Extreme Sports and Sports Psychology

 

Why I want to do it:

Without a doubt, my passion is doing extreme sports. I love the adrenaline rush, the burst of energy, and the unknown factor. I have been doing extreme sports, such as dirt biking since I was three years old, as well as paragliding, cliff jumping, mountain biking, snowboarding, and watersports. Whether it’s a sunny summer day or a winter snowstorm, I always am eager to get outside and achieve the rush of excitement. For our final presentations in the Existentialism elective with Frank, we were told to explain what our passion was and why we liked it. I created a two-minute video talking about my general experiences participating in extreme sports. This project sparked my interest for digging deeper into WHY people risk their bodies for a short burst of adrenaline, while others won’t even dare to look over the edge of a tall structure. Are you the type of person that gets exciting while accelerating in a car or are you the person in the backseat screaming at the driver to slow down?

 

Essential Questions:

• How do athletes sustain successful careers from a mental standpoint?

 

• What motivates some people to seek out the adrenaline rush in extreme sports while others fear it?

 

How I will spend my time over the 6 weeks:

• I’m lucky enough to have found a connection to Marco Andretti, an IndyCar racer who has lead the most IndyCar laps in history, other than the all-time racing legend, Mario Andretti, Marco’s grandfather. I will be getting on a call with Marco one time per week to interview him on different aspects of his experiences racing and his mindset when racing. I think he’s the perfect person to get first-hand information from. In addition, I want to find out how the racing industry has had to adapt to the COVID-19 pandemic. For each meeting, I will have thought out interview questions prepared and will take notes during the interview so that I can then write a thoughtful reflection on a blog.

 

• No Nonsense: Practical Sports Psychology

  This online course includes ten lectures and a certificate of completion at the end. It is an into to sports psychology that covers topics such as goal setting, visualization, anchoring, and confidence boosting.

 

• After interviewing Marco and learning a new concept in the online course, I want to put the information into action. I will be riding my dirt bike at least once a week and will make blog entries reflecting on methods I found helpful as a way to document my findings. This is a safe activity that I am very experienced in. I also just want to let you know that I have consent from my parents to use dirt biking as part of this project.

  In addition, since the online course mainly focuses on more commonly played sports, I will also apply what I have learned to practicing basketball skills and compare how techniques are used differently depending on the type of activity.