The Mental Side of Defensive Players
Sports counselors in Orlando drive their sports counseling practice towards working with different athletes from a variety of sporting backgrounds. When it comes to players in the team sport world, there are different stressors and strains that can impact an athlete based on their position and where they stand among teammates and opponents.
The Black and White Mindset
Team sports normally have players that play both offense and defense and then there is a position related to goalkeeping. The mental side of defensive players is a unique and often black and white mindset. Defensive players usually work together in a unit to prevent the other team from scoring or earning points and within this unit embodies athletic trust.
Developing a Sturdy Mindset
This athletic trust is derived towards the idea that everyone in the unit or line is doing their job and can trust one another to accomplish it. When a mistake is made, or a defensive player is not able to perform an on the field job correctly, oftentimes they will shut into themselves and have difficulty pulling themselves out. This is where depression for defensive players can begin to arise and as well as high amounts of unreachable expectations are placed as well. The mindset of a defensive player is to be stout, sturdy, communicative, and strong.
Becoming a Strong Backbone for the Team
Sports counselors in Orlando have noted that when a defensive player feels they are unable to be these things, they wipe away their humanity and focus on nothing else but to be these things. When they are not, defensive players place the notion of “I am a failure” onto their mindset which then can distort their reality. They do not see all the other plays they have succeeded in, or don’t move onto the next one, they become stuck. A sports counselor in Orlando is driven to support the defensive players, meet the expectations they have for themselves, and cope with the pressures of being the line of defense and the backbone of the team.
