What is Sport Psychology
Sport psychology is a field that I believe is overlooked despite it’s great potential to drastically improve a player’s ability on the field, a team’s ability to work together as a cohesive unit, and coaching that inspires and equips players with the skills to dominate their opponents. Furthermore, the field addresses how athletes best learn skills, how coaches can increase the effectiveness of training sessions, and the impact of power structures within an organisation. This is why I have taken such a liking to this area as a student, and as a sportsman.
There comes a point where each athlete knows that no matter the training and physical preparation made, what happens in the mind when it is game day will be the deciding factor of whether they are victorious.
Why should teams and sporting bodies consider sport psychology being integrated into their system?
The athlete can be viewed as a whole and in order to be complete they need to master different aspects of performance. For example, a rugby player may be the strongest, most tactically aware, and genetically blessed individual, but if they does not have confidence in his ability to make the right decisions during important games then they won’t be able to reach their greatest potential. Therefore, sport psychology is one factor that should be addressed and valued just as equally as other traditional professions such as physiotherapy, strength and conditioning, biomechanics, etc., if the organisation and coaches truly want to optimise player performance.
Relevant to more recent issues, more and more athletes are vocalising experiencing psychological issues ranging from burn out and low motivation to depression and anxiety. This surely gives light to the fact athletes of whatever skill level experience issues that do require appropriate help so they can perform as best as they can, and also to be of sound mind. This is an area where a sport psychologist and clinical psychologist would be able to provide the necessary tools for the individual to fight their internal battle and learn valuable skills.
Finally, as an athlete myself I have repetitively heard coaches, captains and other athletes mention the psychological components of a game, like “psych them out” or “back yourself when you have the ball [have high confidence in yourself]”. Clearly everyone understands what happens in the mind has a great impact on the team and individuals outcome. However, there comes a point where just addressing it without providing the tools to implement these skills becomes redundant. It is like telling a child to eat food of soup but someone else has the cutlery they need to eat it! In this situation, a psychologist can apply theory and research to improve confidence. For example, identifying what sources of sport confidence the athlete values and creating an intervention to increase their confidence, or increasing their motivation by addressing components of self motivation to improve the attendance of a talented player that refuses to turn up to training.
Issues facing sport psychologists
Despite the benefit of providing training to enhance specific mental skills of athletes, and the increased popularity of sport psychology, there seems to be a negative view that resonates among the sport culture. More specifically, many coaches and athletes still believe that seeking a sport psychologist is a form of weakness as it may indicate that there is something wrong with them. Contrarily, sport psychology is concerned with improving the athlete both within the sport and outside of the sport, allowing them to face challenges in many aspects of their athletic life that may have an impact on their in-game performance. Additionally, psychologists don’t only focus on negative aspects of performance, but also look at positives and trying to increase the occurrences of an athlete’s positives (e.g., assertiveness in invasion sports).
Another issue is that teams may think sport psychology is all about talking and the supposed 'change' the psychologist has claimed the athlete would experience is immeasurable. Despite not being as physically evident as professions like physiology measuring red blood cell count or muscle tension, and strength and conditioning coaches through an athlete’s ability to increase how much they can deadlift, sport psychologists can apply similar measures. Even though questionnaires are one form of measuring the impact the practitioner has (e.g., measuring how anxious a performer is before a game, practitioners can integrate physiological measures as simple as measuring the athlete’s heart rate or specific brain waves to quantify whether pre-competition anxiety has decreased.
Take home message
Sport psychology remains a growing field and is continually gaining popularity in the sporting world, and has been used by many professional teams ranging from the premier league to international level. The field covers a range of topics from emotional control, skill acquisition to helping athletes maintain healthy well-being. This article only scratches the surface of how useful sport psychology can be and what the work of a psychologist entails.
Article by Edgar Chekera