Sport Psychology Blog

It's the time of the year when people are motivated to make changes in their lives. "New year, new me" is the saying. So I will attempt to make today's post motivational. Some of the best advice I can give to someone is to align your behavior with your goals . This means to live an authentic and committed life. Many people don't have their behavior and goals aligned. Some people have large goals but by looking at their daily behavior, you couldn't tell. They may have large goals, but they don't work very hard. They may think they can still reach their large goals despite being lazy, or maybe they don't realize that they are lazy. Either way, they will be disappointed when they don't reach their large goals. On the other hand, there are people who work very hard to reach a certain goal, but they don't actually desire this goal. For example, a student could work hard to become a doctor in order to please his/her parents, but he/she may not wa

There are coaches on both sides of the music argument. Some love playing music during practices. Some hate it. Here are the reasons why coaches might either love or hate playing music during practices. The pros of playing music: Music can improve an athlete’s mindset for training. Some songs get you pumped up. Some songs get you motivated to work hard. Some songs get you relaxed and loose. Some songs make you happy, laugh, and dance. These are all positive emotions that help athletes train hard, execute well, and be happy. These kind of coaches prioritize happy, motivated athletes, so they allow and encourage music to be played during practices. The cons of playing music: The coaches who don’t allow music to be played during practices are not blind to the benefits of music. They just prioritize other things. They still want motivated and happy athletes. But they think athletes should already by happy and motivated to practice without music. They are more concerned with teaching at

Social loafing is when a person gives less effort in a group than when working alone. A person may slack off because they think no one will notice therefore they won’t get punished. Some people are freeloaders, wanting to gain from the hard work of others while they do nothing. An athlete may think "I don't need to play hard. I'll let my teammates carry me." Being a part of a team sounds good because it can bring better results than when working alone, however if everyone on the team slacks off, the team won't reach its full potential. It is when every individual on the team gives their best effort, team success is maximized. Athletes should strive for this maximized team goal, not just for the ability to slack off. Full effort should still be a requirement, no matter how many teammates you have helping you. Emphasize that the reason for forming a team is to maximize success, not just to make things easier.  Social loafing happens a lot when "super tea

Last week I talked about the inner game vs the outer game . It can be a complicated topic, so I want to talk more about it, specifically about balancing two different motivations: the motivation to win and the motivation to give 100% effort. Balancing these 2 motives and knowing when to shift your attention from one to the other is a key to peak performance . The reason why you should want to give 100% effort is because this helps you win (it is also a reward in itself.) Your chances of winning are maximized when you give 100% effort. Winning is a byproduct of effort. So shouldn't you just always focus on giving 100% effort and never worry about winning/results? This sounds good in theory, but it doesn't always work out well in reality. This is because you need the motivation of winning to motivate yourself to give 100% effort. Giving 100% effort is hard and uncomfortable. Thinking about winning reminds you to keep pushing through. Intrinsic motivation isn't always enoug

Within any competition, there are two games going on simultaneously: the outer game and the inner game. The outer game is the one that is more familiar with athletes. It is the scoreboard. It is the actual objective results of the game. The inner game is different from the outer game. You can lose the outer game but still win the inner game. You can win the outer game but still lose the inner game. This is because the inner game isn’t dependent on the scoreboard. The inner game involves a different set of criteria. These criteria includes things such as effort, peak performance, improvement, enjoyment, and sportsmanship . These criteria are arguably just as important as the scoreboard and winning/losing. First of all, winning is a byproduct of effort and performance. If you focus on maximizing your effort and performance, you maximize your chances of winning. You can’t completely control winning, but you can control your effort and performance. Furthermore, losing a game to a superio