Fergie Time

  How To Combat Imposter Syndrome By Daniel Ferguson Timmy had always been a good footballer. His Dad got him kicking a ball from a few years old and ever since he's loved having a ball at his feet. Throughout school he was always one of the best in his year and a star player for his Saturday team. As Timmy got older, this became more noticed. He now plays for the year above team at school and has been scouted by his local academy, Hull City. Timmy is now 14 years old and still playing great football, but doesn't feel worthy of his success; feels like he shouldn't be in the position he is. This is what we call Imposter Syndrome.  Young Footballers What is Imposter Syndrome? It's when someone doubts themselves, doubts where they have got to and if they deserve to be where they are.  It's self-doubt of  intellect, skills and accomplishments amongst high achievers. In Timmy's example, his hard-work and natural footballing ability has resulted in great success: play...

 How To Not Over-Do It By Daniel Ferguson You can't put too many eggs into too many baskets. As an athlete over-training and overdoing can be a common problem. In the modern world, with social media, it's very easy to stumble across videos expressing sleep is for the weak, you must constantly be working and you can never rest. But, the value of rest is highly important. In terms of over-training, you may train twice a day everyday, have no days off or you may have no recovery between training sessions. It's important to think about life outside of the hard work and dedication. You may over-do: as a younger person, or even an adult, you could be involved in too many sports, or too many hobbies and activities outside of sport you rarely get a chance to rest. A lady once said to me in the gym, "don't play too many sports when you are younger, you will regret it when you are older." Listen, being active is vital to your life, however, in this blog we will focus on...

 How can you cope with the demands of a fight? By Daniel Ferguson Moments before a fight are crucial, up to that point, you have put in the months of training, but now things are getting serious. How can you be your best on fight day? The Ring Walk Ring walks can play a vital role in sports such as Boxing and MMA. We all love to see a ring walk before the big events: what was once a simple walk to the ring has become more of a show before the fight.  Boxer Terence Crawford once had famous rapper Eminem alongside him and Tyson Fury has come out being carried on his throne before. In MMA, Anderson Silva has danced to Michael Jackson on his way to the ring and Genki Sudo has had airport runway technicians by his side during a ring walk. This part of the lead up to the fight can impact how you perform, think about how you want to step out towards that ring, what could you do to show your opponent you're ready for war? Tyson Fury's throne ring walk Moments before the fight... Envi...

 Anchoring Aggression How to control aggression in sports - by Daniel Ferguson In sports,  stakes can be high  and this can lead to aggressive outbursts and behaviours.  Aggression in sports  involves any physical or verbal act which can cause harm to the opponents or gains an advantage over them. Many athletes know what its like to feel a build up of frustration during a competition. Are the referee's decisions going against their team? Have the opponents been playing dirty? Or is it just not their day that day? There are multiple sources of aggression, and when in competition, emotions are intense and anger can get the better of them. Happy Gilmour Healthy vs unhealthy aggression There are two types of aggression. Imagine a footballer purposely over-doing a tackle and fouling their opponent. This would be known as  hostile aggression : aggressive behaviour that's driven by anger and frustration, causing harm to the opponent. Now picture a tennis player us...

How to Conquer Self-Doubt  By Daniel Ferguson What is self-doubt?  Self-doubt is about having a lack of confidence in your own abilities. It's thoughts that manifest and develop within your mind telling you you aren't good enough and that you aren't capable of doing something, in sports terms, this could be not feeling good enough to take a corner in football. This creates a lower sense of self-efficacy , which is a person's belief in themselves when it comes to performing a particular skill or action. A person with a high self-efficacy has stronger beliefs in their capabilities of doing it, however, a person with a lower self-efficacy will have weaker beliefs; more self-doubt.  Moment taken from the 2005 ashes tour Let's say you're a cricketer. It's mid season, you started off the season fabulously, hitting 4s and 6s at a strong rate. But, your figures are dropping and those 4s and 6s aren't as consistent as they were previously. You've had a few p...