Tag: performance
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Am I Competitive?
I’ve thought for a long time that I’m competitive. I’ve prided myself on my competitive spirit. But I’m not totally sure that I was right. I think I’ve had a warped idea of what it means to be competitive. And what this competitive spirit is inside of me. Is it a desire to win? Or…
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Helping Players Transfer Skills from Practice to Games
Performance is unpredictable and challenging. Athletes need to be adaptable. So their movements need to be variable. If they can only do one skill one way, then what happens when they find themselves in a different set of circumstances in the game? If a volleyball player swings with one correct form every time, and they…
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Better Movers, Better Athletes
If we become better movers, we become more athletic. Yes, resistance training, plyometrics, and all of the other ways to develop a stronger, quicker, more athletic body help, too. But some of the lowest-hanging fruit is learning how to move better. This starts with understanding your own movement patterns. Then find ways to make them…
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Compare Against Your Average
We all compare ourselves. It’s natural. And we especially compare ourselves to ourselves. However, we tend to compare ourselves against our personal bests—our best performances or days. And while this might help us in the short term, it could hurt us in the long term. If we continually compare ourselves to our previous best or…
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Tensing Up Makes It Worse
When we get stressed, we tend to make it worse. We get in our own way. We make ourselves feel smaller and less powerful, and the problem feels bigger and more overwhelming. Our minds get crowded with worries and anxieties. Everything becomes pressurized. The fear of pain, discomfort, judgment, punishment, or failure makes us tense…
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Keep Your Feet on the Ground
[Re-Post from 2021] This is not a blog post telling people to stop dreaming big or to get their heads out of the clouds. Rather, this post is about how sports are played and life is lived best with our feet on the ground, ready to move and leap into new places. Taking risks and…