BECOMING YOUR BEST – Tip #3

  1. Hire an expert
  2. Research
  3. SPORTS SPECIFIC TRAINING

Sport-specific training is training designed specifically for athletic performance enhancement. If done correctly this type of training can be very beneficial, however if it is done incorrectly it can be detrimental.

Basically, it means you train by doing things that look like the sport that you are training for. It may be training doing the actual sport such as practice sessions, or drills that use the sports equipment…or movements that mimic the sport but involve rubber bands, weight vests, or bungee cords.

These actions use “transfer of training,” which is applying knowledge and skills acquired during training to a targeted role. This may help you improve your performance, lower your chance of injury, or extend your career.

SKILLS-ABILITY-MINDSET

SKILLS

Sport skills include both technical and tactical skills. For example, a hockey player needs the skill to exact a move, but also needs to know when to choose that move and use it.

Technical skills are what we typically think of as their sport skills: dribbling a ball, performing a gymnastics routine or hitting the ball. These skills are developed through many hours of practice.

Tactical skills are the athlete’s abilities to judge and analyze elements of the game. It’s also their decision making in those moments.

ABILITY

Athletes need a foundation of physical abilities to build on. This is what may be often referred to as athleticism. Obviously if you’ve torn a hamstring, you may have skill, you may have mindset, but you won’t have the ability at that time.

MINDSET

Mindset offers cues in helping to understand an athlete’s motivation to perform. With a fixed set of beliefs, an athlete is motivated to prove oneself and receive praise. Whereas with a growth mindset, the motivation is to work hard, develop, and persist.

This term encompasses the cognitive processes and the brain’s physiological processing. When asked, world-class athletes and coaches respond anywhere from 50% – 99% of the game is mental. Maybe you’ve already encountered this.

CONCLUSION

The thing that tends to increase your sports skills the most is playing and training in your sport. This makes sense, would you become a pro baseball player by rarely playing baseball? Playing your sport and training your technical and tactical sports skills is as specific as it gets.

NOTE: You do not have to be a professional athlete to apply these ideas to your own performance. Maybe you just want to get started being active by joining the local cycling group, maybe you are working your way up to being drafted by MLB, maybe you are doing extremely well and want to go to Q-School. Maybe you just have a vision.

Sources: Island Sports PT, velocityspusa, Wikipedia, exactsports, Iron Edge