Sports Psychology for Youth Coaches and Developing Champions in Sports and Life - Book Report/Review Example

Sport Psychology for Youth Coaches Book Analysis By Institution 1st, June 2014 Frank Smoll and Ronald Smith are professor in the University of Washington. Smith is a specialist in clinical psychology dealing with personality, stress and how to cope out of great challenges. He is also a researcher in sport psychology. Smoll, on the other hand, researches on coaching behaviors and how to increase the efficiency in the sporting career of young athletes. Both has engaged in research on sports among children and adolescent and are the author of Sport Psychology for Youth Coaches: Developing Champions in Sports and Life. The book discusses the psychology of sporting activities and the important role contributed by coaching staff. Smith and Smoll offers a scientific guide to the use of psychology and philosophy principles to nurture young people to develop sporting and life changing skills. The goal of the book is to offer a scientific background into coaching rather than relying on try and error as have been witnessed there before. Throughout the book, Smith and Smoll have laid down evidence of psychological interventions that help children to acquire the required skills while they are still young to ensure that they make a better career in athletics and also in football, basketball among other sports. Scientific evidence has shown that personality and good attitude toward sports help in improving the performance of young and old who engages in play. Therefore, the use of psychology among players and coaches ensures that all have a common agenda of winning and if do lose they have the strength to manage the pressure accorded to them by spectators. The Sociology of Sport talks about sport as a way of life in all communities. Delaney and Madigan says that there is no know culture that does not engage in sporting activities from time in memorial. Moreover, because only a few of the members of the society engages in specialized play the others play their part as spectators which also act as an important aspect in people lives (Delaney & Madigan, 2009). The book is co-authored by Tim Delaney and Tim Madigan who has spent most of their time researching in sporting activities. The aim of this book just like the other one is to provide young children and adolescent an opportunity that challenges their physical fitness and also by stimulating them mentally. Moreover, the book has a purpose of providing its readers and more importantly young sportsmen with a sense of belonging among the many surrounding activities and also a personal meaning throughout their lives (Delaney & Madigan, 2009). Sports are structured and institutionalized in a manner that have established rules and regulations that guide manage the various kind of behaviors that are present among young athlete and other sports players. Moreover, the rules have a hierarchical authority pattern to ensure that those in charge have great influence over the influence among players. According to Delaney and Madigan sports study has shown that it minimizes the negative aspects in societies such as sexism, racism, drug abuse and elitism. Moreover, the trend of revolt and nationalism has been checked over the years as people has more time enjoying sports rather than engaging in the running of governments. Sports is an important activities to children and adolescents because it engages them most of the time and enable them to develop healthy statues and also have a good memory. Therefore, given the positive attributes of sports scholars have developed a philosophy that guide coaches on how to manage the coaching exercise in the wake of emerging sporting competition around the globe. Sports philosophy offers solution to young athletes who suffer greatly in the course of training, and while competing in the field. Just like people in normal life situation faces challenges in their day to day activities, athletes also experience pressure, stress and even depression as a result of strenuous and vigorous activities that they are involved in. The book by Smith provide a scientific researched information that make sports experience enjoyable and constructive (Smith & Smoll, 2012). Play has an important function in animal humans and animals, as well. It is through play that the young animal are taught on the necessary skills that they will need for their own survival when they become of age. Humans just like animals develop physical abilities such as walking, jumping, and running which are important in their everyday activities. Moreover, play not only help in developing physical abilities, but it also enhances the development of social behaviours, personality traits and acquiring positive values that are needed in the development of a mature individual. The skills acquired when children and adolescent are subjected in sports act as an apprenticeship such as sporting career and ability to perform duties in other careers that demand a lot of energies. Sports help people to identify with those that excel and thus make them have a meaning in all that they aspire to do. This is according to the ‘Basking in Reflected Glory’ (BIRG). It has helped society deal with conflict which defined the world in the past centuries while at the same time refuting the ideas of false consciousness (Delaney & Madigan, 2009). Marx argued that people suffer from inability to identify and attach themselves to the goal in society leasing to subornation by the rulers, but this is not the case as people have attachment in sport knowing too well what they gain by participating or watching other play. Sports has taken an important role in society in the 21st century for various reason. In the past sports and leisure was regarded as a health adventure that culminated t a wholesome of children and adults. Moreover, the emergence of industrialization and urbanization decreased the playground where children engaged in play (Smith & Smoll, 2012). This has prompted the development of modern stadium and other play ground that have specialized personnel’s to guide people in realizing a better health. The government and education stakeholders has argued that sport program are necessary for reducing juvenile delinquency. Sports do engage adolescent and deter them from participating in illegal practices and also moving away from street guns. Furthermore, the mass media has played a big role in advocating fitness and thus has encouraged families to participate in sports as a routine to ensure that they fall into the designed culture. And lastly, sport provides an enjoyable experience that break the monotonous of the work place. Therefore, sport is an important engagement that relieves stress and provide a fun and an ending enjoyment (Smith & Smoll, 2012). Therefore, having outlined the importance of sport it is also important to discuss and analyze how to manage, control and deal with all that emanate in participating in sports. The role of coaches is to help young athletes to manage success and failure that come up in any competition. It is argued that sports are just like life situations where players learn to endure and cope with challenging and important realities in their life. Athlete learns how to cooperate with others while at the same time compete and own either a win or a loss. It is through this that sporting activities nurture the spirit of self-control and on the value of taking risks. Thus sporting contributed in impacting young people the right altitude, authority and the persistence needed in difficulties in sporting culture and real life situations (Smith & Smoll, 2012). The demand of a successful sportsman requires the skills of an adult leader to guide and provide leadership to the organized sports activities. Coaches that are knowledgeable of sports can help children and adolescent on how to acquire the necessary physical skills required to master sports. It is evident in highly commercialized sporting that only those athletes with a high level of physical fitness manage to outdo their competitors. Thus the role of coaches in guidance have a significant influence in athlete’s life and play an important role in sporting culture (Smith & Smoll, 2012). However, Smith and Smoll argue that there are challenges of child abuses by coaches and managers of sports activities, but this should not distract people from the benefit that sports bring to people life. They argue that the media has been biased when reporting problem facing sport by exaggerating and concentrating on the negative and ignoring the positive. The role of mass media ought to promote sporting activities rather than discouraging it, and there should be a body that looks on the biases that threaten the sports culture. The inexperience that youth have on the sport is one of the major task of a coach to influence their behaviors socially, athletically and psychologically. Therefore, the psychology of coaching is the science of that involves the mind to influence on the behaviors of sportsmen (Smith & Smoll, 2012). Though there is no single defined way of influencing behaviors, different coaches may use a unique way to achieve the effective and desired goals (Smith & Smoll, 2012). Sometimes a coach may have influence other than the one that he or she is coaching his students and it is therefore important to have coaches that have positive attitude even in their own life as they influence athlete’s careers and their life outside the sporting activities (Smith & Smoll, 2012). The coaching career has engineered sociology, philosophy and psychology to help mold better personality that provide professional entertainment to the audience around the world who enjoy watching sporting activities. Today’s research has shown that the application of proper coaching behaviours has improved the quality and value of our athletes. The time spent on the track has decreased tremendously over the years, and this has been due to the benefit of sport psychology. The life of our children has improved through engaging in sport experiences. Moreover, they are establishing better families on their own and having great children. Couching start at home as a parent are supposed to encourage their children to focus and work hard toward realizing full physical fitness. It, therefore, important for parents to have a good working relationship with coaches to facilitate a successful Youth Sport Experience (Smith & Smoll, 2012). According to smith and Smoll coaches need to establish a rapport with parent as they play a big role in sport program. It is evidence that many athlete who drop out of youth program are influence by their parent in order to pursue other careers. Moreover, in other instances it is out of ignorance that parent undermine to contribution of sport to the development of their children. Therefore, it is of important that coaches’ channel to parent genuine grievances and the good intensions that they want to impact onto the children so that they can effectively increase the outcome of training. The motivation offered in the book by Smith and Smoll set a road map to success. Motivation and skill are related, and athletes who are well motivated by their coaches and parents develop the skills needed to realize their potential. The book achieves its goal and has been the backbone of the majority of the sports managers and coaches because it guides on the overall requirement needed to develop talents. Children are born without talents and it only through coaching and motivation that talent are nurture. Therefore, learning, goal setting and practice help children and adolescent grow physically, emotionally and even socially in sporting activities and their future. Delaney and Madigan argue that sport enhances socialization of people from different cultures. It has been seen in the Olympics and other World competition that athletes engages each other as they participate. This had contributed to increase globalization and the merging of the social gap that existed there before. Sports has also elevated politics, media, religion and most important the economies of the world. The amount of revenue that government and State collect through taxing sports event is enormous. Moreover, the integration of sports in almost all region has enabled the faithful to abide and practice their faith in an enjoyable way. This has helped relieve people from the seriousness and handwork that is required in serving in work places and church. References Smith, R. E., & Smoll, F. L. (2012). Sport Psychology for Youth Coaches: Development Champions in Sports and Life. London : Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc. Delaney, T., & Madigan, T. (2009). The Sociology of Sports: An Introduction. North Carolina : McFarland & Company, Inc. Read More