What are some challenges for athletes now that did not exist 20 years ago? Originally answered on Sept. 13, 2016.
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Answer by Jonathan Fader, author of "Life as Sport" and sport psychologist for the New York Mets:
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One of the biggest challenges athletes face is the invention of the internet and the amount of information that is available to athletes about themselves. Often I am in a clubhouse or locker room and, while speaking to an athlete about their performance, they are tweeting or receiving messages about their performance in the game that occurred just a few minutes earlier.
Clearly radio and TV have been around for decades and have created messaging for athletes about their play, but now there is an excess of information that sends messages to athletes about who they are, and how the public is perceiving them. It is one thing to get booed in a game if an athlete plays poorly, but it is another thing to be booed electronically everywhere they go on social media. This requires a new level of being able to metabolize criticism, and it places added stress on athletes.
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A second obstacle for athletes is the improvement in the competition. Every year, the talent of professional athletics gets better. In the past, there was a small group of players who were scouted and competed, but because of advancements in technology and accessibility, every good player is identified, and everyone has an idea of who these athletes are, even in international recruiting. The players are getting much better.
Sport and performance psychology is really important because as you get to the highest level of any sport, so much of what happens is based on confidence and mental ability. Talent equalizes at the top, and the players who are able to mentally adjust and handle adversity are the ones who are the most successful.