High Performance and Mental Training

Any coach or athlete who achieves success in competitive sport does so because of a high level of mastery in the mental aspects of performance.  Fundamental to all behavior is the understanding of motivation.  All learning and improvement is tied to the psychological dimension of motivation.  This course offers the opportunity to learn and apply correct psychological principles for enhancing motivation within the competitive sport context.

This course is designed to encourage the coach to examine gender differences and stereotypes that are typically encountered by coaches as they coach female athletes in our competitive world. The activities of this course are designed to better acquaint and refine the coach’s understandings of the current athletic environment relative to the female athletes. Activities such as coach’s interviews, readings, a focused web search, observations, and guided evaluation through practical experiences with current coaches and/or female student-athletes are part of the course.

Plyometrics refers to exercise that enables a muscle to reach maximal strength in as short a time as possible. Such exercises usually involve some form of jumping, but other modes of exercise exist. This course is designed to teach the high school coach or teacher how plyometric training works, why they are used, and how to integrate them into a complete training program.

How can we better teach and develop mental toughness in our athletes? What really allows people to overcome their fear of failure? How can a coach create an environment in which the drive to succeed is greater than the fear of failure? This course presents several varied applied activities that can inspire and motivate coaches and their students or athletes toward achievement levels that they may not have felt possible.