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 There are 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 https://

www.youtube.com/watch?v=d8DSzLpEru0

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