A Psychological edge

By Michael Puttock.Kinetic academy athletes are well underway this academic year in their training and education. This year, Kinetic are keen to incorporate a Psychological level to the athletes development along side athletes BTEC Sport studies and high quality technical and physical training.In the world of elite sport, Psychological training and monitoring is becoming more important and increasingly included by coaches to ensure athletes develop across all levels of their sporting abilities.The Psychological skill set of an athlete is often described by elite coaches as the next step up in a young players’ development and the difference between good and excellent performance. Touching on psychological aspects such as confidence, coping with pressure and emotional control, Kinetic have issued questionnaires to academy players gaining feedback on their psychological strengths and weaknesses in order to develop structured methods of athlete monitoring and mental skills improvement for before, after and during matches as well as in training.Monitoring aspects such as these can help to adapt training sessions and daily activities to better suit players and help to maximise productivity both on the pitch and in the class room.