WHAT DOES A SPORTS PSYCHOLOGIST DO?
A sports psychologist can:
● Assist athletes in achieving competitive goals by better understanding their mental strengths and weaknesses and acquiring strategies to enhance performance.
● Explore and apply sports psychology techniques tailored to the needs of the athlete.
● Provide athletes with a comprehensive mental fitness regime that may include: goal setting, focusing, controlling pressure, dealing with frustration, energy management, imagery, and self-talk.
Here are some examples of areas of your game that can be improved by working with a sports psychologist:
● Improve performance consistency
● Create effective practice habits
● Improve communication skills
● Enhance motivation
● Fine tune focus
● Gain ability to perform in pressure situationsWHAT IS SPORTS PSYCHOLOGY
How much of your sports performance do you feel is affected by your attitude and how you think? 50%, 75%, 90%?
Most athletes think about 50-90% of what they do out on the field is affected by their attitude.
Now, think about how much time you actually spend working on your attitude? 0%, 5%, 10%?
So, you know your attitude is important but you don’t spend much time working on it. Probably, because you don’t know how to work on it.
Sports psychology tells you how. The field of sports psychology helps athletes enhance their sports performance by strengthening their attitudes. By examining personal and environmental factors that impact performance, a sports psychologist can develop techniques to improve the way an athlete feels, thinks, and ultimately performs. An athlete’s perceptions, thoughts, attitudes, beliefs, expectations, and emotions create mental agility to support and enhance physical capabilities. Becoming as mentally fit as you are physically, plays a vital role in helping you to perform consistently well. No matter what your talent level, strengthening your attitude will help you have a successful and rewarding sports experience.