Is Winning Everything? : Is It All About The Enjoyment Of The Game That Really Matters?

Management of performance and competitive anxiety can be challenging. The first strategy would be to consult with a clinical psychologist, who will often suggest a behavioural approach. These approaches have been found to be the optimal coping strategy for sport-related anxiety, specifically Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) (Patel et

They will also realize that student-athletes are responsible for taking care of their business on and off the field. There was a study that found that almost half of the male athletes and slightly more than half of the female athletes, who were involved in the study, implied that stresses like pressure to win, excessive anxiety, frustration conflict, irritation, and fear affected their mental and emotional health (Humphrey et al., 2000). This is important to know because this can later or even immediately affect a person’s confidence and self worth. Freshmen are not the only class that deals with stress, which will affect their performance. Although these stress factors are brought to their attention early in their careers, most do not seek help nor do they find a solution to their problem. It is important that coaches have sport counselors that sit in and talk with these often to insure they are doing ok. These athletes are psychologically and physiologically hurting and need

Sports—which involve emotion, competition, cooperation, achievement, and play—provide a rich area for psychological study. People involved in sports attempt to master very difficult skills, often subjecting themselves to intense physical stress as well as social pressure. research has expanded into numerous areas such as imagery training, hypnosis, relaxation training, motivation, socialization, conflict and competition, counseling, and coaching. Specific sports and recreational specialties studied include baseball, basketball, soccer,

I dreaded having the feeling of uselessness because I was unable participate in any sport. This meant I was unable to play for my high school upcoming season. I became determined to learn as much as I can about other performance issues that athletes might face. In the future I intend on applying for a PhD program in sport psychology to gain the knowledge and experience necessary to work with athletes and coaches on performance issues. Since deciding to change my major to psychology in college I have been involved in volunteer work in order to undertake further study to prepare me for the sport psychology field. I was a volunteer student assistant coach for the University of West Georgia Women’s Soccer Team. I worked individually with players to improve skills and helped develop effective practice techniques. Motivating and personally counseling players with stress derived from being an athlete and a student. Overall I help teach the athletes how to communicate better and help them understand different perspective in a team orientated environment. Because growing a team from the inside will expand external positive factors. It isn’t always about individual work. I find teamwork to be an important factor because each person has distinct part to play to achieve

Sports psychology deals with the mental and emotional aspects of physical performance. It involves describing, explaining and predicting attitudes, feelings and behaviours in an attempt to improve performance. In the film 'Coach Carter,' directed by Thomas Carter, sport psychology is used effectively to enhance the performance of a high school basketball team. However, this improved performance is not limited to the basketball court, it extends into the classroom where the students use goal setting, motivation, concentration and confidence control, ultimately to become accepted into college, avoiding a life of drugs, gangs and prison.

Depression is a mental health disorder that interferes with the physical and psychological well-being of an individual. ‘About 1 in 5 adults have a mental illness in any given year. Mental illness can begin at any age, from childhood through to later adult years, but most begin in teen life.’ (Staff, n.d.) The stress of school and the expectation that parents have for their children is high. This can put a lot of pressure on students, it can effect their everday life, work and relationships. These issues can also heavily affect adults too. Its hard enough as it is for everday people to deal with depression but when you’re an elite athlete this can be a real problem. Athletes are at risk for depression as they’re in high pressure sporting events, there’s also personal and team expectations. Individual disposition may increase bouts of mental health issues in athletes. Also the media has a big influence in the lives of athletes and can be brutal to an athlete.

This report was created to help the Florida Sports Committee understand why Clear Choice Coaching will want to partner and incorporate the sport phycology discipline in our practices to help us with our approach to recruit, retain and develop our coaches. This report was created to bring attention to the benefits of working together with coaches and sport psychology professionals to help advance and implement reliable yearly platforms of activities that carry out quality measurable assessments. We concentrate in coaching Soccer, Basketball, Tennis and Football. We are confident by integrating this discipline we will develop increased efficiency, knowledge sharing and transfer of improved skills to our athletes. We can see the benefits that

In accordance to Rotella (1990)’s philosophy of service, I think the most important thing to accomplish when one first starts working with a client is to figure out what exactly the client wants out of this relationship, what goals they want to accomplish, how they think they can accomplish these goals, and what they need from me in order to get there. A consultant can do this by being completely up front with their athlete about what they are or are not capable of doing and what they are trained to do. Although I would be thrilled to work with any type of professional or college athlete, my ultimate dream is to be the on-staff sport psychology consultant for a collegiate athletic department. My goal in that position, besides being the best consultant I can be for my clients of course, will be to normalize counseling. Many athletes shy away from seeking out consults from a sport psychology consultant because they are afraid of being seen by their teammates, coaches, friends, etc. as “head cases” going to see a “shrink” (Gould & Damarjian, 1998). If I can change that perception and help athletes see the benefits of sport psychology consulting, then I would have done my job well. I think the best way I can accomplish this goal is by keeping a friendly, laid-back, non-judgmental attitude with my clients

The article titled “NCAA Athletic Administrators’ Preferred Characteristics for Sport Psychology Positions: A Consumer Market Analysis” uses a consumer marketing approach to look at the market for sport psychology positions. A research tool used was an internet based survey asking 2,976 Athletic administrators what characteristics they prefer

The study was conducted to test a new outreach model that required a partnership between counseling services and student-support services. The model was based on the development of sport psychology’ mental skills, namely relaxation, imagery, routines, self-talk, and concentration. Two different research method approaches, an anonymous Likert scale questionnaire, and qualitative interviews were used (Beauchemin,

Their responsibilities are to aid their athletes in overcoming psychological barriers and assist them in reaching their maximum potential regardless of the mental behaviors that may render them from doing so. In order to help their athletes overcome these barriers a sports psychologist may introduce strategies that improve an athlete's trust in their team or coach, encourage the team to work together and work on that athletes self confidence. In order to become a sports psychologist you must have at least a master’s degree in psychology but, having a doctorate’s degree would provide you with a larger variety of opportunities. Before applying for a job as a sports psychologist it would be wise to possess basic medical knowledge (since you’ll be working with athletes.) The most successful sports psychologists have had prior experience working in the psychology field, have gained experience teaching and conducting research and have participated in or watched various sports.

All athletes need to be able to regulate arousal to stay in control and focused so they can achieve and compete. Athlete who can’t successfully manage his/her stress may experience decreases in performance, as well as mental and physical distress that will lead him/her to lose competition. Only good athletes who can increase their awareness of their psychological conditions before they can control their thoughts and spirits.

When it comes to emotions and psychological well being athletes are not machines and they should not be expected to deny any mental struggles. Trainers, coaches, and physical therapists are there for their physical training but they also require psychological support. Those closest to the athletes need to learn to recognize the warning signs such as an overly self-critical nature, perfectionism, and fear of failure to be able to seek out help for the athletes. Sport governing bodies and organizations should induce protocols and procedures about how peers, coaches, and support staff can help when dealing with an athlete suffering from a mental illness. The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) has released “Mind, Body and Sport - Understanding and Supporting Student-Athlete Mental Wellness” which is a resource developed to provide information and outline the roles and responsibilities of sports staff and coaches as well as identifies the Models of service, and NCAA resources and policies. This is an extremely helpful and reliable source that other sporting organizations should follow. Also, high performance programs for both individual and team sports should require programs to have a team sport psychologist to be readily available for athletes, and to work with them on throughout the sporting season to be able to develop mental skills to better them on, and off the court. It should become the “responsibility (of the sport association) to provide the services and care to help each athlete reach his or her full potential” (Hainline 2014, 7) In some situations, Sport psychologists may find themselves having to address mental health issues with the athletes they counsel that they may find is out of their capability to deal with mental health problems. It may be

It has been identified that through sports psychology one can improve their physical ability and performance. Sports psychology is the study of how the mind, mental states and behaviour effect sporting performance. There are several sport psychology techniques, which have helped me become a better volleyball player. These techniques include planning for performance, controlling arousal levels, mental rehearsal and concentration.

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).