Alberto Cei
University of San Raffaele; Ceiconsulting, Italy
Alberto Cei, psychologist and psychotherapist, teaches Sport Psychology and Psychology Applied to Football at the University of San Raffaele, Motor Science Dept, Roma, Italy and Psychology at the School of Sport of the Italian Olympic Committee. He attended at the last six Olympic Games working with athlete winners of 12 Olympic medals. Currently, he is a consultant in the following sports: shooting, tennis, table tennis, windsurf and football for young with intellectual disabilities with AS Roma. He wrote 15 books in sport psychology and performance development. Alberto is the editorial manager of International Journal of Sport Psychology, and former FEPSAC treasurer.
Contact:
info@ceiconsulting.it Website: www.ceiconsulting.it
Development of psychological skills in high potential athletes: breathing as a key tool to build mental skills programs
Alberto Cei
University San Raffaele; Ceiconsulting, Italy
COVID-19 represented a great challenge for the athletes to adapt to the new rules of life and the irreversible changes of the sport season.The lockdown has turned their lives upside down and for some sports the competitions are still suspended. For these reasons the mental preparation programs have been modified, together with the physical and technical one.
In this context, breathing training can be an effective aid to overcome this long period of uncertainty and prepare athletes for competitions. Until recently, breathing has been considered as a spontaneous behavior that the individual performs mechanically to ensure survival.
Today the sport recognizes breathing a different importance, to promote relaxation, to recover from stress during the race, to increase concentration and activation of the athletes in the most different situations of their activity. From training to competition, from physical to technical and psychological preparation, deep breathing and controlled breathing are useful to improve the effectiveness of the athletes’ commitment. Therefore, depending on the demands of the different sports, it is possible to coach the athletes to breath correctly and effectively.This presentation aims to talk to experts in the different areas of sports science and athletes in introducing this kind of training within the usual daily activities and during competitions.
