Introduction
What makes champions in sport? At the end of the day, it is the moment when one stands at the top of the podium, holding up their well-deserved medals and trophies that all elite athletes strive for. Thus, experts have studied this question extensively to see which programs, or by what means, are elite athletes developed to achieve this goal. One of the many aspects to athlete development is the controversial topic of deliberate practice versus deliberate play. Deliberate practice can be defined as “any training activity (a) undertaken with the specific purpose of increasing performance, (b) requiring cognitive and/or physical effort, and (c) relevant to promoting positive skill development” (Cote et al., 2007, p. 185) On the other hand, deliberate play is defined as “a form of sporting activity that involves early developmental physical activities that are intrinsically motivating, provide immediate gratification, and are specifically designed to maximize enjoyment” (Cote et al., 2007, p. 185-186). The phrase “deliberate practice versus deliberate play” is a common misnomer, since the terms are portrayed as the only two options; however, this is a false dichotomy. Empirical evidence supports the fact that both aspects are essential for the development of athletes; therefore the phrase should be correctly cited as “deliberate practice and deliberate play”. This commentary will focus on discussing the importance of both deliberate practice and deliberate play for elite athlete development as well as pose some questions on talent identification and early specialization in sport.
Deliberate Practice
Some evidence that supports the importance of deliberate practice comes from Berry et al.’s (2008) study with elite athle...
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...07). Practice and Play in the Development of Sport
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That being said no matter what size you are the skills you possess is where talent is born for athletes. The first main component in this book that I will discuss in my paper is deep practice. Deep practice challenges the intuition of talent and tries to go against it. Our thought process
Sports performance is carrying out of specific physical routines or procedures by one who is trained or skilled in physical activity. Performance is usually influenced by a combination of physiological and also psychological. Performance of an athlete usually measured by the goals they set and how hard they are willing to train for the sport they take part in. When thinking of performing a duty to a team most people don’t think about the mental obstacles one might have to overcome to accomplish a goal. When dealing with any athlete there is more to it than just throwing them in a game and expecting them to play well.
“We cannot predict with accuracy who will become élite in a given field, but we know that genes and environment matter and that we all have different natural peaks that we can reach through application and training.” To lead her readers to this conclusion, she took her readers through the research process and the different sides of the debate. She skillfully write in an orderly fashion making it easy to follow and to understand what her intent was. Her intended audience would be athletes, musicians, and anyone interested in achieving their highest potential. Also, anyone interested in the old debate of nature vs nurture would also be interested in reading this article since she uses it in order to discover if practice makes perfect. Instead of it being one or the other, the conclusion came to be, that both nature and nurture plays a role in a person’s ability to reach his greatest
Sport and exercise science is a multidisciplinary field that draws on knowledge from the broader parent disciplines, the subareas that make up sport and exercise science also draw on measures, constructs and concepts from each other. In fact, it is suggested that sport psychology should include knowledge from other sub-disciplines within sport and exercise science in order to gain better understanding of situations specific to
It is said that sport specialization in youth can reduce motor skill development, cause overuse injuries, encourage loss of motivation, and increase emotional stress and burnout” (“Journal of Physical Education,” n.d.).
Our society, in terms of world sports, has grown increasingly impressive. Most professional athletes have been playing their specialized sport since grade school, and although impressive, the people we are rooting for are wearing out quickly. Although youth sports programs are a health benefit to society, they also pose disadvantages to a young person’s growth and development.
Why do we do what we do? This is one question that summarizes the motive for psychology. The answer to this question is the reason why I declared psychology as my major. Current psychologists and those dating back to the year 1879, strove to achieve the answer to this reoccurring question. “The Father of Psychology”, Wilhelm Wundt, and those psychologists of-age, have been strenuously consulting and researching to truly understand the mind and its effect on human behavior. Over the last 127 years, an accumulation of various answers to that specific question have been made. In this paper, the main focus will be the working memory in athletics; how the conscious movements become unconscious and almost instinct-like, and how coaches can teach their athletes better, using explicit and implicit technique.
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Creative new training methods, developed by coaches, athletes and sport scientists, are aimed to help improve the quality and quantity of athletic training ( Kellmann, 2010, p.1). However, these methods have encountered a consistent set of barriers including overtraining ( Kellmann, 2010, p.1). Due to these barriers, the need for physical and mental recovery in athletics brought an increasing attention in practice and in research ( Kellmann, 2010, p.1).
In “children Need to Play, Not compete.” Jessica Statsky talks about the harmful and destructive effects of competitive sports can haven on young children. The problems faced by the children due to introducing theses sports is immense. They cause a great deal of damage to the brain and body both. Statsky mentions the harsh selection method that children have to go through and how it result in physiological issues when they are unable to meet the benchmark set by their parents and coaches. She explains her claims trough different sources and examples. Statsky shows her apprehensions about the amount of physical pressure the children are put trough. The developing bodies should not strain itself as it would obstruct their development. Due to
Athletes who react good to pressure can be described as psychologically sound, whereas athletes, who exhibit not common responses to pressure, may experience choking under pressure. (Mesango & Marchant, 2008) When we think of personal performance, what are we actually saying? Although personal performance can’t be specifically defined, it’s believed to be measured by an athlete’s outcome of the game he or she has played. How did the athlete prepare himself for the game? What goals has he or she set prior to kickoff, or tipoff? It’s amazing how an athletes mind and thinking, plays such a big part in how they
Sports psychology continues to evolve in order to ensure that comprehensive and evidence-based psychological services are available for athletes and teams. Giving athletes an understanding of their psychological functioning, and building the ability to implement a range of psychological strategies in competition enables athletes to both execute their skills and thrive under pressure as they strive to reach their performance potential.
Millions of children worldwide participate in a multitude of sports, either in school or outside of school. As they grow older, they get better, but some of them stop playing. We have discussed that the best and sometimes oldest of the kids (in their age groups) are given more chances and more opportunities, as well as better coaching. This results in them gaining more experience and practice. Ultimately, some of them end up being national or world-class athletes competing and representing their country. In order for that to happen, they have to be recognized as talented and be presented with a chance to become great.
The main goals behind Sport Education are to help students become knowledgeable about different sports and activities to the point where they can participate in these outside of the classroom to stay active. Also it teaches execution and strategies and encourages competitiveness. It is important for kids to be competitive because they will have to be in life and it will teach the importance of winning and losing the right way. “Sports offer kids a great chance to work cooperatively toward a common goal. And working coope...