Sport Psychology

Training will push you physically and mentally. Elite athletes, professionals, and Olympians have powerful physical skills. However, they need training in goal setting, relaxation, visualization, self-talk, awareness, concentration, and control. The sport psychologist will help manage the emotions of their strenuous training routine in order to make athletes mentally tough.

Recreational athletes seek out sport psychologists, as well. Learning concentration and focus skills motivates them to want to achieve their goals. What they learn can be applied not only to sports, but also to real life.

Sport psychology is the career of choice for many people. Becoming a sport psychologist requires a four year degree from the university, and the program is growing. The Bachelor of Science degree won’t allow you to see clients. A master’s degree or a doctorate degree is required if you want to have clients.

George Fitz in 1895 studied the reaction time in athletes. This report started what later became sport psychology. Researchers began to delve into the depth of what an athlete is thinking and feeling. This evolved into modifying thinking in athletes in order to enhance performance.

People react differently to competition. Some become afraid and cower; others quicken their step; and other people become intensely aroused during a competition. Bijorn Borg was famous for staying even keeled during a competition. He never became intensely aroused that he started to make errors, and he never became under aroused that he was complacent.

Sport psychologist look at the alertness factor plus the physical skill to enhance performance. The ideal is for the athlete’s alertness to be at the same level as the physical skill.