As the new year begins, our days are getting colder and winter time is kicking into full swing. You know what that means… It’s Winter Sports Season! As our talented student athletes take the court, ice, mats and water, you may be wondering how they all perform so well?

A lot of what goes into Game Day preparation isn’t just physical, but mental. Our very own Lucas Jadin is the resident mindset coach for multiple teams around the school, teaching what he likes to call, “TMT” or “True Mental Toughness.” Half the battle is in your head, he says. A popular way athletes like to dial in on their skills and get into the zone to compete is through their music.
Senior Anna Laux, Shooting Guard for the Lightning Girls Basketball Team, said the whole team participates in getting in the zone in almost a ritualist kind of way. Before every game, the girls listen to songs from Pitch Perfect which began the year the team won State in November of 2016.

“We listen to these songs because they get us pumped up and everyone on the team knows the words,” Laux said. “It’s also another way the team bonds with one another and gets us in the mood to play.”

Senior Kyle Hammen, Shooting Guard for the North’s Boys Basketball Team, said “… Ric Flair Drip by Offset & Metro Boomin and Yacht Club (feat. Juice WRLD) by Lil Yachty are played pretty often which really gets the blood flowing for the game.”

Senior Sam Dietrich, who swims for APNE Mens Swim and Dive, said that his pump up song is “Running in the 90’s” by Max Coveri. Dietrich said “This is my pump up song it goes insanely hard and is so upbeat and fast that it is all I think about when I race.”

Senior Jack Kleist, goalie for the Appleton United Hockey team, said “We listen to ‘Nuke Town’ by Ski Mask the Slump God pregame because it slaps. Before we go out on the ice, we play Mo Bamba cause it gets the boys going.”

Senior Ian Laatsch, Lightning wrestler, said “Before a match I listen to explicit, get in your face rap. Some of the artists I listen to are Lil Wayne, Ski Mask the Slump God, Lil Gnar, Comethazine and A$AP Twelvyy. I listen to this music because it gets me in the zone almost a mix between mad and pumped up. I use that intensity to go out there on the mat and wrestle to get a win not only for myself but for my team as well.”

The next time you attend one of these events, know that our Lightning athletes are more than ready to compete. They’ve been putting in the grind and turning up the volume. Because when game day rolls around, their work doesn’t go unnoticed.