TOUGH MINDS

Mental toughness for young athletes

(Control your mind and master your

feelings)

JUDE MEKASON

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Copyright © (JUDE MEKASON), (2022).

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Table Of Content

CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

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CHAPTER ONE

WHAT IS MENTAL TOUGHNESS?

"Mental toughness" is often used

colloquially to refer to any set of positive
attributes that help a person cope with
difficult situations. Coaches and sports
commentators loosely use the term mental
toughness to describe the mental state of
athletes who persevere in difficult sporting
circumstances to achieve success. To
support this, several studies have linked
mental toughness to success or athletic
performance. However, it is often applied
simply as the default explanation for any
win, which is very problematic as an
allotment. There is a lot of criticism about
the incorrect use of this approach (e.g.,
Moran (2012)).
However, over the past 15 years, scientific
research has attempted to provide a formal
definition of mental toughness as a

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psychological construct with clear
measurement criteria, allowing for analysis.
and closely compare. Mental toughness has
gained more recognition over the past
decade, due to the impact of performance.
An athlete cannot reach his or her full
potential without a steady mind.
In particular, three research groups have
come up with both the definition and
concept of mental toughness:
The idea of ​the ability to overcome setbacks
or bottlenecks by remaining positive and
competitive. This process involves training
the mind to be ready for those
circumstances and mentally ready for all the
challenges that come in life.

How to build mental strength and

endurance

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Want to work on building your
resilience?

Admit your feelings

Make sure you stop and ask yourself how

you’re doing throughout the day. Are you
feeling anxious? Upset? Happy?

Just to be able to check in with yourself and

name your feelings is so important,
“Because, without that mental check-in, you
can’t start to give yourself more of what you
might need.”

Practice being self-compassionate

If you’re worried you offended an in-law or

weren’t as patient with your child as you
wanted to be, try practicing
self-compassion.

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The goal is to quiet your inner critic and be
kind and gentle with yourself, the way you
would a friend.

Practice talking to yourself, not in a critical

way, but in the way that you would talk to
someone who you care about when they are
facing a problem,. “And extend yourself that
same love and compassion.”

Assess your challenge

Faced with a challenge? Take a deep breath

and ask yourself if this is a true catastrophe
or if is it an inconvenience.

We often interpret inconveniences as

catastrophes. “Making that distinction can
be helpful. Because if it’s an inconvenience,
then you can start to problem-solve and
brainstorm. Look at all the other times in
your life when you’ve been able to solve
problems successfully.”

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Take small steps toward what you
want to avoid
When you’re anxious or depressed, you tend
to avoid things you don’t want to do. You
may also procrastinate. (Hello, work
presentation.)

But instead of avoiding the situation or task

altogether, work on taking small steps
toward it. Can you block off one hour each
day for that presentation?

Practicing taking small steps will not only

help to alleviate anxiety, but it can also
improve your self-esteem and mood.

Work on mindfulness
During those moments when you’re stressed
or feeling anxious, it’s a good idea to
remember and practice mindfulness. Give
yourself the space to breathe and think
about your reactions.

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Try box breathing or a one-minute
meditation to stay in the moment.

“Learn strategies that help you be more

present,” says Duke. “Learning to breathe,
and be in the moment through your breath,
can be very helpful.”

Externalize how you feel

If something is bothering you, don’t keep

your feelings bottled up. Work on vocalizing
those feelings through assertive
communication.

Whether that’s through journaling, therapy,

or talking to your best friend, the practice of
naming your feelings and communicating
them effectively, as well as having a
supportive and empowering social circle, is
important,

Maintain a healthy lifestyle

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All those things you can do to lead a healthy
life — exercise, a well-balanced diet, and
sleep — can also help when it comes to your
emotional resilience.

I don’t believe that you can have the mental

strength or emotional resiliency without

having a proper sleep schedule, “Also, limit

your social media use and news

consumption.”

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CHAPTER TWO

Reacting to emotional situations as

young athletes

Every recommendation that I have made in

my sports articles is directed toward helping
your young athletes develop a positive
emotional response to their sports
experiences. Their emotions in their sports
lives impact both their enjoyment and
performance in their sport.

The ability of your children to have a

positive emotional reaction begins with a
firm grounding in their feeling loved, secure,
and competent regardless of how they
perform. A positive emotional reaction also
comes from ownership of their sports, so
they are driven to succeed by their passion,
motivation, and determination. Finally, your
children will develop a positive emotional
response when they have internalized the
emotional tools they need to react

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constructively to the inevitable obstacles
and setbacks that they will experience as
they pursue their sports and life goals.

Value of Success and Failure

Many misconceptions about success and

failure can interfere with your children’s
efforts to become successful. One of the
most damaging is the idea that successes
never fail and failures always fail. Yet the
reality is that “successes” fail much more
often than “failures.” People who are failures
fail a few times and quit. But successes fail
many times, learn from the failures, and
begin to succeed because of what they
learned. In time, the many failures and the
lessons learned allow successes to succeed
regularly. Learning to fail and learning
from failure are essential contributors to the
success and a perspective that will foster
achievement and positive emotional
reactions to the challenges of sports.

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Failure provides benefits such as
information about your children’s progress.
Failure is the best means for your children
to clearly and unambiguously see the areas
they need to improve. Failure also indicates
to your children what not to do in their
efforts, which narrows down the
possibilities of what they need to do to be
successful. Failure also teaches the essential
lessons of perseverance and the ability to
overcome adversity. Most fundamentally, as
Dr. Wayne Dyer suggests, “Take the fear out
of failure, and help children to understand
the difference between failing at a task and
being a failure as a person.”

Experiencing failure alone, though, will not

help your children achieve success. Too
much failure and your children will become
discouraged, lose confidence and
motivation, view failure as threatening, and
see their sports participation as an
unpleasant experience to be avoided. Your
children also need to experience success

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because, if combined with a healthy
perspective, success can provide invaluable
lessons for your children’s pursuit of their
goals in sports and beyond.

Success builds confidence and trust in your

children, which helps them to overcome
adversity, obstacles, and setbacks on the
road to sports achievement. It validates the
dedication, hard work, patience, and
perseverance that your children devote to
their sports. Success acts to motivate them
to further pursue their sports goals. Success
also generates positive emotions, such as
excitement, joy, pride, and happiness, that
further reinforce their confidence,
motivation, and passion for their sport.

With this perspective, success is not such an

intoxicant that it inhibits further growth,
and failure is not a such monumental loss
that it diminishes the desire to pursue
success. Rather they are both inevitable and
necessary parts of the process leading

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toward success and fulfillment in their
sports.

Risk Taking

As we all know, sports require that athletes

take risks to perform their best and achieve
their competitive goals. And taking risks is
an essential part of your children’s
developing a positive emotional response to
their sports. Only if your children are
unthreatened by failure will they be willing
to take risks because, by their very nature,
risks increase the likelihood of failure. If
your children see sports as a challenge to
pursue, they will understand that risks also
provide the opportunity to achieve even
greater success. Risk-taking will enable
your children to move out of their comfort
zone, test their capabilities, gain confidence
in themselves, and achieve new levels of
success. When you look at great successes in
sports—Roger Federer and Simone Biles, for
example—you also see great risk-takers.

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These athletes know that only by taking
risks are great rewards possible.

As the best-selling author Leo Buscaglia,

observed, “To try is to risk failure. But risks
need to be taken because the greatest hazard
in life is to risk nothing. The person who
risks nothing does nothing has nothing and
is nothing. They may avoid suffering and
sorrow, but they cannot learn, feel the
change, grow, love, and live. Only a person
who risks is free.”

Perspective on Mistakes

How your children come to understand the

meaning of mistakes will have a dramatic
effect on their ability to improve and
achieve. As the poet, Nikki Giovanni states,
“Mistakes are a fact of life. It is the response
to the mistakes that counts.” Unfortunately,
many parents often communicate a very
different message. What happens if you
convey to your children that mistakes are
bad and reflect poorly on them? You will be

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placing your children in the vise of being
expected to pursue success—which
inevitably involves making mistakes—but
knowing that they will be criticized for their
mistakes. Your children may then become
fearful of making even the smallest mistakes
and eventually come to believe that if they
make a mistake, they will be viewed with
disappointment. Says Dr. John Gray: “To
expect children not to make mistakes gives
them a cruel and inaccurate message about
life. It sets a standard that can never be lived
up to.”

Many parents and their young athletes hold

a negative perception of mistakes despite
seeing the world’s greatest athletes make
mistakes routinely. Because they do, it
would seem not only expected but also
accept that your young athletes would too.
You need to communicate to your children
that mistakes are a natural and necessary
part of sports (and life). Your children must
accept and learn from their mistakes.

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Mistakes are guides to what your children
need to work on to improve. Without them,
betterment will be a random and undirected
process. Mistakes can tell your children that
they are taking risks and moving out of their
comfort zone. If your children never make
mistakes, they are probably not pushing
themselves hard enough, they will not
improve, and they will never become truly
successful.

Respond Positively to Adversity

The road to sports success is a bumpy one.

It’s filled with many barriers, setbacks, and
struggles. Some of this adversity is external
to your children—demanding to compete for
conditions, tough competition, and bad
weather. Internal obstacles exist too,
including loss of motivation, a decline in
confidence, distractions, negative emotions,
impatience, and the desire to give up. How
your children respond to these demands will
dictate the success that they ultimately
attain. Writes the psychiatrist and author,

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Robert Coles, “How can we grow without
struggle and doubt and a misstep or two? If
we spare our children that—or try to—we’ll
not be successful anyway; we’ll end up
prodding them toward other kinds of
troubles, the kind we may not have
anticipated.”

How your children learn to respond to

adversity depends largely on how you
respond to adversity, and the perspective
you teach them about the inevitable
setbacks they will experience in their sports.
You should be keenly aware of your
reactions to your setbacks, whether in a
relatively unimportant situation, such as
having difficulty balancing your checkbook
or in a critical situation, such as losing out
on a job promotion. If you show frustration,
anger, or despair when you face obstacles,
you will be modeling this behavior to your
children. If you remain calm, positive, and
motivated, they will learn this reaction from
you.

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Dr. Peter Goldenthal suggests the following
ways to help your children respond
positively to adversity:

● Don’t rush to the rescue. Let your

children try to figure things out for
them
● Put the situation in perspective. Show
your children that a setback is not the
end of the world.
● Play up the positive. Point out to your
children all the good things that
happened besides the obstacle.
● Suggest step-by-step success. Help
your children set goals using the
setback as useful information.
● Admit your own mistakes. Share with
your children the difficulties that you
had when you were young and how
you overcame them.

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CHAPTER THREE

Goal setting

Goal setting is a process by which people set

targets that will help them to achieve
desired outcomes, such as winning a
swimming competition or learning a new
skill. You can imagine goal setting as a map
that helps you decide which direction to
travel to get to your destination. You are free
to choose your route, but better choices will
make the journey easier and allow you to
travel with confidence.

Along the way, you may notice that the map

does not always accurately describe the
territory: some hills seem steeper than the
map shows, and some distances take longer
to travel. So, you may need to adjust your
goals as you go. If you do not choose a
direction to travel, then you can wander—so
it pays to be specific. It is important to know
how long the journey will be so that you

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know how much food to bring. Also, if you
are traveling to meet a friend, for instance,
your friend would appreciate a time to meet.
So, goal setting also requires a timetable and
a clear plan [1].

Setting “SMART” Goals

We call the process that we have just
described SMART goal setting. In this case,
SMART is an acronym for the parts of the
process. Whenever you set a goal, you can
check it against the SMART criteria:
specific, measurable, achievable, realistic,
and time-tabled. Specific means that your
goal states exactly what you wish to change
and improve. Measurable means that you
can easily see if you have made progress.
Achievable means that your goal is possible
to achieve. Realistic means that your goal is
challenging but it is within your control to
achieve it. Finally, time-tabled means that
you set time boundaries around your goal.
Goal setting is SMART when everything is
flexible and adjusts to your individual

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needs, the goal being pursued, and your
environment. If you wish to improve your
forehand in tennis, then it does not matter
whether you are a professional tennis player
or a child in a local tennis club; setting goals
gives you a helpful target that you can
translate into daily actions to follow. The
SMART technique works for individuals
with different personalities and cultural
backgrounds [2]. SMART goal setting
provides a formula for achieving the goals
that are important to you, using the
strengths you already have!

Goal setting is a game with two halves: the

first half is to set a goal; the second half is to
achieve it. In the game of goal setting, much
of what happens in the second half depends
upon the thinking and planning that occurs
in the first half. To set goals, you often must
think about the past as a guide to your
future. Unfortunately, people can become
prisoners of their stories, which can prevent
them from achieving their goals. We might
tell ourselves stories like, “I can't succeed—I

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do not have the skills;” or, “Children who
live where I live do not become professional
athletes.” We carry these stories with us
through our lives, but they are often untrue.

For example, you cannot be certain that

becoming a professional athlete is not
possible for you. You might be the one
person from your community who becomes
a professional athlete, but you would never
realize this possibility unless you kept
moving toward your goal each day. The
mental endurance to keep progressing
toward a goal is often what separates
athletes who succeed from athletes who do
not. The SMART technique works for
individuals with different personalities and
cultural backgrounds [2]. It is a technique
that gives a formula for achieving the goals
which are important to you, using the
strengths you already have.

How to Set Goals

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There are three common types of goals that
we can set: outcome, performance, and
process goals. Outcome goals

Outcome goals focus on the endpoint or the

desired result in the short or long term.
focus on the results [3]. You might set a
goal to win a competition or to get the
number 1 rank in your sport, for example. It
is important to remember that you are only
partly in control of outcome goals because
another person or team might simply
perform better on the day of the
competition.

Performance goals

Performance goals are focused on trying to

develop and achieve a better sporting
ability.
have to do with improving your ability,
independent of the other competitors or
team members. For example, in rugby, the
kicker might wish to improve her

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conversions from 70 to 80%. The rugby
kicker is in control of achieving this
performance goal because it does not
depend upon anyone else.

Process goals

Process goals are focused on the day-to-day

behaviors one needs to engage in to improve
their skills.
are the basic practices we have to do to
improve our overall capacity to play a sport.
Coaches and athletes use process goals in
practice to improve performance. For
example, a golfer might focus on the top
back portion of the ball when practicing
putting. Out of these three types of goals, we
should remember that only process goals
are 100% in our control.
Writing down our outcome, performance,
and process goals, maybe at the start of each
week, is a purposeful way of striving for
improvement. Maybe you have a coach who
will help you set your weekly goals. For

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example, you might set a goal to train or
practice on Monday, Wednesday, and
Friday. Setting goals can help you focus your
attention on the task at hand.

The more you practice the SMART

technique, the better you will become at
setting, refining, and achieving your goals.
Many athletes incorporate this healthy habit
into their lives. As you work on your goal
setting, keep some healthy guidelines in
mind. First, your goals should be realistic
but moderately difficult. You should feel like
you are just out of your comfort zone.

Second, choose your own goals. If you

choose your goals yourself, you will feel
more motivated and committed to them.

Third, choose goals that can give you

feedback about how well you are doing. For
example, if your goal is to master a specific
shot, every time you play the shot gives you
feedback on your progress.

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 Fourth, focus on process and performance
goals, not on outcome goals. This will help
improve your ability as an athlete and
spearhead your development.

Last, be sure to set time aside to plan your

goals and to periodically review them as you
make progress.

Following a particular order of setting goals

and achieving your goals using SMART
goal-setting allows us to be consistent and
improve. When you are setting goals, you
need to look at the short-term,
medium-term, or long-term future to decide
on your Outcome goal i.e., your destination
(e.g., being Junior Number 1 rank). Then
you set the Performance goals which are
needed to improve your ability to cross
certain milestones to get to your destination

i.e., the road you follow (e.g., the

tournaments you need to play and the skills
you need to master). Lastly, you set your
Process Goals which are crucial to building

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your daily practices and training to keep you
on track and follow the road toward your
destination (e.g., regular training, nutrition,
and good support) (see Figure 1A).

When you are then getting goals, you start

from the other way. You start with process
goals which become your vehicle to achieve
your performance goals to stay on the road.
This eventually allows you to achieve your
outcome goals and reach your destination
(see Figure 1B). If you do not get your
process goals (train regularly, get good
support), it is difficult to achieve your
performance goals (develop skills and play
tournaments), which makes it difficult to
achieve your outcome goal (of being Junior
Number 1 rank).

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​ Figure 1 - (A) When setting goals, it is
a good idea to start with Outcome
Goals, move to Performance Goals,
and then finally to Process Goals. This
is helpful because it gives you the
destination and the path to take.
​ (B) When working toward achieving
goals, it is helpful to start by working
only toward process goals. Achieving
process goals automatically puts us on
the path to achieving Performance
goals, which allows us to eventually
achieve our Outcome goals. The figure
was designed by Sahen Gupta.

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The Road May Be Rough…
When we set goals, we set ourselves up for a
future that we hope is within our control.
However, because sports are unpredictable,
we must keep our minds in a healthy place
to manage this uncertainty. Two helpful
mechanisms are self-compassion

Being nice to ourselves when we are in pain

or face personal shortcomings, rather than
hurting ourselves with extra self-criticism.

. Self-compassion means not judging

ourselves too harshly when things get
difficult and instead engaging in an
understanding and acceptance inward.
Self-compassion has enormous benefits for
athletes, but unfortunately, not everyone
believes this. Some people believe that
self-compassion might decrease the drive
for self-improvement that characterizes the
best performers in any sport—they believe
that self-compassion makes athletes lazy!
But research suggests that people take more,

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not less, responsibility when they have
self-compassion after a negative event [4].
For example, if you fail to win a tournament,
being self-compassionate allows you to
understand the reasons why you lost, and
positively motivates you to improve those
areas.

Striving for perfection helps athletes to

achieve excellence in any sport. Healthy
perfectionism involves high personal
standards—trying to be the best you can be.
But perfectionism can have a downside, too.
If you set unrealistic goals for yourself and
are harshly self-critical when you do not
meet them, this is not healthy or helpful for
your performance or success. It is vital for
athletes to regularly ask themselves, “Has
my striving for perfection gone too far in the
wrong direction?” Balancing perfectionism
with self-compassion is the healthiest
strategy [5].

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Remember, it is common to face difficulties
while working toward your goals. For
example, research has shown that even elite
athletes who practice goal-setting found it
difficult during the COVID-19 pandemic [6].
From our work with elite athletes, we
recommend the ICE strategy to help stick
with your goals. “I” stands for identifying
goals that mean a lot to you. “C” is for
committing to chasing your goals despite
difficulties. “E” is for expanding your
abilities, by learning from the successes and
failures of the SMART goal-setting process.

Conclusion
In summary, we set goals to get goals! When
you follow the SMART goal-setting formula,
you increase your chances of achieving your
goals. The mistakes you make along the way
are the best way of remembering what you
have learned [7]. We finish with a few lines
from Ella Wheeler Wilcox’s famous poem,
“The Winds of Fate”:

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“One ship drives East and another drives
West,

With the self-same winds that blow,

‘Tis the set of the sails,

And not the gales,

Which tells us the way to go.”

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CHAPTER FOUR

Watch and Learn from the pros.

Athletes spend a lot of time and effort

practicing skills to get better at their sports.
In addition to physical practice, athletes can
use a technique called action observation to
help themselves improve. Action
observation is the process of watching
movement. Humans naturally learn how to
perform movements by watching the
movements of other people. For example,
from an early age, children learn important
skills such as walking, throwing, and kicking
by seeing other people perform those
actions. Research has shown that watching
movements activate similar parts of the
brain to those that are involved in
performing the movement. This means
watching sports performances might help
athletes improve by strengthening the brain
areas used when actions are performed.
Coaches and sports psychologists use action

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observation methods, such as live
demonstrations and video footage, to help
athletes improve their techniques, develop
their confidence, and get better at their
sports.

What Is Action Observation?

Humans spend a lot of time watching other
people and watching helps us to learn how
to do new things. If you think back to when
you were a small child, you learned how to
walk, run, kick a ball, and throw a frisbee by
watching your friends, siblings, parents, and
grandparents do those actions. This is action
observation

Watching oneself or another person

performing a movement, either live or on
video.
! Scientists have discovered that action
observation can help people learn new
movements or get better at sports [1].
Nowadays, smartphones have excellent

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cameras for video recording, making it easy
for coaches or sports psychologists to record
high-quality videos of athletes performing,
which can then be used as part of their
training. As a result, coaches and sports
psychologists have explored different types,
delivery methods, and uses of action
observation with athletes.

Why Does Action Observation Work?

There is a famous saying, “monkey see,
monkey do.” This saying applies to the
scientific discovery of action observation in
monkeys, one of the closest animal relatives
to humans. In 1992, an influential group of
Italian scientists experimented to try to
understand the brain activity of monkeys
when they performed actions with various
objects [2].

The scientists happened to notice changes in

the monkeys’ brain activity when they
watched the scientist picking up the objects
and placing them inside a box; so, the

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scientists adjusted their experiment to also
look at the brain activity that happened
when monkeys were watching the scientist
performing movements. To the scientists’
surprise, brain cells called neurons

Nerve cells make up the human brain and

nervous system.
, in an area of the monkeys’ brains that are
involved in planning movements, were
activated both when the monkeys performed
movements and when the monkeys watched
the scientist perform the same movements.
The scientists called these neurons mirror
neurons
Brain cells are activated during both action
observation and physical performance of the
same movement.
, to indicate that the monkeys’ brain activity
during action observation “mirrored” the
brain activity recorded when they performed
the same movements.
Scientists proposed that humans might also
have similar brain activity when they are

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observing and performing movements.
Thousands of experiments have explored
the brain areas involved in action
observation in humans. A recent study
analyzed data from all the research that
used functional magnetic resonance imaging

A brain scanning technique that measures

changes in blood flow to different areas of
the brain, which are then interpreted as a
marker of brain activity.
(fMRI) during action observation and
movement execution [3]. fMRI is a brain
scanning technique that detects changes in
blood flow to specific areas of the brain,
which indicates the amount of brain activity.
This study collected fMRI data from 595
action observation experiments and 142
movement execution experiments, which
included a combined total of 13,334
participants! The researchers identified two
brain areas that are involved in both action
observation and movement execution in
humans (Figure 1).

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 The first area called the premotor cortex
Part of the frontal lobe is located in the
upper center area of the brain and is
involved in movement planning.
, is located in the center of the brain and is
involved in planning movements.
The second area called the parietal lobe
A brain lobe located in the upper rear area
of the brain processes sensory information
such as taste, temperature, and touch.
, is positioned toward the back of the brain
and is involved in copying movements and
the feelings associated with movements. So,
it does seem that action observation
activates the human brain in a similar way
to the mirror neurons that were discovered
in monkeys. These findings suggest that
repeated use of action observation by
athletes might produce similar changes in
the brain to physical practice, leading to
improved sports performance!

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 ​ Figure 1 - Locations of brain areas that
are activated during both action
observation and performance of
movements.
​ The premotor cortex (blue) is involved
in planning movements. The parietal
lobe (red) is involved in copying
movements and the feelings
associated with movements.

Does Action Observation Work in

Sports?

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Watching another athlete performing is only
useful if the watching athletes have a reason
to be interested in what they are viewing.
Athletes are often interested in watching
other athletes because they always need to
perform at their best. Athletes must
outperform others to be selected for a team
or to win a competition. This means that
athletes are constantly trying to improve
their skills during training or perform their
skills well during competition. Action
observation can help with both.

One scientific article on action observation

in sports showed that action observation can
be beneficial in sports in which athletes
compete as individuals. For example, action
observation helped inexperienced golfers
put the ball closer to a target hole and
helped youth gymnasts achieve higher judge
ratings for their gymnastics routines. This
scientific article also reported similar
positive outcomes for individual athletes in
team sports. For example, action
observation helped skilled volleyball players

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improve their serving accuracy and helped
low-skilled basketball players increase the
number of free throws they scored. Athletes
have also been shown to move with

quality, speed, and force after using action

observation.

Overall, using action observation together

with physical practice can help athletes
perform a skill better than if they only
physically practiced that skill. This is good
news for athletes and coaches, as action
observation is easy to use and can produce
big improvements in sports performance.

Action observation also has psychological

benefits for athletes. Sports skills are like a
jigsaw puzzle: when the pieces are put
together in the correct order, the puzzle (or
skill) works perfectly, but if something is out
of place, the entire thing breaks down.
Athletes can use action observation to link
the different parts of skill together so they
can perform it well. Action observation can

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also help athletes overcome some of the
negative thoughts and feelings they
experience when they perform badly during
training or competition. In these situations,
it is common for athletes to feel less
motivated or lack confidence.

Watching video footage of their previous

successful performances can remind
athletes that they can perform well. For
example, if a soccer player is not feeling
confident after missing a penalty shot in a
big game, watching videos of times when
they previously scored important penalties
can help them feel more confident when
preparing to take a similar shot again.

How Should Athletes Use Action

Observation?
Action observation should target the specific
needs of athletes (Figure 2). For beginner
athletes, the coach should provide frequent
demonstrations of skill. It is helpful for
athletes if the coach explains the different

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parts of the skill during the demonstration.
Once athletes get better at the skill, it is
useful for them to see a video of what it
looks like when they perform the skill
themselves. This allows them to compare
their movements with those in the
demonstration. Normal speed and
slow-motion video footage of the
movements could both be used, as
slow-motion video can help athletes see the
technique more easily. Once athletes
become even more skilled, they should be
allowed to decide when they think action
observation would best benefit their
physical practice of the skill.

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​ Figure 2 - Action observation involves
watching a video of a movement, such
as kicking a ball.
​ Athletes can watch footage of others or
themselves. The movements being
performed can be successful or
unsuccessful attempts. The decision to
use videos of self vs. others and
success vs. failure should be based on
the skill level of the athletes and the
specific reasons they are using action
observation.
​

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Skilled athletes may use action observation
slightly differently than beginners do. They
will probably watch videos of their
performances rather than demonstrations
by others because they already know how to
perform the skill well and have developed
their way of performing it over time. Skilled
athletes will watch videos that include both
successful and unsuccessful performances of
the skill, which will help them continue to
improve by identifying the differences in
technique between good and bad attempts.

Conclusion
Action observation is part of everyday life
and involves watching others or oneself
moving. Action observation helps with the
performance of sports skills because it
activates similar brain areas to those active
when athletes physically perform those
skills. Action observation can also help
athletes with important psychological
factors, such as confidence. Athletes of
different skill levels should use various

47
forms of action observation to improve their
performance. Overall, action observation
combined with physical practice is an
excellent way to help athletes of all skill
levels to get better at their sports.

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CHAPTER FIVE

Advantages of strength training for

the young athlete

Athletes need to train. A lot. It's how they

stay healthy, and how they get better. From
the novice athlete to the elite pro, training
plays an important role in any sport for
adults and youths alike. Professional
training helps athletes of any skill level:
● Build muscle strength
● Avoid injury
● Improve skill
Why is sports team training important? As
the saying goes, practice the way you play.
When you step onto the field, you aren't
alone. You're with your team. So why train
alone? Train together as a team, and watch
the entire group improve across the board.

Here are the top six benefits of sports team

training for athletes.

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Here are six benefits of strength training for
young athletes:

1. Create a Foundation for the Future

Strength training plays a significant role in

ensuring that young athletes develop motor
skills, understand muscle mechanics and
become more coordinated, stable, and
strong as they progress through their
athletic careers.

Athletes go through several changes during

adolescence. Many fundamentals for
long-term athletic development are
established. As such, young athletes must be
proficient in movement basics so that their
platform for growth and development
continues along an upward trend.

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2. Reduce the Risk of Injury

In building foundational strength training

knowledge, young athletes have a better
understanding of muscle mechanics and
training with proper form. A proper
technique during weight training with all
athletes is about safety and preventing
injury. It’s never the weight that injures
someone. It’s usually improper lifting of the
weight.

The technique an athlete learns first is the

technique they will use all along. If it is
learned incorrectly, even with lightweight,
an athlete might not get injured that day,
but later down the line, this can become a
serious risk. Executing a lift with proper
form, whether it’s lightweight or
heavyweight, is crucial for safety in youth
strength training.

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Additionally, strength training for young
athletes builds injury resiliency as they
improve joint flexibility, tendon strength,
and core strength.

3. Increase Strength

Of course, strength training during

adolescence can result in impressive
strength gains. It’s commonly recognized
that increases in muscular strength seen in
adolesce exceed those gained in older
athletes. While a progressive strength
training program is always recommended
for young athletes, it’s greatly beneficial to
have kids begin bodyweight exercises and
training with resistance bands as early as
age 7.

4. Build Self-Esteem

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Quite possibly one of the greatest benefits of
strength training for young athletes is the
impact on self-esteem and self-confidence.
Studies have shown an increase in the
positive self-image with regular strength
training. The rigors of a strength program,
within reason, help a young athlete gain
focus, attention, and dedication. They see
what their body can do that it couldn’t do
before. All that is in addition to improved
body composition from their training. The
resulting confidence and self-esteem help
them not only in their sport but in all
avenues of life.

5. Improve Sports Performance

A stronger athlete is a better athlete. Often,

we see parents and coaches hyper-focused
on sport-specific training when in actuality,
greater benefits can be seen with a
well-rounded program, especially for
younger athletes.

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Youth athletes do not have the strength,
endurance, or stability of their muscles and
joints to properly or efficiently perform
many sports skills. Sport-specific training at
a young age can result in muscle imbalances
and improper training techniques.

You most likely won’t see your young

athletes putting on substantial size, but they
will have the capability to get stronger due
to a more functional nervous system.

Strength training for young athletes

supports optimal mobility, stability,
coordination, strength, and movement
efficiency. In the sports arena, this results in
improved speed, agility, quickness, and
conditioning.

6. Add Variety to Activities

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We always have to remember we’re dealing
with kids – they want to have fun! While
kids are becoming more goal-oriented and
dedicated at a younger age these days, it’s so
important for coaches and parents alike to
be aware of, and avoid athlete burnout. One
of the best ways of doing this is by mixing
up the training routine for kids. This way,
youth don’t feel like they are always
practicing and playing their sport, but they
know they are still working toward
improving their skills.

Youth Strength Training & Athletic

Performance

Are you a young athlete looking to learn

more about proper strength training? Or a
coach wanting to ensure your youth athletes
are training safely and in a way that results
in maximal strength gains and athletic

55
performance? Then Beyond
Consciousness is perfect for you!

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