What is Sport Psychology
A Microhistory of Sport Psychology
What does a Sport Psychologist do?
Quality and assurances
Sport Psychology today

 

 

 

Sport Psychology is said to describe activities where psychological theory and techniques are applied to understand and to bring about an improvement in sporting or exercise performance. In other words, sport psychology involves mental activity that relates to performance and performance enhancement. When used in collaboration with other sport sciences, athletes can benefit from a multi-discipline approach to aiding their performance and they may begin to experience consistent performance in both training and competition.

 

 

The use of psychology in sport has been around since humans began to compete. For instance, the ancient Greeks incorporated a day solely devoted to concentration in their 4 day Olympic training plan. Unfortunately, the death of the ancient Olympics brought an end to this prominent use of psychology in sport and it wasn’t until 1897, the year after the first Olympics of the modern era, that once again interest and knowledge of sport psychology began to increase.

 

Norman Triplett conducted a number of experiments and found that the times of cyclists in training were slower than in competition. He concluded that the presence of others allowed for a release of additional energy stores. Furthermore, he noted that cyclists pedalled harder when they were cycling with others and children reeled in fishing lines faster when fishing with others.

 

Twenty years later Dr Coleman Griffith established the first sport psychology institute which was based in Illinois. Although not the first institute in the world, Griffith was key to the development of Sport Psychology. However, despite this early evidence of the use of psychology in sport, it wasn’t until the 1960’s when sport psychology began to make its mark.  A growing interest in the topic from academics led to the first World Congress of Sport Psychology being held in Rome and the International Institute of Sport Psychology in 1965. It wasn’t until over 30 years later that a psychologist was employed by an Olympic team on an official basis and since then, the application ofpsychological research to sport has grown.

 

Below is a video of the famous Linford Christie, 100m gold medal win at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics. Notice how the athletes are preparing in different ways. Some, like Linford, are completely focused on the race, whilst others are psyching themselves up.

 

 

 

Now take a look at the famous Usain Bolt 100m Gold medal win at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Notice how most of the athletes are now acting in a similar way. They all look totally focused on the track. They look calm and are ready to put 100% into the next 10 seconds.

 

 

 

Much research in anxiety and concentration and sport has been conducted over the time between the 1992 and 2008 Olympics. The research points to the fact that performance may decrease if an athlete is too wound up; this is called over-arousal and can be detrimental to performance. This is one of the reasons why we now see athletes preparing for event in similar ways; controlling their arousal to allow them to put out the best performance

Sport Psychologist can work with individuals, teams and organisations in a number of contexts. This is what their work can sometime involve:

Sport Psychology is a recognised branch of the British Psychological Society (BPS). Chartered Psychologists are awarded with the title of Sport & Exercise Psychologist. Recent changes in 2009 have also led to the need for Sport and Exercise Psychologists to be registered with the Health Professions Council (HPC).

This allows for assurances about the quality of consultation from individuals who are members of the BPS. Richard, director of Head for a Win is nearing the end of his chartership training.

 

For more details on Richard’s qualifications click here.

 

Today, Sport Psychology is used in elite level sport such as in the 2008 GB Olympic cycling team and Ryder Cup golf to individuals who just want to improve their casual game be it golf or rugby. Sport Psychology isn’t always necessarily about solving a problem, it can actually be about improving you as a player or athlete and preparing you to give the best that you possibly can, be it in training, or in competition.

When you next walk out on the court/pitch/course, take a minute to think about what you are thinking. Will it help you win? Using Sport Psychology may just give you the edge to get ahead of your opponent.

 

 

 

For examples of how Sport Psychology may help you click here.