Meeting Psychological Needs Individually
The roles of the dance instructor are many and diverse. The instructor must be a teacher, trainer, parent, friend, and a psychologist. This is a lot of responsibility for one person, and it takes considerable experience before an instructor is capable of fulfilling all of these roles effectively. Much time and energy has been spent […]
Read MoreReinforcement For The Dance Instructor
One important technique dance instructors employ while providing instruction is reinforcement. Reinforcement, i.e., overt approval of desired skills, behaviors, and attitudes, can be used to increase self-confidence and motivation and to develop technical and physical skills. The goal and result of effective reinforcement is to increase the likelihood that a desired skill will be repeated […]
Read MorePrime Profiling for Triathlon
One of the most difficult things about dealing with the mental side of triathlon is that its not tangible. Unlike physical conditioning where you can see yourself getting stronger by the amount of weight you=re lifting or technical training where you can see progress on video and on the clock, mental training can=t be directly […]
Read MoreExpect The Unexpected in Tennis
A major source of stress for professional tennis players, and players at all levels of ability, is the unexpected things that come up before and during matches. The natural reaction to unexpected events is to back off, become tentative and anxious, and lose confidence and focus. Unexpected events hurt performance. During a match, all kinds […]
Read MoreConcentration in Dance
Concentration is perhaps the single most misunderstood psychological factor in dance. In fact, in a recent conversation, an elite dancer indicated that she improved her concentration by staring at the second-hand of a watch for an extended period of time. Though she may think she did, most of the theory and research to date suggests […]
Read MoreTen Laws Of Prime Triathlon Training
First Law: Prime Triathlon is not achieved on the day you compete, but rather in the days, weeks, and months before the competition. Many triathletes believe that if they’re ready to go on the day of the triathlon, then they are prepared to perform their best. But I have found that success is determined more […]
Read MoreControl Or Not To Control in Tennis
The life of a professional tennis player is stressful. There are many things that they can worry about and which can make them depressed, angry, frustrated, and distracted, all of which will hurt their tennis. Unfortunately, many players, pros or junior players, worry about the wrong things. The big problem is that people get stressed […]
Read MoreInformation Feedback in Dance
Perhaps the single most important skill that dance teachers must develop in order to be good instructors is their ability to convey information effectively. During instruction, technical development is only as good as the quality of the information feedback that is provided by the teacher. As a result, consideration should be given to several areas […]
Read MorePrime Triathlon: Triumph Of The Tri-Mind
What Is Prime Triathlon? I define Prime Triathlon, as “performing at a consistently high level under the most challenging conditions.” There are two essential words in this definition. The first key word is, “consistently.” I’m not interested if a triathlete can have a great swim leg, but poor riding and running legs or one outstanding […]
Read MoreStrive For Prime Not Peak Performance
Peak performance is a phrase that is used widely by athletes, coaches, and sport psychologists to describe the level of performance to which athletes should aspire. It is considered to be the best performance an athlete can achieve. When I came out of graduate school that is the goal to which I wanted my athletes […]
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