Waking up at 5 am to head out in the dark in the cold for that 10km training run and knowing that your team Is behind you and requires you to score in the last few minutes requires single-minded motivation and mental toughness.
For an athlete to have a tough and healthy mind, a sport psychologist considers the athlete's feelings and thoughts and helps him deal with them. Let's discover the key concepts of sports psychology and understand what it is and how it optimizes an athlete's performance.
You must be wondering if Sports psychology is real; it studies how psychological factors like Anxiety, panic attack, or other mental illnesses influence sports: athlete's performance, exercise, and physical activities.
For sportsmen under pressure, psychologists analyze these factors and help the performer deal with and improve their performance and mental well-being so that the athlete is always on top of his game and is not bothered by such factors; that is how sports psychology can be defined as Sport Psychologist.
A sports psychologist said in 2019, "Sports psychology is about understanding the performance, mental processes, and well-being of people in sporting settings, taking into account psychological theory methods."
Being a professional player or athlete is not easy. The competition is on the other level these days. With fame, there also comes the responsibility to prove yourself. But sometimes, that athlete is hated or comes into controversy for a small reason. The athlete has to bear with it, as he cannot create a scene of frustration.
This can even cause his performance at the time of sports he/she is playing. They must face criticism caused by fans, friends, family, team members, and others. This makes them overthink and affects the brain, eventually affecting their performance. The therapist makes them react, and according to the athlete's reaction, the therapist works out and channels their depression and all into performing their sports.
Developing skills is not a piece of cake, and athletes take a massive toll on themselves during this process. This stress can cause problems like Anxiety or panic attacks; to treat such issues, a professional sports psychologist is also hired sometimes. Psychologists help athletes deal with pressurized situations yet make them strong enough to be mentally strong.
There are several types of psychological sports methods classified:
Some mind tricks like self-talking, imagery vision, or tactics for on-field performance and self-motivation are some of the tricks and techniques used in educational sports. It is used to improve an athlete's performance on and off the field.
Athletes with mental conditions such as depression and stress are the main target of clinical sports methods. In this method, the therapist or the expert uses the athlete's bad memories or disorder perfectly against his sport strategy. The player goes through a different transformation in thinking or his perspective changes.
This method does not compulsorily involve athletes like the other two methods. This method is focused on non-athletes and regular exercise persons. This method helps them to motivate people to keep their exercise regular. Experts use motivation techniques and set individual goals to help maintain interest.
Sports psychology is not just one theory but a combination of several overlapping concepts that attempt to understand what it takes to make a successful and healthy athlete. These are some of the factors that are widely studied in sports psychology.
It is essential to have a focused mindset whenever you are on the ground or while playing a sport. There are various disturbances at the venue, but to be focused, you need just to silence extra voices. Situations happen wherein you cannot mute; that's when the psychologists come into place and help you get out of the side voices and keep you more focused on the sport you would be playing.
Setting goals for an athlete is one of the significant factors that help him grow and focus on practical activities, increase their commitment to the sport, and energize themselves. A well-constructed goal plan can offer a hand to keep the performer motivated and on track. A swimmer can set a goal to complete a 100-meter sprint in minus 4 seconds from his previous set time.
When an athlete cannot set specific goals or achieve them and takes them as a setback, that's when a sports psychologist can help him set his goals and achieve them. Which eventually makes him a better swimmer.
"It's not who we are that holds us back; it's who we think we're not," was quoted by Michael Nolan, a Gaelic footballer, which means. It's the lack of confidence that blocks our potential and growth.
Confidence plays one of the most prominent roles in an athlete's performance. A performer can be full of potential and talented, but lacking confidence brings that to nothing. A sports psychologist helps athletes boost their confidence and tries understanding the root of their issues.
Dealing with it from the core is the motive of a sports psychologist and provides tools to help with it; some of the tools may have been used by us, too, like self-talk to motivate ourselves.
Under extreme pressure, when the game's last minutes are about to go out, and your entire team depends on your actions which will be responsible for the team's win or loss, athletes tend to thrive in such situations. How is that possible? Not everyone is born with the ability to deal with such pressure during a game, which is developed over time by training your mind.
Motivation is the energy that maintains, sustains, and channels behaviors over a period. Motivation impacts an athlete's professional and personal life, which helps him improve performance and be at the top of their game.
Motivation can be lost easily by some performers due to any failure, setback, or injury, which is normal, but when the athlete is not able to get back on track, that is an issue. A sports psychologist is brought in to help the athlete with their fear of getting injured again and Anxiety.
Many more factors influence and are studied by sports psychology. This was just a tiny preview of the big picture.
You would be doing any therapy when it is effective. Research has found that sports psychology has been a great help for many people to get out of situations where they face mental stress. No matter the level they are playing, it is helpful for the entry-level to the master-level athlete.
It also has various benefits, wherein children might get rid of obesity if they consult a psychologist. Your child's body can be maintained with proper care when they are being trained in a mentally and physically healthy way.
Techniques will be determined after the first consultation with a psychologist. It might change when needed for an individual.
Relaxation plays a vital role when it comes to playing. Psychologists work on it with athletes to make instant decisions that would be beneficial for the team or self. Progressive muscle relaxation is a technique used by sports psychologists to relax a few muscles that would make an athlete feel relaxed once set free.
Psychologists use hypnosis for the athlete to quit smoking and perform better on the ground. Hypnosis helps an athlete to be more focused on the game. While hypnosis, you would be made focused on one thing and make you centric only on the game.
CBT helps athletes to identify their thoughts and change their destructive behaviors. This would help the athletes to be in control of their own thoughts. You would be emotionally intense and not create any problems for yourself.
Sports psychology is not widely accepted in today's world, and as a result, the mental well-being of an athlete is given priority. People finally understand that mental fitness is just as necessary as the physical fitness of an athlete.
Sports psychology continues to grow as more athletes are not open about it, and people approach it with an open mind. However, this must always be remembered that sports are just games to be played for fun. A sports psychologist in 2012, namely Aidan Moran, said that sports are played by the body and won by the mind.
