If the theme of Game 1 was ‘beating the heat’, the theme of Game 2 was definitely ‘keeping cool’. But this time, it wasn’t a broken air conditioning system that was causing players’ temperatures to rise. It was another one of those damn uncontrollables – the refs.
It’s been a while since my last post on here. I’ve been largely trying to avoid the internet while the NBA Playoffs have been happening. People seem unable to resist posting results on social media sites and, since I can no longer stay up until 5am and function adequately the next day, I’ve been recording games to watch when I get home from work the following day.
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 our young athletes burning out and maybe leaving sport behind.
In part one of this three-part post on burnout in youth sport, we talked about what exactly burnout is. Essentially, long lasting feelings of emotional and physical exhaustion, sport devaluation (not getting anything out it anymore) and reduced personal accomplishment (no sense of achievement). Here in part two, we’ll explore briefly explain some of the theories as to how and why burnout occurs.
We’ve all had times when we’re feeling a bit tired and lacking motivation, when we don’t really feel like practicing or training, or when something we usually enjoy doing seems like a bit of a chore. More often than not, once we remind ourselves that we actually love what we do, or even take a few days off, we can get on with it and get back to enjoying our sport.
Most… probably all athletes who’ve achieved anything approaching success will have set goals along the way, but why do we ordinary mortals find it so tough to set and stick to the goals we set for ourselves.
If you’re a basketball fan like me, you’ll be eagerly awaiting the return of the Chicago Bulls’ explosive point guard, Derrick Rose. Rose missed the whole of the 2012-13 NBA season after suffering a torn ACL the previous year, and a few months ago, I wrote a piece about him and some of the psychological factors that should be taken into account during an athlete’s return to play following injury. You can read it here if you like. It’s not bad.
Derrick Rose sitting on the Chicago Bulls’ bench in a suit and tie became a familiar sight towards the end of the 2012-13 NBA season.
One-time league MVP, Rose, underwent surgery to repair a torn anterior cruciate ligament in May, 2012, after getting injured in that year’s playoffs. But after several weeks of “will he/won’t he” speculation, Rose did not make his much anticipated return to the Bulls’ line-up, despite being delared medically fit to play.
The undergraduate degree. The postgraduate degree. Supervised practice. Attending conferences and presenting research. ‘Networking’ and making contacts. Trying to gain voluntary work while trying to earn a living. The path to becoming a Sport Psychologist isn’t an easy one, but Rory Mack is making his way down that path, and is just about to start his BPS Stage 2 training.
The hot hand is described as “a belief that the performance of a player during a particular period is significantly better than expected on the basis of the player’s overall record”.¹ In other words, if a player hits a couple of shots in a row, people tend to think that he’ll make his next shot too. But in actual fact, it seems as though there’s no such thing as the hot hand.
eightypercentmental.com 