The Effects Of Mental Skills On Sports Psychology

For many years, the mental aspect of sports performance has received considerable attention in sports psychology. The cognitive processes in elite and less skilled athletes have been studied extensively, in an attempt to shed light on the variables arbitrating task execution during performances (Beilock, Carr, Machon & Starkes, 2002). This essay investigates how cognition differs in elite and less skilled athletes. Firstly, it considers elite-novice- differences in attentional focus; which suggests that where athletes direct their attention while performing differs across skills. Moreover, the essay closely examines the difference in elite and novice athletes ' ability to make effective decisions during performances (Milazzo, Farrow, Ruffault & Fournier, 2016).

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.

Starting from my freshman year in high school I have always been more intrigued by the human mind and how it operates. Thanks to the study of psychology my curiosity only flourished even more as I got older. I find the observations psychology gives about human behavior very interesting, and I have been fascinated by it for as long as I can remember. I’ve been caught in between approaching the journey of being a sports psychologist and an industrial organizational psychologist. I am passionate about sports and studying Psychology. I plan on extending my knowledge in the mixture of the two and contributing it towards my future. I want to examine the various areas of sports psychology and also learn more about the idea of improving quality performance

Something that has always been in my life and repeatedly been said to me, or mentioned is that during a sporting event everything is mental. Now what I have always wondered was that everything in the mental game is based on one’s own preferences, the way one thinks and processes information and how he reacts to a situation. There are various components of an athlete’s mental game such as motivation, agility, confidence; all of which contribute in actual competitions, games or even at practice. More importantly, confidence is more complex because it is what is affected most of the mental game, that’s what makes or breaks an athlete, and that can be affected by a coach, parent, or negative teammate, it’s not just personal thoughts reflecting

Every elite athlete has psychological training and uses the process of goal setting in order to enhance their performance. Goal setting is used to enhance concentration, build self confidence and to manage time and other resources. (Tony M 1995, page 259)

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

With more than forty million children participating in sports annually, ethics issues among student athletes are growing in severity and proportion. Rule bending, acts of dishonesty, athletic aggression, cheating and disrespect is becoming more accepted as students age. (Schinke, 2012) Noted authors, Mango and Lamont, address a rise in issues from as simple as cheating to the use of illegal performance-enhancing drugs (Mango & Lamont, 2012). And we are seeing that “unsportsmanlike behavior in all levels of competitive sports are common” (Schinke, 2012, p. 74). Consequently, many scholars link this digression to an abundance of poor role models, such as professional athletes and overzealous coaches who lack moral reasoning.

This study takes a different approach when it comes to improving and maintaining the mental health of the athletes when injury is involved. Some may consider being mentally tough to be a positive attribute of an athlete. However, having too much “mental toughness” may be detrimental to certain athletes. Since mental toughness is related to positive coping methods and injury response, it is more likely that these athletes who have high mental toughness to participate through an injury. This may cause further

The ultimate quest for sport psychologists is to establish what psychological factors produce the winning formula or to try to establish a profile of the successful athlete. Within the psychological framework attempts, to determine the "ideal athletic personality" have only been marginally successful (Morgan 1980, in White, 1993). One of the categories observed in order to understand and move towards the 'ideal athletic personality' is that of Psychological Skills Training (PST), "It is contended that mental skills training is a significant part of sport psychology and is of particular importance to athletes and coaches" (Rushall, 1995, p0.3).

Analyzation of factors that affect the players overall performance and participation but also the improvement the player could make during activity. Preparations are psychological need for most players as such they have different types of preparations which involve the mindset of the individual, having a positive attitude towards your actions and mistakes can lead to increase in performance in which players tend to maintain high level of self-motivation. Players tend to set goals for them in which they can achieve in a certain amount of time; these goals may include techniques or even fitness challenges. Positive mental imagery is a technique the player uses the illustrate to himself he’s skills and how he will apply them to the game, without maintaining concentration this would cause the player’s anxiety to go unstably high causing a defect in his technique. Motivation is a large factor regarding a player’s performance; this motivation can be passed on Extrinsic or Intrinsic.

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.

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.

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