Sports psychology, a true fundamental across all sports.
Whether or not the athlete is aware of it, their mental state is crucial to success.
Sports psychology is the study of how an athlete’s mental state affects their performance. In the field, there are plenty of different points of view, with many people suggesting a multitude of different strategic options that have varying levels of success. Different sports and teams also require different plans of attack. Some sports players are a part of a team, but competition is actually individual, such as tennis, golf, wrestling, gymnastics and track. Others are team sports where athletes must work together with their teammates to succeed, including football, basketball and volleyball. Both types of teams have their own challenges and characteristics, but they all have one thing in common: being calm and having confidence is an undisputed fundamental, but the path to this outcome often varies.
A productive mental state can propel an athlete’s performance, but the inverse can also easily occur. This is where the coach’s true influence lies. Across many sports, there is a team, yes, but the actual competition happens individually. Track and field is one of those sports. Coach James Jarovski (Jaws) is the respected head coach of both the boys and girls track teams at LHS.
“It starts with getting to know your athletes and knowing what they can handle, then it’s individual conversation with them and putting them into situations that they can feel comfortable [in],” said Jaws.
This approach is clearly effective with the results that both track teams have had. The boys’ team has won the state championship back-to-back years, and the girls’ team has won two of the last three championships. The combined team also just won the 2025 State title.
“Handling different athletes [in] different ways is all about getting to know them, and I think that’s why we’ve been successful at Lincoln High School,” said Jaws.
However, different sports with more team competition, like basketball, may have a different outlook.
“I think we need to make sure that when we are coaching, we find ways to put guys in situations that are difficult… When the game comes, you’re gonna feel like you’re ready for it,” said LHS boys basketball Head Coach Luke Hannemann.
One of these activities that the team does is a mile run every Friday morning.
“It is a little bit of conditioning, but in addition, it’s something that is challenging every single week,” said Hannemann.
Some of Hannemann’s role models for his coaching style are David Goggins. Goggins is a retired Navy SEAL who has completed over 70 ultra-distance races, and he previously held the world record for most pullups in a seventeen-hour period with 4,030. Goggins inspired Hannemann so much that he also completed a 100-mile race in the Black Hills.
“[It] made me realize that your body can do more than you really think you can,” said Hannemann.
