Sport
Psychology
Sabrina Jeffery
What is Sport Psychology all
About?
Sport psychology is concerned with
psychological factors, such as; anxiety,
excitement, and stress that affect how
athletes perform in sport.
Sport Psychology is about goal setting,
imagery, keeping track of your development
and time management.
Goal Setting
Athletes of all sports, ages, and experiences gain from
the setting of goals. Goals assist us to stay motivated,
focussed and give us a way to monitor our progress and
success.
Using the S.M.A.R.T principle
Specific – don’t make the goal too broad or
vague
Measurable – Know when you’ve achieved
the goal
Achievable under your control – do
something to achieve it
Realistic – not too easy or too hard
Timed – set an approximate time frame
in which to achieve the goal
Goal Setting
Thereare two main types of goals: outcome and
performance goals.
Outcome goals focus on the results of a contest (i.e..
Beating someone).
Performance goals focus on improvements in relation
to an individuals past performance (i.e. improving one’s
time in a k).
Goal Setting
Important considerations:
Goals are best as performance or process goals
(improving your skills) rather than outcome
(wanting to win) based.
Goals need to be important to the person.
Goals should be written down.
Goals are best when evaluated regularly.
Goals need to include family, relationships, school
and sport.
Imagery
Imagery is using one’s senses to re-create or
create an experience in the mind.
Polysensory experience (Use of relevant
senses):
-Auditory -Tactile
-Olfactory -Kinaesthetic
-Gustatory
Research indicates that when individuals engage
in vivid imagery, their brains interpret these
images identical to the actual stimulus-situation.
Imagery as a Mental training tool
Imagery allows athletes to practice sport
skills, strategies and mental skills without
physically being in the training or competitive
environment.
Athletes must use imagery in a continuous
and systematic manner for it to qualify as
mental training.
Imagery enhances thoughts and emotions
-^ self-confidence, motivation, attention control, controls
pre-competitive anxiety in combination with other mental
training)
Imagery as a Mental training tool
External perspective-
Outside the body
Internal perspective-
Inside the body. Elite athletes more likely to use
than nonelite athletes.
Enhancing sport performance
and learning
Mental practice: Better than no practice at all
and compliments physical practice.
A Canadian Olympic gold medalist in the
bobsled emphasized this point:
“In bobsledding, you can only do two or three
runs per day, due to the physical demands.
So I did a lot of imagery instead and it was a
real learning process… Each track took up a
video-tape in my head.”
Imagery Usage
99% of Canadian athletes in the Olympic
games reported using imagery (4 days per
week, 12 minuets per session).
Tiger Woods: “You have to see the shots and
feel them through your hands”
Olympics 2012-
The importance of Sport
Psychology
[Link]
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Keeping track- using a diary
Writing things down in a diary will help you to maximise how
effective you are in monitoring your own progress as you develop as
an athlete.
Things a diary can help you with:
Writing down your goals
Reviewing your goals
Recording and working on emotional issues that effect you as an
athlete
Record and work on negative self –talk that effects your
performance & address those with positive statements
Track your imagery practice
Record and work on distractions that disrupt your focus
Develop better pre-competition/event/game plans & routines
Write down strategies
Record feedback from your coach/mentors
