Scribd
Upload
63 views2 pages

Capiz State University

Sports psychology is important for both athletes and coaches. It helps improve focus, boosts confidence, and develops coping strategies. Some key benefits of sports psychology include improving communication and cohesion within teams, identifying and replacing irrational beliefs, overcoming anxiety, facilitating recovery from injury, making practice more efficient, and strengthening the relationship between athletes and coaches. Sports psychology is about optimizing both the physical and psychological aspects of performance.

Uploaded by

Franz Simeon Cheng
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
63 views2 pages

Capiz State University

Sports psychology is important for both athletes and coaches. It helps improve focus, boosts confidence, and develops coping strategies. Some key benefits of sports psychology include improving communication and cohesion within teams, identifying and replacing irrational beliefs, overcoming anxiety, facilitating recovery from injury, making practice more efficient, and strengthening the relationship between athletes and coaches. Sports psychology is about optimizing both the physical and psychological aspects of performance.

Uploaded by

Franz Simeon Cheng
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 2

CAPIZ STATE UNIVERSITY

PED 114 (Sports and Exercise Psychology)


Second Semester 2020-2021 BPEd 2A 1:00-2:30 (T, Th)

Name: Franz Simeon Vincent E. Cheng Course & Section: BPEd-2A

What is the importance of sports psychology to athletes and coaches?

Sports psychology has been recognized for decades, however, most coaches and athletes
pay far too little attention to how it can help them perform better. Both trainers and players
continue to overemphasize the physical aspect of athletic competition at the expense of the non-
physical. Sports are about more than just the physical aspect. All who have either played or
coached are aware of this. The psychological aspects of sports are often overlooked, especially at
the lower levels. Regardless of how much emphasis is placed on the physical aspects of athletics,
and regardless of how physically skilled or athletically talented, someone is the psychological
elements of performance will limit success and affect results. With that being said, these physical
aspects of sports are important, and they become much more valuable when paired with an
effective mental training program.

Sports psychology is not only the domain of a sports psychologist, and there are many
ways in which coaches can become very effective themselves, to the benefit of their athletes and
team. This can also have the additional benefit of being more potent than one-time interventions
when it is integrated into a holistic training program. This means that sports psychology is about
more than just improving athletic performance. It plays a much large role within it. Athletes and
coaches alike can benefit from sports psychology in numerous ways. First, it improves focus and
dealing with distractions. Many athletes have the ability to concentrate, but their focus is often
displaced on the wrong places, such as when a batter thinks “I need to get a hit” while in the
batter’s box, which is a result-oriented focus. Sports psychology is concerned with helping
athletes to stay focused on the present moment and letting go of results. Second, it boosts
confidence in athletes who are unsure of themselves. If one has many doubts prior to or during
the performance, this indicates low self-esteem, or at least they are sabotaging what confidence
they had at the beginning of the competition. Third, it develops coping strategies to deal with
setbacks and errors. Getting into the "zone" requires emotional control. Athletes that have
extremely high and strict expectations struggle to cope with minor errors that are natural and
unavoidable in sports. It is essential to address these demands and also help athletes in staying
calm under pressure, and when they make mistakes, or get frustrated.

Fourth, it aids in the development of communication skills and cohesion. A major part of
sports psychology and mental training is helping teams improve cohesion and communication.
The more a team works together as a unit, the better the results for everyone involved. Fifth, it
instills a healthy belief system and identifies irrational thoughts. Sports psychology assists
athletes to identify ineffective beliefs and attitudes, such as comfort zones and negative self-
labels, that are impeding their performance. These unhealthy views must be identified and
replaced with new ways of thinking. Unhealthy or irrational beliefs will keep an athlete stuck no
matter how much they practice. Sixth, it assists athletes in overcoming competitive anxiety.
Sports psychology can assist athletes in overcoming fears such as fear of failure, fear of
embarrassment, and overall performance anxiety. This is common in athletes who are
perfectionists or intensely dedicated who are too concerned with what others think about their
performance. Seventh, it facilitates athletes’ recovery from injury. Returning to play following
an injury can sometimes be difficult for many athletes, depending on the severity of the injury.
Athletes are often left with "mental scars" even after a physical injury has healed. Sports
psychology can help injured athletes cope better with the stresses of returning to their pre-injury
level of performance. Eighth, it increases the efficiency of the practice. Many athletes, especially
college athletes, have a limited amount of practice time. Understanding the fundamentals of
motor learning and performance will help these athletes make the best of their practice time.
Finally, it strengthens athlete-coach relationship. In the 21st century, the relationship between a
coach and an athlete is vital for success. This is especially important in lower levels of sports, as
well as the high levels for individual sports. Sports coaches and athletes must dedicate their time
to develop these relationships to achieve better results. This starts with understanding oneself and
their athletes or coaches.

You might also like