What is Sport Psychology ?
Sport Psychology is the study of human behaviour in the context of sport and exercise. Ultimately Sport Psychology looks at the well being of an athlete or group of individuals. Sport Psychology uses psychological principles to help the develpoment of the athlete. Psychology can help to enhance the knowledge and experience of athlete’s to optimise their potential in sport. Psychological skills training, consists of teaching people specific mental techniques that can improve various aspects of their game.
In my opinion the role of a Sport Psychologist is to assist and facilitate the development of excellence in a performer. Their role to assist the performer to reach optimal performance carries with it the ultimate goal of insuring that the needs and wellbeing of the performer come first. I recommend that the role of the Sport Psychologist is agreed at the beginning of the employment of service to give clarity to these roles and responsilibities as they can vary with the context of the situation.
How can sport psychology help me ?
Sport Psychology techniques can be very usual for an athlete, learning how to achieve goals, use imagery, stay focused during competition, and relax you can improve performance during competition and practice sessions. From a coaching perspective the knowledge gained will bring about the confidence to educate athletes how to properly set goals for themselves, find their optimum level of arousal, increase self-confidence, and team cohesion will help benefit athletic performance.
How do I find out more?
Many books on sport psychology and psychological skills training are available in my book section this would be a good place to start. Reading will give you a greater insight into the potential benefits and increase your knowledge about the subject matter.
How do I pursue a career in Sport Psychology?
This is a difficult question to answer because there are many avenues you can follow to become a Sport Psychologist. No root is easy or quick so be pre-pared to invest a lot of time and money into your development. A good place to start are some of the leading sport universities in the UK and look at their academic programmes.
To be able to call yourself a ‘Sport Psychologist’, you will have to be trained under a recognised body. This helps to maintain a high level of standard regarding the quality of service you receive from an individual, they are all answerable to a committee and follow a strict code of conduct which dictates their professionalism. Some of these professional bodies are on my links page so you can look to investigate further. Your choice of path will also be dictated by what you want out of your qualifications and where your want to go with your training.
I fundamentally believe that the difference in performance is the unification of body and mind. The difference that makes the difference is imbeded into the combination of fitness levels, technical prowess and psychological development. With this combination a true sense of excellnce can be achieved.
Send me a question ?
Send me a question about Sport Psychology and I will try my best to answer it for you.