Sports is one of the most popular and lucrative industries in the world. No matter where you go, athletes play or engage in specific sports and have dedicated fan bases. Sportspeople have become brands, with marketing teams behind them, driving sponsorship deals and selling merchandise.
Regardless of the many reasons people watch and play sports, the scale of their popularity means that we need skilled sports practitioners, who understand how to help teams and individuals perform optimally.
In this post, we’ll briefly discuss what sports psychology involves, its principal areas of focus, and why you should learn more about it.
What is sports psychology?
Sports psychology is a specialised field that focuses on understanding how to optimise athletes’ mental and physical performance. Although not currently registered under the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA), mental health practitioners can expand their practice to include sports psychology as a niche focus.
To give an overview, sports psychologists work to achieve a specific goal with teams and individuals. These goals include improving team organisation and functioning, increasing physical capabilities and winning tournaments
Sports psychology in the media
2024 Paris Olympic Games
The 2024 Paris Olympic Games provides many opportunities to see sports psychology in action. One of the most current critical insights is how important sports psychology is in helping athletes perform and cope with setbacks.
Sports psychologist Professor Pieter Kruger, who joined Team SA to help coach the team to perform under pressure, shares the importance of learning skills and techniques to perform at such a grand scale. Kruger’s approach is based on neuropsychology and the biochemistry of performance under pressure. This gives some idea of sports psychology’s complexity.
Managing mental health is another crucial aspect of sports psychology, which the following news stories highlight:
Chad le Clos
One of South Africa’s most decorated Olympians, Le Clos openly shared his struggles with mental health after COVID-19 and recently moving to Germany to train with a new coach. Navigating stressful times inside and outside of the pool has been vital to ensuring Le Clos could compete in the 2024 games.
Simone Biles
Biles shocked the world when she withdrew from the 2021 Tokyo Olympics to focus on her mental health. At the time, she was suffering from “the twisties”. It is an anxiety-related phenomenon that involves gymnasts becoming disoriented and opening themselves up to serious injury.
Biles took a two-year hiatus after Tokyo 2020 to focus on her mental health, during which time she was also vocal about her experiences as a sexual abuse survivor. Now engaging in consistent therapy, Biles is back to compete in the 2024 Paris Olympic Games as the USA’s most decorated gymnast.
Sports documentaries
Break Point
Tennis players dedicate their lives to being able to perform at a professional level. Often, they only have one chance to make their mark. The physical pressure and toll it takes on players can either make or break their careers.
Break Point follows some of the world’s top tennis players at the world’s most prestigious tennis tournaments. This includes all four major Grand Slam tournaments (the Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open) and the ATP and WTA tours.
Full Swing
Golf is one of the most popular sports in the world, and Full Swing follows some of the world’s top golfers as they compete against each other on the PGA Tour.
With other leagues offering players lucrative opportunities, the level of competition in this industry is fierce, which means players need to be at the top of their game and do their best to keep winning.
Tour de France Unchained
Tour de France Unchained shares stories from people and teams that compete in the gruelling Tour de France competition. As it is such a competitive and physically demanding endeavour, this series examines how cyclists in this race push the boundaries of human physical limitation.
Formula 1: Drive to Survive
Technology has also influenced the evolution of sports, which is evident in the popularity of racing. Formula 1 racing, in particular, requires exceptional skill and focus, and in Formula 1: Drive to Survive, you’ll learn more about the famous racers’ lives on and off the track.
The Last Dance
The Chicago Bulls 1997-98 season was legendary, and in The Last Dance, you get to enjoy never-before-seen footage of the team dynamics behind the scenes of the NBA. You’ll also get an insight into how players like Michael Jordan developed on and off the court.
What does a career in sports psychology involve?
From the list of documentaries above, it’s clear that there’s plenty of media to engage with to learn more about the psychology behind professional sports and the sporting industry. But what do sports psychologists do?
What sports psychologists do can look different depending on the level of competition and the sport. According to the American Psychological Association (APA), the principal areas of sports psychology include:
- Cognitive and behavioural skills training for performance enhancement
- Counselling and clinical interventions
- Consultation and training
We’ll provide more insight into each of these categories below.
Cognitive and behavioural skills training for performance enhancement
Achieving in sports requires cognitive and behavioural skills. These include goal setting, making use of visualisation and imagery, performance planning, and implementing attention and control strategies. Knowing how to focus and move into flow is also essential.
Building confidence is a key focus, which involves mastering emotional regulation skills to help cope with the ups and downs of winning and losing and perhaps not achieving the desired outcome of a race or competition.
Counselling and clinical interventions
Athletes require the same counselling and psychological support as anyone else, especially while under pressure to perform or achieve specific goals.
Motivation, maintaining optimal health, and dealing with burnout and injuries are some topics that sports psychologists engage in. Professionals in this field also deal with complex issues such as personal and sexual identity, violence, aggression and career transitions.
Consultation and training
On a micro level, sports psychologists deal with athletes and their day-to-day psychological skills development for better performance. However, on a macro level, they must also facilitate the environment where sports games occur, from school sports to the professional arena.
On an organisational level, sports psychologists focus on team building, consulting with sports organisations, and working with parents and teachers in youth sports development. Other sports professionals, such as coaches, also need professional training and guidance.
Why should you learn more about sports psychology?
Are you interested in sports? Learning more about sports psychology can give you insight into how to work as a team, overcome skills development challenges, and push the boundaries of what we can achieve.
From an organisational standpoint, we need psychological insight to organise teams effectively and ensure that sports programmes consider psychological wellbeing, as in all other areas of society.
If you’re a mental health practitioner, you might be interested in learning about the psychological interventions and skills required in this field. Thereby expanding your skill set in a dynamic environment.
Explore sports psychology at SACAP Global
Register for SACAP Global’s Sports Psychology short course to learn more about this niche field. This +/- 50-hour online course will help you learn more about psychological theory and how cognitive processes relate to sports performance. Contact us to find out more!