The Effects Of Mental Skills On Sports Psychology

Psychology is argued to be the scientific study of the human mind and behaviour. So the obvious question can be asked, what is sport and exercise psychology? According to Gill and Williams (2008), sport and exercise psychology is the scientific study of people and their behaviours in sport and exercise context and the practical applications of that knowledge. In hindsight, what sport psychology does is take psychological theories and applies them to sport. Examples of these are: personality, imagery, aggression, motivation, skill acquisition and many more. Therefore, this essay will provide an insight to how mainstream psychology such as personality and behaviourism can be applied to sport.

Granito Jr. and Vincent J. did a study in 2002 over the psychological response to athletic injury. The purpose of their study was to describe the athletic injury experience, focusing on differences between male and female athletes. 31 injured athletes (15 male and 16 female) were interviewed about their athletic injury. Each participant went through an interview process, consisting of an in-depth interview and follow-up telephone interviews. The interview data were analyzed, and compared between the male and female athletes. The results showed that female athletes tended to perceive the coaches as much more negative with respect to how the coach treated them following their injury; were less likely to talk about a significant other (boyfriend/girlfriend); and were more concerned about how the injury would influence their health at a future point. Conclusions focused on possible explanations and how the results fit into the current theory for the psychological response to injury for each gender.

When an athlete faces a physical injury whether that be in a competition or practice, a team of highly certified professionals, which typically includes a first responder, physio therapist, and in some cases even a doctor, rush to the aid of the injured athletes. Diligent care and therapy goes into recuperating the athlete so they can make a complete recovery and return to their sport. On the contrary, when an athlete faces an injury from within, its been taught that it is the “athletes problem” and that they need to “toughen up”. But mental health problems can be just as damaging to an athlete’s career and athletes are left to suffer in silence. It is well known that athletes undergo tremendous physical strain and stress, these concerns

Our thoughts, diet/nutrition, exercise, rest, environment and physiology have a positive or negative impact on us which affects how well we perform and feel. In the world of sports, this is very easy to demonstrate because the mind/body connection provides you with immediate feedback. When you are positive, your performance excels. When you are negative, your performance is adversely affected. With various types of distress, or

This interpretive process is loosely carried forward in relation to the previous studies of physiology, sociology and psychology. Take for example psychology when looking at key issues and research methods. The general explorative path a psychologist would investigate in a study of injury and rehabilitation covers, motivation, confidence, intensity, focus and emotions which are regarded to have the most influence on a performers well-being (Cashmore, 2002). These five psychological divisions derive from Taylors (2001) performance pyramid, are categorised in ascending order from general training influences to immediate competitive performance impact. At the pyramids base lays motivation, simply put without motivation you have no desire to train, to rehabilitate, to reach previous goals. Motivation ensures athletes have positive mind-sets allowing necessary time to refocus, re-energise and start again.

There are over 450,000 athletes competing at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) level across 24 different sports in the United States (NCAA, 2012). What psychological qualities separate the successful student athlete from the non-successful student athlete (i.e., a student athlete who completes their eligibility and graduates, or gets drafted into the professional level)? We know sport psychology and mental performance training can assist athletes in achieving peak performance by teaching confidence, goal setting, imagery, mental toughness, how to deal with pressure, relaxation, positive self-talk and more (Shemake, 2014). This study aims to identify if certain student athletes posses some of these characteristics without

Overall, Heinermann et al. (2012) found that psychological and psychodeucational services were beneficial to participants, primarily if the participants had a positive outlook about their rehabilitation situation. Specifically, participants who suffered a SCI that was sport-related recovered over two times faster when they utilized positive self-talk, goal-setting, and imagery (Heinermann et al., 2012). In addition, findings related to

Meyers (1991) has shown that an increase to fitness levels in athletes is important to enhance their self-esteem and interpersonal behaviours. Physical practice is important not only for mere practice, but having a clear functioning mind toward the sport, adhering to exercise programs in an endeavour to improve athletic performance, both physically and mentally (Meyers, 1991). Researchers are finding it necessary to modify their approach towards athlete behaviour to enhance performance in the field of sport (Mendoza & Wichman, 1978). Studies also found that mental rehearsal was as effective as physical practice in improving performance, however physical practice gave athletes the benefits of enjoyment and motivation towards sport (Mendoza & Wichman, 1978).

Our findings do match this research as mental practice combined with physical practice establishes optimal learning of motor skills. Many sports such as golf, tennis and skating not only require physical skills, but a strong mental game as well. Most coaches believe that sports are 90% mental and only 10% physical. Especially in sports where hundredths of a second or tenths of an inch determine the winner, an extra edge can be extremely crucial. Imagery can be useful in improving confidence and positive thinking and maintaining mental freshness during injury.

A study was performed in the 1900’s about the beliefs of confidence and returning to participating in sports following a sports injury. However, Michelle Magyar and John Duda recreated this study to show that an athlete has to undergo a process in which they will restore their self-confidence. It was found in the previous study that injured athletes tend to rely on their recovery process to prepare them to adequately return to their sport.

Over the years I have had the opportunity to coach many players and one thing I can tell you without reservation is the best players were all mentally tough. It's a hard concept to explain until you see it, but it's obvious when you see a player that has it.

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.

When an athlete has an injury they should not only have physical therapy, their recovering should also include the psychological element in order to be successful throughout this process.

In earlier days sports psychology was mostly concerned with developing assessment methods that would identify those people with the potential to become serious superior athletes. Today the focus is on psychological training, exercises that strengthen the mental skills that will help athletic performances on the path to excellence. These skills include mental imagery and focus training. If an athlete is serious about becoming the best he or she can possibly be, the most essential ingredient is commitment to practice the right things. It takes incredible commitment to reach the top: a commitment to rest and train the body so it can perform under the most demanding conditions and a commitment to train the mind to

Athletes in today’s society who play competitive sports are constantly under pressure by their parents, peers, and even themselves. This article focuses on somatic and cognitive anxiety and how that affects athletes’ perceived ability and goal orientation. Somatic anxiety refers to the physical bodily symptoms of anxiety, for example: butterflies in the stomach, sweating, or increased heart rate. Cognitive anxiety refers to the mental symptoms in anxiety such as concern or worry; in sport this could be applied to things such as concern of potential failure or capacity of one’s