Youth-Athlete's Sport Blog

The skill of visualization is probably taught in every sport psychology book or course. Yet it is a skill that most athletes do not continue to use because they have not learned to operationalize this skill in their performance.  In earlier posts, I discussed why visualization was important to increase an athlete's peak performance and how visualization works.  In this next post, I will expand on when a player can use visualization to reinforce a new skill being learned, improve the execution of an existing skill, and opportunities to refocus and reinforce existing mental images during a game.  More...

The best athletes can have slumps, underachieve, and fail if they focus on the wrong success factors.  During these times of poor performance they are unable to let go of setbacks, errors, and mental mistakes that can be compounded by lack of self-confidence, fear of failure, unrealistic expectations.  As an athlete, leaving the mental side of performance to chance make you more susceptible to performance problems.  As a coach, a working knowledge of mental and sports psychology skills will help you develop athletes with more self-confidence, motivation, and experience peak performance.  Finally, as a parent, the principals of sport psychology, can help you encourage your child to reach their peak performance and develop mental toughness that enhances their self-esteem to achieve greatness, not only in their sport, but also in the bigger picture of life.  More...

Bill Walton works with SportSkool to teach the basketball fundamentals of shooting.  By incorporating all the techniques of balance and agility as well as strategic movements on the court, we move along to some game-enhancing shooting drills. Former NBA MVP Bill Walton goes over some fun and challenging practice games that will sharpen your skills as a shooter.  Bill Walton discusses how to start shooting practice and describes a couple of shooting games. More...

Many athletes routinely use mental visualization techniques as part of their elite sport training. There are stories and examples of how such techniques provide not only a competitive edge, but also a renewed mental awareness and sense of well-being. In an earlier post, I discussed why visualization was important to increase an athlete's peak performance.  In this post, I will discuss how to visualize for peak performance. More...

Every year as a player graduates to the next level, the speed of the game gets quicker and the athletes need to make adjustments in their physical training, mental preparation, and playing style.  Call it the fall ritual for school basketball. Recently, Applied Cognitive Engineering came out with a program that quickens a player's transition to the speed of the next level, and when used regularly, turn this transition process into their competitive advantage. More...

Bill Walton works with SportSkool to teach the basketball fundamentals of shooting.  Having different shooting techniques for different situations is the main point in this video. The art of the finger roll, hook shot and jump hook are all broken down for beginning level players looking to improve their game in the paint.  Bill Walton shows the proper shooting form for the finger roll, hook shot, and jump hook. More...

Many peak performance athletes use techniques like visualization, imagery, and self-hypnotism to improve their game performance.  These techniques refer to the ability to recall information in physical forms and images, instead of words.  Since the brain thinks in pictures, an athlete can utilize the mind's image processing capability to create positive and desired activities by imagining an events actions and engaging all five senses.  In this way, an athlete can increase the amount of time their mind and body are "on the field" without incurring the additional stress of physically practicing.  Over the next couple of weeks, I plan on writing a series of posts that discuss:  why athlete's are increasingly using visualization, how they do it, what they do, and finally, when.  Let's start with the why. More...

Isn't it frustrating with the major TV channels decide not to broadcast a game that you are interested in watching and you know your favorite team is playing but it is not being broadcasted on any channels from your cable provider.  This was my experience last spring during the NCAA regional and super regional rounds leading up to the College World Series.  I started looking into satellite TV, but the equipment and installation cost plus the $25+ per month subscription fee was making me think twice.  I then started experimenting with Internet TV.  More...

Bill Walton works with SportSkool to teach the basketball fundamentals of shooting.  The fundamentals of the game are reviewed and emphasized in this segment on shooting. In basketball, the art of shooting is down to repetition. Hall of Famer, Bill Walton, tells us that it is the familiarity of the rhythm of shooting that makes a good player great.  Bill Walton shows the proper shooting form mechanics for the set shot and jump shot, layups, and free throws. More...