“Who am I?” Understanding Athletic Identity

An athlete who prioritizes training and recovery even over essential social obligations.

A weekend golfer who is so upset about not playing well that it is affecting his performance at work during the week.

A rugby player decides to play through his injuries for the sake of his team’s performance.

In what ways are the abovementioned athletes similar?

Athletes who exhibit such behaviors are often described as having a strong athletic identity. They tend to devote the most energy to sports compared to the other roles they play in life (Brewer et al., 1993). A strong athletic identity is advantageous since such athletes tend to be more motivated and determined. On the flip side, such athletes may prioritize winning above all else, leading to intense pressure and a fear of failure. Consequently, they are also more likely to train through pain, suffer from burnout and even exhibit unhealthy behaviors such as taking performance-enhancement drugs (Hughes & Coakley, 1991).

While having a strong athletic identity can be advantageous, athletes need to learn how to minimize the risks and tap into the benefits. A good place to start would be to have a better understanding of self-concept and how it relates to self-esteem and performance.

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Effective Coaching Practices from an Athlete’s Perspective

It’s amazing what a coach can learn from our athletes’ feedback!

Joan Hung was recently invited to share what effective coaching practices look like from an athlete’s perspective, at the recent Youth Coaching Conference (YCC) 2022.

I have been coaching Joan since 2015 and am proud to share her candid and light-hearted stories about her Goalball journey, and my coaching practices. There are many lessons here on resilience that can be generalized to any sport and anyone.

Joan and I are also grateful to the National Youth Sport Institute (NYSI) for providing us with an opportunity to share about disability sports, and to Brenda for helping Joan put the presentation deck of slides together.

“I did not choose to be blind but I can choose how to live with it…”
Joan Hung, National Goalball Player and recipient of Goh Chok Tong Enable Awards 2021

Check out the presentation below!

Unhelpful Thinking Styles

Cognitive distortions or unhelpful thinking styles refer to the way our minds convince us of something when it is most likely to be false or inaccurate. These false perceptions frequently perpetuate negative thinking habits, and they may cause serious damage to our confidence and ability to succeed.

Everyone experiences cognitive distortions to some degree, especially during times of stress. For example, an athlete under competitive pressure might be constantly distracted by thoughts related to how everyone will look down on him if he loses. A sales executive may conclude that she is a failure for not being able to meet the quarterly sales target.

There are different (but related) cognitive distortions, and these include:

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