How To Build Good Habits In Your Sport

In almost every sport you are introduced to for the first time as a novice you will always begin with the basic technical aspect of that sport. The main purpose of this is to give you the tools to use in order to have the capability to perform the actions required in the overall game. It is your initial stage of learning the technical skills that will ultimately determine weather you continue to carry good practical habits in your sport. Thus numerous sports activities have a set of fundamental criteria which vary from specific movements to skills, technical proficiencies, fitness or more psychological aspects like awareness. Boxing is a sport where according to Diminti (2001) speed is most significant fitness element. Thus the ability to produce a movement within the most limited period of time is the key fundamental skill in boxing. On the other hand in Floorball it is essential for players to have strength.To build good habits in your sport for the whole team you must first focus on yourself as an individual as the two are interlinked. For this reason this post will focus on the individual fundamentals

Failure to acquire the fundamentals in any sport almost makes it impossible for you to play the sport to the highest standard and to your ability. Of course it is important to note that you are not going to gain these fundamentals immediately. Nevertheless, the quicker you get them right the more likely that you will be able to prioritise other aspects of your game. Take a look at the best athletes in their field. Cesc Fabregas is known as a great passer in football. Why? Because he gets the fundamentals correct through good practicing habits. This has allowed him to focus on other things like his vision to find an area for a great pass to be received by a forward; which is also exceptional. 

Additionally, gaining fundamental qualities must be measured within the capacity of your own ability, experience and training. So do not be concerned if you are unable to cross the football with the pace and accuracy of other members in your team. It is about yourself using good habits to perform this technique. It can be unrealistic to compare yourself to another individual. The most important thing is to grasp this skill correctly. The disadvantage of not grasping it is the possibility of never being able to reverse the incorrect habits; which can ultimately restrict you from performing at your best at any level. 

On a lighter note to be able to build a set of good habits in your sport also you need to get the fundamentals of the sport correct. You must acquire these fundamentals through consistent, appropriate practice and interventions. Having good habits will especially benefit you in highly technical sports such as Tennis because it could make the difference between you ever being able to hit a tennis ball using a form arm shot with the best accuracy. And due to the your inability to fully grasp the correct method it could mean that your efficiency as a player is compromised. Consequently, you are now probably going to be forced to increase your work rate and fitness due to lack of efficiency. It could also mean you will spend less time elevating your other elements of play. The point is that practical good habits will assist you in enhancing a number of other qualities.

In Basketball the technicalities of footwork, passing/receiving, shooting and dribbling are vital for the individual player. Take footwork for example, your footwork in terms of moving towards an advanced direction (Basketball hoop) you need to practice stance and pivoting. Pivoting helps you stop with the ball and handle it with control. If your stance is not learned with the correct intervention or correction from the person who is coaching/teaching you you will fall into bad practicing habits. The result of it may be constant errors like dropping the ball when it is passed with speed due to lack of balance in your stance. Or dropping the ball because you caught it at an awkward stance. You may recover 9/10 by catching it straight after it has bounced and before your opponent manages to take advantage. Yes this shows your reaction is good but like the Tennis example discussed earlier you will now need to focus and rely heavily on your reaction which is not guaranteed to get you out of trouble all the time. So why not get it right in the first place? 

Both of the latter are instances can happen to anyone but when it continuously occurs after months and years of practice and you are still unable to receive a quick pass it indicates you have fallen into bad habits due to failure or laziness to apply the correction needed for the fault. A good habit to take on for footwork like the which relates to practice involves running, stopping, receiving, turning and passing respectively. When working on footwork in basketball it is important to connect these movement in a sequence because it is realistic to how you would apply this movement in a game and therefore the training should imitate it.

In conclusion to be build a set of good habits in your sport acquire all the individual fundamentals necessary first. Ask yourself: what are the fundamentals in my sport? How well have I acquired them? Do I have good practicing habits?

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