Part 1: Intro to Applied Sport Psychology

• 2 Types of Applied Sport Psychology 

  • Clinical Sport psych Consultant 
  • Focus on assisting athletes w/ severe or abnormal mental health issues 
  • eg anorexia/bulimia & depression/anxiety
  • Educational Sport Psych Consultant 
  • Focus on teaching practical psych skills to normal athletes (also coaches)
  • Normal people performing in abnormal situations, therefore requires super-normal skill (physical & psych)
  • So… MST (Mental Skills Training)
  • Mental coach; Mental Skills Trainer (MST)
  • Help athletes to increase psych skills
• 2 Types of Applied Sport Psychology 

  • Clinical Sport psych Consultant 
  • Focus on assisting athletes w/ severe or abnormal mental health issues 
  • eg anorexia/bulimia & depression/anxiety
  • Not what we do - we can’t as aren't qualified to 
  • Safest thing is to refer to someone w/ that skill set 
  • Not common, but not uncommon for athletes to suffer from mental health issues
• 2 Types of Applied Sport Psychology 

  • Educational Sport Psych Consultant 
  • Focus on teaching practical psych skills to normal athletes (also coaches)
  • Normal people performing in abnormal situations, therefore requires super-normal skill (physical & psych)
  • Who voluntary places themselves in an abnormal situation (competition)
  • Social pressure, anxiety/stress 
  • Need skills to cope
  • So… MST (Mental Skills Training)
  • "Mental" coach; Mental Skills Trainer (MST)
  • Help athletes to increase psych skills
• 2 Types of Applied Sport Psychology

  • Educational Sport Psych Consultant 
  • Mental skills coach - to educate
  • Don’t need to be sick to be better
  • Don’t need to have mental health issues to improve psych skills - to cope with competition, to improve performance 
  • Skills: is something you can improve & get better at
  • May have existing level, but can always improve 
  • Skills are changeable (not have them or don’t)
  • Doesn’t mean is easy to change
  • Get better through training 
  • Training: how you get better (improve skills)
• 2 General Questions of Sport Psych

  1. How psychological factors affect performance?
  2. Where does psych fit
  3. MST
  4. What can we improve to them be better
  5. How involvement in sport influences her psych development/well-being
• Brains + Brawn = Mental Skills Training
• Examples:

  • Mental Skills also for Sheep Shearers etc
  • Can be to have better performance to have more fun
• Objective of Mental Skills Training (MST)

  • Help Athletes PERFORM to the best of their Ability 
  • Performance enhancement (IPS & ‘Flow’)
  • Help Athletes ENJOY sport 
  • Increase performance, decrease stress, more fun, …
  • Development Psych Skills as LIFE Skills 
  • Stress management, coping skills, commitment…
  • Motivation, goal setting
  • Attention-concentration, focus
  • ...   personal growth & development …
  • Not in order of performance, 3 may be most important
• Objective of Mental Skills Training (MST)

  • Help Athletes PERFORM to the best of their Ability 
  • Performance enhancement (IPS & Flow)
  • Help athletes get better, by being in the zone 
  • On a consistent basis 
  • Increase sense of satisfaction 
• Objective of Mental Skills Training (MST)

  • Help Athletes ENJOY sport 
  • Increase performance, decrease stress, more fun, …
  • Enjoyment not just about fun, why would you participate if didn’t have a sense of enjoyment 
  • When enjoy your work/what you are doing is easier to do the work
  • Sense of accomplishment 
  • Decrease/managing stress (not eliminating): be in control of our stress so are helping our performance, not hindering performance
• Objective of Mental Skills Training (MST)

  • Development Psych Skills as LIFE Skills 
  • Stress management, coping skills, commitment…
  • Motivation, goal setting
  • Attention-concentration, focus
  • ...   personal growth & development …
  • Skills learn in sport, for sport can be transferable - used elsewhere in your life 
  • Skills that help you perform well as well cope with other life domains 
  • Academic 
  • Do not only need to be used for sport
  • May be most important
• Why Develop Mental Skills?

  • To convince people MST matter - ask yourself the following questions…
  • In completion what percentage of your performance is dependent upon psych factors?
  • How many hours a week do you as an athlete spend on physical training (fitness, strength, skills)?
  • How many hours a week do you spend on psychological training?
• Why Develop Mental Skills?

  • To convince people MST matter - ask yourself the following question..
  • In completion what percentage of your performance is dependent upon psych factors?
  • Elite athletes say ~ 90%, other athletes say ~ 50% (Hodge, 2010; Orlick, 1986)
  • Everyone fit, strong etc at elite, the mental skills separate them 
• Why Develop Mental Skills?

  • To convince people MST matter - ask yourself the following question...
  • How many hours a week do you as an athlete spend on physical training (fitness, strength, skills)?
  • Many elite athletes report devouring a minimum of 20 hrs a week (approx 2-3 per day) to physical training 
  • To get self physically ready to perform, but 50 - 90% is mental - how often do you spend on mental skills training 
  • Know its important - but don’t spend much time on it 
• Why Develop Mental Skills?

  • To convince people MST matter - ask yourself the following question...
  • How many hours a week do you spend on psychological training?
  • Although most athletes/players agree that psych skills account for 50% of their competition performance, much less than 50% training time is devoted to psych skills training (Sulivan & Hodge, 1991)
  • But most do less than 5% psych training
  • Why??
• Why Develop Mental Skills?

  • If want all physical work to pay off, need to spend some time on MST (doesn’t have to be 50% of training)
  • Want person’s brain in the game to help drive their performance (to move their body)
  • Putting physical training into place 
• Why Mental Skills are Neglected

  1. Lack of knowledge of MST 
  2. Psych skills are viewed as unchangeable
  3. Lack of time for MST
• Why Mental Skills are Neglected

  • Lack of knowledge of MST 
  • Hard to practise something, if don’t know how to practise it 
  • Wary of getting it wrong 
  • Hard to teach if don’t know how to teach it
  • Lack of time for MST
  • Got time but depends how you prioritise it 
  • Doesn’t have to be long to make a difference
• Why Mental Skills are Neglected

  • Psych skills are viewed as unchangeable
  • Can’t quantifiable measure them or see them as easily (can’t see it paying off/improving)
  • View that you’ve either got it or you don’t (not the case)
  • Is how we learn 
  • Doesn’t mean get to high level, but can be improved 
• Why Mental Skills are Neglected

  • Myths about MST…
  • i) MST is only for problem athletes 
  • ii) MST is only for elite athletes 
  • iii) MST is a quick fix
  • iv) MST isn’t useful or real science
• Why Mental Skills are Neglected - Are myths around MST
• Why Mental Skills are Neglected

  • Myths about MST…
  • i) MST is only for problem athletes 
  • w/ mental health issues
  • ii) MST is only for elite athletes 
  • Can be used for anybody who wanted to improve/get better
• Why Mental Skills are Neglected

  • Myths about MST…
  • iii) MST is a quick fix
  • Just like any other skill will take time (may be more time for others)
  • iv) MST isn’t useful or real science
  • Haven’t got a way to test it 
  • Need evidence to help convince people 
  • Use quotes from elite athletes (role models, people they admire)
• Why Develop Mental Skills & Why Mental Skills are Neglected

  • Questions crucial to understand mental skills 
  • Myths need to be addressed head on