A vast majority of athletes you coach will not become professional athletes, but the major components of Achievement Goal Theory (AGT) carryover outside of sport into any achievement-based setting. It can be argued that coaches helping athletes adopt a more productive set of achievement orientations is the single greatest contribution that coaches can make to the athletes’ lives.

Competence, autonomy, and relatedness are three keys to promoting a more intrinsically motivated athlete. These components can be combined in nearly limitless ways, which is especially important for the long basketball season.

The Certified Performance and Sport Scientist (CPSS) is a practitioner with training and applied experiences across the scientific disciplines applicable to sport science and athletic performance (i.e., generalist) or predominantly within a select few (i.e., specialist). These scientific disciplines, as related to sports performance, include, but are not limited to: biomechanics, data science, nutrition, physiology, psychology, research methods, and strength and conditioning. A CPSS demonstrates competency in the application of scientific disciplines, assessment, training theory and process, needs analysis, monitoring, communication, and education with the primary goal of safely and effectively improving athletic performance.

This book excerpt reviews the psychological principal of the self-determination theory (SDT) and its role in motivation and how this can be used in a tactical setting.

It is the job of the personal trainer to help clients reach their goals in a safe and effective manner. However, it can be easy to lose sight of the big picture of a client’s life and have tunnel vision on specific training aspects that may not matter.

This article will explore the benefits of alternative licensure programs for strength and conditioning coaches aspiring to become physical education teachers.

In the intercollegiate athletic setting, the strength and conditioning coach can play a role in the development of student-athlete leadership. For the strength and conditioning coach to be a positive contributor to this effort, he or she must have a clear understanding of their role, the role of the sport coach, and the interaction and relationship between the two.

The purpose of this article is to provide strength and conditioning coaches with practical knowledge from the framework of self-determination theory to facilitate student-athlete motivation within the weight room across varying sports.

Youth practitioners need to be aware of the competing demands on young athletes’ lives in order to help them effectively balance these demands. Wellness provides a reference point that can be used to better understand the competing demands placed on youngsters by identifying the six dimensions of wellness.