A Psychological Approach to Sports

A sport is a challenging undertaking that requires full attention and right focus. In other words, this endeavor needs psychological factors to keep on the right track. Sports psychologists are there to provide these needs such as overcoming problems, enhancing the performance of amateur and professional athletes, and achieving their goals.
   
Sports psychology is a discipline that involves the study of how psychology affects the performance of players and influences exercises, training,  and sports as a whole. Sports psychologists may work with parents, coaches, and athletes on various aspects like injury, rehabilitation, team building, communication, and career transition. Psychological factors help to fully motivate them and improve their performances.  
   
However, aside from helping the athletes, improving non-athlete’s well-being is also part of sports psychology through the application of different physical activities, exercises, and techniques. So being a sport psychologist is really a challenging career path for psychology students. Those who choose this course are mostly fanatics of sports and other forms of recreational pursuits.            

The major subjects within sports psychology are the following: 

Attentional focus – It is the ability to focus attention or maintain concentration on the task at hand despite of distractions like performing in front of a group of cheerers or screaming fans. An athlete who develops a good attentional focus knows how to broaden or narrow attention depending on the situation of the event or game. 

    

Imagery – This involves purely mental processes, such as visualizing competing for a game or performing an athletic skill. It is a psychological factor designed to boost self-confidence, improve athletic ability, learn the right mind frame before a competition, speed up recovery after an injury, and promote relaxation after competition. Athletes reproduce positive experiences from the past or create new experiences through imagery without producing any visible body movements or receiving external stimuli.       

    

Motivation – Coaches and trainers, who also wear jersey with custom digitizing design, adopt this strategy as a key to success. The motivation may come from external influences (extrinsic motivation) or within a person (intrinsic motivation). The former includes money, medals, trophies, or social recognition while the latter involves own sense of pride or personal urge to win the game or competition.       

Celebrities who are Die-Hard Fans

A loyal fan that shows up in a regular basis and that spends big bucks to sit up close even in the first row could be considered as a die-hard fan.  Commonly celebrities and famous personalities have a number of die hard followers wherever they go.

On the other hand, would you believe that there are celebrities that are actually a die-hard fan? They even occasionally wear the embroidery digitizing designed jerseys and uniforms of their favorite team. Here are some of them:

Kendra Wilkinson-Baskett (San Diego Chargers)

Former Playboy bunny and ex-Hugh Hefner girlfriend, Wilkinson-Baskett has always been a huge football fan, which may explain why she married wide receiver Hank Baskett. Even though the E! TV personality’s husband is currently a free agent; Wilkinson-Baskett does not hide the fact that she is still a lifelong, diehard Chargers fan.

Chris Tucker (Atlanta Hawks)

Although the Hawks boast a big star following, Chris Tucker roots for the team on a continual basis. The Atlanta native is such a Hawks fan that he is seen at even the lowest-attended games. 

Adam Sandler (New York Jets)

Funnyman Adam Sandler has been a long-time Jets fan. He even gave Coach Rex Ryan a cameo in his new movie, “I Hate You, Dad,” where he plays — get ready for this — a New England Patriots fan.

Condoleezza Rice (Cleveland Browns)

Condoleezza Rice grew up watching the Cleveland Browns with her father, John, who was a football and basketball coach. She was also engaged to Rick Upchurch, a professional football player, in the 1970s. After finishing her term as secretary of state, Rice hinted that she wanted to be NFL commissioner, but returned to Stanford University as a professor. 

Jack Nicholson (Los Angeles Lakers)

Nicholson, a native of New Jersey, has been a courtside fixture for more than 30 years. He's the consummate fan; he harangues refs, talks with opposing coaches and trash talks with players. He's shown his famous face in opposing arenas when the Lakers have made the finals. If he misses two games in a row, the announcers jokingly blame him for any team loss during his absence.

Ashley Judd (University of Kentucky basketball)

Although Judd was born in California, she moved with her mother to Kentucky when she was young and graduated from the University of Kentucky in 1990. It would be shocking to be watching a Kentucky basketball game on television and not see Judd cheering in the stands. 

Matthew McConaughey (University of Texas football)

One of the “People” magazine’s sexiest man alive is a huge Longhorns football fan. McConaughey, a Texan native, attended the University of Texas, and is often spotted cheering for the team. 

Enrique Iglesias and Anna Kournikova (Miami Heat )

She’s beautiful and he’s handsome. But singer Enrique Iglesias and retired tennis player Anna Kournikova have more than good looks in common. Both are season ticket holders and longtime Miami Heat fans. Now that LeBron James is with the team, more celebrities might be jumping on the bandwagon. 

David Hasselhoff (Dallas Mavericks)

"The Hoff" had always been a Mavericks fan, but never earned much notoriety for it until star player Dirk Nowitzki revealed in an interview that he sings Hasselhoff's songs to himself at the free-throw line to concentrate. The “Baywatch” star proves that you don’t need to be a Dallas native to be an icon for the basketball team.

Will Ferrell, Snoop Dogg (University of Southern California Trojans football)

Ferrell, a USC alumnus, often performed motivational stunts for the team’s players during coach Pete Carroll’s nine-year tenure. While Snoop Dogg did not attend USC, the Southern California native stays close to his roots and has remained a loyal Trojan fan despite recent scandals with the team.

Jessica Alba (Golden State Warriors)

Despite the spotty Warriors’ record, Alba is a huge Golden State fan. Alba proves that you don’t need to be a Bay-Area native to be a fan — she lives in Los Angeles, but is frequently spotted at the Oracle Arena in Oakland, cheering on the Warriors. 

Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, Steven King (Boston Red Sox)

Ben Affleck and Matt Damon are born-and-raised Bostonians, so it makes sense they are big Red Sox baseball fans. Affleck even paid tribute to them by narrating a documentary about the mythical “Curse of the Bambino”, stemming from the trade of Babe Ruth to the hated New York Yankees and the Sox’ 86-year-long World Series drought that ended when they finally won the championship in 2004. Author Steven King’s book "Faithful" chronicled the 2004 season, when Boston beat the Yankees after being down 3-0 in the American League championships and then went on to sweep the St. Louis Cardinals in the World Series. 

Source and  Related Readings:Die-Hard Celebrity Sports Fans |  A Jersey that Cost Millions | Embroidery Digitizing/ Digitplace

The Game On Fashion

Fashion and sports will seem to emerge this spring season of 2012. Browsing on Style.Com, I've read a page wherein the fashion trend report for the year is being forecast. One of the said trends is the Game On. Well, this trend is about the combo of style and sports (some with embroidery digitizing design on them). According to Style.com; sport emerged as one of this season’s biggest themes in New York, with parachute strap dresses at Altuzarra and sleek track pants from the boys at Rag & Bone. Alexander Wang’s mesh bombers, floral hoodies, and stadium map sweaters may look ready for the playing field, but we guarantee you’ll be seeing them on the street-style highlight reel come spring. Now, let's take a look at some of them:

Y-3

Victoria Beckham

Versus

Stella McCartney

Rag and Bone

Michael Kors

Lacoste

Isabel Marant

Alexander Wang

Akris

Source: Style. Com | Stylista on the Block

Tebowing: A Craze or a Contempt

Ever heard of Tim Tebow?

Tim Tebow

Tim Tebow is an American football player who is currently the starting quarterback for the Denver Broncos of the National Football League (NFL). He was homeschooled by his mother and his father is a pastor. No wonder that he is very vocal on his faith as well as he really didn't compromise his beliefs. He is famous for the new pose craze nowadays called tebowing. Planking, tea potting, owling, batting, and horsemanning were so over and the new is tebowing craze since people have noticed Tim Tebow kneeling and praying before and after the game. "Tebowing" is a neologism derived from Tebow's propensity for kneeling and praying. The origin of the phrase is credited to fan Jared Kleinstein, who posted a picture with friends on Facebook, in which they mimic a pose by Tebow that was caught on camera following the Broncos' improbable overtime victory over the Dolphins on October 23, 2011. The popularity of the picture led Kleinstein to set up a website showing pictures submitted by people depicting various interpretations of "Tebowing" all over the world. In December 2011, the life-sized wall adhesions company Fathead released a "tebowing" sticker which generated $50,000 in revenue in two days. Whoa!

Tim Tebow kneeling and praying

Tebowing

Personally speaking, I'm proud of Tim Tebow. Unlike the other so called Christian, he amidst the sea of faces of people have all the guts to show and proudly say that he is a Christian. His kneeling and praying is just an addition to his being a good athlete and a person. He is still active on missions. He even has a Tim Tebow foundation, eh. His official website has also a verse from the Bible; John 3:16; an evangelical verse.

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

As for his critics, hmmm they have the freedom anyway to criticize him. However my only appeal is that there are a lot of athletes that are more worthy to be criticized for a bad action taken, yet the irony is they are focusing on Tim Tebow who is just practicing his belief and this person is actually not doing them any harm. Such an irony, eh.

P.S. Taking aside this Tim Tebow issue, I've read today that the United Kingdom Anti-Doping Association warned athletes to avoid foods that will make an athlete test positive on a drug screening. Would you believe that the top of that list is liver? Liver is said to increase the risk of an athlete testing positive for anabolic agent clenbuterol. Oh, don’t know what is the meaning of this but I’d rather ask my friend nurse in scrub uniforms about this.

Liver Sandwich

The Food Standard Agency, a British government agency (either in scrub uniforms or not) similar to the Food and Drug Administration in the U.S., advised athletes against eating liver.

The FSA cannot rule out the possibility that if a large portion of liver is consumed containing clenbuterol at permitted residue limits, urine collected shortly after consumption may contain detectable levels of clenbuterol. This depends on many factors including the amount consumed, the timing of the urine test and the analytical methods used.

For more info about this, kindly ask your medical practitioner wearing scrub uniforms and lab coats about the foods that may cause clenbuterol.

Source: Olympians warned: Don’t eat liver

On Tennis' Wardrobe Malfunction and Rafa's Win

Here are some of the news I've gathered about the tennis world lately:

The bad news: 

Venus Williams experienced a wardrobe malfunction during a good-natured exhibition match against Italian tennis player Flavia Pennetta in Milan. The left strap on one of Venus' self-designed eleVen dresses with an embroidery digitizing logo on the upper right side of it, snapped during the match, almost exposing some extra skin to the assembled crowd. But Venus managed to cover up this problem, eh.

The good news:

My favorite tennis player, Rafa wearing his sportswear with his favorite brand embroidery digitizing logo won against Juan Monaco. He had given a great performance here. Take a look:

So, that's all for this week; haha. cause next week will be a different week and of course different update too. :)


Source: Venus Williams almost had a wardrobe malfunction in Italy