Watching a higher level of sports can give young athletes an edge to positively influence their own play of the game. Professional sports and athletes can teach physical, mental and strategic techniques that young athletes are able to implement into their own sport. Being a spectator of your favorite sport is not just entertainment, but also can be a valuable tool for improving as an athlete.
Along with watching some college and professional-level sports, spectators may see some excessive acceleration or taunting. Although these athletes are sometimes fined for their actions, it still occurs in professional sports.
“When you’re watching the college program, you’re going to see things that we wouldn’t really think are classy or in the realm of being a good sport, but they’re doing it for the entertainment value,” Michael Weiss, social studies teacher and football coach, said.
Taunting, excessive celebration or some physical gestures are a part of college and professional sports. However, it is not tolerated at the high school level. High school coaches and high school leagues aim to promote sportsmanship; taunting and excessive celebration have no place in high school or youth sports.
Also, young people often try to copy the moves they see professional athletes make, such as shots or certain plays. Professional athletes are widely believed to act as role models who encourage kids to play sports. Imitating skilled moves can be positive, but imitating inappropriate physical gestures is not.
When asked if it is possible to pick up poor habits from watching sports Weiss said, “All athletes that watch sports when they’re kids, they try to emulate and they try and do the things that they see on TV.” They potentially pick up poor habits, Weiss added.
Some college and professional athletes are so highly publicized that, often, young athletes want to be just like them. Children or youth athletes can sometimes feel a personal connection to specific athletes. For example, if a professional athlete has a well-known celebration after a goal or touchdown, a young athlete may imitate it, not knowing that it’s unacceptable for his age group.
While professional athletes can inspire, not all of their actions should be imitated. Copying everything they do can harm a young athlete’s own performance. Your performance is yours alone; athletes should still stay true to themselves and maintain their unique abilities.
“Making sure you’re being really focused when you’re watching them and then taking little parts of their thing, you don’t have to take everything because then it stops being authentic to you,” senior soccer player Mary McDonough said.
Some watching and imitating can be beneficial; however, trying to do everything a professional athlete is doing is not physically appropriate for a youth athlete. For example, a 10-year-old would not be able to lift as heavy weights and run as fast of a sprint as adult professional athletes who have been training their whole life.
Watching skilled athletes recover from mistakes improves a viewer’s own resilience and decision-making while under pressure. Young athletes can avoid similar mistakes by watching, noticing and learning lessons from others’ mistakes.
“You can see how they bounce back from mistakes, and then if you don’t make the mistakes, then you won’t have to bounce back at all,” McDonough said.
Teens can learn from both physical mistakes and errors of judgment by watching professional athletes. In addition, they can learn problem-solving skills and develop mental toughness.
Lastly, observing high-level athletes can help young athletes maintain composure under pressure. This improves mental toughness and helps increase performance.
By watching sports, senior lacrosse player Reese Schuna explained how to stay composed in difficult games and to focus on my own performance instead of worrying about others, especially when playing a strong team.
It is easy to watch and emulate professional athletes’ celebrations on the field. Young athletes should take other aspects of the game and use them when it’s their turn on the field and throughout life. In the end, someone younger is always watching, and the next role model is in the making.
