| Editorial |
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This year in Salt Lake City a record number of Olympic athletes enlisted the help of sport psychologists to gain a mental edge. The increase was a result of statements made from Olympic athletes who competed in Nagano; when asked what would make them compete better most athletes responded with "more sport psychology." What is sports psychology? Simply stated it is the study of the psychological factors that influence and are influenced by participation and performance in sport, exercise, and physical activity. In addition, it is the application of the knowledge gained through this study to everyday settings. Sport psychology professionals are interested in how participation in sport, exercise, and physical activity may enhance personal development and well-being throughout the life span. Most coaches recognize the importance of sport psychology. However, ask yourself the following questions: (1) during the season, how long do you spend in physical practice? (2) during the season how long do you spend practicing psychological skills? (3) how important do you think psychological skills are to performance and success? If you are like some coaches and athletes you will find that you consider psychological skills to be very important, yet you don't take the time to practice them! This is unfortunate because it is the psychological factors that account for the day to day changes in performance. Physical skills don't change that quickly! By now most coaches should be aware that it is a myth to think that sport psychology is only for elite athletes. Many of the popular Olympic athletes started their mental training when they were much younger. Coaches can be wonderful catalysts for developing psychological skills in athletes. In this issue, we have put together information that is geared towards helping coaches incorporate sport psychology into their professional practice. Many of the links are generic, while others are sport specific. One piece of advice for all coaches -- Be Patient -- just like physical skills, mental skills take time to develop. Sandra Short 
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| Read more from the Olympics... |
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To read more about the use of Sport Psychologists at the Olympic Games in Salt Lake City, click here. Most often young athletes will be enchanted by stories about elite athlete who use sport psychology -- its a great ice-breaker into the importance of mental training. |
| What's so great about Sport Psychology? |
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Why is sport psychology important anyway? In this article, Karlene Sugarman outlines why coaches and athletes should be interested in mental training. Her basic premise is that it is necessary to train both the mind and body for peak performances. Skeptical about the mind-body link? Well, have you ever had a bad dream? Usually, you will wake up and your heart is racing, you are sweating and very agitated, even though all you were doing was sleeping. But, in your mind there was something bad going on and your body was reacting to it. Convinced now? We hope so! |
| Important Psychological Characteristics |
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What kinds of psychological characteristics are important? There are a number of them but the most important are being confident, being focused and being relaxed. Here are a few articles related to each of these desirable characteristics. Being Confident: What is confidence? It is an athletes' belief in their ability that they can be successful. Confidence can be influenced by people who carry authority in an athlete's life such as coaches, family, friends and even other competitors. These people can positively or negatively influence athletes' perceptions of their experiences and can, therefore , change their level of self confidence. Coaches know that a big part of their job is to develop self confidence in their athletes. Here are sites that give tips on how to build self-confidence: Being Focused: Focusing involves being aware of only those things around you that are important and excluding everything else. When athletes are focused, irrelevant or distracting thoughts cannot interfere with their performance. Some of the things that can distract and upset athletes prior to, or during, a game situation include parents or other spectators yelling from the stands, bad calls by officials, other players not giving 100%, and fights on and off the playing field. These things can distract athletes from their game, lower their self-confidence, and put them in a bad mood. It is essential that coaches find out when athletes are most likely to get distracted, and what things are most likely to upset them. How can you get your athlete focused? Click here! Mind Tools also has a page on improving focus. Being relaxed: "Relax!" "Relax!" That’s what coaches say to do, right? But how is this possible with the bases loaded, the game on the line and you at bat; or, the game tied in overtime with you going out to kick a field goal? One way to help athletes during these stressful times is to use breathing techniques. Click here to read more and learn techniques to help your athletes relax! I love this page which gives you samples of relaxation techniques. |
| Sport Psychology and Selected Summer Sports. |
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We could have put all kinds of links in this section, but we decided to limit to sites that we think are exceptional (and free!). Enjoy. Dr. Patrick Cohn will send you a weekly newsletter on how sport psychology can improve your golf game! Click here to sign up. Tennis anyone? Here's a great at link for sport psychology and tennis. On the run? There are a number of articles in their training section pertaining to sport psychology. This would be excellent reading for track and cross country coaches! |
| I want to be a sport psychologist! |
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Okay, I'm so excited by all this sport psychology stuff that I want to be a sport psychologist! What's a career in sport psychology all about anyway? Here are a few links for you to take that explain what a career in sport psychology would be like. The first, called "careers in sport psychology" is written by a practicing sport psychologist. The second article, called "Becoming a Sports Psychologist" is from the American Psychological Association's Division 47: Sport and Exercise Psychology Web Page. This is an organization that represents the exciting and fast developing specialization of sport psychology that cuts across psychology and the sport sciences. There are other organizations that cater to sport psychology enthusiasts. In addition to AAHPERD, you can enjoy learning about sport psychology from the Association for the Advancement of Applied Sport Psychology (AAASP), the North American Society for the Psychology of Sport and Physical Activity (NASPSPA) and the Canadian Society for Psychomotor Learning and Sport Psychology (SCAPPS) to name a few. |
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Questions to Ask, or Thoughts to Share? |
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| Contribute YOUR Ideas |
| If you have ideas, comments, letters to share, or questions about particular topics, please email one of the following Coaching Section Editors: |
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Mike Clark |
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Robert McGowan |
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Martin Short |
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Sandra Short |