You have heard me for years talking about the positive influence of sports psychology — and how we as sports parents and coaches often spend so much time working with our young athletes getting them to focus on the physical aspects of their game that I worry we don't spend enough time discussing the mental preparation that goes into top performances.
That is, so much effort is put forth into the physical skills that we overlook the aspect of mental preparation for competition.
The truth is, sports psychology is a relatively new discipline. Heck, when I was in college, not only was there no courses or even books on sports psych, the entire concept was basically looked down upon. No athlete ever admitted that he or she wanted to talk about the pressures that accompany their involvement in sports, or how to find a way to improve their performance by working on their mental approach.
Fortunately, times have changed…and changed for the better. These days, just about every pro and college team has at least one sport psychologist involved with their program. But that wasn't always the case. When I started in 1989 with the Cleveland Indians as their first sports psychology coach, very few teams believed in sports psychology.
I give you this brief history lesson because I'm going to introduce you to the next generation of sports psychology. That's right – a new website represents the next step in sports psychology for today's young athletes.
The website is Mind Design Sports.org, and the founder and creator is Brandon Shintani. I very much urge you – or better yet – ask you to have your athletic son or daughter, or if you're a coach, to have your athletes check this website out.
Why? Because Brandon has put together a very smart, very engaging, and very well-crafted resource that is specifically aimed to today's young athletes….kids who want to know more about the mental side of sports which are presented in an accessible and easily understood manner.
And here's the best part. Did I mention that Brandon happens to be a 16-year-old aspiring basketball player at Ridgewood HS in NJ? Yes, that's correct. In the fall, Brandon will be a junior in HS.
He's a most impressive young man, and Brandon Shinitani joined me this AM on WFAN to talk about his Mind Design Sports and the resources it provides to HS athletes. Plus later in the hour, I talk about the impact that the TV series "Ted Lasso" is having on coaches. Take a listen below!
Read more on this story at askcoachwolff.com, tune in to WFAN every Sunday morning at 8 A.M. for 'Rick Wolff's Sports Edge,' and follow Rick Wolff on Twitter @askcoachwolff.
