Sport and Exercise

Are you using social media to promote your business? Or your blog? Or your website? Not sure what that means? Well .... if you've ever posted an article, or a blog entry, or a forum post then the answer is yes .... you are. Social media is the name given to the now large cluster of websites that essentially have their content created by their users. These sites are sometimes also called "Web 2.0 sites" .... and without a shadow of doubt .... iStadia is one of them.Are you using social media to promote your business? Or your blog? Or your website? Not sure what that means? Well .... if you've ever posted an article, or a blog entry, or a forum post here on iStadia then the answer is yes .... you are. Social media is the name given to the now large cluster of websites that essentially have their content created by their users. These sites are sometimes also called "Web 2.0 sites" .... and without a shadow of doubt .... iStadia is one of them.

The time leading up to an event is arguably the most important part of the act of competing. This time can be stressful and potentially problematic. Athletes who experience anxiety may exacerbate the situation through:· Remembering poor performances· Doubting one's ability· Pressure to perform from coaches, teammates, or self· Not having a routine

Working in a transatlantic company by day, I'm always struck by just how different the American and British cultures are - and nowhere is that much more evident than in sport. Reflecting on that, I thought I'd check how the difference in our sporting cultures played out on the internet by looking at Google Trends. Just how real is the transatlantic divide in sport? Are we really two sporting countries divided by a common language?

A week ago (as I write this) Manchester United looked imperious and unassailable at the top of the Premier League. Two straight defeats and the story is quite different. While they still hold a lead in the Premier League, a Liverpool win tomorrow would cut that back to one point. The real story is not arithmetical, however, but psychological. Liverpool, on the back of convincing wins against Man United and Real Madrid, will take fresh confidence from their rivals' defeat at Fulham today, and revitalise their belief that they can still win the title. Chelsea, having lost to Tottenham today, failed to capitalise on their opportunity to close the gap.

There's a growing condition affecting educational and sports research: a general aversion to talking about truth and its associates, such as fact, knowledge and evidence. This aversion is so widespread in some settings that it is taken for granted. I've learned from first hand experience that questioning the assumption that truth is a big con leads to looks of disorientated alarm.In one of those rare articles that people actually talk about occasionally I called this position 'veriphobia', or fear of truth. I've since learned from colleagues better educated than me that I've managed to compound Greek and Latin words, which apparently is a linguistic crime. But I still think it is a neat word!

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On retiring from sport an athlete may set new goals, establish a new career but they may still miss an important key. This key can be the difference between a successful transition or a loss of purpose and drive. I'm talking about the loss of significance, an important human need as discussed here.

Reversal theory is one of the few psychological theories of motivation or personality that takes sport really seriously and makes it a central topic. (When did Freud or Jung ever write about soccer, or Skinner go beyond teaching pigeons to play ping pong?)

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I received my copy of The Sport and Exercise Scientist in the post today, and gave the cover the usual cursory glance. My scan picked up an interesting question: "Is studying anxiety interpretations useful for sport and exercise psychologists?". So I thumbed through and found a rather interesting debate between two sport psychologists, staged by email and reprinted for the benefit of others. The debate gave me heart and caused me frustration, because while it opened up an important avenue for research and practice, they both missed the fact that a theory has been in place for over 25 years that adequately addresses all of the issues raised. That theory is Reversal Theory (Apter).

Imagine the scene. It is the future, and scientists have learned how to 'read' human DNA with such accuracy that they are able to predict our future health, as well as the careers that will be most suited to our abilities. The genetically elite are identified early and groomed for lives of leadership and brilliance. The biologically impoverished are relegated to the performance of the most menialtasks.

Anxieties over childrens safety and wellbeing are understandable, and it is only right that parents and teachers are mindful of potential dangers. But children need to be able to take acceptable risks in an environment that allows them to extend their abilities and confidence. If children are deprived of these experiences they will not learn to handle the risks that they are certain to meet as they make their way through life.

Nice post by mental coach Emma James, on how working with Nepalese Olympic Committee forced her to think about herself.

I'm astounded at what is clearly a reaction to hypnosis based on a complete ignorance of the facts. Firstly, to suggest that hypnosis detracts from the players being "who they are and what they are" and "It may give kids a mixed message if you can't do it on your own." is complete nonsense - if you're saying players shouldn't use mental training to improve at their sport, then surely they shouldn't be doing physical training either? According to this odd logic, getting the players fitter or bulking them up already suggests they can't do it on their own!

After Michael Phelps was exposed by the News of the World this Sunday as a pot smoking fiend and all-round danger to society, the blogosphere has been positively throbbing with "BongGate" posts.

As a Liverpool FC fan, it was disappointing but inevitable that Robbie Keane left Anfield yesterday. The papers today suggest it was a poor decision by manager Rafael Benitez, but a decision to move from one organisation to another is always a joint decision by both employer and employee - so 50/50 for that one.

After a few days of total "energy work" rest and some improvement of my labirynthitis, I resumed the experiment.Today I believe I chose the best sequence: breathing exercises, seated meditation, zhan zhuang and, in the end, mental rehearsal.

Of all of the decisions parents face regarding their children's future, choosing between shoulder pads or running shoes for their Christmas present seems trivial. Well, according to Kevin Reilly, president of Atlas Sports Genetics, this is a decision you should not take lightly."If you wait until high school or college to find out if you have a good athlete on your hands, by then it will be too late," he said in a recent New York Times interview. "We need to identify these kids from 1 and up, so we can give the parents some guidelines on where to go from there."

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