This is a big question, and given it’s a somewhat new area in aiding sports performance, it’s a relatively unanswered question.
My aim here is to lay out what sport psychology is, busting some common myths along the way, and show how to view sport psychology so it can help you and your fellow athletes, teams, and management.
Sport psychology is a practice which helps athletes and surrounding stakeholders to prepare for the known demands of their sport.
These demands may include, performing under pressure, coach relationships, de-selection, injury and so many more. Given the unique environment and demands on athletes within sport, it is understandable that a specialist psychology branch has been developed.
When we think “psychology”, we often think Freudian-style sofas and delving into our subconscious.
But really, psychology is the study of mind and behaviour, gaining an understanding of how we think and feel and the influence this has on our actions. This doesn’t mean it always has to be super insightful and philosophical. If anything, the opposite.
Thinking about the fundamental ways we do things in our everyday lives and having the awareness to notice this is a really valuable and important skill. A skill which sets us apart from animals and other species. Sport psychology can be used as a process to gain awareness of ourselves and then use this knowledge to be deliberate in how we think, feel and act. A process which fosters undeniable improvements in our performance.
Advancements in sport have grown and grown over the last decades. Think of a penny-farthing bicycle compared to the streamlined carbon fibre technology used today. Or technique-based and tactical advancements, like the Fosbury flop, which hugely advanced high jump. This doesn’t mean the penny-farthing or straddle technique were broken, it just shows that people wanted to explore how to make them better, faster, and stronger. We think the same with psychology. Psychology is a way of building on current mental strengths to become better, faster, stronger.
Unfortunately, the stigma surrounding psychology support and mental health mean some people avoid considering psychology and can’t make the most of what it has to offer. But how does it feel if we view psychology support as self-improvement instead? Much better, right? Great - because that’s all it is – learning and exploring ways to maximise your performance.
The way you think, feel and act are manifestations of how your life has gone to date. All your experiences and your natural responses to those experiences have formed the person you are today. This means, brilliantly, that only you have had that unique combination of experiences. And, also brilliantly, new experiences happen all the time meaning our brains are still learning and developing.
However, this also means, more challengingly, that your way of being is complex to unravel. And making solid changes to mindset and ways of thinking, behaving, and responding takes both TIME and EFFORT.
Unlike the fitness industry, we do not advertise short-term solutions, as we know this simply isn’t how it works. If it were, the whole country would eat healthily, get enough sleep, and not be affected when their sports team loses.
So please, understand that engaging with sport psychology is a process you can choose to engage with, and one which has the potential to bring the next level of performance to your sport and life.
