To fully understand sport psychology, we must ask ourselves two very
important questions, first, what is sport psychology and second, who is it for?
Put in the most sim-ple way, sport psychology can be an example of
psychological knowledge, principles, or methods applied to the world of sport.
"Two psychologists, Bunker and Maguire, say sport psychology is not for
psychologists, but is for sport and its participants." (Murphy & White, 1978:2)
However, it can be argued that sport psychology, can be for psycho-logy, just
as it can be for sports scientists, managers, teachers, administrators, coaches
and last but by no means least, the athletes themselves.
It is sport psychology that has stood apart from the discipline of
psychology as a whole. "Its history is different, its concerns are often
different, its centres of learning and teaching are often different, and its
professional training is different." (Garfield, 1984:34) Yet despite this, sport
psychology remains permanently bonded to psychology through its common interest
in the fundamental principles of psychology, human behavior, and experience.
No one can deny the significant role which sport and recreation plays in
every cul-ture and society across the globe. In the western and eastern worlds
alike, sport and lei-sure continue to support huge industries and take up
massive amounts of individual time, effort, money, energy, and emotion. Within
the media, competitive sport has gotten enor-mous attention and despite this,
the public's appetite for more sport never is stated. "It has been estimated
that around two thirds of all newspaper readers in Great Britain first turn to
the sports pages when they pick up their daily paper." (Butt, 1987:65) When one
con-siders the number of people who actually engage in sport or even take
regular exercise, then the significance of sport to all our lives cannot be
denied.
A common problem with sport psychology research lies in its somewhat
myopic or short-sighted appreciation of present day accumulated psychological
knowledge. As we look into sport psychology, we are confronted by a landscape
of knowledge which rises and falls often suddenly and dramatically. "At certain
times, massive peaks of understand-ing rise up before out eyes yet at other
times, huge tracts of psychology remain untouched to the horizon." (Garfie...
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of sport, something that cannot be ignored with the growing number in athletic
participation by young people. "With each new year comes an increase in new
developments dealing with sport psychology." (Murphy & White, 1978:9) However,
there is still much work to be done in sport psychology. There are still many
unresolved questions and even some new questions and even some new questions
that have arisen over the years dealing with sport psychology. Take anxiety for
instance. Psychologists have found ways to reduce anxiety but not eliminate it.
Maybe there is no way to eliminate it since everyone has it. Another example is
aggression. Wherever there are sports, there is aggression. Psychologists have
stated that sports are a way for people to release their aggression. However,
they still have not been able to fully eliminate the violence in sports.
Psychologists are also working on new methods for motivating athletes because
some athletes are harder to motivate that others. Even though there are these
unresolved issues in sport psychology, the future of psychology in sports,
especially youth sports, looks to be on a very progressive track with many new
discoveries.
The “placebo effect” is defined as an effect of beliefs rather than a drug. In research athletes have been made to believe that they received anabolic steroids, carbohydrates, or caffeine and they performed better than baseline or control groups. The focus in placebo research in sport is one the role of beliefs as a psychological factor in performance. Sport psychologists have argued that many technologies, products, or substances that seem to have an effect on athletes performance have no clear biological basis but may simply be the result of the placebo effect.
It is advisable for such a person to engage him or herself in different sport and recreation activities within the industry. If possible, he or she should have one-on-one interviews with athletes and other sportspersons in order to gain early experience in dealing with the science of mental life in sports. Q8. Where do you see your field in the next 10 years? A. Over the course of time success is very different; although sport psychology has not been recognized customarily as a field in psychology.
According to Weinberg and Gould (1995), mental practice is related with mental training to competition. Based on Murphy and Martin (2002), mental practice can be divide into two which is imagery techniques and verbal techniques. Imagery techniques can be visual rehearsal, kinesthetic rehearsal or emotional rehearsal. While verbal techniques are self talk and performance cues. Based on Suinn (1993), mental imagery can be defined as mental creation or re-creation of sensory experiences that appear to the person imagining them to be similar to the real event. Imagery is one of the techniques that can be used to improve sport performance among athletes. According to Morris, T., Spittle, M. and Watt, A. P (2005), the most important thing to know
Baseball Hall of Famer and great Yogi Berra once said, “baseball is 90% mental and the other half physical. The psychology of baseball has always gone beyond the believed capabilities of all human beings and continues to stun scientists throughout the world. With the increase in physical abilities, athletes look towards professionals to find strength in their cognitive abilities to enhance their overall performance. Sports psychologists are also being used in order to aid athletes who have been struggling in either Minor or Major League Baseball. Sports psychology can help players from both the aspects of hitting and pitching by the use of techniques such as personal motivation, stress management, and visualization.
Wiese-Bjornstal, D. M., Smith, A. M., & LaMott, E. E. (1995). A model of psychological response to athletic injury and rehabilitation. Athletic training: Sport health care perspectives, 17-30.
Emotion is a big part of the psychological affect on society. We want to give the reader a framework depicting how the mental training improve their performance. After the testing, the author found (Chris, 2014)There are a number of psychological factors that have the potential to negatively affect an athlete’s ability to perform optimally, for example,anxiety, nerves, poor concentration,and self-doubt (Chris, 2014). And the detrimental thoughts, attitudes also will affect the athlete’s ability. In here i want to talk more about the somatic anxiety. We know anxiety will cause many different physical condition and mental disease. This is very dangerous if we do not use correct methods to treat. One of
Sports psychology can be defined as the study and application of the attitudes and behaviors of athletes (including team athletes) that impact (either positively or negatively) performance in sports or competitive settings. The goal of sports psychology is to help athletes and teams identify unhealthy attitudes and beliefs, apply mental toughness skills and peak performance strategies to perform at optimal levels (Cohn). Sports psychology is not recognized as a traditional field of practice offered by graduate programs; although, it is a recognized field of specific study under Kinesiology and Physical Education Programs. Sports psychology was first founded in 1920 by Carl Diem in Berlin, Germany. Later on, in 1925, sport psychology was brought to the U.S by Cloman Griffith. These early psychologists aimed to observe the effects of mental state on different factors of performance such as reaction time, tension, relaxation, and awareness (Haney). In the 1960’s Griffith’s research interest in sports psychology reemerged after having faded away for a while; however, the field had a...
Sports in the US are an important part of the culture. The sporting culture is different from the other places in the world. For example, most of the athletes train on their own instead of practice together as a team. Also, unlike other countries, competition between national teams is far less important. As children begin to learn how to walk and talk at the young age, they also start to learn how to run, throw, catch and kick. They continue to develop their skills at more competitive levels starting from elementary school and all the way to college and some even become international level players. In addition, team sports are much more important than individual sports in the United States. At the professional level, especially for those big sports days like the Super Bowl or the Grand Finals for the NBA, family members usually gather together and sit around the television to support their favorite teams. It has became an American traditions and culture. The reason sports games are really hot is because Americans believe that all the sports play an important role in the society, which help to bind people together from different backgrounds and it is the vehicle for communicating values such as fair play, teamwork, and to show the spirit of sportsmanship.
Sports Psychology Today. Mental Edge Athletics, 4 Sept. 2012. Web. 28 Oct. 2013. Forde, Pat.
I am a young ambitious student who strives to excel in everything I do. I want to study Sport Psychology as I know I possess the right skills to further and develop myself in the career of sports. I have the ability to understand others in sports as I also play sports myself. I have been in high pressured sporting situations which I have used my psychological skills to help increase my performance. What interests me in Sport Psychology is that I can make a big difference to not just my life but the lives of people in sport such as rehabilitating athletes or boosting athlete performance. I am fascinated by how different athletes perform in the same environment and getting practical with the mind, body and brain. Improving performance, consistency and stability in an athlete’s
Children who participate in sports are developing rapidly in sports skills, sportsmanship, and psychologically, but does this come from organized sports are just nature’s process. Children develop emotional and social benefits from participating in sports. Children experience character and leadership development through peer relations leading to an increase in self-esteem and a decrease in anxiety levels. Children will get opportunities to experience positive and negative emotions throughout their practice and games trials. It is important for the coach to understand the “psychology of youth sports and physical activity participation” (Weinberg & Gould, 2011 p.516).
A lot of times, sports seem like a contest of physical skill― a test to see who is the fastest or strongest, who has the best eye or the most endurance, who can jump the highest or can handle the ball the best. What a lot of people don’t know is that there is so much more to a sport than just the muscle and coordination. In order to excel in a sport, an athlete requires a lot of self-discipline, concentration, and self-confidence. It’s the mental factor that makes a difference. Former Olympic gold medal-winning decathlon runner Bruce Jenner once said, “You have to train your mind like you train your body” (Gregoire 1). Success or failure depends on the mental factors just as much as the physical ones. The training of the mind of an athlete is called sports psychology. The use of sports psychology has a huge impact upon an athlete’s performance. The mental skills of a sport are just as important as the physical skills. All professional athletes use sports psychology. “If they aren’t currently using it, it’s almost guaranteed they’ve used it in the past, even if they are unaware they have” (Davis, Stephens, The Exploratorium 129). It’s hard to find an experienced athlete who hasn’t used sports psychology, because without it, they probably wouldn’t be where they are. The use of sports psychology is a crucial step to becoming a successful athlete.
Sports psychology draws on knowledge from the fields of Kinesiology and Psychology. It involves the study of how psychological factors affect performance and how participation in sport and exercise affect psychological and physical factors. In addition to instruction and training of psychological skills for performance improvement, sport psychology may include work with athletes and coaches regarding injury, rehabilitation, communication, and team building (Weinberg, R.S. & Gould, D.,2010)....
Jeff Kemp, a retired professional NFL quarterback, once stated, “Sports teach positive lessons that enrich America even while revealing its flaws” (Kemp). Athletics offer so much more than the joy of game day and the thrill of a win. Being involved in sports holds the key to a world filled with passion, excitement, and once in a lifetime opportunities. There is nothing better than seeing the student section arrive in full force or hearing the school fight song chanted before kickoff. However, when life moves on and leaves sports behind, the lessons it has instilled in athletes never disappears. The play calls may be foggy and the jersey will be too tight, but what was innocently learned in the jersey shines out at an older age. Although life lessons can be learned through everyday activities, lessons such as teamwork, self-confidence, and dealing with failure are only truly learned through sports by young athletes.
Sport and exercise psychology is a mandatory aspect of the sport science discipline. This discipline contributes to the various professional practices associated with physical activities such as - teaching of physical education, recreation and health promotion, and kinesiology related professions - because it plays a mental role for the participants. Sport and exercise psychologists view physical activity in several different ways: physical activity as a tool for health, physical activity as a tool for human potential, and physical activity as a tool for social change. This aspect of psychology may be the most important aspect of physical activity, because of the contributions of exercise and sport psychology to health, human potential, and social change.