ZEPP FM 012 - Sport psychology in eSports with Ismael Pedraza

11/28/18 • 97 min

ZEPP FM | Sport psychology for athletes, coaches & future sport psychologists

Still, one of the very few sport psychologists working in eSports is Ismael Pedraza from Colombia. After playing football himself he realized during his studies of sport sciences how important the mental side of the game is, and he started to specialize in the field of sport psychology. Although he never really played video or computer games himself, he identified a huge demand of mental preparation in eSports, what lead him and some colleagues to found The Mental Craft – a company devoted to help athletes, teams and coaches in eSports improve their performances through sport psychology.

Ismael has been working in eSports for the last three years, which is an amazingly long time, because sport psychology wasn’t really popular in eSports a couple of years ago. While working with Misfits, one of the professional teams in the European League of Legends Championship Series (EULCS), they became the first Western team to take any games off of the then reigning World Champion SK Telecom T1. If – like myself - you’re not familiar what eSports competitions look like, you can get a great insight in the following video. I think, it’s somehow really fascinating.

In this episode, Ismael talks about his experiences in eSports, how he entered eSports as a sport psychologist, and how he thinks athletes, teams and coaches in eSports can benefit from sport psychology. Moreover, he gives some great advice for any sport psychologist who thinks about learning more about eSports and what is really necessary to know about eSports and the different video games in order to be able to successfully work in eSports. One important aspect he mentioned here was, that it can be even beneficial not to know anything or too much about eSports, and how this “not knowing” can set you up for a successful career as a sport psychologist in eSports.

Previous Episode

ZEPP FM 011 - Coaching athletes to high performance

Only very recently I was invited to speak at the 8thEuropean Pole Vault and High Jump Conference in front of coaches and athletes about a topic that is truly important to me: coaching athletes. While preparing this presentation, I always had a statement by John Amaechi in mind, that illustrates why I think it’s so important to reflect about how we work with athletes.

John Amaechi said in his keynote presentation at the AASP 2018 conference in Toronto/ON a few weeks ago, that in sport we’re working in an environment that is not made for the benefit of the athlete. Unfortunately, I have to agree with him in many situations. This environment is not only shaped in influenced by sporting organizations and federations, but also by parents, advisors, and most importantly coaches. I’m not saying that everyone who is working in sports acts only for their own benefit and their own success and against the well-being and the needs of their athletes. However, I think and feel that we all can improve how we work with other people in general and with athletes in particular.

Thus, in this presentation I share some theories that might help coaches understand their own coaching as well as their athletes a little better. Moreover, I also talk about some evidence-based strategies from sport psychology research that coaches can use and apply when working with their athletes, and how coaches can implement these strategies into their coaching. I hope, wish, and believe that we all can improve how we work with other people and change the environment of sports for the better.

Next Episode

ZEPP FM 013 – My personal top 5 books of 2018

Every year I’m reading many books to see what I can learn from them for me personally and for my work with students, athletes, coaches and other clients. A couple of years ago people started asking me which books I read, which books I can recommend, or which books I frequently give away as presents. After telling the same things over and over again, I founded my personal book club, where I review one book a month. The topics range from autobiographies, over leadership and motivation to Zen Buddhism.

Last year was the first year when I decided to choose the top books I read that year – and I wanted to continue this in 2018 as well. Thus, in this episode I’m reviewing the what I consider the five best books I read in 2018 and which I recommend to many of the athletes, coaches, students and clients I’m working with! However, I’m not only reviewing these books today, I’m also giving them away for free to one lucky winner.

The books I recommend in today’s episode are The obstacle is the way by Ryan Holiday (3:27), Quiet by Susan Cain (15:44), Mindset by Carol S. Dweck (25:04), Wherever you go, there you are by Jon Kabat-Zinn (36:48), and The daily Stoic by Ryan Holiday and Stephen Hanselman (44:43). I’ve put the time stamps in brackets so you can easily navigate to the next book if you’re specifically interested in a certain book. I hope that you’ll benefit from these books as much as I did!