Determined athletes will spend countless hours improving their physical skills, whether it is shooting hoops, scoring goals, or running faster. Success in sports often requires more than just physical conditioning; it also depends on mental toughness and the ability to overcome psychological barriers. West Albany High School basketball coach Drew Halvorson teaches a sports psychology class, designed to help students unlock their full potential through mental training.
“People most of the time thought about [sports performance] as physical, which it is, but there is a lot of mental training and tools that can improve performance in sports,” Halvorson said. “That’s what drew me to sports psychology.”
Sophomore Harry Moyes is learning a new position this year in football, running back. While he is getting more playtime and coaching throughout the process, sports psychology has reminded him that feedback doesn’t have to be negative. “It’s not criticism, it’s just the way to learn,” Moyes said.
That approach to learning from mistakes carries over into other sports as well. Sophomore soccer player Shay Williams sees every piece of advice as an opportunity to improve.
“I see [feedback] as fixing what I did wrong [and doing] it right the next time,” Williams said.
Halvorson hopes to grow the program and rebrand it as ‘Performance Psychology’ to show that its lessons go beyond athletics. Students learn strategies such as managing stress, setting goals, and staying focused that can help them succeed in multiple areas of life.
“In the future, we’re going to change it to ‘Performance Psychology’, because it’s not only sport-based,” said Halvorson. “These tenants can help you in any performance.”
Students are beginning to see how those lessons apply in their own lives. “Sports psychology provides you with so many [more] things than just sports, any sort of public performance, it’s a lot of mentality and focus,” Moyes said.
Williams takes that lesson a step further, seeing failure as part of the path to success. “A lot of people fear failing,” said Williams. “Failing means that you’re going to succeed. You can’t succeed without failing.”