tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-56297015701288762312024-03-14T12:11:28.344+01:00Brain SPEC - Sport Performance Enhancement ConsultancyAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14880823052546390284noreply@blogger.comBlogger26125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5629701570128876231.post-19971848042864382432016-10-18T15:25:00.001+02:002016-10-18T15:25:30.420+02:00Table Tennis UniversityA good friend of mine has relaunched the website Table Tennis University. This is a website that features lots of great coaching, including in the coming months contributions from Brain-SPEC.<br />
It is free to join and there is some good free content available so check it out at <a href="http://tabletennisuniversity.com/?affcode=78475_msvs2f40">http://tabletennisuniversity.com/?affcode=78475_msvs2f40</a> and enjoy the content!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14880823052546390284noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5629701570128876231.post-32604442695708144342016-07-18T16:03:00.001+02:002016-07-20T13:47:08.188+02:00Summer Camp in Dordrecht, NetherlandsThere is another superb training camp in Dordrecht in the Netherlands the 15th-19th August, with top players and coaches from Netherlands, Belgium and wider. There are only a few places left so if you are interested contact me quickly at brainspecsports@gmail.com<br />
You could tie it in the with the camp in Bishop Auckland the week before and have 2 intensive weeks of training to get you ready for the new season!<br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14880823052546390284noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5629701570128876231.post-43593836400365290382016-07-18T15:47:00.001+02:002016-07-20T13:47:47.201+02:00Summer Camp in Bishop AucklandThis year there will be a table tennis summer training camp at Bishop Auckland TTC. Running from the 8th-12th August it will include top class coaches and included are 2 sport psychology workshops. There are still some places left so if you are interested contact me at brainspecsports@gmail.com for more information and to sign up.<br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14880823052546390284noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5629701570128876231.post-52607087729388985272016-02-02T16:44:00.001+01:002016-02-02T16:44:37.901+01:00Creating Accountability in an individual sportThe Expert in a Year challenge was a huge success! Ok, not a success in achieving its goal of Sam reaching the top 250. Sam will even admit he was not even close to being successful based on his goal...<br />
But it was a success in perseverance, a success in keeping up the challenge even on the days when they didn't want to. Keeping up the challenge on those cold, tired, busy mornings and, to be perfectly honest, nobody would really blame them for taking an extra hour in bed, eating that extra scoop of ice cream, drinking that extra beer. But they didn't, they kept going.<br />
This says a lot about the internal motivation that they possessed. That drive inside them to achieve the goal was undoubtedly strong. However at times even that would fail them, so what kept them going?<br />
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Accountability</span></h4>
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One of the big things that kept them going was their accountability. In a team sport, like football you have the rest of your teammates relying upon you to do what you have to do for you all to succeed. That group is with you on the training pitch, with you in the gym, watching whether you are slacking or not. And if they catch you slacking, they are sure to let you know. While this is not the best reason to be your first call for why you do these things, when that primary internal reason fails, this is a very helpful backup to push you through those momentary dark times.<br />
Those momentary dark times, when your primary motivation is failing is when you are most likely to give up, that nagging thought in the back of your mind- `missing one session won't make a difference`- can become even stronger and once that takes hold it can easily lead to a slippery slope to more and more missed sessions, and even giving up. So having that team around you to support you and push you through those particular time can be very helpful.<br />
However, what if you don't have a team around you? If you play an individual sport, sometimes you have those days and days of activities and training sessions where there is not another person in sight. And if there is another person in sight they are most likely just focusing on their own thing and don't care what you are doing. Perhaps it is even beneficial to them to not care if you slack off or miss a session because they may be a direct competitor of yours.<br />
So how do you keep this accountability through these times.<br />
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Find `training buddies`</span></h4>
<br />
Exercise clubs and gyms have been offering deals for `gym buddies` for a while now. Come along with a friend and you both get a discount. Partly this is for their own gain- getting 2 people in the gym means more money than 1 person- but also it is to help encourage more regular attendance and therefore a fitter population. You can incorporate this into your own plans. Find someone who has similar goals to you and make an agreement to push each other. Wherever possible to train at the same times (together) and keep each other honest about it. Skipping a session should not be ok (unless for extreme circumstances) and you should feel comfortable telling each other that!<br />
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Find `accountability supporters`</span></h4>
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Make a commitment to inform other people of your progress. Sam had many many people regularly following his progress. If he slacked off, thousands of people would know about it. Ok, telling the whole internet might be a big step, but this can be as simple as telling a few close trusted friends, `this is what I want to do`, and give them permission to challenge you on it, ask about how it is going, this will help them to give you the push when you need it.<br />
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<span style="color: white;">
Be honest!</span></h4>
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If you are not honest about how much you are actually doing, how will your training buddies and supporters know when to push you, when to comfort you, when to congratulate you? If you are not honest with them they are not effective.<br />
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(In England at least) I have found that there is a certain pressure to play down the amount of work you are putting in. There appears to be more adulation to be attained from seeming to winning/improving effortlessly. It is seen as good to boast how little training you have been able to do but still win, as if the `natural` ability is to be praised. When people make an honest effort to work hard for their goal and take things as professionally as possible they get shot down and laughed at. If you begin being more honest about how much you have trained, how hard you work, how much you want to win, perhaps others will also start to feel comfortable sharing their effort levels. All of a sudden there begins to be a shift in the `culture` towards one that sees working hard as acceptable.<br />
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On the other hand sometimes people like to boast about how much they have done. This is also not helpful, as other people be easily discouraged by comparison or also the lack of improvement seen despite `all this work you're doing` in the end will show you to be exaggerating.<br />
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<span style="color: white;">What do you think? Please leave your feedback at the bottom of the page and if you found this interesting check out some of the other posts on the website or get in touch at brainspecsports@gmail.com</span><br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14880823052546390284noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5629701570128876231.post-12499997731319316702015-05-13T14:30:00.002+02:002015-05-13T14:30:28.204+02:00Table tennis psychology workshop in Bishop Auckland<span style="font-size: large;">Brain-SPEC has again joined up with Bishop Auckland Table Tennis Club to offer another workshop. </span><br /><br /><br /> Do you ever feel you are playing really well in training but not in matches? A difficult thing in table tennis is to know how to make training feel more like matches and matches feel more like training and how to get the most out of the limited training you have access to. The two topics we will look at in this workshop are-<br /><br /><ul>
<li><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: white;">Training Optimisation</span> </span></li>
<ul>
<li>how to make the most of every minute when training and optimise the speed in which you improve and transfer that into matches. </li>
</ul>
<li><span style="color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;">Routine Setting</span> </span></li>
<ul>
<li>How to best prepare for matches to make sure you play closer to your best on a more consistent basis. </li>
</ul>
</ul>
<br /><br />These topics will build upon the previous 2 workshops given last year at Bishop Auckland TTC but are also designed for people new to the whole topic.<br /><br />Players of any level who are interested in improving their performance in table tennis can benefit from this workshop, by learning skills that can be practiced and integrated day in day out for the rest of their lives!<br /><br />The workshop will take place on Tuesday 26th May 6pm-8pm at Bishop Barrington School, home of Bishop Auckland TTC and will cost £8 per person. Parents of children under 16 are welcome to sit in on the workshop free of charge. <br /><br />Players who are attending the training camp the following day will particularly benefit as these skills can be worked on during the camp. A discount is also available to these players by contacting Matt Porter.<br /><br />Those who wish to book their place on this camp can do so by contacting <span style="color: white;">Matt Porter</span> at <span style="color: white;">Matt@bishopaucklandttc.co.uk</span> or on <span style="color: white;">07411018856</span> or by emailing <span style="color: white;">brainspecsports@gmail.com</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14880823052546390284noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5629701570128876231.post-52900167443930592382015-04-10T15:00:00.000+02:002015-04-13T14:44:02.131+02:00Team goal setting workshop in Bishop Auckland<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b><span style="font-size: large;">Reaching your goal, as a TEAM!</span></b></div>
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<br /></div>
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Having clear goals for your team is
crucial to motivating your team to train harder and work more
effectively together on and off the pitch.</div>
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This interactive workshop will give
teams the opportunity to learn how to set effective goals both
individually and as a team, while also allowing them to work with a
specialist together to set goals for the coming season. It will also
equip them to regulate, and reset goals in the future.</div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
This workshop will be of great benefit
to the team. It helps to improve team spirit, understanding of roles
within the team and enjoyment of the collective unit they are part
of. It is most effective when as many of the team as possible (most
effectively, the full team) including the coach attends. </div>
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It will take place at Bishop Barrington school in Bishop Auckland, home of <a href="http://bishopaucklandttc.co.uk/" target="_blank"><span style="color: white;">Bishop Auckland Table Tennis Club</span></a> on the evening of <span style="color: white;"><b>Monday 25th May</b></span><b> <span style="color: white;">6pm</span></b></div>
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Please <b><span style="color: white;">email Brainspecsports@gmail.com</span></b> for further information or to sign your team up! It is well worth attending and could make the difference in your team`s season!</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
High numbers are anticipated and spaces are limited so get your team booked in early to avoid disappointment</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14880823052546390284noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5629701570128876231.post-55974544918108216142015-03-24T17:20:00.000+01:002015-03-24T17:20:09.530+01:00Make Exclusive Sessions to make your club MORE Inclusive<span style="font-size: large;">Stopping people from coming to your sessions will increase the number of people coming to your sessions! While this may seem like a paradox, a contradictory idea, bear with me!</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">What I am talking about is having specific sessions aimed at certain types of people. In doing this, you are removing some of the reasons potential members of your club are staying away.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: red; font-size: large;">What reasons might they be?</span><br />
<br />
One of the biggest factors in whether some people exercise or not is based on what they think other people will say/think about them! Two heavily under-represented sections of society in sport are women and people with handicaps (both mental and physical). I'm sure you can easily imagine some of the comments that might be made by some lesser minded people, or at the very least may go through the minds of someone considering whether to attend one of your club`s sessions and naturally imagines one of these scenarios occurring. This sort of thing is enough to push someone who is on the fence about attending over to the side of not attending.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: red; font-size: large;">How can you minimise this barrier to people?</span><br />
<br />
Making specific sessions can help remove some of this thinking. If they know they can attend a session where they will not stick out, be laughed at, stared at, etc. and know that everybody else there is in the same boat (perhaps literally) then they a less likely to be put off.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: red; font-size: large;">What sort of sessions could your club offer?</span><br />
<br />
As already mentioned, women-only sessions are already becoming more popular, but some other sessions may be disability sessions, age-specific sessions (e.g. over 50s, under 18s), beginner-only sessions (so they don't feel they will be laughed at if they are terrible, which even the best players were at some point!)<br />
<br />
<span style="color: red; font-size: large;">Won't this exclusion lessen my session numbers?</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">No. </span>Let us take women-only as an example, think about how many women generally attend your mixed sessions currently. It is most likely not very many...<br />
Now think that half the people in the world are women. Half the potential attendees of your sessions are at risk of excluding themselves from coming because of these fears. This is already limiting your sessions!<br />
<br />
<span style="color: red; font-size: large;">Should all your sessions do this?</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">No. </span>I talked at the start about this being more inclusive as a club, but surely if all the sessions are specific then the club is segregating members and therefore not actually being very inclusive and diverse!<br />
Well, this is where also having general, open sessions is also important, and having regular social events where all are invited encourages interaction between members of different sessions. Then they realise perhaps those others aren't so bad, and perhaps they won't be laughed at if they attend the open sessions. Then, once these fears have been put to bed, you have thriving, busy open sessions and a clearer pathway for non-playing potential people to get involved safely, then progress into active, engaged members of your club!<br />
<br />
As a result of doing these things you build a diverse, inclusive, thriving club with people engaged from all walks of life.<br />
This next part may sound extreme, but it is these little small steps that amount to big change...<br />
Obesity and physical inactivity are two of the biggest killers in the world at the moment, think of how many of those who die as a result might have not exercised because of these fears. Opening the doors for these under-represented sections of society will save lives! Also, having a diverse, engaged club will help build bridges between sections of society, removing some of the stigmas attached wrongly to certain people, such as mentally and physically handicapped people. The positive social effect may also create a better society where you live and in the world!<br />
<br />
Furthermore one more reason to do it... there are a lot of funding opportunities currently being offered to fund such projects from organisations such as Sport England, so doing these things may even make great financial sense for your club anyway, even if the numbers at these sessions are lower as a result of the specialising!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14880823052546390284noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5629701570128876231.post-62310664621174216752015-03-10T12:27:00.000+01:002015-03-10T12:47:00.866+01:00England- Book your Brain-SPEC workshops in May!<span style="color: white; font-size: x-large;">Brain-SPEC will be looking at setting up workshops in England during May. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">If your club is interested in hosting one then get in touch now to ensure the dates that work best for you are not booked up!</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Prices will vary depending upon numbers of participants (the more, the cheaper it will for everybody!) and the topic can be specifically aimed towards your club.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Send an email to Brainspecsports@gmail.com to allow your club to benefit from a workshop.</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14880823052546390284noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5629701570128876231.post-19254670669720609442015-01-21T11:33:00.001+01:002015-01-21T11:33:46.732+01:00Ask Me Anything, on Youtube!<span style="font-size: x-large;">Brain-SPEC launching a brand new Youtube channel! Exciting, no?</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;">What is more exciting is that to kick it off, you have the chance to ask me anything!</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;">interested in knowing what it is like to work with a performance enhancement specialist? Want to know about the techniques that are sometimes used? Or just always wondered what my favourite team is? You can ask me ANYTHING. </span><div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;">Send your questions via twitter @BrainSPECsports via email Brainspecsports@gmail.com on the BrainSPEC Facebook page or in the comments at the bottom of this page.<br />I will collect all the questions and put together a video where I answer as many of them as possible and post it on the youtube channel.</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14880823052546390284noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5629701570128876231.post-9071609161789254882015-01-05T22:41:00.001+01:002015-01-05T22:41:38.695+01:00Struggles of a Training Athlete- Focusing on one thing at a timeAs mentioned in the blog post from the Expert in a year challenge Sam enjoyed his training camp because (unlike normal training), he was able to completely forget about all the other work and worries he had and solely focus on improving his table tennis. The other side of this positive thing is the way it suggests the other training he was normally doing was not 100% focused because he was still thinking about work he needed to do or other places he needed to be.<br /><br />This has undoubtedly affected the quality of his training and therefore his rate of development. In the Train Smart Play Smart series I talk a lot about the importance of maximising the effectiveness of the training you are doing, and if you are not completely focused during training that will not allow this to happen.<br /><br />So how do we enable ourselves to focus when training? Do we (like Sam) need to take ourselves away to another country and forget about all other elements of life? Perhaps your boss, partner, kids, friends, parents, bank balance etc might not be so happy about that idea. For most people it is about juggling all the elements of life in a way you can get the most out of each part.<br /><br /><br />Here are a few tips (that don't just apply to sport) on how to maximise efficiency through focusing on one thing at a time!<br /><br /><span style="color: red; font-size: large;">Spend time getting in the right frame of mind</span><br /><br />The same way you would take time to prepare yourself for your best performance in a match, take time to prepare yourself for your best performance in training. Warm-up routines are a good way of systematising your preparations and ensuring you are in the right frame of mind any time that you play.<br /><br /><span style="color: red; font-size: large;">use Trigger Music/Video</span><br /><br />As part of this preparing integrate some sort of music or video. Associate this music with your sport and then on those days where you might have a harder time forgetting about that meeting at work, the music will help to get `in the mood` for training<br /><br /><span style="color: red; font-size: large;">Set Goals and Plans</span><br /><br />Don't just go into a training session without a plan. If you have a plan, then you have less opportunity for your mind to wander because there is a focused, structured plan to follow. <br /><br />Shorten the training sessions- humans struggle to focus intensively for long periods of time, that means if you are training for a long time youre more likely to lose focus and that makes the hours you have put in less effective. It is better to have shorter, more effective focused training than long, unfocused sessions.<br /><br /><span style="color: red; font-size: large;">Schedule Effectively</span><br /><br />Will you have your best training session straight after long busy day at work? Probably not. Admittedly there will be parts of life that you cant move around just to suit you, for instance you may have to work 9-5 every weekday whether you like it or not. However, within that week there may be days that are more or less stressful. So, if you can schedule your more intensive training for the days where you are less tired/stressed then you will probably have a better training session.<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
using these tips should help you to be more focused during your training sessions, and as mentioned at the beginning these tips can also be used in other parts of your life for instance to be more productive at work!</div>
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If you enjoyed these tips and found them helpful, or if you have any tips of your own, leave a comment. Also, check out the other articles on the website and if you are interested in working with Brain-SPEC on a more personal basis, click `contact Brain-SPEC` at the top of the page. This is the most effective way in which brain-SPEC can help you with your performance... and if you haven't noticed, the idea behind these posts is maximising that effectiveness!!!</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14880823052546390284noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5629701570128876231.post-86555243619312789232014-11-18T13:48:00.002+01:002014-11-18T13:48:48.824+01:00Preparing for things going wrongSometimes things don't go as you expect them to. That is just the way sport goes. However what often happens, is that these changes or things going wrong affects you whole game and can cause your performance to fall apart. This might not even be necessarily anything bad, just different. For instance how often do see a team prepare to play a really tough team, then that team gets unexpectedly beaten the round before. As a result the team loses focus expecting to beat the weaker team easily and as a result doesn't prepare adequately and loses!<br /><br /><br /> So how can you prepare for things going differently to how you expect? The answer is quite simple -<br />
<u><b><br /></b></u>
<span style="color: white; font-size: large;"><u><b>PLAN</b></u>!</span><br />
<br />
The old saying `Failing to prepare is preparing to fail` is particularly useful here.<br />
<br />
As is `Plan for the worst, expect the best`.<br />
<br />
An important part of good performances is the expectation of things going well, e.g. not expecting a shot to go on the table has been known to have a negative effect on the likelihood of that shot going on the table! So you need to be confident things will go well. However it is doesn't go as well as you hoped you need a plan B. That plan B is a lot more effective if it is pre-thought out.<br />
<br />
So how do you make a plan B?<br />
<br />
The simple, effective way is the `If-then` method. IF this happens, THEN I will do this...<br />
spending time doing this before a match or a tournament is a very good way of preparing for the unpredictability of sport. Let`s think of some examples of things that could occur that it would be helpful to have an If-then plan for...<br />
<br />
Tactics-<br />
You turn up to a match and the team/player you are playing against is playing completely different tactics. How do you change your game plan accordingly<br />
<br />
Conditions-<br />
The day is unnaturally warm. How do you change your nutrition, game plan etc<br />
<br />
Equipment-<br />
your racket is slower than usual. Do you change your tactics or just try to take bigger swings etc?<br />
<br />
performance-<br />
you make a lot of simple mistakes on your backhand. Do you change your plan, use some mental skills to maintain confidence in it, persevere with that shot?<br />
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These show there are so many things that are unpredictable in sport and any one of these things could cause you to lose focus and affect your performance. So having a plan written down beforehand will give you confidence and a plan to overcome these issues.<br />
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Here are a few tips to make this planning most effective-<br />
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<span style="color: white;">Write it down.</span><br />
Having a written list (I find 2 columns best- an `if` on the left and its `then` next to it) makes it a concrete plan that you can carry with you. The symbolism of this should not be underestimated!<br />
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<span style="color: white;">Think of everything that could possibly happen.</span><br />
If you make an `if-then` and the `if` doesn't happen you don't lose anything. If you don't make an `if-then` and something happens it could throw you off your game just like before.<br />
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<span style="color: white;">Make the plans actionable.</span><br />
Make the `then` part something you can actively change and measure. `If it is hot, then i will drink more water` is not as likely to be effective as planning specific times when you could drink the water. `If it is hot, then I will drink water during every stoppage of play` Would be more likely to get you to follow through the action instead of being vague.<br />
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<span style="color: red;">Spend time doing this before matches/tournaments and you will be able to refer back to these notes should something come up and remember what you planned to do. Even if nothing comes up you can go into it with higher self-confidence because you know you are fully prepared for anything!</span><span style="color: red;"><br /></span>
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<span style="color: red;">If you found this useful check out the other tips on the website. If you try this please comment below with how you found it and any examples or experiences where this was/ could have been used.</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14880823052546390284noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5629701570128876231.post-4578055695026042242014-11-17T12:29:00.003+01:002014-11-18T12:58:08.964+01:00Struggles of a Training Athlete. Avoiding OvertrainingIn the previous 2 posts, <a href="http://brain-spec.blogspot.de/2014/09/struggles-of-training-athlete_22.html" target="_blank"><b><span style="color: white;">Diagnosing</span></b></a> and <b><a href="http://brain-spec.blogspot.de/2014/09/struggles-of-training-athlete_24.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: white;">Monitoring</span></a> </b>Overtraining we have looked at the issues surrounding overtraining and how we can detect when it is occurring. This is more of a treatment of an issue more than a prevention.<br />
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This post will look at how to <u><b>prevent </b></u>it from happening in the first place. This is the best course of action as it creates a sustainable environment to ensure training can carry on at full intensity without the athlete burning out and needing to take prolonged rests or unnecessarily miss training through injury.<br />
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So what factors are import to avoid overtraining?<br />
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<b><span style="color: red;">Vary training!</span></b><br />
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If you train one muscle everyday and give it no time to recover it will fatigue. This also occurs mentally, if you are doing the same training all the time, the player will become bored, mentally tired, and lacking in motivation. This will affect training levels and improvement. Varying training styles, exercises, areas of focus will help avoid this. It also makes more efficient training, from muscle standpoints. different types of training will work different muscles and therefore allow some of the muscles to recover. As any bodybuilder will tell you, you never train everything <br />
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<b><span style="color: red;">Keep A Diary!</span></b><br />
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I mentioned this in the last post for monitoring for overtraining but it is so important that it is worth mentioning again. If you keep a diary of your training, your diet, your emotions you will be able to notice the normal patterns and then plan ahead to suit your training to these patterns. If training in the evening is leaving you consistently over-exhausted then look at if it is possible to train earlier. Focusing on improving weaknesses before matches is consistently leaving you low on confidence in those matches, alter your training plan to work on them earlier and strengths closer to the matches. (Look out for an upcoming post giving an example of training diaries I have used with athletes and better idea of how and what to include)<br />
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<b><span style="color: red;">Train Smarter not always Harder!</span></b><br />
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I have a whole series of seminars based on this principle. Even the top professionals of any sport will not train more than 8 hours a day for any extended period of time. If that is your only job, then you might wonder why more people don't decide to train 9 or 10 hours a day to get an advantage over the others... the reason- because humans only have so much physical and mental capacity to train. Therefore the key is to make those hours more effective than other competitors. Having clear goals to each training session, spending time away from the actual training analysing training and matches, there are many things you can do to train smarter. (Check out the <b><a href="http://brain-spec.blogspot.de/p/services.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: white;">services</span></a> </b>part of this website to look into booking the TRAIN SMART, PLAY SMART seminars).<br />
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<b><span style="color: red;">Factor sufficient rest into your regular training plan!</span></b><br />
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Pushing yourself is a key component of improving, in anything you do. However, if you push too far something will break! Instead of working out your rest days/sessions/holidays as and when you feel you need them, plan them in advance. Often you can be swayed by your motivation levels, pressure to improve your poor recent performances, the fact you do not feel `toooo bad` and do that extra training session that you regret the morning after when it means you are too stiff or sore or tired and have to miss twice as many sessions than you had planned to in order to recover.<br />
This is not saying that you shouldn't alter your training plan. The opposite! Your training plan should be constantly evolving to suit your body and mind! But this should be done over a longer period of time. The technical terms some coaches use is macro- and micro-cycles, but basically it means long-term and short-term plans to enable you to play your best when you need to. Changing training plans every week will not provide a sustainable, stable base of training from which to improve most efficiently.<br />
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So that is the end of the Overtraining series. Did you find this helpful? Is there anything you have learned from your experience you can add to this? Leave comments below!<br />
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As always check out the rest of the website for more tips and also how you can contact me for more individualised performance enhancement training... There is only so much general principles can help unique individuals.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14880823052546390284noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5629701570128876231.post-31085489361454465922014-09-24T12:53:00.000+02:002014-09-24T12:53:20.758+02:00Struggles of a training athlete. Monitoring for Overtraining<span style="color: white; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">In my last post we discussed some of the symptoms of overtraining. These are things to look for incase you are suffering from overtraining. This post now will focus on how to look for these symptoms more effectively.</span><br />
<span style="color: white; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">The aim of doing these things is not just to pick up on when you been overtraining and therefore know when to take a rest but to notice possible overtraining issues as early as possible to minimise the negative effects.</span><br />
<span style="color: white; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">This is why I use the word "monitoring." Monitoring suggests a constant regular process, one that looks continuously for changes and addresses them as soon as they arise. This is how you should be when it comes to overtraining.</span><br />
<span style="color: white; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">So what steps can you take to monitor your training...</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<ul>
<li><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">KEEP A DIARY!</span></li>
</ul>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Diaries are great ways of keeping track of every aspect of your training. If the word diary brings to mind young girls writing down their new crush before bed, then you can call it something else, perhaps a "training log." Your training diary will not be a long text but instead more of a checklist of items that you will keep track of during your training. You should every day or every session, mark down the list of things in the diary and how they felt/went that time. For instance a rating scale of how well you thought you trained that session.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">There will be a more detailed post on the sort of things to include in a training diary HERE</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">But this will focus on the things to include that relate specifically to overtraining.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Thinking back to the post looking at symptoms of overtraining we want to monitor these in the diary.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Tiredness, lack of energy - on a scale of 1-10 note down how much energy you felt you had in that session</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">motivation - on a scale of 1-10, how keen were you to practice that session</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">concentration - on a scale of 1-10, how well did you feel you concentrated in that session</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">injuries - note down any little niggles, injuries or pain you felt in that session</span></li>
</ul>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Plan regular checks, where you take time to look back over the past few weeks of training and look for any steady decline in energy levels, motivation and concentration. Athletes training regularly will have ups and downs in these but overall there is a general level where these values will be. If there is a steady decline then this shows that the level of training is not maintainable on a long term basis- something which will lead to overtraining problems.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Similarly everybody will have little injuries or the odd big injury but if you look back in your diary and see the amount and severity of injuries building up more and more, or a particular type of injury in one part of the body regularly occurring, then this is a sign that you are perhaps pushing your body too hard and overtraining.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
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<ul>
<li><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Discuss regularly with your coach</span></li>
</ul>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">use your diary and discuss this with your coach. People are subjective when they fill in their diary, this is both a strength and a weakness. It is a strength because nobody knows how you feel better than you. It is a weakness because you might be biased. You may feel like your concentration is good but your coach has noticed it isn't as good as it used to be. Or, because you have steadily improved in training, you don't feel any different but in fact from an outside perspective your concentration and energy has really improved.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Therefore, discussing these things with your coach can be helpful to put your thoughts into perspective and also, if you are regularly discussing these things with your coach, then your coach will be in a better position to know how to vary training accordingly.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">So, now we have learned what to look for and how to look for it, how do we fix it?! Find out in the next post Struggles of a training athlete. Avoiding overtraining HERE </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">To see the original article that inspired this series of posts check it out <a href="http://www.experttabletennis.com/sams-diary-training-in-denmark/" style="background-color: yellow;" target="_blank">HERE</a>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">To see what else will be talked about in this series click <a href="http://brain-spec.blogspot.de/2014/09/struggles-of-training-athlete.html" style="background-color: yellow;" target="_blank">HERE</a>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Setting up effective monitoring processes is just one way which Brain-SPEC can help with your/your team's performance. If you are interested in working with Brain-SPEC check out the Services tab at the top or get in touch via email</span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14880823052546390284noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5629701570128876231.post-19867798811897709532014-09-22T14:12:00.000+02:002014-09-22T14:12:39.222+02:00Struggles of a training athlete. Diagnosing OvertrainingOvertraining is a dangerous thing that people don't often talk about but is a big potential problem for those taking their training seriously.<br />People who are suffering from this are often worried about bringing it up as it is perhaps seen as a sign of weakness. It is definitely not a sign of weakness and it can have a lot of very important negative effects both mentally and physically!<div>
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Here are a few signs you may be suffering from overtraining</div>
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<ul>
<li><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-size: large;">after/before each session you are feeling more stiff and tired than the last one. </span></li>
</ul>
This is a sign that your energy resources and muscles are unable to keep up with the training schedule. They are not being given sufficient time to fully recover and get stronger (muscles getting stronger is often one of the main aims of training!)</div>
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<ul>
<li><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-size: large;">you are losing motivation and enjoyment of training</span></li>
</ul>
your mind, just like your body, can get fatigued. Everybody has sessions where they don't 100% feel like going- their favourite programme is on TV, its too early/late in the day, you don't feel like putting 100% effort in today. Or they don't fully enjoy training (naturally there are parts of training that few people enjoy- who enjoys that feeling of oxygen debt?!)</div>
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But if the overall enthusiasm and enjoyment of training is consistently dwindling then this could be a sign you are overtraining</div>
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<ul>
<li><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-size: large;">you are picking up lots of little injuries and perhaps a few big injuries</span></li>
</ul>
Is your wrist consistently swelling up after training sessions? Are your quadriceps consistently sore?Have you had a few muscle strains recently? Picking up injuries are sometimes a part of training and are difficult to be avoided, but if you are getting lots of them it is perhaps time to stop and think about why this could be! Swelling of joints and tightness of muscles is often a sign of muscle overuse, so if you are getting these a lot it is a sign you might be overtraining</div>
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<ul>
<li><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-size: large;">do you find it more and more difficult to focus during training</span></li>
</ul>
you used to be able to focus for hours working hard on one specific exercise given in training. Now you're finding 5 minutes of one drill leaves you losing concentration, chatting, messing about, staring at the ceiling. Everybody is different with how easily they can concentrate and you may not find it as easy to focus for as long as your training partner. But, have you noticed that, <span style="background-color: blue;">compared to yourself</span>, you seem to be a lot worse than normal. If the answer is consistently <span style="background-color: blue;">yes</span>, then you could be overtraining!</div>
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These are just some of the symptoms of overtraining. One of the important things to note is that in all of these symptoms there is an emphasis on <span style="background-color: blue;">CONSISTENCY</span>. Everybody has natural ups and downs in these things but if it is a consistent downward pattern then it could indicate overtraining.</div>
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They can be easily looked for and a number of things can be done to combat overtraining. These are discussed in part 2- Monitoring Overtraining and part 3 - Avoiding Overtraining</div>
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If you found this interesting and have comments then please comment below.</div>
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Implementing training structures to avoid overtraining is just one of the ways Brain-SPEC can work with you/your club. If you are interested in working with Brain-SPEC then get in touch via email.</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14880823052546390284noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5629701570128876231.post-76467784081447863192014-09-18T17:36:00.001+02:002015-01-28T11:28:51.529+01:00Struggles of a training athleteRecently Sam Priestley, the protege of the Expert in a year project being led by Ben Larcombe, has released his own recent thoughts about his training and his progress in the project. It is a great read and really gives an insight into the thoughts going through his head, the highlights and particularly the struggles that he is going through. A lot of these are common struggles that a lot of athletes go through, both professional and recreational, in their quest to improve.<br />
In the a series of posts I will discuss these troubles in more depth and give some tips to help overcome these struggles and continue to improve your performance.<br />
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To understand the starting position for these posts read the words of Sam himself <a href="http://www.experttabletennis.com/sams-diary-training-in-denmark/" style="background-color: red;" target="_blank">here</a><br />
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So from this here are some of the struggles that he and I am sure many of you have<br />
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<ul>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">Overtraining - Sam got sick of training, lost motivation and his training was suffering</span></li>
</ul>
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This is a difficult one because lots of people think that not training as much as physically possible to fit in is laziness. But a sustainable schedule is important, as Sam found, your motivation suffers and as a result the quality of training both physically and mentally suffers. Bad habits form, injuries occur, and all of this is definitely bad news in both a short and long term viewpoint. For the in-depth ways to look at if you're overtraining and how to avoid doing this read the full article <a href="http://brain-spec.blogspot.de/2014/09/struggles-of-training-athlete_22.html" style="background-color: red;" target="_blank">Part 1</a><span style="background-color: black;">, </span><span style="background-color: red;"><a href="http://goo.gl/xBjYNw" target="_blank">Part 2</a> </span><span style="background-color: black;">and </span><span style="background-color: red;">Part 3</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: red;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">Focusing on one thing at a time - Sam was very happy in Denmark and Hungary because he could focus his mind on just the one thing and saw big benefits to his motivation, general mental health and also performance</span></li>
</ul>
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Not everybody is able to take weeks off from work to train full-time, and even if you can you will still need to balance work/school/family/everyday life with your training. The key is switching off each of those things when you're training and vice versa. This is a difficult thing to do but is key to getting the most out of your training. There are some methods to do this discussed in this article in the series <span style="background-color: red;">HERE</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: red;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">Difficulty transferring training performances into matches - Sam had the basic technique and good shots but in matches he is finding it difficult to transfer this and perform well.</span></li>
</ul>
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This is a very common problem that almost everybody has at some point and few people find a way to truly overcome it. There are a few ways to overcome this including altering your thoughts in both training and matches and altering your training to help transfer these skills into a match. These are discussed in depth in this article of the series <span style="background-color: red;">HERE</span></div>
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<div>
<span style="background-color: red;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">Being professional in your training when others aren't - Sam found this part of the camps he visited to be very good but this shows the contrast to what happens if these conditions/mentality of others is not as good</span></li>
</ul>
<div>
Staying focused and training at 100% when other people aren't taking it as seriously is a difficult thing. As humans we are naturally swayed by social interaction and observation, so how do we shut out that and really get the most from our training? Read about a few tips <span style="background-color: red;">HERE</span></div>
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<div>
<span style="background-color: red;"><br /></span></div>
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<ul>
<li><span style="font-size: large;">Fear of wasting other peoples time - Sam talks about not being good enough at blocking for his practice partner and feeling the need to apologise</span></li>
</ul>
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The only way to improve is to push yourself slightly beyond your capabilities (read the article I created on the ZPD <span style="background-color: red;">here</span>) therefore practicing with players better than you needs to happen So how do you keep them happy, while being able to get the most out of it for yourself? I discuss this in this article of the series <span style="background-color: red;">HERE</span>.</div>
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<div>
(Not all these articles are yet written and will be added as they are completed so, if there is no link where it says there should be, please be patient!)</div>
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Don't forget to check out the rest of the goings on at Expert in a year and the rest of my blog, and comment below some more of the problems you are having. I will read each one and look into writing posts on how to overcome these in the future.</div>
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If you are interested in working on a more individual, tailored basis, contact me via email at brainspecsports@gmail.com and check out the services page of the website for ideas as to how I could potentially help you to improve you/your teams training and performances.</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14880823052546390284noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5629701570128876231.post-28359676946496322492014-09-10T22:12:00.001+02:002014-09-10T22:12:52.446+02:004 Effective ways to use music for your run<span style="background-color: black; color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">M<span style="line-height: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">usic is a very powerf</span><span style="line-height: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">ul tool. It can alter yo</span><span style="line-height: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">ur mood, perceived </span><span style="line-height: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">energy levels, foc</span><span style="line-height: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">us, determination and many other things. </span><span style="line-height: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">When </span><span style="line-height: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">used correctly, m</span><span style="line-height: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">usic can enhance yo</span><span style="line-height: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">ur worko</span><span style="line-height: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">ut and performance, when </span><span style="line-height: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">used badly it can r</span><span style="line-height: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">uin it. Therefore it is important how to </span><span style="line-height: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">use m</span><span style="line-height: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">usic in its most effective ways to ens</span><span style="line-height: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">ure yo</span><span style="line-height: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">ur r</span><span style="line-height: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">un is the best it can be. Here are are a few pointers to how to </span><span style="line-height: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">use m</span><span style="line-height: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">usic. It is important to point o</span><span style="line-height: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">ut these are general r</span><span style="line-height: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">ules and may not work for everybody b</span><span style="line-height: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">ut why not give them a try, research has shown these to be effective for a significant amo</span><span style="line-height: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">unt of people so the chances are yo</span><span style="line-height: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">u co</span><span style="line-height: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">uld be like those people!</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="color: orange;"><span style="line-height: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">1. Pick the tempo for yo</span><span style="line-height: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">ur r</span><span style="line-height: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">un and match it to yo</span><span style="line-height: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">ur m</span></span><span style="line-height: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: orange;">usic.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"> People have a nat</span><span style="line-height: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">ural call towards rhythm, its what makes people want to dance, its what makes people </span><span style="line-height: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">unknowingly tap their foot along with the beat. If that tap is o</span><span style="line-height: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">ut of tempo with the m</span><span style="line-height: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">usic the brain gets conf</span><span style="line-height: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">used and feels </span><span style="line-height: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">unnat</span><span style="line-height: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">ural. Therefore it will nat</span><span style="line-height: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">urally want to join with the beat of the m</span><span style="line-height: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">usic. This will also happen with yo</span><span style="line-height: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">ur strides. So if yo</span><span style="line-height: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">u have a set speed yo</span><span style="line-height: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">u want to r</span><span style="line-height: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">un, pick m</span><span style="line-height: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">usic at that speed and yo</span><span style="line-height: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">ur brain will nat</span><span style="line-height: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">urally drag yo</span><span style="line-height: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">u towards that pace. There are apps available that can help yo</span><span style="line-height: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">u to do this, b</span><span style="line-height: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">ut I am yet to personally try them so I don't know how good they are, since I still </span><span style="line-height: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">use my old-fashioned, heavy, non-to</span><span style="line-height: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">uch-screen </span><span style="line-height: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">iPod. </span><span style="line-height: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: red;"><span style="line-height: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">2. Pick m</span><span style="line-height: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">usic that will lift yo</span></span><span style="line-height: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: red;">ur mood.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Sad, slow m</span><span style="line-height: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">usic or m</span><span style="line-height: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">usic with </span><span style="line-height: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">unhappy lyrics can potentially have a negative effect on yo</span><span style="line-height: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">ur mood, which will in t</span><span style="line-height: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">urn affect yo</span><span style="line-height: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">ur motivation to p</span><span style="line-height: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">ush yo</span><span style="line-height: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">urself d</span><span style="line-height: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">uring the r</span><span style="line-height: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">un, it can also b</span><span style="line-height: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">uild </span><span style="line-height: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">up an association between being in an </span><span style="line-height: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">unhappy mood and exercising/r</span><span style="line-height: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">unning. This means yo</span><span style="line-height: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">ur brain will learn that yo</span><span style="line-height: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">u are often </span><span style="line-height: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">unhappy when yo</span><span style="line-height: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">u are r</span><span style="line-height: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">unning, and therefore start to not want to go r</span><span style="line-height: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">unning as that makes yo</span><span style="line-height: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">u </span><span style="line-height: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">unhappy.</span><span style="line-height: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">upbeat, positive m</span><span style="line-height: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">usic can have the opposite effect and make yo</span><span style="line-height: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">ur s</span><span style="line-height: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">ubconscio</span><span style="line-height: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">us feelings towards r</span><span style="line-height: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">unning more positive and also help yo</span><span style="line-height: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">u feel as tho</span><span style="line-height: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">ugh yo</span><span style="line-height: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">u have more energy to p</span><span style="line-height: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">ush yo</span><span style="line-height: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">urself d</span><span style="line-height: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">uring yo</span><span style="line-height: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">ur r</span><span style="line-height: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">un.</span><span style="line-height: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span><br />
<span style="line-height: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="background-color: black; color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">3. Have distraction/emergency songs.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">use m</span><span style="line-height: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">usic with a meaning to yo</span><span style="line-height: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">u or something yo</span><span style="line-height: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">u really like and save them for later in the playlist or q</span><span style="line-height: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">ue</span><span style="line-height: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">ue them ready to be played when yo</span><span style="line-height: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">u most need it.</span><span style="line-height: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">It seems obvio</span><span style="line-height: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">us b</span><span style="line-height: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">ut m</span><span style="line-height: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">usic can distract yo</span><span style="line-height: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">u from the pain, the boredom, the tiredness of the r</span><span style="line-height: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">un. P</span><span style="line-height: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">utting the m</span><span style="line-height: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">usic that is most powerf</span><span style="line-height: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">ul at distracting yo</span><span style="line-height: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">u in the parts of the r</span><span style="line-height: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">un yo</span><span style="line-height: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">u will most str</span><span style="line-height: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">uggle with (most likely the end!) will help yo</span><span style="line-height: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">u to forget those tro</span><span style="line-height: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">ubles and power thro</span><span style="line-height: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">ugh.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="line-height: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">4. Have a Get-ready-to-r</span><span style="line-height: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">un song. </span></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sometimes the hardest part of r</span><span style="line-height: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">unning is forcing </span><span style="line-height: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">yourself</span><span style="line-height: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"> to act</span><span style="line-height: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">ually get </span><span style="line-height: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">up, get ready and set-off. Having a Energetic, motivating song that yo</span><span style="line-height: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">u always play when getting ready to r</span><span style="line-height: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">un will p</span><span style="line-height: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">ut in yo</span><span style="line-height: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">u into r</span><span style="line-height: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">un-mode! It can be as cheesy as yo</span><span style="line-height: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">u like, for instance the theme t</span><span style="line-height: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">une from the film Rocky is a s</span><span style="line-height: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">ure winner, b</span><span style="line-height: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">ut it needs to be a positive, energetic song that will help get that blood flowing. Contin</span><span style="line-height: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">uo</span><span style="line-height: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">usly doing this will create the link in yo</span><span style="line-height: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">ur brain that hearing that song means it will prepare the body to r</span><span style="line-height: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">un... one s</span><span style="line-height: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">uggestion here is perhaps not picking a song that is pop</span><span style="line-height: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">ular at the moment and reg</span><span style="line-height: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">ularly on the radio... not only will that lessen the effect b</span><span style="line-height: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">ut also yo</span><span style="line-height: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">u don't yo</span><span style="line-height: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">ur body to start </span><span style="line-height: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">getting ready to r</span><span style="line-height: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">un, e.g. sweating, breathing heavier while </span><span style="line-height: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">you're st</span><span style="line-height: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">uck driving to work in a traffic jam.</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">These are 4 simple tips that can help to improve yo<span style="line-height: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">ur r</span><span style="line-height: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">unning, so give them a try, see how the work and feel free to comment with yo</span><span style="line-height: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">ur own tips in the feedback. If yo</span><span style="line-height: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">u wo</span><span style="line-height: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">uld like to work with Brain-SPEC to optimise yo</span><span style="line-height: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">ur training and performance get in to</span><span style="line-height: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">uch via the email address for more information.</span></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14880823052546390284noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5629701570128876231.post-38868628580611088102014-07-30T15:01:00.003+02:002014-07-30T15:01:54.886+02:00Brain-SPEC is now on Twitter!<span style="font-size: large;">Follow Brain-SPEC on Twitter <b><u>@BrainSPECsports</u></b> for regular updates on events happening and interesting articles and tips on how to improve performance</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14880823052546390284noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5629701570128876231.post-69819842678038946932014-07-18T03:01:00.000+02:002014-07-18T03:01:27.730+02:00Train Smart, Play Smart comes to Swerve TTC<span style="font-size: large;">On Monday 21st July Brain-SPEC will deliver a workshop from the <u><b>Train Smart, Play Smart</b></u> series at <span style="color: red;">Swerve TTC in Middlesbrough</span>.</span><br />
The workshop will focus on how to set effective goals and how to use your imagination to improve your performances.<br />
Everybody is welcome and entry to the workshop is £10. Under 16s can have their parents sit in on the session free of charge. The workshop will start at 6:30pm so people are encouraged to arrive early and enjoy a tea or coffee in the cafe.<br />
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For directions to the venue check out their website <a href="http://www.swervettc.com/"><span style="color: red;">HERE</span></a><br />
For more information feel free to contact Brain-SPEC.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14880823052546390284noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5629701570128876231.post-39095196311331971042014-06-28T16:40:00.003+02:002014-06-28T16:40:51.211+02:00"Train Smart, Play Smart: Adding Quality to your Quantity" Workshops confirmed!Bishop Auckland Table Tennis Club will be hosting two workshops looking how to improve your mental skills in order to make the most of every training session and bring your best performances into matches. The workshops will be on the 16th and 22nd of July at Bishop Barrington School, Bishop Auckland.<br />
Entrance is £10 per person per session, discount is available if you are a Bishop Auckland TTC club member (Contact Matt Porter), or a Darlington Table Tennis Academy member (Contact Angela Simpson). Parents of players under the age of 16 are able to sit in on the session for free.<br />
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Spaces are limited so book early to avoid disappointment!<br />
Book by contacting Brain-SPEC, Matt Porter (BATTC members) or Angela Simpson (DTTA members).Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14880823052546390284noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5629701570128876231.post-30507968599277605192014-06-10T10:39:00.000+02:002014-06-10T10:39:44.581+02:00Host a seminar in England in July<span style="color: red; font-size: large;">Brain-SPEC will be on a rare trip to England in July, if your club is interested in hosting a seminar or two during that time, now is the time to get in touch.</span><div>
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Seminars will be tailored to suit the specific needs of the audience: things such as age, sport, playing level will be taken into account when creating the teaching plan. The seminar will focus on teaching the basics of some of the main mental skills: for example goal setting, imagery, relaxation, emotional control, self talk.</div>
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Prices are calculated per person and will vary depending on the size of the group. Opportunities are limited due to the short nature of the trip so get booking early to ensure your club can get the full benefit of a seminar.</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14880823052546390284noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5629701570128876231.post-6871179332708471252014-04-06T14:01:00.000+02:002014-04-06T14:01:26.427+02:00Expert in a year: The challengeA good friend of mine and table tennis coach Ben Larcombe has started a challenge...<br />
to take a novice and turn them into an expert in the space of 1 year.<br />
The way he has defined expert is "the top 1% of active players in the country" in English table tennis, where this project is based that means being ranked in the top 250 men in the country (with 25,000 registered members of the English Table Tennis Association).<br />
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Whether you agree with this definition of "expert" or not is not really the point. The point is: <span style="color: red;">people at that level have been training many years, perhaps decades to reach that level, and are of a good standard. To get to that level in a year will be quite an achievement.</span><br />
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It will hopefully show the benefit and prosperity of efficient well-planned training or "<span style="color: red;">Deliberate practice</span>"- a concept talked a lot about in Matthew Syed's "Bounce", Malcolm Gladwell's "Outliers" and much scientific research over the past few decades. (I would highly recommend those books by the way- fantastic reads).<br />
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Brain-spec is proud to be accompanying Ben and his soon-to-be-expert Sam in their quest for success. As part of this process mental skills training will be given to supplement to coaching already being given and also consulting on how best to streamline the training being delivered.</h4>
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This exciting project can be followed in more detail at: </h3>
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<a href="http://www.expertinayear.com/"><span style="color: white; font-size: large;">www.expertinayear.com</span></a></h3>
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There will be also be some reflections from the player himself on how the mental skills training is affecting his performance and enjoyment.<br />
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Do you think Sam can do it? Comment below</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14880823052546390284noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5629701570128876231.post-91790651418006949012014-03-05T16:36:00.002+01:002014-03-05T16:36:35.945+01:00Superstitions: do they help? Pre-match routines and their effect. Part 1<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitmEC5CGDj1cZXsnt6azLBdaogcJbLZn6zPtz_YTHjOvUvS15Wl4LEVrtxD_trLx3IaYK5VRXSLWZprDnqinuz2NHyd8rZfuU07qMHhALX09lIQ-EK5XpwQimH55Vcs-YtDrT9JQaHF-o/s1600/rafa+water+bottles.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitmEC5CGDj1cZXsnt6azLBdaogcJbLZn6zPtz_YTHjOvUvS15Wl4LEVrtxD_trLx3IaYK5VRXSLWZprDnqinuz2NHyd8rZfuU07qMHhALX09lIQ-EK5XpwQimH55Vcs-YtDrT9JQaHF-o/s1600/rafa+water+bottles.jpg" height="180" width="320" /></a>Those of you who follow tennis will know that Rafael Nadal has to have things a certain way. His water bottles have to be on certain spots, he has to sprint to the back of the court at the start of every match, he has to correct his hair and bandana before every serve and I'm sure there are many more things he does every time he plays that we do not notice or see.<br />
There are many other famous examples including footballers needing to put one boot on before the other. Clubs trying to change strips at half-time as they determined a certain shirt was bad-luck.<br />
Even as fans, who realistically have no way of altering the result (particularly, even if only watching on TV) have our own little things we do because last time we did that they won. I know of people who decided not to go to any of the games because every time they turned up, despite being one of tens of thousands there, they lost, but if he stayed home they often won.<br />
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Some psychologists suggest the way we look at the world is as detectives. We look for patterns and connections in everything because we have this internal desire to link things together into a logical, cause-and-effect world. Coincidences are confusing to humans as it means there is nothing they can change to get the desired outcome in that situation again. Therefore they develop superstitions from wearing lucky pants to not stepping on the lines of the field.<br />
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Do these work? The obvious answer would be no, unless those pants were exceptionally comfortable and allowed a greater range of movement that allowed better performance than others then no, wearing specifically those pants will directly affect performance. HOWEVER, if wearing those pants mean he goes into the game feeling more confident, there is a well-researched link between self-confidence and performance. So actually, YES, those lucky pants do help his performance!<br />
Would I tell these people that their superstitions are stupid? Would I tell Rafael Nadal the way he places his water bottles is silly? No, however, I would encourage anybody with these superstitions to analyse them, do you really believe this helps your performance? If so, then I would not in all cases tell you to stop, but in the long run I would encourage more of a focus on preparation that can have an effect on performance (which may include those superstitions) which I will talk about more in part 2.<br />
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If you have none of these superstitions, is this a problem? No! Would I encourage all athletes to search through their results and find a link between one specific thing and all the wins and decide that must be a lucky thing to do, and adopt it as a superstition. No, I wouldn't.<br />
However, are there parts of your preparations you are ignoring that could have a positive effect? Is warming up before the match a superstition or does it actually have a biological or psychological effect that does improve performance objectively?<br />
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This will be continued in part 2 where more tips on how to improve your performance using routines will be given.<br />
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Working on routines is just one of the ways a sport performance enhancement specialist can help, <a href="http://brain-spec.blogspot.de/p/services.html"><span style="color: white;">check out "Services" to see how else one could improve your performance.</span></a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14880823052546390284noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5629701570128876231.post-86342191132246748082014-01-27T17:06:00.002+01:002014-01-27T17:06:17.761+01:00Facebook PageBrain SPEC's facebook page is now up and running! So if you haven't been on it yet, have a look and give it a 'like', also share these services with any sportspeople you know. You will be doing them, and me, a favour!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14880823052546390284noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5629701570128876231.post-50922783808083312942013-11-29T20:56:00.003+01:002013-11-29T20:57:45.847+01:00Can high fives make a difference?Sport is a very emotional game. In a team, or pair, or even individual game there are people that you<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjD4CuuDMTEKzN6pXWOMgWJ7fFASt3s9ooym3uZKmBv9faXuGgLhg5bFumiUImZHqNEY72kplyoz1U0KbjIphgvOeKhwaQcKu7eWW8RxOy2nYAvaU44yf4SXbvgGnsUinsPJGVUWdPxNKY/s1600/425011-marion-bartoli-wins-wimbledon.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjD4CuuDMTEKzN6pXWOMgWJ7fFASt3s9ooym3uZKmBv9faXuGgLhg5bFumiUImZHqNEY72kplyoz1U0KbjIphgvOeKhwaQcKu7eWW8RxOy2nYAvaU44yf4SXbvgGnsUinsPJGVUWdPxNKY/s1600/425011-marion-bartoli-wins-wimbledon.jpg" height="180" width="320" /></a>will look to share those emotions with. Even lots of individual sportsmen would want to share their successes with... some of the most touching moments in sporting history have been individual sportsmen running to their spouse or coach at the end of the championship. It has even become a somewhat expected custom in Wimbledon that the winner climbs up to their 'box' to share a hug and often a tear with those they are close to.<br />
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But is this sharing of emotion just a nice thing that can be poured out once after the end result, of could it be a factor in making that end result.</div>
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In team sports (and doubles) communication is an important factor for success- not only communication of different tactical elements but also exchanges of emotional information.</div>
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A pat on the back for a basketball player who missed a free throw may help console them, a handslap could reinforce a player who did something well, encouraging them to continue doing what they are doing, a team huddle may help build that cohesive unit that works so well together on the pitch.</div>
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One thing you may notice here for these examples is that they all contain an element of physical contact, or "touch".</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiveXRqLnSFbAumHUb1rv9-Jc1yd60fdIt_OhWEdYxEelg2D6dVr9C3vILIJjeK0E_RnHvydlsN2KLuT1dCDcpqp9r8zeVNDyz-mif9xtcHzEdQEdhyfQCvzbzxjSN72rOehMjuIRs7KU/s1600/Andrew_Bogut_high_five.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiveXRqLnSFbAumHUb1rv9-Jc1yd60fdIt_OhWEdYxEelg2D6dVr9C3vILIJjeK0E_RnHvydlsN2KLuT1dCDcpqp9r8zeVNDyz-mif9xtcHzEdQEdhyfQCvzbzxjSN72rOehMjuIRs7KU/s1600/Andrew_Bogut_high_five.jpg" height="225" width="320" /></a>Research done in the NBA, with some of the highest paid athletes in the world, by Kraus and his colleagues, showed the the amount of touch in the early season games could predict the levels of success the teams would show over the season. This factor was still important even when you had taken into account the early season performances and expert expectations for the team prior to the start.</div>
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This shows that teams that engage in more touching behaviour tend have more success...</div>
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Overall this is a relatively underresearched area so the precise reasons as to why it works are still unclear. Though research in mainstream psychology has long shown an ability to enhance a relationship through apropriate levels of touch.</div>
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What practical things can we take from this?</div>
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Well, the research does not show that touching more often causes more success, but it is linked. So, if you look at your team, how often do they slap hands or pat each other on the back or hug each other. If it's not often then it might be worth looking into the cohesion of the team. Are there any issues that may need addressing? Or are the players just not that close in general? Either way perhaps this is something the coach might want to improve.</div>
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It might be worth encouraging them to engage each other more often. I'm not suggesting there should be a mandatory hug between every member of the team between every point. But perhaps encourage a few more high fives after something good. Encourage the players to rally round a mistake with a few pats on the back of support to lift that players spirits back up. You may find that this actually has a positive effect on the general emotions of the team and the togetherness of their feelings and performance.</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14880823052546390284noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5629701570128876231.post-82598836002093238732013-08-28T14:28:00.002+02:002013-08-28T17:43:50.593+02:00Paying attention to the correct signals<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYPtnceZUGEBSBDWqeUqj5Ec5xxQqsbSqaF9k5b9-rW3qb7zfu3kaRaz2bMXS4EuI0sTm24OKNfw4e-zKWJDpvMRS8pe0iiknnmPLPUndtsBOvOUzBRqux0aYo2hj3h188tk1kHtfWZZI/s1600/%5Bpictures.4ever.eu%5D+traffic+light,+christmas+tree+127378.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYPtnceZUGEBSBDWqeUqj5Ec5xxQqsbSqaF9k5b9-rW3qb7zfu3kaRaz2bMXS4EuI0sTm24OKNfw4e-zKWJDpvMRS8pe0iiknnmPLPUndtsBOvOUzBRqux0aYo2hj3h188tk1kHtfWZZI/s1600/%5Bpictures.4ever.eu%5D+traffic+light,+christmas+tree+127378.jpg" height="200" width="150" /></a><br />
In sport sometimes it seems as though one person has "so much time on the ball" or "reads the game" particularly well. People often believe this to be a natural talent some players have more than others. Whether that is true or not is a long debate for another day. However, one very important thing to take away is that this is something that can be trained and improved.<br />
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What actually happens in these people is not that they aware of EVERYTHING around them (though it may seem that way). What they are better at is selecting quickly and effectively what they need to be aware of and pay attention to and what they can ignore. This tends to come more and more with experience. However "come with experience" is just another way of saying "learning through playing." This is not the effective, targeted training that is aimed for in the idea of deliberate practice and used on other aspects such as technique.<br />
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<span style="color: white;">So, how can we train this in a more targeted way?</span><br />
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One good way is to video a situation from their point of view and replay it. I will take the example here from table tennis, since it is the sport I am most familiar with technically but it can be used in most sports.<br />
When returning a shot the player has a very short time to "read" the direction, speed, spin etc of the opponents shot. This knowledge can be gathered by paying attention to certain things such as the bat angle and the body position of the opponent. Filming the shot and replaying it back over and over can give them that experience even if they are not able to be at a table.<br />
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<span style="color: white;">However changing things up a bit can speed up the learning.</span><br />
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Slice the video so it only shows a small part of the shot, and then have the player guess the outcome of the shot (i.e. the placement and spin). Then importantly give them immediate feedback. This can be done by playing the video through to see the outcome.<br />
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If a player is particularly struggling you can slow down the video to give them more time to pay attention to the correct signals without it being TOO difficult. Then as they improve you can speed it up again. You can even go to a video quicker than normal speed in order to speed up the time in which they need to, and then hopefully learn to, pay attention to the signals and make a decision.<br />
Another way make it more difficult you can also shorten the video to smaller and smaller parts of the shot so they have less and less information that they can use to make a decision.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14880823052546390284noreply@blogger.com0