Development of Athletes through Mindfulness



People often confuse mindfulness with yoga and meditation but it is more than that.  It is a mental state achieved by focusing on the present moment and it is challenging for many unless they make it part of their regular practice. To be able to focus in the current moment is a skill that a busy life makes it more challenging. Just like understanding the technical and tactical components of any sport also comes the ability to eliminate distraction, learning to be comfortable in uncomfortable situations and then being able to translate these skills to all other environments. This is difficult for adults to do but if the coach provides you the right kind of motivation for athletes’ training, you can achieve it.

Understand and Respond to Triggers
One of the biggest lessons we can teach our young athletes is normalizing the emotions they feel towards situations but the skill comes to recognizing the emotions and managing them. Find out where the strong emotions are coming from. It requires a lot of self-awareness and patience to view each athlete in this manner. At the same time, young athletes are learning to problem-solve through difficult situations with guidance. There are different athletes training programs that ensure this.



Create your own Schedule
With the fast paced lives of our young athletes and technology, boundaries are easily blurred on how to prioritize. Ensure scheduling expectations are addressed right from the beginning for both yourself and athletes. This includes appropriate communication. Is it acceptable for your athletes to text you or maybe you prefer scheduling face-to-face time to discuss conflict? By communicating effectively it sets the tone for helping them get their needs met not only on the playing field but also in their personal lives. There needs to be awareness that athletes are often running around from one activity to the next. One way to help with focus and set expectations is identifying performance mode and nonperformance mode. When athletes step onto the playing field it means they are ready to be a performer and when they step off for the day, they need to leave it there. Different athlete training centers have for this training programs.


 Uncomfortable Situations and Practice to get through
By knowing how you respond to external stimuli, you are able to gain control and stay focused during challenging situations. An example could be putting players under higher defensive pressure when he or she gets the ball. This will force an athlete to make quicker plays without choking in game situations.

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