• Whatever you do, don’t screw up! Why avoiding failure is ultimately damaging.

    Just before England began their EURO 2016 campaign, England midfielder, James Milner, said that it was vital for his team to avoid losing their first match against Russia if they were to do well in the tournament. You might take from this that the team would be focused on doing well in their opening game.…

  • The problem with Mental Toughness

    Everyone loves a bit of mental toughness. Coaches will often tell you they only want athletes who are mentally TOUGH. Athletes strive to develop their mental STRENGTH. Sports journalists write and debate about which athletes are mentally TOUGHER than others. In fact, mental toughness has become one of the most commonly used phrases in sports. I should point out here that I have no…

  • Psychology of the NBA Playoffs: One Round at a Time!

    Rewind Last year, during the NBA Final Series between the San Antonio Spurs and the then LeBronified Miami Heat, I wanted to write about some of the more mental aspects of the game that came up. I tried to pick out an interesting story or highlight from each game, something that I thought related back to…

  • Burnout in youth sport: Part 3 – Prevention is better than cure

    In part one of this series of three blog posts, we looked at the characteristics of burnout. In part two, we explored various explanations for burnout, including stress, feeling trapped, lack of motivation, and the culture of performance sport. Here in part three, we’ll think about what we can do to reduce the chances of…