Four Secrets from Sports Psychology (Intermediate)

ESL/EFL Level: Intermediate (B1/B2)
Lesson Topics: achieving success, sports psychology, overcoming anxiety
Skill Focus: Speaking, Reading, Vocabulary
Approximate Class Time: 1.5 hours
Lesson Plan Download: sports-psychology-secrets-intermediate-102023.docx
Lesson Overview:

  • After warm-up questions, students try to predict the content of the passage they will read next about the secrets to success of athletes.
  • Students then read a 286-word passage that summarizes the main points from this BBC Ideas video entitled Four secrets from sports psychology you can use in everyday life.
  • After a listen-and-recall activity, students answer comprehension questions, do a vocabulary-matching activity, and then create questions using the new vocabulary.
  • The first speaking activity is a roleplay in which students try to use the strategies from the video to help each other deal with nervousness. The second roleplay is an interview between a journalist and a well-known successful person. The journalist should ask questions related to the habits the successful person employed to get to where they are today.
  • After a final vocabulary review, the lesson closes with some provoking famous quotations, final discussion questions, and a review of collocations.

An athlete doing a squat with a barbell on her shoulders

INTERMEDIATE (B1/B2) Lesson on Secrets from Sports Psychology

Warm-up Questions

  1. Did you play sports growing up? What have you learned from playing them?
  2. Do you often feel nervous? How do you manage your nerves?
  3. In what areas of life would you like to improve?

Previewing: You are about to read an article that is based on a video entitled “Four secrets from sports psychology you can use in everyday life.” What do you think the secrets might be? Make some guesses with a partner.

Membership is required to view this post. Please support EnglishCurrent by becoming a member today. Members, please log in.

-- Lesson plan on Secrets from Sports Psychology written by Matthew Barton of EnglishCurrent.com (copyright). ChatGPT was used to generate answer keys and find the famous quotations. Site members may photocopy and edit the file for their classes. Permission is not given to rebrand the lesson, redistribute it on another platform, or sell it as part of commercial course curriculum. For questions, contact the author. 

Answers to Comprehension Questions:

  1. b
  2. …
  3. When we are nervous, Perry suggests that we should tell ourselves “I am excited!” instead of trying to calm down. This is because being nervous and being excited have similar physical feelings, but excitement is a positive emotion that can help us perform well and enjoy challenges.
  4. The story of Eliud Kipchoge is meant to show the importance of letting others help you in achieving your goals or overcoming challenges.
  5. Imagining your success before doing something might be useful because it helps you mentally prepare for the situation. By visualizing the sights, sounds, and feelings you will experience, it can make you feel ready and more confident about the actual event.
  6. 'Self-talk' refers to the practice of talking to yourself, either out loud or in your mind.
  7. …

Vocabulary Answers: 1-h, 2-e 3-b, 4-a, 5-d, 6-f, 7-c, 8-I, 9-g

Vocabulary Review Answers: see page 1

Collocation Answers: 1-c, 2-a, 3-e, 4-d, 5-b

[1] Passage based on video from https://www.bbc.co.uk/ideas/videos/four-tips-from-elite-sport-you-can-use-in-everyday/p08lzh5j

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *