GAME BODY MIND OFF THE PITCH NEWS

Your Mind: Coping with a Hi-Pressure Situation

Its been a long exhausting game, you’ve played your heart out through regulation, overtime and sudden death.  Now, you’re up for your penalty kick and the game is set at 3-2 but if you make your shot you’ll tie up the match and go into sudden death shots.  If you miss the season is over.  What are you gonna do?

Well, the answer is simple really - you are going to make the shot!  That’s right you’re gonna make it.  Why would you consider not making it?  I know the thought enters your mind and when it does how you handle the thought can make all the difference in your performance of this highly critical task.

Think about it, if you keep running through your head that you will miss the shot and kill the season you will.  The more positive you can be in your thoughts the better.  When the negative thoughts enter, clear your mind and force successful thoughts, imagine your perfect shot, see the ball take flight and slam into the back of the net.  Imagine the look on the keepers face after you score.  The point here is to think of every little thing you can that are reactions of your success.  If you don’t and think negatively, chances are you will get a negative result.

Much can be said for positive thought when coping with stressful situations.  Just as you practice performing certain skills, the more you practice in your mind achieving positive results the better.  Take  the advice of one the most successful coaches Anson Dorrance:

"Mental skills must first be practiced in non-stressful situations before you can depend on them to work for you in the high stress of the big game.  If it is possible for one person in the world to do something then it is possible for you."

Expecting that you will achieve your goal rather than expecting that you will fail makes a tremendous difference with the end result.  However, its your choice right?  Choose to laugh at the pressure or succum to it.

And you know what?  If you don’t succeed use the opportunity to learn.  Unfortunately, everyone fails sometime but how you choose to deal with the experience is another lesson in itself.  With the World Cup on the line, who do you see thinking positive in this video below (2006 World Cup Final):

Your Body: Achieve Power and Speed with Plyometrics

According to Wikipedia, muscular power is determined by how long it takes for strength to be converted into speed.  So, how efficiently are you converting strength into speed?  Is your opponent beating you to the ball or just edging you out and breaking through? Do you ever wonder what makes players like Roberto Carlos so fast and powerful? 

Well, some of it has to do with God given talent and genetics however; there are ways to achieve power and speed and plyometrics could be a potential solution for you.  Plyometrics are a type of exercises that use explosive movements to develop muscular power, the ability to generate a large amount of force quickly.

Implementing a plyometrics workout could effectively help you improve things like your vertical jump to win headers; it may help you to increase your break away or burst speed away from a defender or if you are a defender you may see benefits by increasing your tracking and marking capability.  The benefits are numerous and plyometric exercises can be done a multitude of ways.

The Sports Fitness Advisor has some pretty good stuff on plyometric training and customized workouts for soccer players and here is a link to a few exercises with animated examples.  They even have more advance soccer-specific plyometric plans for a fee of course.  I can certainly attest to plyometrics working very well as we did a lot of it in college and other coaches often commented about team power and speed.

So, if you want to dominate the opposition with blazing speed and incredible power - get stuck in with a plyometric plan.

Your Game: Soccer Tennis or Volleyball Anyone?

You gotta have fun with the game so, why not perfect your skills at the same time?  A little game of soccer tennis or volleyball can certainly be fun.  It’s pretty simple to set up almost anywhere and you can play 1 v 1, 2 v 2, 3 v 3 and 4 v 4 might be the most players you’d want to get in on a game but that’s just my advice – you could play with larger teams too (it’s your call). 

These games can teach quite a bit through play and probably more than you think.  Take for example, you might be an attacker that has to take a ball out of the air from a cross on the chest and with one touch direct the ball to your feet for a volley shot on goal.

You might also be a central midfielder or defender that has to win a 50/50 ball out of the air and at the same time redirect play to a teammate in order to create a counter attack. Well, playing soccer tennis or volleyball can help you better prepare yourself to manage these sometimes difficult but exciting moments in the match.

       If the pros are playing these games why shouldn’t you?

If the pros are playing these games why shouldn’t you?  To get started, grab a few friends and play 3 v 3 up to 15 points with one bounce allowing only one touch per player (that’s three touches in a sequence of play per team).  Generally, follow the rules of tennis or volleyball, be creative and have fun. 

If you want to make the game more challenging volleyball is the way to go, which you do not allow a bounce.  You can also put other creative restrictions on the game for a better test of your skills like requiring a combination of touches from the team (at least one headed pass and one foot pass).  The opportunities to be creative and challenge your skills are only limited to your imagination.  So, just get out and play.

Here are a few videos of the pros playing in several situations and if you’re in So. Cal. you might be interested in the last link:

DC United | Deco & C. Ronaldo | So. Cal Soccer Tennis

– Jason

** Jason Cronkhite is co-founder and CEO of Ziga-Zoga,
one of soccer’s
newest community-based websites.  A former college soccer player,
Jason’s background includes sports marketing, branding and interactive
marketing/media.  He can be reached at jcronkhite<at>zigazoga.com
.

 

Your Mind: Confidence - It’s Half The Battle

How many times have you heard this?  Player/Coach/Parent says: “Wow.  He (or She) is playing with a lot of confidence right now and just looks like a different player.”

Many times the only difference between two players of equal talent is that one of them is playing with more confidence and, subsequently, makes more plays – possibly The Play of the match.  Confidence is the rock-solid belief in one’s ability.

It seems like players at all levels experience an ebb in confidence at one time or another and it’s the way they handle it that often times makes a critical difference. 

        “Self-belief is such an important element in football.”
                    — David Beckham

When some players lose confidence, it’s the beginning of a deeper spiral, while others are able to bounce back the very next game.  It’s always a lesson in how you handle mistakes (learn from them and let ‘em go!) and maintain your mental edge.

I ran across an interesting excerpt in Soccer – The Mind Game (by Steve Bull & Chris Shambrook; ReedSwain Publishing; ISBN 1-59164-095-4) that gives another perspective:

“You and your team have choices with confidence – you can choose to take control of it … or carry on believing that confidence is out of your control and that you’ll get it only by getting a win, because, after all, in football, one of the most frequently used quotes is: ‘All we need is a win to get our confidence back.’

This approach simply perpetuates the myth that confidence is all about results and totally sets up a player or team for massive confidence peaks and troughs throughout a season – not an approach we recommend.

Confidence is possibly the most important psychological commodity within sport.  From amateur player to international performer, more often than not, sport psychologists will at some point focus their work on helping improve confidence.  We have stopped being surprised at how frequently we get requests to help improve confidence….   More than any area in sport psychology, confidence truly outlines how important it is to think of your mind as you think of your fitness.”

Speaking of confidence and your performance on the field, check out this article on dealing with performance anxiety and confidence, “Don’t Choke. Dealing With Performance Anxiety”.

– Steve

Steve Arters is co-founder and president of Ziga-Zoga, one of soccer’s newest community-based websites.  He’s a current and longtime club soccer dad at the Premier and D-1 levels in Texas and has been fortunate to accompany teams to the top national tournaments from coast to coast.  Steve has a media background that includes radio, newspaper and serving as a reporter/editor for The Associated Press and United Press International.  He also has extensive marketing/advertising experience that includes sports marketing expertise involving professional teams/organizations, national cable programming and college conferences.  He can be reached at sarters@zigazoga.com.

ZZ Photos: Beeeeeeeeep still testing

Is this working … if so you should see a slide show.

ZZTV: Testing, testing 1-2-3

Just testing a new feature we’re exploring….

Your Body: Hydration is Critical to Hi-Performance

I know you’re young and invincible or are one of the finest older athletic specimens on the planet and think you don’t need water because you’re tough.  No matter who you think you are it’s in your best interest to read on and take a few mental notes.

With so many sports drinks out on the market today along with the new flavored sports waters – what is good and what’s not?  When should you drink straight water and how much?  Should you drink sports drinks at all?  These are all common questions players ask themselves because they know it’s important but don’t necessarily know what to do. 

Having the awareness that hydration is critical to performance is a start but you need to understand how to replenish your fluids correctly.  Therefore, I want to recommend that you take a look at a few articles I found that can help clear the air:

Water vs. Sports Drinks

I would also suggest you understand the effects of drinking too much water “Hyponatremia”.

After you have had a chance to absorb all that ( HAAAAAA ) you might want to check out US Soccer’s Rehydration Guidelines. 

The bottomline is that proper hydration will enable you to perform at your peak cuz it can easily separate you from your competitor late in overtime when you’ve been playing 115 minutes in sudden death overtime.  Believe me, I’ve been there and you need ever ounce of energy you can muster up or you’ll be laid out cramping….been there too and it sucks.  So, drink up and get stuck in like the guys below.

Your Game: Street Soccer

So the last couple of weeks we have been focusing on 4 v 4 games.  Well, I wanted to take a break from the organized game and talk a bit about where we as a country just need to get out and play the game more.  We just don’t play enough pick-up games or street ball in the American soccer culture.

We need to really consider the opportunities that local neighborhood pick-up games can have on our growth as an American soccer culture.  After all, what you only really need is a ball, a few friends and surface and a desire to have fun.

Unfortunately, our culture is so focused around creating organized sport that it is ridiculous.  The Brazilian’s are sooo goood because the game is a natural part of their culture as many other countries, Italy, Mexico, England, etc.  You get out and play anywhere you can because its fun and a way to express yourself just because you love to play.

I can remember growing up playing American football in my backyard and the alley ways with friends.  Any chance we had we were out there playing until I a friend introduce me to a real football and that was the end of American Football for me.  The only problem was I had to go somewhere to practice with lots of kids and because other kids did not grow as passionate about soccer as I did there were not many friends to play with so I ended up playing on my own until my little brother could play and talk about some interesting one-on-one matches and dented car doors. 

Still, we were part of a select few in the neighborhood that enjoyed playing soccer and could not wait to go to soccer practice on Tuesday and Thursday evenings.  And talk about the disappointment of games on Saturday being rained in, what a huge let down.

I think it is a pretty fair assessment to say the popularity of American Football and Basketball today is because of the street cred these sports have.  It takes consistent exposure for something to become popular and it has taken years for these sports to become fabrics of our society. 

So, for our sport to grow and for our skill as a country to grow in order to compete at the World Cup level we need to get out and play more and more.  I guess umm, that I might start talking about some street games that are fun that kids can easily go out and do.

Thoughts?  I would love to hear about some games you have played 1 v 1, 2 v 2, with garbage cans as goals.  Maybe you set-up a couple of  T-Shirts on the curb and played 3 v 3 to 11 or 1 on 1 with the first person getting to 21 wins.

Do share - Ciao,

Jason

Your Mind: Jumping In, Dropping Out, Why Players Leave The Game

Featured Article With Colleen M. Hacker, Ph.D. Sport Psychology Consultant, US Women’s National Soccer Team Professor, Pacific Lutheran University.  Provided by Gayle Bryan of Fair Game Magazine.

How many times have parents or coaches heard these words, “I want to quit, it’s just not fun anymore?” Parents, coaches, and sport leaders are increasingly interested in both the causes of and prevention for burnout resulting from the physical and psychological demands of soccer participation. The good news is that youth soccer actually has one of the highest participation rates of any team sport for athletes ages six to 17 in the United States.

It’s one of the few sports, in fact, still enjoying growth rates among participants. The bad news is that while athletes are drawn to competitive soccer from all ages, levels and abilities, many are also dropping out.

Making matters more troublesome, athletes are most likely dropping out just when their talent, work and effort over time are beginning to pay off. Sport participation peaks between 11- and 13-years-old and then consistently declines to the age of 18. Of every 10 players who begin a season, three to four will drop out by the start of the next season (Petlichkoff, 1996). Recent trends indicate that as many as 35 percent of teens and pre-teens involved in organized sport will drop out each year (some drop out of sports altogether and some simply change sports).

To understand why youth players quit, it is helpful to first examine why they start playing in the first place.

Reasons kids play

• To have fun (the #1 reason)
• To experience success (do something they’ll be good at)
• To be with friends (or make new ones)
• To experience the excitement of competition
• To learn and improve their skills
• To be active and become fit
• To be part of a team

Soccer players come in all shapes, sizes and ability levels. Soccer requires minimal equipment, is fast paced and allows for active participation by a relatively large number of players. Because of its popularity, opportunities for practice, games, camps and other competitive experiences abound. Athletes are starting to train at younger and younger ages, however, and coupled with the increasing pressures and expectations frequently placed on youngsters in year-round programs, burnout is a growing concern. Burn out is a complex phenomenon with multiple causes and numerous personal and environmental explanations.

In essence, burnout represents an athlete’s inability to meet extensive training, performance and competitive demands. Ironically, the positive benefit of soccer, experienced by millions of players nationwide is also accompanied by ever-increasing rates at which athletes are leaving the sport. It is common for players to talk about the “stress of competition”, the “pressure of tryouts” or the “stress of playing at a high level”. Athletes experience competitive stress when the demands of the situation exceed the player’s ability (actual or perceived). Over time, competitors are likely to experience both physical and psychological effects and respond by either continuing to play or dropping out. Players at higher risk of dropping out are more likely to view failure or negative evaluation from significant others (parents, coaches, teammates) as emotionally threatening. These players worry more about losing, about not playing well, and about negative evaluations from others. On the other hand, athletes prone to feel less stress and anxiety placed in the exact same competitive environment do not view the experience as threatening or worrisome.

Stress is not necessarily bad for athletes; in fact, appropriate levels of stress are necessary for growth, improvement and motivation. However, for a variety of reasons, athletes are sometimes no longer able to adjust to competitive demands. Burnout does not occur quickly. It is a consequence of prolonged periods of staleness, overtraining, and demands that exceed ones actual or perceived capabilities.

There are several terms often and inappropriately used interchangeably with the term burnout. Burnout is more of a long-term result of emotional and physical exhaustion while overtraining refers to training loads that are too intense and prolonged. Staleness is a symptom of overtraining or burnout and is usually evidenced by a sustained and unexplained drop in performance. A performance slump may result from staleness and is described as an uncharacteristic and relatively short-term decrease in performance.
(Henschen, 2005).

Burnout is a growing concern in youth sports and is thought to occur when players lose interest as a result of specializing in a specific sport at a very early age, after training for long hours, under intense pressure, over several years.
(Weinberg & Gould, 2007).

Burnout does not happen overnight, it takes time to develop. Typically a person goes through a series of stages that ultimately lead to emotional and physical exhaustion. Experts (Smith, 1986; Gould & Petlichkoff, 1988; and Weiss, 1993) indicate that conflicts of interest and interest in other activities are the reasons most often given for sport withdrawal.

Research indicates that burnout is the reason why 80 to 90 percent of children drop out of organized sports by age 15. Smith (1986), however, argued the burnout is only one reason (of many) that results in drop-out. He suggests that burnout is a response to chronic stress in which a player withdraws from soccer physically, psychologically or emotionally because he or she feels that it is no longer possible to meet the demands of the sport.

Still, others (Coakley, 1990) contend athletes often feel that they are viewed by others only in terms of their soccer talent (a soccer prodigy), while others feel that coaches and parents control and restrict their lives (because of soccer) which can also lead to sport withdrawal.

Depending on the athlete, there are a variety of causes that can lead to burnout and result in a player’s decision to leave the sport. Burnout prone athletes often feel excessive pressure to perform perfectly and often over-train in an attempt to meet those unhealthy and unrealistic demands.

Age and developmental factors also play a role. Coaches should not forget that young athletes are at risk just as much as older, more experienced athletes. Experts suggest that younger than age ten, moving from one sport to another is both common and desirable.

The American Academy of Pediatrics issued a policy statement in 2000 advocating that youth players not specialize in a sport until age 12 or 13 when they’re more emotionally and physically mature. Young athletes should be encouraged to play several sports. Both team and league rules should be constituted to encourage that practice. Players should have opportunities to participate at levels consistent with their abilities and interests. In soccer that means not every athlete should play ODP nor should there be excessive pressure to “play up”.

Athletes should play soccer because they love the game not to please parents, to get an athletic scholarship or to help their coach win a title. And finally, communities, clubs and schools should strive to provide a wide range of soccer opportunities from recreation to elite levels with each guided by qualified, competent coaches.

Advice for players

• Play for your own reasons (not to make others happy or to fulfill someone else’s expectations)
• Balance soccer and other aspects of your life (school, family, friends, hobbies, etc.)
• Keep soccer fun!
• Take time to relax, recover and re-charge.

Advice for parents

• Monitor your behavior (verbal and non-verbal messages) for an appropriate level of interest, involvement and “pushing”.
• Emphasize fun, participation, and skill improvement rather than winning and losing. Most athletes want to play a sport because they love the game.
• Emphasize that players strive to improve their skills and work hard rather than compare themselves to others. De-emphasize outcome in favor of effort and personal improvement.
• Never be punitive or rejecting if the athlete tries but does not succeed.
• After a loss or failure, show that you understand how disappointed they are and encourage them to continue trying.
• Communicate love, empathy, support and acceptance regardless of success or failure.
• Allow sport participants to play an active role in decision-making and emphasize personal responsibility and control.
• Lessen your involvement; meaning, let the coaches coach and the players play.
• Focus on the positive aspects of performance. Catch your child being good!

Advice for coaches

• Provide opportunities of skill development for all athletes (not just the starters or top players)
• Keep soccer fun (athletes’ number one motive for participation).
• Communicate openly and honestly and seek input from athletes.
• Foster a motivational climate geared toward mastery and a task orientation (Nicholls, 1984) where success is based on maximum effort, skill development, learning new skills, demonstrating competence and a self-referenced standard of comparison (doing better than you’ve done before, achieving a personal best). Minimize an ego or outcome oriented climate in which athletes demonstrate competence and success by beating or comparing themselves to others.
• Players on teams which foster a mastery orientation to soccer are likely to enjoy the experience more, have higher confidence in their ability, a more positive attitude toward sport and believe that effort and ability together lead to success (Treasure & Roberts, 1998).
• Stress the importance of self-control, personal autonomy and choice.
• Utilize a positive rather than a negative coaching approach (DiCicco & Hacker, 2002).
• Provide sincere, realistic expectations, frequent rewards and encouraging verbal and non-verbal behavior.
• Reward effort not just outcome.
• Have a constructive approach to mistakes (teaching oriented rather than punitive).
• Provide shorter practices with a consistent use of optimal challenges, innovation and variety.
• Keep everyone active, eliminate elimination games and decrease the time that players are waiting in lines for their turn.
• Provide for the social and friendship needs of athletes by scheduling social events outside of practice and providing “free time” before practice starts for athletes to mingle and socialize.
• Emphasize the importance of rest and recovery.
• Know the difference between overload and overtraining.
• Be sure to clarify roles and expectations for each player regarding their positional responsibilities and team standards and expectations. Ambiguity can be further reduced by announcing the starting line-up early, providing clarity regarding practice and travel schedules and giving consistent, performance-based feedback.
• Provide consistent non-verbal messages to athletes.
• Avoid tying an athlete’s performance to social or personal approval (e.g., a parent or coach acting as though they love or value the player more or less depending on their soccer performance or game outcome).
• Employ a consistent pre-game demeanor and warm up (rather then trying to give an emotional pep talk before the “big game”).
• Work with administrators and parents to ensure positive, supportive and appropriate sideline behavior by all spectators.

Advice for coaches, administrators and parents to prevent burnout

• Identify “at risk” youth (see the list of personal and situational variables).
• Teach cognitive behavioral skills and stress management techniques (relaxation and breath control, self-talk, thought stepping, and rational thinking, to name a few).
• Encourage players to be involved in more than one sport (if they show interest) and encourage youngsters to develop balanced lives. Adults need to view soccer as only one part of athletes’ lives and should actively encourage players to develop non-sport (or beyond one sport) identity.
• Keep travel time down.
• Do not overuse “playing up” (younger athletes competing against older athletes).
• Increase athlete decision-making opportunities. Players should have some input into training, team rules and competition.
• Use positive reinforcement instead of criticism.
• Set goals that are difficult but realistic.
• Strive for appropriate and balanced expectations from significant others (decrease parental and coaching pressure).
• Help athletes refrain from self-imposed expectations for “perfect performance” and de-emphasize the win-at-all-cost mentality.
• Encourage cross training (a variety of sports, sport types and levels) and provide for an off-season with time for unstructured physical activity (without coaches or adults present) and rest.
• Realize that it’s not only athletes who experience burnout but also coaches, trainers, administrators and officials. Monitor yourself for signs and symptoms of burnout and intervene early.  (Gould, Tuffey, Udry, & Loehr, 1996; Weinberg & Gould, 2007)

Your Body: Hi-Performance Fuel

At the most competitive levels, soccer or football is one of the most strenuous sports on the planet.  Players have been tracked to run anywhere between 6 to 10 miles and sometimes more depending on the skill level and intensity of a match.  It is important to note that because of the natural course of the game with the intervals of sprinting to jogging, this activity places significant demands on your body’s energy resources. 

Obviously, you must be physically fit if you expect to exceed.  However, what you feed Your Body converts into the fuel you need to succeed.  Thus, it is important understand that soccer players require a highly concentrated carbohydrate diet.  Why?

Given the significant demands placed on Your Body, you need the appropriate levels of fuel available to maintain your edge.  Concentrated carbohydrate diets along with plenty of fluid intake will provide the energy resources you need to break away in the final third or shut down that counter attack in the final 5 minutes of the match.

During the course of a match, your body will seek out and deplete its glycogen supply if your tank is not sufficiently full.  While you are tracking back marking or trying to break free on that corner kick,  you are generating lactic acid in your blood stream, which will cause cramping and soreness, when your system no longer has fuel generated from good carbohydrate intake to draw from.

Understanding having hi-performance fuel is so important to run and perform, consider that your body is one the most amazing machines and it can convert many different resources into fuel.   Take a look at this chart to see how you might build a few Hi-Performance meals.

I’d also like to recommend reading Nutrition For Soccer Players to better understand how to develop a carbohydrate diet regime.   Another good resources for pre-game, post-game and fluid replacement can be found here.

Now that you have been armed at least with a few sources of fuel you just have to put this knowledge into action.  So, “get stuck in” and look for future segments of Your Body every Wednesday right here or get involved in our Your Body forums on ZigaZoga.com .  Lastly, if you’d like to contribute resources to this topic for further discussion, feel free to post a few links here in our comments section.

– Jason

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