Sharpening the Mental Edge: The Use of Sport Psychology Techniques in Strength and Conditioning
Since strength and conditioning coaches have frequent contact and established rapport with athletes, they are the ideal coaches to help establish a combination of physical and psychological development. In this session, the current frequencies of coaching mental skills in strength and conditioning settings will be analyzed and discussed. Additionally, coaches will explore the obstacles and barriers toward applying sport psychology techniques in the weight room and identify beneficial sport psychology strategies to use with their athletes. Adam Feit is the Coordinator of Physical and Mental Performance at Springfield College (MA) where he oversees the design and implementation of the college’s football strength and conditioning program. Prior to coming back to Springfield College, Adam was the Co-founder and Director of Sports Performance for Reach Your Potential Training (RYPT), helping mentor and train over 5,000 athletes over the course of five years. Before founding RYPT, Adam served as a college and professional Strength and Conditioning Coach and Nutrition Coordinator for the NFL's Carolina Panthers, Eastern Michigan University, University of Louisville, and The Citadel. Adam is a certified Strength and Conditioning Coach and Mentor from the Collegiate Strength and Conditioning Coaches Association. He is the co-author of the Coaches Guide to Jump Training and Complete Guide to Training the Female Athlete. Adam is also a Doctoral Candidate in Sport and Exercise Psychology at Springfield College with a research interest in the application of mental skills in strength and conditioning.
