it's not whether you win or lose, but how you play the game that's important. Some kids find it extra-hard to lose, but everyone needs to learn how to do it. Learning to lose without losing your cool is a skill, like learning to ride a bike. You might not be able to do it at first, but over time it will get easier. And when you can handle losing, people will call you a good sport.

Why Learn to Lose Gracefully?

Everyone wants to win. But any time two teams or kids are facing each other in a game or contest, someone will lose (unless it's a tie). Kids lose in small ways, like in a game of checkers, but they also might face losing in bigger ways, like when their team loses a championship game. Losing is disappointing, so it's not surprising that kids don't like it. Adults don't like it either.

I can remember just four years ago how competitive and caught up in my flag football games I would get. I got so caught up that many of the female team members (it was a coed team) stated that they didn't want to play on the same team as I ever again or they didn't want to play anymore altogether because of my conduct when we would lose. I never was able to (until recently) grasp and learn to lose without losing my cool. Everyone can learn to control how they react to a loss. In other words, what should you do when you lose?

The tricky part is that sometimes you might react before you even realize it. For example, I can remember when I was in high school playing junior varsity football, my best friend at the time played for the cross town rivals. We were clearly suppose to have beat them but we were off and they were on that night. Needless to say, we lost within the last two minutes of the game. Instead of being a good sportsman and shaking his hand, I shook everyone else hand as we walk down the line to congratulate them on a superb performance, and walk off the field without speaking to him. It took me a whole week before I had cooled off and returned any of his calls to apologize for my actions.

In addition, it's not surprising that the rise in bad sportsmanship -- and outrageous behavior in professional sports has resulted in a parallel increase of poor sportsmanship (e.g., trash-talking, violence) in youth sports. Regardless of whether we caution our kids to NOT idolize professional athletes who behave badly, kids will continue to be influenced by the behavior of the pros.

How can you instill in your child the importance of good sportsmanship and offset the "win at all costs" philosophy? Both parents and coaches can start by focusing on these issues:

Tips for Parents

# Be Your Child's Role Model. Offer praise and encouraging words for all athletes, including your child's opponents. Never openly berate, tease, or demean any child athlete, coach, or referee while attending a sporting event. When attending athletic events or watching them on TV with your child, refrain from criticizing or condemning athletes' performances.

# Do You Have A Hidden Agenda? Be honest with yourself about why you want your child to play organized sports. What do you want them to gain from the experience? Are your intentions based on providing them with pleasurable, social activities that develop a better sense of self-worth, skills, and sportsmanship? Or do you harbor dreams of them turning their topspin forehand into a collegiate scholarship, or riches and fame? A child's participation in sports and the importance attached to it should not be driven by a parent's desire to use their child's sports accomplishments for ulterior purposes.

# You Set the Rules. It's ultimately your responsibility to teach your children good sportsmanship, both as a participant and as a spectator. If you observe your child engaged in poor sportsmanship, regardless of whether their coach corrects them or not, you must discuss your child's misbehavior and insensitivity with them after the game. If a coach is ignoring, allowing, or encouraging poor sportsmanship, you need to make your objections known to the coach in a private discussion.

# Watching and Learning. Whether you're watching the Olympics on TV or attending a high-school sporting event, you can always find "teachable moments" regarding sportsmanship. Ask your child their opinions of: players who showboat and taunt their opponents; the costs to the team of a technical foul, or being ejected from a game for unsportsman-like conduct; and the appropriate behavior of opposing players toward one another after a game. During these "teachable moments" ask them open-ended questions and listen more than you talk or lecture.

Tips for Coaches

Coaches nurture good sportsmanship. They should embody parents' values regarding good sportsmanship. A coach must model good sportsmanship at every level and make it a core goal of his work with kids.

I recommend that every youth sports coach engage their players in a detailed discussion of good sportsmanship as soon as they forms their team. A written contract, perhaps titled The Good Sportsmanship Code, should be given to every child and parent to sign. The contract should spell out what the coach expects from each player in terms of good sportsmanship, including the following areas:

* Cheating
* Losing one's temper
* Negative criticism of teammates, coaches, referees, and opposing players
* Blaming teammates for mistakes or a poor team performance
* "Trash talk" and taunting opponents
* Showboating
* Arguing referees' calls and judgments
* The need to congratulate one's opponents after a game

Coaching children is an honor and a privilege that carries with it a moral responsibility to contribute to the healthy character development of young players. Coaches who equate "trying your best" as the definition of success -- and who value, expect, and demand good sportsmanship from their players -- help shape the moral, ethical, and spiritual character of children.

Communicate often with your child's coach to make sure they takes this responsibility seriously.

Here are some ways that your child can show others what good sportsmanship is all about:

and finally Tips for the Athlete

1. Be polite to everyone you're playing with and against. No trash talk — which means saying mean things while you're in the middle of a game.
2. Don't show off. Just play your best. If you're good, people will notice.
3. Tell your opponents "good game!" whether you've won or you've lost.
4. Learn the rules of the game. Show up for practices and games on time — even if you're the star of the team.
5. Listen to your coaches and follow their directions about playing.
6. Don't argue with an official if you don't agree with his or her call. If you don't understand a certain call, wait until after the game to ask your coach or the official to explain it to you.
7. Don't make up excuses or blame a teammate when you lose. Try to learn from what happened.
8. Be willing to sit out so other team members can get in the game — even if you think you're a better player.
9. Play fair and don't cheat.
10. Cheer for your teammates even if the score is 1,000 to 1! You could inspire a big comeback!


I leave you with two quotes from two famous coaches. The first is from Joe Paterno, Penn State Head Football Coach, "Success without honor is an unseasoned dish. It will satisfy your hunger, but it won't taste good. And the last comes from John Wooden, former UCLA basketball coach, "Talent is God-given. Be humble. Fame is man-given. Be grateful. Conceit is self-given. Be careful.

Reference: FamilyEducation.com
Personal Trainer in Charlotte, NC

Motivating Female Athletes

Yesterday I was working with one of local high schools in the town and I made an observation. The team is predominantly female with the head coach being a female and her assistance being a male. I usually talk with both coaches after practice just to see how things are going with the team and it's funny to hear them talk about their perception on what they think the girls need to improve upon for the team to get better. Now, both coaches are really experienced in the field of coaching basketball but their approach and methodology are different. The male coach has coached basketball for 30 plus years, with majority of the population that he has coached being males. The head coach, which is a female, is a former basketball center, who coaches female athletes majority of the time. This made me start to wonder about their language and delivery towards the girls and how the female coach gets more positive feedback from the girls and the assistant sometimes runs up against resistance when he instructs them to do different things.

Is there a possibly that there should be a different approach when coaching females? Or should females athletes be coached the same as male athletes? I asked two females for their perspective on the matter. One was an current athlete and another was a former athlete.

My findings showed that female athletes compete for different reasons than boys and require different kinds of stimuli to achieve. WITH THE POPULARITY of women's basketball at an all-time high, hundreds of young female athletes are beginning to dream of playing professional basketball. I can remember when my little sister started put pick up the sport and how excited she was with wanting to become the best possible athlete she could be. Many times females are being coached by individuals who do not understand the many factors involved in motivating and coaching female athletes, and this can lead to much frustration and misunderstanding.

The three basic areas that must be addressed in motivating female athletes are:

camaraderie among the players and between coaches and athletes,
a positive self-perception,
and the realization that female athletes compete for different reasons than males and require different kinds of stimuli to achieve.

The girls' coach must also understand that males look for an action oriented environment for competition, while females prefer a more meditative ambiance which explains why the two coaches approaches were totally different and one gets through to the female athletes and another is received with resistance. They want to be addressed in a friendly and respectful manner and are turned off by yelling, screaming, and the throwing of objects.

Overbearing displays of emotion create a hostile environment that could cause sensitive athletes to drop out.

Coaches who believe in yelling should do it only sparingly and should direct it at the group rather than the individual.
It's possible that winning for winning's sake is less important for the average female and that she is more goal-oriented than the average male. Likewise, girls are also different from boys in their need for nurturing a family-like camaraderie with teammates and coaches which explains the head coach talking about how the girls get excited about buying each other gifts for special occasions. It is important for them to feel comfortable with their teammates and coaches, and they have to be motivated to achieve.

Where male teams predicate enjoyment largely on playing time and winning, the most enjoyable kind of team for a female coach is a group of girls who get along well both on and off the court. The teams who have the best camaraderie are almost always the ones who are the most successful in terms of team unity and seasonal improvement.

Team Chemistry

The role of team chemistry has different shadings in female and male sports. Whereas it is an essential prerequisite for optimal performance in female sports, it is more a by-product of optimal performance among male teams.

Self Perception

Many female athletes tend to have lower levels of confidence than men. Their confidence depends on three things:
1. nature of the task
2. need for clear and positive feedback
3. social acceptance.

To enhance a girl's sell-perception, coaches must make certain she is comfortable with the nature of her task. The sport she is competing in must be gender-role appropriate. She must feel comfortable in it, just as a boy would be comfortable playing football, but feel at ease playing on team.

Feedback

Females also need clear and positive feedback. Ambiguous, negative criticism will likely impair their self-perception. They are much more likely than boys to be disturbed by negative comments. They respond very well to positive feedback as well as praise and encouragement. John Wooden believes that coaches should seek out private opportunities to praise athletes who need it. Too many coaches are too willing to criticize and too reluctant to dole out much-needed compliments (quick to criticize and slow to commend). Many coaches contend that such verbal reinforcement is the key to success in coaching women.

All in all females athletes want to have fun just like their male counterparts. However, team chemistry, self perception, and feedback are areas that need to be addressed and developed in order for females to be motivated and have success in their sport.

Personal Trainer and Sports Psychology Consultant in Charlotte, NC

How to Deal with Pre-Game Anxiety: 'The Jitters' part I

The movie Any Given Sunday, by Oliver Stone, is a great movie on every level of the game of football. I love the motivational speech at the end entitled "Inch By Inch" that Al Pacino gives in the locker room right before their wild card game. I love how they show the seriousness and the battle that the medical staff have to go through throughout the season with making decisions on who really can play and who sits. I love how they showed both sides of the athlete's decision making process of when they could play and when they couldn't play, for example Laurence Taylor's character vs LL Cool J's character. The part of the movie that I wanted to concentrate on the most is pre-competition anxiety or jitters. Remember when Willie Beaman, played by Jamie Foxx, was asked to go in after both quarterbacks had gotten hurt? He was so unprepared mentally that it affected his performance. At the start of the movie, we find our friend Willie over on the sideline reading a newspaper and eating sunflower seeds. The quarterback coach has to yell at him to find his helmet and go in because he was over there acting like he had an all expense paid vacation to Club Med. Remember how unprepared and rattled he looked in the game? Remember the part where he vomited in the huddle before calling the play? Remember how he got under the tackle instead of the center to call the play? Remember even when Al Pacino called a timeout after the first play was over at the beginning of the second half and he talked on the sideline with Willie? Remember Willie's words were something of the nature that the game was going too fast? These are all examples of the pre-game jitters.

Now the movie had to sale and progress on so they had to make ole Willie get his act together during the course of the third quarter in the movie. Actually it was just a couple of series and he was able to overcome the jitters that he had and threw a touchdown to tie the game in the second half.

That depiction of his pre-game routine was accurate with how athletes' mental preparation is key to how well or poorly they perform during the actual game. I had a similar situation when I was a red-shirted sophomore in college playing football. I got so nervous before the game that my performance was horrible. I was on the traveling team, but I wasn't expecting to start for another three weeks. However, the first string safety had gotten hurt during the week and they made an adjustment to start me hours before the kick off at pre-game meetings. I was extremely nervous. I remember going back to the dorm to get the rest of my stuff after pregame meal and feeling like my whole world was turning upside down. I couldn't think straight for nothing. From the time that I went to my dorm until the time I was on the field everything seemed to be going fast. I can remember later thinking how the time felt like it did when I was in a car wreck, how things seemed to speed up after the impact. All the information that I had practiced was gone. It was like I had never played or started football ever in my life. I had been a starter in every facet of my career up until that point (little league to high school). Needless to say, my actual performance was horrific. It was so horrible that my coach pulled me and they put the third string safety in to play the entire game.

No matter how good you are, sometimes you’re going to choke.

So what was the problem?

What I was going through was what sports psychologist and mental coaches refer to as pre-competition anxiety. Commonly known as the jitters or butterflies, accept in my case, and in Willie's case, we were experiencing it at the highest level possible to the point that our performance suffered dramatically.

Pre-competitive anxiety is a state of arousal that is unpleasant or negative and occurs during the 24 hour span prior to competition. The worry that is associated with PCA is not just experienced with our heads, but with our entire body. Our bodies provide us with numerous cues such as muscle tension, butterflies, desire to urinate and cotton mouth that suggests that we are
out of control. Our thoughts become self-focused, self defeating and negative. Most of us will have a combination of these responses during the pre-competitive period. However, the degree to which they influence our performance is largely dependent upon the interaction of our own uniqueness and the competitive situation.

WHAT ARE THE SOURCES OF PCA?

Pre-competitive anxiety results from an imbalance between perceived capabilities and the demands of the sport environment. When the perceived demands are balanced by the perceived capabilities you experience optimal arousal, often refereed to as the flow state or what we commonly know as 'the zone'. In this state, everything appears to go smoothly, almost effortlessly. However, if your perceived capabilities exceed the sport challenge, arousal will decrease, resulting in boredom or lack of motivation. If the opposite occurs (perceived challenges exceed capabilities), you will become over aroused, resulting in worry and anxiety. As you can see, then, PCA results when skills and abilities are not perceived as equivalent to the sport challenge.
Research has demonstrated that at least five factors underlie PCA:

1. physical complaints—digestive disturbances, shaking and yawning;
2. fear of failure—losing, choking, living up to expectations, and making mistakes;
3. feelings of inadequacy—unprepared, poor conditioning, low skill/ability,and feelings that something is wrong;
4. loss of control—being jinxed, bad luck, poor officiating, and inclement weather; and
5. guilt—concerns about hurting an opponent, playing dirty, and cheating. Whether or not you experience PCA is dependent upon several factors, such as skill level, experience, and your general level of arousal in daily activities.

HOW CAN PCA AFFECT PERFORMANCE?

There are two primary ways that PCA can affect your performance.

First, a high state of physical arousal may be counterproductive to your particular sport activity. For sports requiring endurance, power, or both, PCA can be very draining on an athlete's energy level. In sports where calmness is critical (e.g., golf, archery, free-throw shooting), PCA can significantly interfere with your ability to stay calm. A high state of physical arousal can also interfere with sports requiring a focused channeling of power. The increased tension usually interferes with this channeling. Examples of such sports include hitting in baseball, karate, and field events such as javelin, discus, and shot put.

Second, research has demonstrated that anxiety can significantly interfere with your ability to think clearly. When you are anxious, your thoughts generally turn inward to focus on yourself, which may result in an inappropriate focusing of attention. Actions that were once automatic require constant thought, which further interferes with your ability to adjust to make quick, on-the-spot decisions. In addition, these thoughts may be negative and result in preoccupation with what you can't do, rather than what you can do.

DOES NERVOUSNESS ALWAYS LEAD TO BAD PERFORMANCES?

Definitely not. Whenever you anticipate an event that is important to you, it is normal to feel some nervousness. In fact, it is a sign of readiness. This type of readiness is known as positive arousal and is usually referring to many of the physical cues you experience. Elite athletes channel this energy to work for them rather than against them. Answers to the following
questions may help you distinguish between positive arousal and negative anxiety:

1. How much does my sport require me lobe 'pumped' as I enter the competition? Some sports may require a higher state of arousal (e.g., weight lifting) than others (e.g., golf).
2. Do I often have thoughts of self-doubt about my ability?
3. Do I often have thoughts about factors that are beyond my control? Answering "Yes" to the last two questions are indication that you are moving from positive arousal to negative anxiety. If you find yourself nervous but still confident in your ability, that is a sign of readiness. However, worrying about your ability to perform at levels that you normally are able to perform with ease, or worrying about factors over which you have no control may interfere with your ability to enter a competition mentally ready.

Tomorrow we will go over strategies that both players and coaches can utilize to help deal with overcoming pre-competition anxiety.

Until then keep moving.
Personal Trainer and Sports Psychologist Consultant in Charlotte NC

Teaching Kids How to Lose Gracefully

My mother use to tell me that even though I was a great athlete, I was a terrible loser! I can remember playing little league football and getting so upset with losing I would cry myself to sleep in the car. I can remember getting angry at my teammates after a lose and wanting to fight them because they didn't take the lose as bad as I did. I can also remember in high school standing in front of the whole varsity team screaming obscenities and challenging everyone of them to fight me after practice because they we had lost the week before which knock us out of the playoff hunt. I also recall, locking myself in the house during the weekend after losing games on Fridays and shutting down to the point that I won't take phone calls and talk to my own mother.

One particular lose stands out the most. It was my ninth grade year, we were undefeated and were squaring off against our cross town rival. Our coach wanted so bad for us to win, as did I, because all my middle school friends now went to this school and were at the game. We lost bad. When I say bad the score was us- not enough to them- pick a number to infinity. The coach was so upset with us, but he wasn't upset because of the lose per se, it was the style of losing that we displayed. The team had given up completely before the end of the third quarter which we could have clearly come back and won the game. He was so mad that the next Monday, we ran the majority of the practice. After practice, he sat us down and explain that losing wasn't the issue. He told us that it's how you deal with loses and adversity. Now that was the first time I had heard the word adversity used so after practice I had to go home and not only soak from all the running but find a Webster's Dictionary and learn what the definition of adversity meant. He explained that life was like a football game. Some days you win, some days you lose, but those days that you lose are more important because it's how you recover and come back from those loses that matters the most. Needless to say, we went on to win out the rest of our season. (I think the running put the fear of God and coach in us and it had nothing to do with his speech).

I have revisited coach's speech many days after when I have had to deal with a tough project, my business, relationships that haven't worked out the way I wanted them to, and my personal life in general. I always remember that its how you deal with adversity that really matters not the actual lose per se. I had the opportunity to read a book by John C. Maxwell entitled Failing Forward. In this book, the author talks about the major difference between achieving people and average people is their perception of and response to failure. Maxwell takes a closer look at failure-and reveals that the secret of moving beyond failure is to use it as a lesson and a stepping-stone. He covers the top reasons people fail and shows how to master fear instead of being mastered by it. I believe that sports are a great vehicle, when taught properly, to assist young athletes with learning to embrace mistakes and failure instead of avoiding it altogether.

If you look at some of the great inventors and pioneers of this great country you would see that they had magnetism towards failure and mistakes. Look at Abe Lincoln he failed miserably in a lot of ventures before going on to become the world famous President of the United States that freed the slaves. Henry Ford is another that was mistake prone with the T model car. Likewise, others such as Albert Einstein, Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Graham Bell were also advocates to learning from their mistakes to become successful. Basketball great, Michael Jordan once stated that "people are quick to remember the shots that go in; however, there are more that you missed than you actual make."

Youth sports provide children with a number of benefits. It takes them outdoors and away from the television, computer, XBox, whatever. It helps to teach them how to be a part of a team. It helps to teach them how to work as a part of team and how to understand that everyone can have a valuable role to play.

And from an entirely different perspective it provides a great place to teach children how to lose. Winning is easy. Anyone can win, but losing is not so easy. Learning how to lose is a good way to learn how to deal with adversity. It is a way to help develop coping skills and that is a critical part of raising a healthy child.

This lesson is relatively simple; however, in the country and society we live in, it is one that is not taught on a daily basis. Many times when we are playing games with others we are going to lose. You cannot win every time, even the greatest athletes lose a game here and there. If you don't believe me, think of Tennessee Titan quarterback, Kerry Collins. He is now the poster child for how to deal with failure successfully and resurrect your career.

In fact it is easier to win than to lose. Tonight think about incidents that has occurred in your life in which you lose rather in sport career, in personal life, or in your business/ career. Think about how you handle it gracefully and what lessons did you learn from it.

Until then keep moving.

Personal Trainer and Sports Psychology Consultant in Charlotte, NC