Athletes perform their best under two distinct practice mindsets. The first is skill acquisition or skill mastery, in which athletes master sports skills. Here, coaches help athletes become competent with the technique or the "how to" of execution.
The second type of practice is specificity
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Practice to Competition
Use Specificity Training for Higher Performance
Peter Vidmar, an Olympic gymnast, used specificity training to prepare for the 1984 Olympics. Peter's goal was to make his practice as close to a real meet as possible. He wanted to practice with the same distractions and emotions that go with competition. Peter and his teammates simulated the
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Don’t Forget About Practice Goals
Setting goals are an important part of structuring practice and improving the quality of your performance. You wan to have clear goals about what you want to achieve in sport. However, when it comes to training and practice sessions, many athletes do not have well defined goals and this can help you
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Improving Practice Efficiency
Playing competitive sports at the highest level requires athletes and teams to engage in focused, quality practice, which improves both learning and performance. How can practice be more effective without spending more time? Coaches need to integrate proven methods of motor learning and sports
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Overcome Your Comfort Zone
Many athletes hold themselves back with a comfort zone. What is a comfort zone in sports? A comfort zone is a mental barrier that limits what you think you are capable of and is hard to shake. A comfort zone is a problem whenever an athlete is playing better than expected or is in uncharted
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Champion Athletes Focus Under Pressure
“One of the biggest differences between the top players and the good players is when they are under the gun, they see and hear less than anyone else,” said Helen Alfredson, LPGA Tour star. The top athletes simply are less distracted when they *need to* hit a good a shot, get a critical first down,
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Helping Kids Take Practice to Competition
Frustrated parents want to know why athletes don’t perform as well in games as they do in practice... In some sports, such as skating or gymnastics, athletes spend months training for one major competition all year. These athletes spend 95% of practice time training their skills.
Young athletes
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Practice Mental Skills Too; Not Just Physical Skills
Your athletes must improve their mental skills just like they improve their physical skills if they want to perform to their potential. The mind drives the body. When athletes minds are not focused or confident, they won't use the physical skills they've refined through practice during
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