PRESENTATION ON SPORT

PSYCHOLOGY

By
Blessing Mashava
(B232284B)
 OBJECTIVES
 By the end of the presentation students should
be able to:
 Define Sports Psychology.

 List and explain the techniques of Sport Psychology.

 Describe and explain various applications of Sport

Psychology.
 SCOPE
 Definition.
 History of sport psychology.
 Techniques of sport psychology.
 Applications of sport psychology.
 Duties of a sport psychologist.
 Zimbabwean contest.
 WHAT IS SPORT
PSYCHOLOGY?
 Sports psychology is the study of how psychology influences sports,
athletic performance, exercise and physical activities. Some sports
psychologists work with professional athletes and coaches to improve
performance and increase motivation. Other professionals utilize exercise
and sports to enhance people’s lives and well-being throughout the entire
lifespan, (Weinberg and Gould 2017).
 Professional sports psychologists often help athletes cope with the intense
pressure that comes from competition and overcome problems with focus
and motivation.
 They also work with athletes to improve performance and recover from
injuries. They also help regular people learn how to enjoy sports and learn
to stick to an exercise program.
 HISTORY OF SPORTS PSYCHOLOGY
 Griffith began offering the first course in sports psychology in 1923,
and later published the first book on the subject titled The Psychology
of Coaching (1926). Unfortunately, Griffith’s lab was closed in 1932
due to lack of funds.

 Sports psychology is a relatively young discipline within psychology. In

1920, Carl Diem founded the world’s first sports psychology laboratory
in Berlin, Germany. In 1925, two more sports psychology labs were
established – one by A.Z. Puni at the Institute of Physical Culture in
Leningrad and the other by Coleman Griffith at the University of
Illinois.
 TECHNIQUES OF SPORT PSYCHOLOGY

 Sport psychology techniques aim to enhance athletic

performance, overcome obstacles and promote well-being.
Some key techniques include:
 Goal setting: Setting specific, achievable goals to enhance
motivation and focus.
 Mental rehearsal: Imagining and rehearsing different scenarios
to prepare for competition.
 Mindfulness: Present-moment awareness to enhance
performance, reduce stress and increase overall well-being.
 TECHNIQUES CONT…..
 Motivation enhancement: Techniques to boost intrinsic
motivation, such as identifying values and passions.
 Self care: Prioritising physical and mental well-being through
healthy habits and stress management.
 Injury Rehabilitation: Strategies to cope with injury, maintain
motivation and facilitate recovery.
 Team building: Techniques to enhance communication, trust
and cohesion among team members.
 THE MIND
 The mind plays a vital role in how successful an athlete will ultimately
become. Psychologists can help athletes in how to deal with problems of
excessive anxiety, self-confidence and they also teach control through goal-
setting.
 Some of the mental skills used by athletes include: Goal setting. Research
suggests that goals should be specific, measurable, difficult but attainable,
time-based, written down, and a combination of short-term and long-term
goals
 In modern sport, there is an increasing awareness of how important
psychological factors are within athletic performance and it is now being
recognized that physical talent is not the only component which leads to
success (Gucciardi et al, 2008).
 COMMON APPLICATIONS IN PSYCHOLOGY
Personality
One common area of study within sport psychology is the relationship between personality
and performance.

 Mental toughness is a psychological edge that helps one perform at a high level
consistently.
 Mentally tough athletes exhibit four characteristics: a strong self-belief in their ability to
perform well, an internal motivation to be successful, the ability to focus one’s thoughts and
feelings without distraction and composure under pressure.

Self-efficacy is a belief that one can successfully perform a specific task.

 In sport, self-efficacy has been conceptualized as sport-confidence.
 Efficacy beliefs are specific to a certain task (e.g., I believe I can successfully make both free
throws), whereas confidence is a more general feeling (e.g., I believe I will have a good
game today).
 Cont…..
Motivation can be defined in two broad task. People
who play or perform for internal reasons, such as
enjoyment and satisfaction, are said to be intrinsically
motivated, while people who play for external reasons,
such as money or attention from others, are
extrinsically motivated, (Hemmings and Holder, 2016).
 Cont….
Youth sport

 This refers to organized sports programs for children less than 18 years old.
Researchers in this area focus on the benefits or drawbacks of youth sport
participation and how parents impact their children’s experiences of sporting
activities. In this day and age, more and more youth are being influenced by
what they see on TV from their sport idols.

 Life skills refer to the mental, emotional, behavioral, and social skills and
resources developed through sport participation. Research in this area focuses on
how life skills are developed and transferred from sports to other areas in life
(e.g., from tennis to school) and on program development and implementation.
 Cont…..
 Parenting in youth sport is necessary and critical for young athletes. Research on parenting
explores behaviors that contribute to or hinder children’s participation. For example, research
suggests children want their parents to provide support and become involved, but not give
technical advice unless they are well-versed in the sport. Excessive demands from parents may
also contribute to burnout, (Schinke and Hanrahan, 2017).
 Coaches
 Researchers in this area focus on coaches improving their coaching technique and their athletes'
performance.
 Motivational climate refers to the situational and environmental factors that influence
individuals' goals.
 The two major types of motivational climates coaches can create are task-oriented and ego-
oriented:
 Cont….

 a task-orientation emphasizes building skill, improvement, giving

complete effort, and mastering the task at hand, while an ego-
orientation emphasizes demonstrating superior ability,
competition, and does not promote effort or individual improvement.
 Effective coaching practices explore the best ways coaches can lead
and teach their athletes. effective methods for giving feedback, rewarding
and reinforcing behavior, communicating, and avoiding self-fulfilling
prophecies in their athletes.
 Cont….

 Team dynamics
 Sport psychologists may do consulting work or conduct research with
entire teams. This research focuses on team tendencies, issues, and
beliefs at the group level, not at the individual level.
 Team cohesion can be defined as a group's tendency to stick together
while pursuing its objectives. Team cohesion has two components: social
cohesion (how well teammates like one another) and task cohesion (how
well teammates work together to achieve their goal).
 Cont…
 Collective efficacy is a team's shared belief that they can or cannot accomplish a
given task. In other words, this is the team's belief about the level of competency they
have to perform a task. It is important to note that collective efficacy is an overall
shared belief amongst team members and not merely the sum of individual self-efficacy
beliefs. (Anshel, 2016).
 Leadership can be thought of as a behavioral process that influences team members
towards achieving a common goal. Leadership in sports is pertinent because there are
always leaders on a team (i.e., team captains, coaches, trainers).
 Cont….
 Nature perspective
 This includes studies on testosterone changes in sports which at least for males are similar to those

in status conflicts in non-human primates with testosterone levels increasing and decreasing as an
individual's status changes, (Gucciardi et al, 2008).
 A decreased testosterone level may decrease dominant and competitive behaviors which when the
status conflicts involved fighting may have been important for preventing physical injury to the loser
as further competition is avoided.
 Testosterone levels also increase before sports competitions, in particular if the event is perceived as
real challenge as compared to not being important.
 Testosterone may also be involved in the home advantage effect which has similarities to animal
defense of their home territory.
 Cont…

Arousal regulation
 Arousal regulation refers to entering into and maintaining an optimal
level of cognitive and physiological activation in order to maximize
performance, (Hill, 2018).
 This may include relaxation if one becomes too anxious through methods
such as progressive muscle relaxation, breathing exercises, and
meditation, or the use of energizing techniques (e.g., listening to music,
energizing cues) if one is not alert enough.
 Cont….

 Preperformance routines

 Williams(2018) posits that preperformance routines refer to the

actions and behaviors athletes use to prepare for a game or
performance.

 This includes pregame routines, warm up routines, and actions

an athlete will regularly do, mentally and physically, before they
execute the performance. Frequently, these will incorporate other
commonly used techniques, such as imagery or self-talk.
 Cont…
 Examples would be dribbling by basketball players at the foul line, and pre-shot
routines golfers or baseball players use prior to a shot or pitch.

 These routines help to develop consistency and predictability for the player. This
allows the muscles and mind to develop better motor control.

 Self-talk

 Self-talk refers to the thoughts and words athletes and performers say to themselves,
usually in their minds.

 Self-talk phrases (or cues) are used to direct attention towards a particular thing in
order to improve focus or are used alongside other techniques to facilitate their
effectiveness.
 APPLYING PERSPECTIVES
 Operant conditioning – BF Skinner
 If a behavior is reinforced then there are higher chances that the behavior will be
repeated. If the coaches positively reinforce a player’s performance then the player
will produce even a better performance and vise versa.

 Biological: heredity.
 Some sporting ability is inherited eg the black family, Ndhlovu family and Musona
family.

 Social learning: a player always strive to match the performance of his or her
model .

 Humanistic: Motivational - payment of bonuses, winning.

DUTIES OF A SPORT PSYCHOLOGIST
 Help Athletes Cope with Performance Fears
 Sports psychologist can help athletes overcome fears, such as fear of failure,
fear of embarrassment, and general performance anxiety. This is common
among athletes who are perfectionists or highly dedicated athletes that worry
too much about what other people think about their performance.

 Help Athletes Improve Mental Skills for Performance

 The most common role for a sports psychologist is to teach mental skills for
enhanced performance. A mental game expert can help you improve
confidence, focus, composure, intensity, and trust in athletic performance.
These mental skills help athletes improve performance and can help in other
areas of an athlete’s life.
 Duties cont…
 Help Athlete Mentally Prepare for Competition

Another common role of a sports psychologist is to help athletes mentally

prepare for competition and practice. This includes many of the mental skills
mentioned above, but applied to specific situations on the athletic field.
 Help Athletes Return After Injury

 Returning to play after an injury can sometimes be difficult for many athletes
depending on the nature of the injury. Athletes are often left with “mental scars”
long after an injury is physically healed. A sports psychologist can help injured
athletes cope better with the pressures associated with returning to a prior level
of performance–pre-injury.
 Duties cont..
 Help Athlete Develop Pregame Routine
 As part of mental preparation, the role of a sports psychologist includes
helping athletes develop mental skills used during pregame or prerace
routines. Athletes learn how to focus on the process instead of results
and be more proactive with their confidence prior to competition.
 Help Athletes Improve Practice Efficiency
 Another common role of a sports psychologist is to help athletes improve
the quality or efficiency of their practice. Many athletes, such as
collegiate athletes, have limited practice time. Coaches want to help
these athletes get the most out of their practice time by understanding
principles of motor learning and performance.
 THE ZIMBABWEAN CONTEST
 Sports psychology is one of the most ignored aspect of performance in
Zimbabwean sports.

 There has been very little attention focusing around mental toughness and this is
seen as very surprising considering both high performers and researchers agree
that competition day performance is about 60-80% mental skills.

 Juju is a common practice and in most cases, this is nothing but a psychological
gimmick to make athletes self believe.

 The cheering and the jeering of supporters had positive and negative influence in
sport psychology.
References:
Anshel, M. ( 2016): Applied Sports Psychology, A Practitioner's Guide, New York: Routledge.

Gucciardi, D.F., Gordon, S., and Dimmock, J.A. (2008): Towards an understanding of mental toughness in
Australian Football, Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, 20 (3), 261-281.

Hemmings, B. and Holder, T. (2016): Applied Sport Psychology, A Case-Based Approach, New York: Routledge.

Hill, A. (2018): Sport, Recovery, and Performance, New York: Routledge.

Schinke, R. and Hanrahan, S. (2017): Sport for Development, Peace, and Social Change, New York: Routledge.

Weinberg, R. and Gould, D. (2017): Foundations of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 7th ed, New York: Human
Kinetics.

Williams, J. (2018): Applied Sport Psychology: Personal Growth to Peak Performance, 7th ed, New York: McGraw-
Hill.