Sport Psychology Blog

Last week, I wrote about how simply training more can help prevent choking in games. Today, I will write about another strategy for dealing with nervousness: using "choke proof technique."
As we have all experienced, when athletes are nervous, they often “choke” and make mistakes. One aspect of choking involves bad technique. Often, when athletes choke, their good technique falls apart and this contributes to errors.
To solve all of this, athletes can play with peak performance. They can get in the zone. They can play focused, calm, relaxed, and fearless. Choking doesn’t happen when you're in the zone. However, it’s not always possible to enter the zone. It is very elusive. Sometimes, you will get nervous and it feels like there is nothing you can do to get rid of the nerves. In this case, you can practice what I call “choke proof technique.” This means to execute certain techniques to combat the symptoms of choking. When athletes choke, it usually causes their technique …

Last week, I introduced the 7 ways that you can deal with nervousness and choking in games. Today, I will go into detail about one of these strategies: improving skills and muscle memory through more training.

As we have all experienced, when athletes are nervous, they often “choke” and make mistakes. But why do athletes get nervous and choke? One reason is because they start doubting their skills. If you don't think your skills are good enough to perform well under pressure, you will get nervous and choke. A solution to this is to simply improve your skills. If your skills are truly good enough, why would you doubt yourself in games? In order to improve your skills, you need to train your skills. It takes thousands of repetitions to learn and master skills. With enough training, your skills will become ingrained fully in your muscle memory. With more training, your skills will become more accurate, consistent, and powerful, and you will know how to execute your skills without even…

For the next several weeks, I will write about ways that you can deal with nervousness and choking in games. As I've written before, nervousness and choking are some of the biggest performance issues that athletes face. Being nervous during games is natural, but there are ways that you can contain and minimize your nerves and still perform well despite them. Here are the 7 ways that you can deal with nervousness and choking:
Improving skills and muscle memory through more training.Using "choke proof" technique.Using high-percentage tactics/strategies.Breathing and relaxation.Improving concentration.Improving self-talk.Gaining good game experience. Bonus Strategy: Don't let the score get close.
If you learn how to use all 7 of these strategies for dealing with nerves, you will greatly improve your mental game and become known as a clutch performer. I will write in more detail about these 7 ways to deal with nerves in order, starting with #1 (improving through training) …

I’ve written about genes and freewill. Today I will talk about the third component of player development: environment. Environment is the hardest one to talk about because it is so interconnected and sort of abstract. What exactly is environment? I define environment as the people, places, things, and culture that surround you. It also includes the era in time that you live in. These outside forces sometimes have great influence on you, even if you are unaware of them. Environment may be the most underestimated component of player development.
I’m not trying to undervalue personal freewill and willpower. I’ve already talked about their importance. But sometimes environment is stronger than willpower. Think of all ways that environment affects us. Here are some examples:
The way your parents raise you.The way your culture conditions you.The influence of your teammates and coaches.Your socioeconomic class and the resources it provides for you.The temptations you encounter on a daily basi…