The Sports Doc Chalk Talk

When I work with young athletes and their parents one of the most important things I try to impress upon them is the importance of recognizing (and using) athletic transferable skills beyond sports (Sport Success 360).  Unfortunately, most young athletes involved in youth or interscholastic sports tend to either overlook or minimize the significance of athletic transferable skills, something that is actually quite tragic when you take into consideration just how invaluable sport skills are when it comes to life success.  When it comes to positive sports leadership, helping kids use sport as a vehicle for life success is key.

If you are a coach, parent, or a league operator or administrator, be sure to help kids learn the importance of athletic transferable skills.  These skills include setting and achieving goals, being a team player, accepting constructive feedback, being a positive decision maker and role model, bouncing back from adversity, and learning how to minimize anxiety while improving self-confidence.  Of course, this is just a short list of athletic transferable skills, so be sure to help the kids you work with better understand just how many sport skills can be used for life success.

As people, the more confident we become in our abilities the more likely we will become successful at the endeavors we attempt.  One way to dramatically improve self-confidence is to identify the skills you already have — for athletes, identifying athletic transferable skills are the key!  Interestingly, these skills can help in so many ways, including through the inevitable sport retirement transition, as well as countless life experiences including academics and future careers.

Most youth athletes tend to assume all kids have learned the same skills as they have (including non-athletes), or haven’t quite made the connection as to how the confidence they have in their sport can be parlayed to help them gain confidence in non-athletic experiences (like giving a speech in front of a class in school).  In both of these examples it is important for adults, including parents and coaches, to be overt in their suggestions about how athletic transferable skills are unique to athletes and how the skills can be used successfully across life settings.

With less than 7% of all high school athletes going ton to play college sports, and less than 2% of all college athletes going on to play professional sports, it is especially important to cull from the skill set developed in sports that can be used to increase life success.

Being an athlete high in mental toughness for sports is great, but what about life?  Just about every sport psychologist you talk to to will agree that limiting these great skills to sport at the cost of using them in life is quite a tragedy.  Not only do athletic transferable skills help with sport transitions, but can also help with future focus and resiliency, too.  In fact, the skills learned through sports may just end up being the most important skills an athlete learns throughout his or her life.

For more information about the importance of athletic transferable skills, as well as other products designed to help with athletic success, please visit Advanced Human Performance Systems!

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Athletic transferable skills are skills learned through sports that can be applied to all areas of life — including the classroom and future careers (Sport Success 360).  Unfortunately, most young athletes never identify their athletic transferable skills, or they compartmentalize them (meaning they only use them in their sport).  In some cases, kids simply do not connect the value of the skills they use in sports to life, and in other cases they erroneously assume that all kids, regardless of whether they are involved in sports or not, also have mastery over these skills (Positive Transitions for Student Athletes).

There are literally dozens of important life skills kids learn through sports that qualify as “athletic transferable skills.”  Not only do these skills help with all aspects of life, but they also provide young athletes with an increased level of self-confidence — something that can really help, especially when entering sports transitions and eventually retirement.

Of all the athletic transferable skills that can be leanred through sports, I especially like the following five:

1.) Goal setting – athletes routinely set goals, and this same skill can be used in all areas of life.  Goal setting can also help with preventing youth sports burnout, too.

2.) Focus – athletes have to learn self-discipline and “block out” distractions while sharpening their focus on the things that are important and relevant.

3.) Team building – sports teams are not the only teams kids are on, as they are often included in groups in school, and will likely be on work teams later in life.  Learning how to co-exist with teammates — even the ones you don’t like — is a really important life skill.

4.) Motivation – athletes know the importance of motivation, especially during off-season drills and conditioning.  The same is true in life – some school and work projects aren’t “fun,” but they still need to be completed.

5.) Resiliency – perhaps the most important athletic transferable skill in sports is resiliency – or “bouncing back.”  Similar to sports, life throws us curve balls and test our character all the time, and what we do with the stress and adversity we face in life literally defines our success or failure.  If your child is handling not getting much playing time successfully, can she also deal with other life challenges and struggles?

Make a point this summer to talk to your kids about the value of athletic transferable skills, and show them specific examples of how skills can work across settings.  For example, if your child can dig into the batter’s box with confidence, he can use the same mentality when asked to stand in front of the class and deliver a speech.  ironically, the child already has the skill, but just needs to be shown how to transfer it to another domain (in this case from baseball to school).

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For many years I have talked openly about the importance of personal development through boys and girls sports participation — not just for better on-field success, but better life success (The Parents Playbook).  Unfortunately, far too many young athletes tend to forget or overlook all the great life lessons they have been taught through sports when they eventually retire (whether it’s after little league, pop warner, varsity sports, or even pro sports).  Athletic transferable skills are invaluable across settings, and there are countless “teachable moments” parents can use in sports that can be maximized in other settings as well (like in the classroom).  The key is that parents must invest in sports role modeling in order for sports to have the best impact on their children.The reality is that most young athletes won’t have the chance to play professional sports (or even college sports for that matter).  Still, the sports setting is an invaluable and fertile ground for learning, developing, and maximizing human potential!

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Athletic Transferable Skills

Athletic transferable skills are mental toughness skills that you learn in sports that are invaluable beyond sports – including the classroom, your future career, and life (Parents Video Series).   Examples of athletic transferable skills include the ability to set and achieve goals, personal motivation, discipline, being a good ‘team player,’ making confident spontaneous decisions, and bouncing back quickly from adversity (to name a few). Surprisingly, athletic transferable skills often go largely unnoticed by athletes because they take these skills for granted and erroneously believe that other non-athlete students have learned the same skills. This oversight may be explained by how regularly athletes use their athletic transferable skills – and consequently, take them for granted.When student athletes make the connection that athletic transferable skills are:

a) unique to sports,

b) invaluable beyond sports, and

c) can help in every aspect of life, only then will they realize that their sports career and the lessons learned while competing can pay huge dividends toward a lifetime of happiness, health, and peak productivity.

Why athletic transferable skills work

Have you ever wondered why some athletes are calm, cool, and collected on the field – yet when it comes to writing a paper or delivering a speech in front of a class the exact opposite occurs? For most athletes, making the connection between the confidence and composure needed for athletic success is the same confidence and composure needed for academic success often does not occur. Instead, most athletes compartmentalize their athletic skills – and forget about the “transferable” part of these skills. More specifically, the same skills an athlete uses to prepare for an opponent or make important decisions in the clutch are the same skills needed to communicate with teachers or one day successfully complete a job interview.  Athletic transferable skills help with overall human performance improvement, not just with winning games on the field.

How to use athletic transferable skills

• Sit down and begin to draft a list of all the skills you have learned in sports. To help get you started, look back at the short list I started above – but don’t stop there! Take time to write down as many skills as you can and be sure to include the small ones, too (i.e. regularly making it on time to practice).

• Next, review your list and begin to examine how well you are currently using the skills you identified in other areas of your life, including school and other activities. Try to look for ways to integrate your athletic transferable skills in better, more effective ways if you discover you are not using them at all.

• Talk to your coaches about athletic transferable skills and get their thoughts. You will likely discover even more athletic transferable skills you have probably overlooked when you listen to how they have used these skills to move ahead in their adult lives.

• Take time to tell your teammates about athletic transferable skills and how they can capitalize on them, too. Remember, most athletes take these skills for granted, so it is quite likely they will appreciate this new discovery.

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Athletic transferable skills are skills that you learn in sports that are invaluable beyond sports – including the classroom, your future career, and life (Mind of Steel). Examples of athletic transferable role modeling skills include the ability to set and achieve goals, motivation, discipline, being a good ‘team player,’ making spontaneous decisions, and bouncing back from adversity (to name a few). Surprisingly, athletic transferable skills often go unnoticed by athletes because they often take these skills for granted and erroneously believe that other non-athlete students have learned the same skills. This oversight may be explained by how regularly athletes use their athletic transferable skills – and consequently, take them for granted!When student athletes make the connection that athletic transferable skills are a) unique to sports, b) invaluable beyond sports, and c) can help in every aspect of life, only then will they realize that their sports career and the lessons learned while competing can pay huge dividends toward a lifetime of happiness, health, and peak productivity!Why athletic transferable skills workHave you ever wondered why some athletes are calm, cool, and collected on the field – yet when it comes to writing a paper or delivering a speech in front of a class the exact opposite occurs? For most athletes, making the connection between the confidence and composure needed for athletic success is the same confidence and composure needed for academic success often does not occur. Instead, most athletes compartmentalize their athletic skills – and forget about the “transferable” part of these skills.More specifically, the skills an athlete uses to prepare for an opponent or make important decisions in the clutch are the same skills needed to communicate with teachers or one day successfully complete a job interview.How athletes can use athletic transferable skillsSit down and begin to draft a list of all the skills you have learned in sports. To help get you started, look back at the short list I started in the article you just read – but don’t stop there. Take time to write down as many skills as you can and be sure to include the small ones, too (i.e. regularly making it on time to practice).Next, review your list and begin to examine how well you are currently using the skills you identified in other areas of your life, including school and other activities. Try to look for ways to integrate your athletic transferable skills in better, more effective ways if you discover you are not using them at all.Talk to your coaches about athletic transferable skills and get their thoughts. You will likely discover even more athletic transferable skills you have probably overlooked when you listen to how they have used these skills to move ahead in their adult lives.Take time to tell your teammates about athletic transferable skills and how they can capitalize on them, too! Remember, most athletes take these skills for granted, so it is quite likely they will appreciate this new discovery!www.drstankovich.comEnjoy today’s article? For a more detailed, downloadable mp3 audio file on this topic please visit http://www.drstankovich/ to learn more!