Karen Goeller CSCS

Social Media and Athletes



Posted: Monday, September 14, 2009

by
Gymnastics Stuff

Lots of Pressure on the Athletes Over Social Media...

There seems to be a great deal of pressure on athletes to use social media such as twitter and facebook during games. The people that are putting this pressure on the athletes are not aware of the huge safety risk this may pose. Most people have never reached the level of competition that a professional or college athlete has reached. Therefore, they cannot possibly understand the level of focus necessary just before and during each game.

Yes, athletes and teams should be using social media, but the players and coaches SHOULD NOT be using anything of the sort immediately before or during games for SAFETY reasons. Maybe they can have an administrative person from the team keeping fans happy with real time updates. After the games and on days the athletes do not play the athletes and coaches should use social media to keep fans interested, informed, and up to date. I cannot stress enough that just before and during the games the athletes and coaches MUST FOCUS on the game. IT'S A BIG SAFETY ISSUE.

I've been coaching since 1978 and have seen athletes get distracted and then injured. After seeing distractions and minor bumps and bruises, I had parents agree they will not call for their child's attention during practice or competition for SAFETY reasons. And each athlete agreed that they would not interact with any spectators during practice or competitions. The reason is because it takes away from their concentration. Anything that causes an athlete to lose focus can cause an accident.

So with all of your discussions on this topic please keep ATHLETE SAFETY in mind...

By Karen Goeller, CSCS

www.KarenGoeller.com

Karen Goeller, CSCS, has educated thousands of coaches, teachers, athletes, and fitness enthusiasts with her books, articles, and in person. She has been training athletes since 1978 and adults since 1986. Her education includes training in emergency medicine, physical therapy, and nutrition. She has had NSCA- CSCS, Fitness Trainer, EMT-D, Nutrition, and many gymnastics certifications. Karen Goeller is the author of the Swing Set Fitness books , the Gymnastics Drills and Conditioning books , numerous training programs , and many articles. Karen Goeller has written more gymnastics books than anyone in the USA. She worked for world famous gymnastics coach Bela Karolyi, owned a gymnastics club for ten years, and was featured in newspapers, magazines, and on television. Karen Goeller offers training in NJ and through the web. Read her full bio at www.KarenGoeller.com. For info on her books visit www.GymnasticsBooks.com.

This Article has been viewed 738 times. (Not updated in real-time.)
No comments yet.
We want your comments! If you can read this, you don't have javascript enabled, so you can't use this comment system. Please enable javascript.