Sports Psychology Research Paper

1364 Words3 Pages

Sports Psychology is a newer psychology that has to do with the mental aspects of athletes and sports. With sports psychology being a newer branch of psychology, there is not as much research behind if the branch is effective or not.“I asked coaches, ‘What percentage of [sports] is mental?’ and they all responded that it’s 35%, 50%, even 80% mental,” Dr. Joel Fish, the official sports psychologist for Penn Athletics, recalled. “So, if the game is largely mental, then let’s spend time during the week thinking about the mental part of the game.”
I played multiple sports in high school which gave me the opportunity to understand how playing a sport is more just being on a field. Yogi Berra, a famous catcher that played 19 seasons for multiple …show more content…

Some of the myths are “Only mentally weak athletes need sports psychologist”, “ Sports are 90% mental and the other half is physical”, “Sports psychology only work with highly skilled athletes(professional/collegian)”, “All sports have the same type and degree of psychological demands”, and “Sports psychology is a quick fix.” A lot of myths that come up with sports psychology is because people do not fully understand the concept of a sports psychologist. Many people believe that athletes should only go to a sports psychologist is if the athlete has a mental illness or if something tragic happens to the …show more content…

Mathematically there is no research proven for the percentage of mental and physical attributes in sports. “It is true that in the upper levels of a sport, the mental game becomes more critical. After all, beginners in a sport are simply struggling to achieve a basic competence in physical skills. Thinking about complex game strategies and competitive psychological issues are the least of their concerns.” Coming from personal experience with sports, I always felt like I performed better if I did not have any major stresses in my life. I seemed to hit the ball better in baseball when I had a clear and stress free

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