Holistic Athlete Weekly Newsletter

Chiefs Unprecedented Dominance Continues

While many people around the country were rooting for the Bills to finally overcome the Chiefs in the playoffs, Kansas City continued its unheralded dominance of the sport with a 32-29 victory. In two weeks, they will have the opportunity to win their 3rd consecutive Super Bowl, a feat that’s never been accomplished before in the sport. This would also be their 4th Super Bowl in 6 years.

In addition to simply not losing games, the stat that stands out the most is the Chiefs have now won 17 consecutive 1-score games — which is legitimately unfathomable. There are a variety of factors that go into winning close football games in the NFL:

Physical - Teams need to outlast their opponents with their conditioning and physicality. Players need to stay healthy throughout the game to perform in the 4th quarter.

Tactical - The strategy and nuance of operating late-game situations separates good teams/coaches/players from great ones. Clock management, decision making, aggressiveness, and situational execution is needed to win.

Technical - Executing position-specific technique and mechanics in late game situations is critical. Under stressful situations, teams who fall back on the little things and automatic processes can perform well. Penalties, missed assignments, or lapses in technique lead to disasters at the end of close games.

Mental - Performing under pressure, moving forward from all the ups and downs that happen within a game, emotional regulation, confidence and will to succeed. Teams that perform better mentally likely prevail in close games.

Taking all of those factors into consideration, winning 17 CONSECUTIVE one-score games is so incredibly unlikely. For the Chiefs to continue to pull out games that are low scoring, high scoring, games they play well, games they play poorly — it’s a level of dominance we haven’t seen.

With all due respect to the NFC Champion Eagles, I think we’ll have to see a team knock off the Chiefs with our own eyes to truly believe it.

@zacketterha

Chiefs continue their NFL, playoff, and 1-score game dominance. #chiefs #bills #mahomes #nfl #playoffs #Super Bowl

Disclosing Personal Beliefs

With Inauguration Day last week, many of my athletes are engaging in conversations about their political perspectives and navigating the emotions tied to current socio-political events. For therapists, this brings up important considerations about disclosing personal beliefs.

For athletes belonging to minority groups or those who are worried that policies introduced by the new administration may negatively impact them, wanting to feel that their teachers, coaches, or counselors opinions are aligned with theirs is not uncommon. The considerations surrounding self-disclosure and the management of political discussions within the coaching/counseling setting demand sensitivity, empathy, and commitment to maintaining a healthy, productive relationship with helpful boundaries.

I recently posted a poll on LinkedIn asking therapists if their approach considers disclosing their beliefs to help build a more trusting relationship, if they’d consider self-disclosing on a limited basis, or if they’d never self-disclose their own beliefs:

Holistic Athlete Services

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