FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 2012
Newswise — TALLAHASSEE, Fla. ⎯ With the 2012 Summer Olympics set to begin Friday, July 27, four Florida State University faculty members can discuss aspects of the athletic training that is required to reach the ultimate in sport competition.
•K. Anders Ericsson, Florida State’s FSCW/Conradi Eminent Scholar of Psychology, Department of Psychology: (850) 644-9860, [email protected]
Ericsson is the world’s leading expert on the topic of expertise — the attainment of expert performance by gradually stretching an individual’s performance through deliberate practice in domains such as music, gymnastics, golf and darts.
“The discipline required to train on a consistent level so you’re actually changing your body is very impressive,” Ericsson said. “I think that sometimes athletes don’t get credit for this very extended process (of athletic training) that I believe is the major factor for explaining where they’re at — the Olympics. By basically claiming that they’re just genetically better than other people, it’s almost like robbing them of the credit they are due for this extended process (of athletic training).”
•Neil Harper, swimming and diving head coach: (850) 644-7726; [email protected]
Harper has been a swimming and diving coach at the collegiate level for 25 years and has coached 12 students who have competed in the Olympics, including Mateo DeAngulo who will compete in London for Colombia. (He is a senior studying at Florida State.) Harper himself competed in two Olympics as a swimmer for Great Britain in the 1984 and 1988 Olympics in Los Angeles and Seoul, respectively. He also has accompanied athletes to two recent Olympics (2000 Sydney Games and 2004 Athens Games), where he was housed in the Olympic Village and credentialed as an official coach. "These Olympic athletes have been focused on this dream for a lot of their lifetimes,” Harper said. “They have made many sacrifices compared to other students, and it is great to help them fulfill their dreams and watch them compete at this level and represent Florida State, their countries and themselves at the highest possible level of competition.”
•Jon E. Jost, director of strength and conditioning, Department of Intercollegiate Athletics: (850) 644-2549, [email protected]
Jost oversees the staff of strength and conditioning strength coaches who work with Florida State’s student-athletes.
“Everything an athlete does during the four years leading up to the Olympics either increases or decreases their chance to earn a medal,” Jost said. “The amount of sleep they get, what they eat, the number of calories they eat, the hours they train, and the type of training they do all factor into an athlete’s success — it’s definitely a full-time job for the majority of these athletes. They all put in an enormous amount of hours preparing for one competition. We try to help improve their performance and reduce their risk of injury by increasing their lean body mass, developing power, improving their proficiency in movement and strengthening weaknesses.”
•Mark Kasper, director of Florida State’s Institute of Sports Sciences and Medicine: (850) 644-1281, [email protected]
Kasper has a broad research interest in the areas of physical activity/exercise and health/athletic performance, as well as tests and measurements of athletic performance and the validity and reliability of testing methods. The Institute of Sports Sciences and Medicine is a collaboration of the university’s Department of Intercollegiate Athletics, the College of Human Sciences, the College of Medicine and the Tallahassee Orthopedic Clinic to conduct research in sports sciences and medicine, with an emphasis on injury prevention and athletic/human performance.
“All athletes at that elite level are being tested and measured to determine if their programs are working because just a 1- or 2-percent improvement in their performances can really make the difference between a gold medal and not even making it to the finals or past the first round,” Kasper said.
###
RSS