By Emilie Le Beau Lucchesi — 2018
Youth sports organizations are increasingly reporting scenarios in which parents yell, threaten or physically assault coaches, referees, players or other parents.
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If athletes practice meditation for a few minutes a day, they may become better able to withstand the mental demands of hours of strenuous physical training
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Athletes and teams looking for an extra edge are turning to mindfulness and mental-skills training to improve performance and well-being.
Sports are known to have many effects on physical health for all who play them, including student-athletes. But what about the effects on mental health? Can playing a sport worsen a student’s mental health, or can it actually help? Turns out it’s a little of both.
A half-pipe course lasts about 22 seconds. Alpine skiers fly through the air for five seconds. Figure skaters complete three twirls in a breath.
When Minnesota Vikings punter Jeff Locke learned how to control his attention, he learned how to cope better with pressure and improved his performance in games. Pressure can get to any athlete, that is, if the athlete lets it happen.
What makes an elite sports star suddenly unable to do the very thing they have been practising for years? And is there anything they can do about it?
In making herself vulnerable, Naomi Osaka joined other noteworthy athletes in pushing a once-taboo subject into the open.
“There will be a struggle between the mind and body, between attending to the physical injury and maintaining identity by continuing to train.”
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“We need to do a better job of addressing mental as well as physical aspects of athletic injuries,” sports psychologist Matthew Sacco, PhD, says.
Struggles with anxiety and depression can affect anyone—even the greatest performers in sports