Free Post #2: Psychology in Sports

Anyone who has played a competitive sport knows that it is a mental game just as much as it is physical. As an athlete, you cant just go out there mentally unprepared and expect to play your best.  It takes a lot of mental preparation before the game in order to compete.

After the recent MSU Rose Bowl Victory, I was curious as to whether or not there was a field of psychology behind this. Turns out there is. The people who study this mental preparation are called Sports Psychologists. They research and test different mental preparation techniques to see what best helps athletes get ready to play.

Some athletes have rituals and other techniques to get them ready to play. But for those who are unaware or are struggling to get themselves in the game, I found a list of methods from various websites, that are discovered by sports psychologists and are proven to help get athletes past mental barriers so they can be psychologically to the right place.These techniques help to build confidence in athletes, which has a positive correlation with actual performance.

1. Goal Setting :
 It is important to identify what specific goals you have before you go out on the field, court, or rink. Whether it is to score a hat trick, get the most assists, or not let anything past you, when you can give your mind some type of focus, you will be more likely to achieve that goal. It gives the mind a direction and you will be more motivated and determined to follow through with the goal when you identify it before hand.

2. Relaxation/ Increasing Intensity :
Depending on the sport and each persons preferences, some athletes like to get them selves relaxed before games, whiles others like to pump themselves up. Its whatever physiological state you preform better in. No matter which one you choose, it is still important to learn how to regulate the anxiety with relaxation techniques such as controlled breathing and progressive muscle relaxation. In order to get yourself pumped up, a great way is by moving your body to heart pumping, intensity key words such as 'Charge' and 'Hustle'. These words will generate positive thoughts and emotions. And of course music is a great way to generate energy, excitement and intensity in an athlete.

3. Self Talk :
Your thoughts control everything you do. They influence feelings and behaviors without us even being aware. Therefore it is important for the athlete to identify if these thoughts are positive or negative. The goal is to harness the negative thoughts and counteract them by replacing them with positive ones, or even re framing the negative thoughts so you can them from a different perspective and in a new light. When you can self talk your mind into thinking positively, you will be way more likely to reflect those positive thoughts through your actions on the field.

4. Imagery :
Personally, I think imagery is the most effective technique to get an athlete mentally prepared. It allows you to  retreat to a place that is calm. When you imagine what you are going to do in the game, you can mentally push your self to become stronger and better, way further then you can in actual life. You can allow yourself to visualize the game, the sounds, and the smells. When visualizing you can control every play, movement, and outcome, to end the way that you want. This can mentally get yourself to a place where you are ready to go out there and play just like you pictured yourself in your head. When athletes can visualize them coming out on top and performing how they want, confidence is built and they will be more confident to do this in the actual game.

5. Intrinsic Motivation :
An individual who is intrinsically motivated will be likely to perform the task for only the inner satisfaction of accomplishing it. When the only reason the athlete wants to go out there is for himself, and nothing else, he is more like to be more motivated, and will seek out challenges. They will more likely be maximally engaged. A good way to intrinsically motivate yourself is by identifying the reasons why you started playing the sport, and why you continue to do it. As an athlete when you recognize you are passionate about the game and that's why you play, you will be more likely to preform at your peak.

These Psychology techniques are powerful enough to determine an athletes performance in a game.
I have concluded that different methods work for different people; they just have to find what fits the best. For example, I used to play soccer, and the things that most benefited me were imagery, music, intrinsic motivation , and self talk. Sports are a mental game, and psychology can help any athlete ready to play.

Sources:

USTA. "Sports Psychology: Mental Skills for Achieving Optimum Performance | USTA."Sports Psychology: Mental Skills for Achieving Optimum Performance. United States Tennis Association, 2014. Web. 26 Jan. 2014.