Sport Psychology Blog

Is it wrong for parents to "force" their kids into playing college/professional sports? I believe so. Before I give my reasons, let me explain what I mean by "force." By force, I mean overly pressuring a child down a certain career path. We've all seen parents who badly desire that their kids become professional athletes. They have their children start training intensely at a young age. They sometimes have their kids sacrifice education, friends, vacation time, etc. for their athletic development. They spend a fortune on equipment, coaching, travel, etc. They sometimes even send their kids to far away academies. Does any kid voluntarily desire all of these things? The answer is rarely. Most of the time, they are pressured by their parents. Their parents mainly make these decisions for them. The children are told they should want these things, so they may go along and agree with their parents, but deep down, they don't want this type of life. Most kids want …

What is a jack-of-all-trades type of athlete? A jack-of-all-trades type of athlete is a well-rounded athlete. They are average at every skill, but not great at any. You could also say they are good at every skill but not great at any. For example, a basketball player could be good at shooting, dribbling, passing, rebounding, and playing defense, but not exceptionally great at any of these skills. 

The advantage of being a well-rounded athlete is that you have no weaknesses. Without having weaknesses, it is harder for opponents to beat you because they have a harder time forcing you into mistakes. With no weaknesses, you are more reliable, consistent and are less prone to having slumps. Well-rounded athletes are less reliant on one specific skill, so if one skill isn't working well on a certain day, they can rely on the other skills that they have.
The disadvantage of being just a well-rounded athlete is that you have no notable strengths.  Without any exceptional strengths, it is ha…

I got this idea from a sport psychologist named Allen Fox. He called it "calling your opponent's bluff." It can help improve your confidence in games. Let me explain.

If you're not familiar with the phrase "call their bluff," it is from poker. A poker player may be "bluffing," meaning they are acting like they have good cards, but they really don't. Their confidence that they are portraying is supposed to discourage their opponents. But a smart poker player knows when to "call their bluff," meaning they don't believe that their opponent actually has good cards. They think they are lying. Since they think they are lying, they are able to maintain their confidence. This same kind of situation can happen in sports. Here is an example:

Imagine two equally skilled basketball teams are facing each other. One team may be winning by 10 points at halftime. It may seem like the winning team may be superior to the losing team and should win t…

I've written about the importance of confidence before, but I forgot to mention one of the most important aspects of confidence. I'm talking about the spiraling nature of confidence. Confidence can create a spiraling, or cyclical pattern. This pattern can be positive or negative depending whether you have high confidence or low confidence. Here is a simple flow chart to explain what I mean:

High confidence ---> motivation ---> effort ---> success ---> more confidence ---> repeat

Low confidence ---> less motivation ---> less effort ---> less success, more failure ---> less confidence ---> repeat

You can easily see how confidence can create a self-fulfilling prophecy. We've all experience it for ourselves or have seen it happen to others. We've seen it catapult people to the highest levels of success and we've seen it sink people down to rock bottom. 

However, it is not this simple. Life, as well as psychology, is complex. Things do not alwa…