To What Extent Might Courage be an Effective Tool to Enhance Athletic Performance? Introduction In the realm of sports, courage stands as a fundamental virtue that is crucial for development and performance targeted towards athletes. This essay delves into the multifaceted nature of courage, highlighting its role in navigating challenges such as parental expectations, societal pressures, and internal struggles like self-doubt and mental health concerns. The concept of courage is deeply intertwined with present modern sports culture, highlighting not only physical strength but also mental resilience, ethical judgment, and integrity when confronting challenges. The provided stimulus further portrays this theme, emphasizing moral values and the …show more content…
Ethical decision-making is another important aspect of courage in sports. Courageous athletes demonstrate integrity, honesty, and a strong sense of ethics, even when faced with difficult choices or external pressures. They stand up for what is right, advocate for fair play, and contribute positively to the sports culture by promoting values of sportsmanship and respect, which was seen within Simone Biles. Courage also enables athletes to navigate complex social dynamics and external pressures effectively, which will be talked about further on. Whether it's dealing with handling expectations from coaches and teammates, or facing criticism from fans, courageous athletes maintain their focus, stay true to their values, and rise above external distractions to perform at their best. In relation to the research question "To what extent might courage be an effective tool to enhance athletic performance," the evidence overwhelmingly supports the idea that courage is indeed a valuable and effective tool in optimizing athletic
As stated in “Investigating Coed Sports Ability to Encourage Inclusion and Equality”, “Females experienced increased self-confidence and pride.” Moreover, when athletes compete with the opposite sex, their skills are bettered. When players realize their skill set has increased as a result, their self-confidence is boosted. Self-confidence is one of the most important things needed to play sports. An athlete can be very talented but if he does not
Athletes in times of difficulty can be important role models.” This shows that sports are in fact helpful because they can grow children into being important role models for the rest of society. Studies have shown time and time again that playing sports can be beneficial to children and we also believe this to be true. Many people still think that sports cause “too many injuries”, or coaches “are not fair enough”, but adolescents will experience these things all throughout their lives because injury can happen anywhere and they will not always be the best at what they are doing. Sports are beneficial to the youth because they can teach children and teens important life skills, help them maintain a fit and healthy lifestyle, all while improving their mental health.
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.
The journal article, “What does sport mean to you? Fun and other preferences for adolescents’ sport participation” claims that fun, social aspects, masculinity, and identity are the main reasons youth participate in sports (Skille and Østera˚ s, 360). Oftentimes, athletes forget they are on the same team, and they start to form cliques or groups based around who has the best bench press or 40 meter dash time. As a result, teammates start to compete with each other instead of working towards the same goal. For instance, one coaching journal article claims that “moral reasoning” in youth is determined through “collective norms” or group behaviors that the coach has a hand in influencing (Shields, LaVoi, Bredemeier, Power, 748-749). A proper coaching environment should therefore revolve around a fun, supportive, and collective environment where success is encouraged through the full support of the team. This support can further be developed through proper positive mindfulness and code of conduct guidelines set forth by the coach; for instance, hazing should be discouraged and proper communication and helpfulness among teammates should be
Athletes are often viewed specially because of their intense determination. They often beat themselves up in order to overcome what they think they can do. Breaking this threshold nearly always requires the overcoming of adversity. In sports psychology, when an athlete “not only makes it through [his] adversity, but acquires additional protective factors in the process”, he has undergone what is known as “resilient reintegration” (Galli, Nick, and Robin S. Vealey 318). This is especially the case when “an athlete returns with a greater appreciation of sport or a stronger work ethic than before” (319). According to exercise and sport scientist Galli’s study, athletes who overcame adversity were ninety percent more capable to cope with future adversities and perform “well in both sport and in life” (320). It is no surprise that people who have overcome adversities in their past are better suited to overcome them again. What is a surprise is how far this truly goes. In fact, this study shows that athletes who have returned from an
The age of overwhelming strength and stamina governing sports is over, and the age of the mentally tough athlete has arrived. Athletes are no longer the superficial jocks and robots programmed to accomplish one goal, victory. Modern athletes ranging from the high school to professional levels are faced with many pressures and temptations, normally outside the realm of their sport. These pressures can inhibit an athlete’s performance substantially; therefore, the pressures need to be dealt with by psychologists. The effectiveness of sports psychology is demonstrated through the fields many theories, applications, and variety of techniques and procedures.
Sports Psychology Today. Mental Edge Athletics, 4 Sept. 2012. Web. 28 Oct. 2013. Forde, Pat.
Sports are an important aspect of society. They help people to strive to reach certain goals and join people together, but they also can divide people and turn a fun game into the main purpose of someone’s life. Taking sports games too seriously can be harmful to both the athlete and the spectator. The attitude of always winning at any cost in sports has managed to distract us from other important parts of our lives, such as health and education. This importance of the value of sports can heavily influence the way that we see ourselves as both the spectator and the athlete by creating a positive self image and distilling confidence and discipline within the player, or by embedding self doubt and inversion.
Sports psychology is the study of how psychology influences sports, athletic performance, exercise and physical activity. Some sports psychologists work with professional athletes and coaches to improve performance and increase motivation. Other professionals use exercise and sports to enhance people’s lives and well-being. While finding ways to help athletes is certainly an important part of sports psychology, the application of exercise and physical activity for improving the lives of non-athletes is also a major focus.
Firstly, it is vital to note that anxiety, motivation, and concentration tremendously influence people's self-confidence and their performance at the long-run (Damon & Raedeke, P 188). Higher self-confidence reduces anxiety. The vice versa is also true. This is based on the fact that optimally confident sports people experience fewer doubts on self. Their worries reduce and give room for concentration in their activities. Additionally, motivated athletes are in a better position to strive towards achieving their goal. Motivation enables sports people to combat negativity and low self-esteem as they focus more on their goals other than obstacles. Therefore, it is fundamental to note that coaches and sports people must collaborate in finding any mechanisms that could stimulate and uphold self-esteem since it is, directly and indirectly, impactful to their
He sprints up and down the court, as sweat pours down his face and on to the hardwood. The player’s legs are in severe pain, and he is out of breath, yet he continues to run, utilizing every last portion of energy that he maintains. He desires to better himself, not necessarily for his own benefit, but for the benefit of his team. He knows that every single member of the team, including himself, must work as hard as they possibly can on the court to reach their potential and achieve success. Organized sports teach athletes some of the most powerful moral values and life lessons that any individual can attain. Despite the opposing opinion that students who take part in organized sports suffer academically due to time deprivation and focus misdirected away from the classroom, involvement in sports teaches young men and women to maintain imperative values, such as hard work, selflessness, and commitment, which ultimately improves student-athletes’ academic performance.
Vince Lombardi, one of the most successful football coaches of all time, said, “The difference between a successful person and others is not a lack of strength, not a lack of knowledge, but a lack of will.” Although Lombardi was primarily speaking about success on the turf, he was also speaking about success in life. Aside from being a phenomenal leader on the field, Lombardi was a leader in all aspects of life and stands as a role model for many young student athletes. When student athletes apply this extraordinary will to their academics alongside athletics, the stellar character of these young adults is revealed. Unfortunately for these athletes, many people, especially educators, blame athletics for struggles within the classroom. A common controversy amongst parents, educators, coaches, and athletes is if education is severely affected by athletic participation. When the results of classroom performance aren’t proficient or greater, it is easy to blame sports because of their time consuming nature. This topic carries a lot of weight for kids ranging from middle school to graduate students because, for many, involvement in athletics is a crucial part of developing important life skills that cannot be attained through a classroom setting, and may be the student’s only method of social outreach. Sports serve as a sanctuary, an escape, a passion, and so much more to each individual involved. Athletics have the potential to negatively impact education, if you allow them to yet research shows just as many cases of sports having positive affects on education as cases of sports being detrimental towards education. The truth of the matter is that your education is your responsibility, and sports cannot be blamed for a lack of succes...
Sports teach you to be resiant. They teach that even when there is defeat you must move on to the next opportunity to compete.
Jeff Kemp, a retired professional NFL quarterback, once stated, “Sports teach positive lessons that enrich America even while revealing its flaws” (Kemp). Athletics offer so much more than the joy of game day and the thrill of a win. Being involved in sports holds the key to a world filled with passion, excitement, and once in a lifetime opportunities. There is nothing better than seeing the student section arrive in full force or hearing the school fight song chanted before kickoff. However, when life moves on and leaves sports behind, the lessons it has instilled in athletes never disappears. The play calls may be foggy and the jersey will be too tight, but what was innocently learned in the jersey shines out at an older age. Although life lessons can be learned through everyday activities, lessons such as teamwork, self-confidence, and dealing with failure are only truly learned through sports by young athletes.
Success goes hand in hand with failure. “You win some, you lose some” is a famous quote which epitomises one of the main core’s of life as these two components are apart of every human being’s daily life. In the same way, they are a part of every sporting event. In life everyone strives for success, yet not always do we attain success instantly, often it requires many failures before success can be achieved. Humphrey asserts that sport ‘brings out the worst in people’, and yes, it is within failure where the worst is brought out of people as many people hate the feeling of failure. However, no matter what one fails at, they will always express their bad side, for example: when one fails at their job, when one fails their license and so on. Sports is the best opportunity for people to learn the benefits and necessity of failure, thus allowing their outlook on failure to be change which in turn corrects the behaviour that comes with failure. Sports also allows one to feel the sense of accomplishment that emanates with success. It therefore teaches the sportsmen how to cope better wit...