Sports psychology has been a hit or miss topic for many years. It is something that we know about and are aware of regularly, and at the same time it is a topic that many people have scoffed at. Coaches look for mental fortitude and that “it” mentality. When an athlete starts to play poorly, we wonder if their confidence is shaken. We even talk about that moment in which an injured athlete returns and get hit or completes an event as something that lifts a weight off their shoulders.
However, when you bring in the word “psychology” now suddenly there is a hesitance in the accepting of the topic. In a world where athletes are supposed to be tough, talking about psychology still has a stigma around it of perceived weakness. It was only 38 years ago that the Association for Advancement of Applied Sports Psychology (AASP) established an official Sports Psychology Committee and 34 years ago that the American Psychological Association (APA) created the Division of Sports Psychology (Khandare & Pawar, 2014). Even in a study done in 2008 by Reverter-Masía et. al, they stated that they found an extremely limited number of studies done on the topic of sport psychology.
So, why is this such an important field in sports? We are constantly learning more about how our mental state can impact our physical and psychological state. Confidence, focus, motivation, and other aspects can impact an athlete. A loss of focus can cause for dropped passes in American football. Too many missed plays such as this can make an athlete lose their confidence. This lack of confidence then leads to a loss of motivation and attention which can cause an athlete to easily be caught out of place during a game or not train properly and end up injured. Once injured, the fear of reinjury can cause anything from a slowed recovery time to the athlete becoming more likely to injury another body part to even leaving sports entirely. In future posts, specific topics will be delved into further detail while exploring the realm of sports psychology.
- Khandare, R., & Pawar, V. (2014). A Study Of Sports Psychology. International Journal of Health, Physical Education and Computer Science in Sports, 15(1), 85–87. https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Tara_Thakur/publication/279424015_Design_and_development_of_a_computer_based_data_storage_application_for_Physical_Education_personnel_through_Java/links/57738d9f08ae1b18a7dda285/Design-and-development-of-a-computer-based-data-storage-application-for-Physical-Education-personnel-through-Java.pdf#page=101
- Reverter-Masía, J., Legaz-Arrese, A., Munguía-Izquierdo, D., Roig-Pull, M., Gimeno-Marco, F., & Barbany, J. (2008). THE USE OF SPORTS PSYCHOLOGY CONSULTANTS IN ELITE SPORTS TEAMS. Revista de Psicología Del Deporte, 17(1), 143–153. https://repositori.udl.cat/bitstream/handle/10459.1/47676/014387.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y
MindFullSports 
I feel that there is still so much to be discovered and explored in the field of sport psychology, especially with regard to athletes’ ability to regulate emotions in strenuous environments and circumstances. With the right set of strategies and guidance from a sport psych professional, a tremendous amount of mental skills can transform how an athlete performs and transfers those skills into his/her overall life.
LikeLike
Great read. We can see this play out often in sports.
LikeLike
There is a great book called “Mind Gym.” When I coached basketball I would use that book and its content everyday to help players develop their mindset, which included visualization exercises. They were resistant at first, but about 2 weeks into the season they were begging for more.
LikeLike
Are you referencing “Mind Gym: An Athlete’s Guide to Inner Excellence” by Mack and Casstevens from 2002? It certainly is a good book from a lot of aspects.
LikeLike
Yes! That’s the one.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I think psychology 100% has a place in sports and should be implemented more. As I grew older and started playing more advanced tennis tournaments, the hardest part for me was the mental aspect. I had never received any mental training and often “beat myself”. I would always get down and a sports psychologist would have been a huge tool for me. I feel like this is a huge piece that is missed in youth sport!
LikeLike
The biggest mental aspect for me was, and in many ways still is, the injury recovery (when I plan on talking about if future posts. It did not make sense to me back when I was playing, but as I have learned more about sports psychology, it has made many things make a lot more sense. I also think that your specific mention of youth sports is right on point. Waiting to discuss or learn about the mental aspect until athlete’s are older does them a significant disservice and makes it that much harder to retrain or even discuss with them later.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I believe that sport psychology is a vital part of sports. Being able to reach the athletes and understand how they feel will have a huge impact on how they in the game. There are going to be years of research on this topic, that is well past due. This is a great topic, and I look forward to reading more into and I even have psychology books I am reading.
LikeLiked by 1 person
This has really great points. I like the way you portrayed the chain like effect from one instance that can affect a player’s mental and physical health. I think of Dak Prescott from the Dallas Cowboys and the effect he has had from being one of the first to openly talk about his depression. I think he is going to be a figure people will remember because he showed publicly that athletes are people who face real world problems.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Sport Psychology is a very important topic that is overlooked at every level of sports. I do think it is looked over in youth sports. I used to work for a recreation youth basketball league and the stress and physical and emotional pressure put on kids as young as 4 years old is insane. A lot of those kids were asked to hold in their tears and pain. This does have a negative effect on these young athletes for the years to come.
LikeLiked by 1 person