Growing up I had always been interested in
sports. I loved the rush of excitement driving to your games, learning a new
move, playing with friends and getting the game-winning point. Throughout time
I experimented more and more with various sports such as soccer, basketball,
track, volleyball, softball and even a little wrestling. As I grew older and
began to choose which sports I wanted to carry on with and which ones I wanted
to leave behind I found myself running back and forth from basketball practices
to soccer practices and games. In addition to choosing the sports I also became
wise with the way my body worked. I learned that eating big meals before
playing is a big no-no, I learned no matter how nice a pair of cleats are,
never compromise your foot size (yes, even if they're on sale), and more
importantly I learned how to keep injuries under control for the most part. I
like to think of myself as a very daring person, willing to slide tackle girls
that try to get passed me in soccer, diving on the court to keep possession of
the ball despite the many faces my own runs into on the way down in basketball,
taking a charge from posts twice my size, even as much as playing goalie and
get kicked by big girls that don't care if your head is the ball or not. With
that comes lots of ice baths, frozen peas and trips to the doctors. As teams
begin to get more competitive and sports become more serious so does your mental and physical health. In reading the book Basketball:
How to Prevent, Treat and Diagnose Injuries I
am able to know how to not only practice on the court but how to practice in my own head.
Reading the first couple on chapters of Basketball: How to Prevent, Treat and Diagnose Injuries allowed me to comprehend the mental state of mind an athlete should be in before preforming any actions. "Visualization must be practiced regularly and become an important pat of your preparations for competition." (Wright 23). Often times it is easier to doubt yourself when you make a mistake because us as human beings like to see negativity before anything else. Simply visualizing yourself making a good pass, steal or fast break gets your mind used to seeing yourself make the right move and is more effective than people think. You have the power to imagine yourself where you want to be, it's up to you to bring yourself down or lift yourself up.
Question: What are you doing to feed positivity into your life? Where can you improve?
Dear Aliya,
ReplyDeleteI truly think its so awesome that you are looking past just physical injuries and looking at mental health, and just the basics of being a healthy athlete! you show a true balance of an Athletes life, which i find amazing! I play soccer and i find that the mental aspect of sports is just as important as the physical! Sports can do way more then just keep you in shape! They can also, teach you great life skills like team work, and setting goals for yourself!
As for you question, for me personally i try to always surround myself with people who lift me up not down! I find that when you surround yourself with positive people you often will have a more positive look on life! :)
I loved this article and cant read your others ones!
-McKenzie Ford