Sports Psychology Research Paper

Joshua Mabry

PSY-102

4-30-17

Mr. Witherspoon

The Mental Side of Sports While many people in the United States and all around the world playing sports such as football, baseball, soccer, basketball or any other sport it is a fun activity and a way to stay fit. Some people though are able to make playing sports a job and make pretty good money off of playing the sport they love, but what is it that makes someone strive to compete and to go for the win? That is where Sports Psychology comes into play. It is a part of psychology that looks into the ways the brain works while playing sports. What is it really that makes someone in the sport of football want to go out and hit someone just for the fact of knowing they may win. Sports psychology looks

Some cons of being a sports psychologist is after completing the schooling of 6 years or more people then have to find a job. An article by the American Psychological Association states, “Sometimes a sport psychologist has the difficult job of counseling a student athlete who wants to quit the team despite the coach's opposition” (Voelker Para 28). In this quote it can be seen a con of the job is they have the task of trying to make both sides happy which is not always possible. Also there is the fact that if someone ends up filling a position on a traveling team while they do get to bond with the team there is very little down time and time to relax. Some pros could be the people with whom you work with are mostly people who enjoy playing a sport but just want to excel. The overall reason that people should be looking to go into sports psychology is because for one the field is growing and is becoming more recognized. A statement from an article states, “At the international games, and with a massive global audience watching, another crucial hurdle faces the sport psychologist: Olympic-sized performance anxiety” (Therapy Para 3). In this quote it can be seen is that it is gaining more and more attention from all over even from the Olympic committee. They are recognizing just how crucial of a point this job is. While the need for sports psychologists is going up the advance degrees will not be as prevalent meaning not as much time and money spent on a college education. There is also the fact about the salary is also another good reason to become a sports psychologist. Not only do you get to help athletes and people with their mental and emotional struggle of sports but you also get to make quite a bit of money doing