Speaking with Mirco Maestri about the arrival of Dario Igor Belletta in Team Polti VisitMalta we have come to touch on the topic of I have to team up. All WorldTour teams, and not only, now have a development teamThe market demands it, as does the drive to find the future of cycling among juniors. With the need to bring the kids into systems capable of developing them according to a precise plan. The risk, however, according to the opinion of Masters (and of the writer), is to have a standardization of growth that passes mainly through numbers and consensus on social media.
“The data, the nutritionist, the trainer are all well and good,” Maestri said, “but you mustn’t let yourself get swallowed up by this world. Even putting your phone down and not always focusing on the bike and analyzing the numbers is importantThe risk is entering into a direct and constant confrontation, where one questions what one is doing. I believe that it is increasingly important for young people to have psychological support, we comrades can lend a hand, but it's not always enough."
Adolescence
Insieme a Manuella Crini, a psychologist to whom we relied to read many other situations and aspects, we have analyzed this situation and its developments.
"Adolescence," says Manuella Crini, "is characterized by a sense of constant uncertainty, due to the fact that our brain develops new connections every day. This is an aspect that It leads kids to not really know who they are. And when you don't know who you are, you look to others for an answer.If I feel part of the group I'm fine, otherwise a sense of inadequacy kicks in."
Is the risk amplified by social media?
Social media shows a slice of our life, the one we want to show to others and which is often the "winning" one. What we have in front of us is the success or the goal achieved, but you don't see what came before, you see one day in 364If you think about it, athletes' social media profiles, especially young ones, never reveal their private lives. Only their sport.
As if there was nothing else?
Yes, but there's more. They are teenagers, they have a girlfriend, they go out with friends, some of them even go dancing on Saturday nightThe image they show is far from reality and this creates a gap in the perception that can be had among peers.
Does teaching how to use social media also mean this?
It means learning to make healthy use of it. Digital education is coming, slowlyChoose who to follow and how, and stop if it makes you feel bad. Also, because the risk is entering a cycle of sadness, anger, and bad mood.
As teenagers, are we already able to make such a distinction?
You're old enough to decide what not to do, social media replaces dopamine. A random “like” from another person changes our moodThese are adrenaline rushes that affect us and can have a significant impact on young people. Especially when it comes to athletes, who thrive on excitement and gratification.
What step should it be?
Telling you to put your phone away is banal and impossible. But you can analyze what's in front of you, which is what I do with my high school students.I often tell them that no one shows everything on social media; just as we leave out things we don't like or don't want to share, others do the same.
It can be used better…
The envy towards others that social media sometimes leaves us with can also be positive. It shouldn't become a comparison, but a desire to succeed and improve.If I see a boy going to an important race, I'll try to get there too. But a lot depends on attachment styles..
Meaning what?
We must ask ourselves who we are at that moment. And it is an aspect linked to our childhood, in the period between six months and three years.Whether I feel loved for how I show myself, or whether I'm taught to hide and sweep everything under the rug. The figures that influence this aspect are the parental ones., who grows there.
In sport, safety also comes from other figures.
Of course, when you join a team the coach, the manager or whoever becomes a point of reference. Even the same ones teammatesThink of a boy who is well-liked and always put at the center, while another is never considered.
Let's go back to social media: should we take time away from using them but also distract our minds?
We must try to replace it. Social media is addictive, so the time you spend on it needs to be redirected elsewhere.. Hanging out with friends, going for a bike ride just for fun, hanging out with teammates or other people. It's not true that teenagers can't do without their phones and social media, but they need to be encouraged.It's normal at that age.
Is there an aspect of wanting everything right away?
It exists because many things have changed on a sociological level. Social media speeds up everything and we have entered the era where kids watch things that are quick and don't require time.. Long-term focus is lacking. Furthermore, social media also plays an important role in terms of self-determination.
In what sense?
The more I believe in something, the greater my chances of succeeding because my brain will look at the positive aspects. On the contrary, the less convinced I am, the more mechanisms arise. in the unconscious, which will lead me to not make it, and this just to tell me: «I knew it».
Why?
Because the mind needs certainties and security. There is no way out of this negative loop alone., you have to find the strength to listen to yourself but also to have someone to talk to. Awareness and desire, however, must start from the kids.
