A Good Mentality, A Good Future

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Reco Goodwin

Mental health is a major component of sports and I know it can be hard during these times so I asked certain athletes how they stay mentality focused and positive during this pandemic. I feel like this will help the ERHS Community because it will help those players that want to go professional or are going through a rough time during this pandemic to get back focus and positivity and to do what they need to do to get ready for the next season.

In an article for Popular Science, Dyani Sabin points out how powerful and how important an athlete’s mentality is to his life and he states that if an athlete lacks his mental health his/her physical health will fall, so athletes need to know how to control their minds in the game and off. “Professional athletes must train to control their minds, regulate focus, control emotional mayhem, and reach the state of flow that creates highlight-reel performances. And it has to start early”.

ERHS student athlete Thomas Whitley talks about how he is handling up mentality during this tough period of time. “ During these times it was not hard for me to be mentally engaged because I still had my end goal in mind. I knew eventually I would get to continue playing basketball so I had to find creative ways to stay ready. I watched a lot of films about myself and other players so I could keep improving my mind even when I couldn’t do everything I wanted physically.  I also read Kobe Bryant’s book so I could pick one of the greatest athletes ever mind”.

Me personally, growing up as an athlete you always had to know that your mental health was much needed, that what makes you good at your sport, is your mental health.  If you don’t have a good mentality you barely would be there for your physical health. My biggest inspiration was Kobe: he had that black mamba mentality and I feel like if you really want to become a professional athlete you have to have an good mindset 24/7 in and out the game.

Trevor Langford talks in a Sports Injury Bulletin article about how athletes need to maintain a wellbeing, focus, and motivation during this Pandemic time. This fluctuating schedule can affect an athlete’s training program, mental wellbeing, and possibly their desire to exercise,” he says.

I wanted to not only get the perspective from high school students but I wanted to see how the youth basketball team is thinking so I went with a 6th Grader Hakeem Johnson to see where his mental health was at. “ It’s kind of annoying going into the 6th grade not playing basketball because already the coaches and most of the staff don’t know me or anything but my family have been helping me stay focused and helping me train everyday so when we do go back I won’t be out of shape”.