Athlete Self-Evaluation Essay

Sports psychology deals with the mental and emotional aspects of physical performance. It involves describing, explaining and predicting attitudes, feelings and behaviours in an attempt to improve performance. In the film 'Coach Carter,' directed by Thomas Carter, sport psychology is used effectively to enhance the performance of a high school basketball team. However, this improved performance is not limited to the basketball court, it extends into the classroom where the students use goal setting, motivation, concentration and confidence control, ultimately to become accepted into college, avoiding a life of drugs, gangs and prison.

The age old question has been brought up significantly in the past couple of years and can be considered a national controversy. The answer is you can’t downright pay college athletes due the NCAA “amateurism” ruling. There are many plausible ways to compensate these athletes that are bringing in more money than the school knows what to do with. The NCAA has billions of dollars that they mindlessly shell out to programs for “updated equipment”, locker rooms,gear, etc. Also the NCAA says they pay for schooling for the athletes and that is enough, however not every athlete at a given school gets a “full ride”, or even half. This leads us to the main problem.

In Reading, Massachusetts, one parent was beaten to death by another parent after a scuffle at a youth hockey game (Sachs). In Palin Beach, Florida, a father of a little league player was sentenced to three years in prison after taking a gun and pointing it at a coach (Gehring). In Port St. Lucie, Florida, a headline in the evening paper read, "Spectator Bites off Man's Ear at Youth Baseball Game" (Pallerino). Why would parents act in such negative ways? They are too competitive at youth athletic events.

Mind Gym is an athlete's guide to inner excellence and it is written by Gary Mack with David Casstevens and forwarded by Alex Rodriguez. Gary Mark is one of America’s best sports physcologists. He has worked with some of our nation’s elite athletes throughout his lifetime. He has also worked with teams such as; Chicago Cubs, Seattle Mariners, Arizona Cardinals and many more. Mack’s best selling book is Mind Gym: An Athlete’s Guide to Inner Excellence.

As an athletic trainer, I relied heavily on my adaptability in order to be successful. I learned this lesson early in my experience working as a graduate assistant with the softball team at Lindenwood University - Belleville. While athletic trainers are vital components to an athletic program’s success and safety, athletic trainers must frequently meet the demands of the teams and coaching staffs they work with. This requires being ready and willing to change your schedule whenever necessary. Working an outdoor sport made this trait even more important, as games and practice times changed frequently solely based on weather conditions. On multiple occasions with the softball team this spring, practice or game times changed due to uncontrollable

As a child, I was taught that with hard work and determination I could achieve anything. Unfortunately, this is a myth, and limitations are a part of being human. I was forced to accept this reality during my junior year of high school. Ever since I was a little girl, I looked forward to playing varsity basketball on the orange and black court at Dalton High School. Finally, during my third year of high school, I was given the chance to start as point guard on the girls’ varsity basketball team. Suddenly, my dream turned into a nightmare, and I was sitting on the bench watching other girls play the game I loved. Gretchen Wald, a teammate, was experiencing the same problem. Luckily, she remained by my side throughout the experience. Together,

Being an athlete involves more than just conditioning and practicing. It involves setting goals and striving to reach them, being accountable to your team and leading by example. I am older than many of the athletes at the gym. I try to be a good example for them, both in and out of practice. I am thankful that my coaches have guided me and taught me that trust is key; trust in my teammates and trust in my coaches.

I’m not much of an athlete so when my teammates were out in the soccer field, I would cheer them on. I participated in sports because when I got to high school, the upperclassmen would assert freshmen to go out for activities and “get involved” is the common thing to say and it’s very true. When I heard we had an Academic Decathlon team my freshman year I was excited to join. Unfortunately, I didn’t join until my junior year. Even though my teammates would be absent and I would be the only one at the meeting with the instructor, I still came every day. The next year, I joined AD and a myriad of members were freshmen and both of the coaches would tell them how I showed up and they should too. As for my community service, when I’m asked or see

This study deals with high school athletics and their long-term effect in the lives of those who participate; it also deals with the positive and negative aspects of athletics during high school, and the treatment of those who participate. This study was conducted with qualitative data obtained from five personal interviews with previous high school athletes. These five people come from a range of places, ages, and experience. Conclusions are that participation in high school athletics is a contributor to a better social life and experience during high school. Good friends and influences are obtained through the pursuit of high school athletics. The long-term effects

In the world today children, teens and adults have bigger barriers than ever before. Obesity being one of them or parents trying to live there dreams through their children. Since this is the case they force their children to specialise in a sport too earlier (Balyi et al, 2013). Long term athlete development is put into place to prevent these types of problems and Long term athlete development plan is a stage by stage approach which gives every child, youth and adult the opportunity to engage in life long, Health-enhancing physical activity, and if they are talented they could try and reach the highest sport performance potential (Balyi et al,2013).

In the sports I do play, I am not the strongest nor fastest, but none of that matters because I always convince myself that I am just as able as the most physically fit. In the High Performance Center, twice a week sports lift. When I lift, I try my hardest to push myself, and constantly think optimistically. When the coaches say, “Maya, can you really lift that much?”, I always think that I can, and usually I am able to lift that amount. Many coaches say that half of sports is a mental battle, convincing oneself to push themselves and think positive, or “get in the zone”. For myself, the mental battle is just as difficult but I am more used to it,

The utilization of the mental skills to increase or enhance performance and optimal functioning has been a major focus of sport psychology since the fields early days, the importance of having pinnacle mental and emotional skills is seen in the highly valued Olympic gold medalists. Mental toughness which is having control, focus, resiliency, and the ability to cope with pressure, all empowers an athlete to tackle the best possible attitude to compete at a high caliber. Many athletes use numerous mental techniques to give them the best edge at having the most ideal game or season. These techniques are the basis of psychological skills training. Psychological skills training (PST) by definition refers to systematic and consistent practice of mental or psychological skills for the purpose of enhancing

Athletes are connected to living an obese life because of today's mindset. Fast food restaurants, television, video games, snacks and other setbacks for exercise do not help athletes to stay active and ready as needed. Although obesity is least likely to occur for anyone, athlete or non-athlete, who is consistently active, the US is setup to suit the people's comforts. Millions of different types of stores and shops, restaurants, thousands of career choices, beneficially made technology, and various systems are all designed for the help and benefit of the country as a whole. However, as they are beneficial they are also disadvantages because they bring defects to the people's health. Losing any luxuries is considered a hardship but the solution

(Miserandino, 1998, p. 287) Athletes can also suffer greatly from anxiety and stress. (Holm, Beckwith, Ehde, Tinius, 1995, p. 463) Any of these conditions can be detrimental to ones competitive ability. Techniques such as mental imagery training and relaxation techniques can be used to attack problems in these areas. (McKenzie, Howe, 1997, p. 196) Marianne Miserandino's research was focused on failure, and why athletes believe that they don't accomplish their goals. She learned that starting at young age, athletes are told that failure comes from their lack of ability. This is called learned helplessness. (Miserandino, 1998, p. 287) In her study she approached this problem by splitting her subject into two groups. One group received feedback about their shooting techniques and were told that lack of effort was the reason for missed shots, not lack of ability. The other group received only feedback on their techniques.

Mental toughness is not a new concept in sport, but is generally misunderstood. Coaches design programmes to develop mentally tough athletes, predominately in professional sport, to separate elite performers from good performers (Gould, Jackson, & Finch, 1993) as physical talent itself is not the only component that can lead an athlete to success (Gucciardi, Gordon, & Dimmock, 2008).