“Adversity causes some men to break; others to break records.” – William Arthur Ward. A challenge mindset has long been associated with improved sports performance. However, it is only recently that research has suggested that developing this mindset is one of the keys to building psychological resilience in an athlete1. Put simply, resilience differentiates the […]
Over the years, there has been many athletes that have been tipped to be the next big star, but fail to reach their full potential. One example is Freddy Adu, who in 2004, at the age of just 14, became the youngest athlete in America to sign a professional contract playing football for D.C United […]
Spend time throughout your day to change your mindset from negative to positive.
It doesn’t seem that long since the London 2012 Olympic Games were gracing our TV screens in the Summer that saw Great Britain achieve 29 Olympic Gold medals across 26 sports. Fast forward to the present and we are edging ever so closer to another sport filled Summer, with the 2016 Olympic Games being held […]
One of the most discussed topics in sport at present is the doping scandal and corruption that has taken place widespread across athletics, resulting in many athletes losing confidence in the sport and the people that govern it. As more and more information comes out of the woodwork about the possibility of athletes taking performance […]
Its the week of the big game, exam or even a job interview, you start to feel ‘butterflies’ in your stomach, you start to think “I’m Nervous” or “Something’s not right” you ‘freak out’ and you eventually under-perform or freeze under the spotlight. Well the good news is… everyone, whether athletic or not will have experienced […]
I dislike how we use the word ‘talent’. A quick google of the word ‘talent’ provides the following definition: natural aptitude or skill. Despite this rather narrow definition, I feel ‘talent’ is too often given as the independent reason and cause to explain how people reach elite performance in sport. I would instead argue that […]
Now 2016 is fully upon us, many of us will have noticed an increase in the amount of people in your local gym. A diverse range of individuals, some of whom may never have taken part in any exercise before, will be busting a gut on the cross trainer, hoping to burn off the calories […]
The topic of frequent physical activity and, more importantly, a sedentary lifestyle dominate the media on a near-daily basis. Although many people feel they undertake enough physical activity to reap the subsequent health benefits, The British Heart Foundation (2012) discovered that less than 10% of men and women could correctly report the government’s guideline recommendations […]
Mental toughness is hard to quantify and define, and it is increasingly evident that the concept can mean different things to different people. UK researchers Jones et al. (2002) carried out an in-depth study with top international athletes and concluded mental toughness to be: ‘having the natural or developed psychological edge that enables you to […]