Located in Montgomery, Alabama, Faulkner University offers both online and on-campus opportunities to earn this degree. Sports psychology is essentially the study of how sports and exercise can affect mental health, as well as improve health and well-being.

The first research lab devoted to the study of sports psychology was opened in Sports psychologists can find careers on sports teams and in schools and even work with non-athletes who want to improve their lives by becoming more involved in exercising.

There are many distractions for athletes. From fans cheering in the crowds to rival teams heckling them, some athletes may find it difficult to concentrate on the game.

This can result in poor performance, and it may even cost them a win. Sports can be rather stressful, especially for athletes who are trying to impress scouts, playing for college teams, or joining the major leagues. This can result in athletes failing to live up to their potential or lead to burnout, both of which can cause them to quit.

By helping athletes learn how to set realistic goals and visualize how they will accomplish those goals, you can help them improve their performance. Setting goals is an important step in being an athlete.

This can be both short-term, as in the next major event, and long-term, such as considering where they want to be four years from now. Visualizing how they will get there can help motivate athletes, as well as assist them on how they will go about fulfilling their goals.

Focusing on goals can also help alleviate stress and anxiety in the moment. He or she then shifts attention quickly to external elements, such as the ball height, spin or the position of the opponent, and finally narrows attention to the ball for the winning volley.

This constant mental shifting from external to internal, broad to narrow and back is the essence of attention control. Proper attention control allows a player to choose what is important, stay focused upon it as long as necessary and shift focus as needed.

Concentration and attention are often enhanced with strategies, such as reciting key phrases to oneself, remaining centered in the present, sustaining attention during distractions and using imagery and self-talk to refocus when distracted.

Some tennis players are primarily motivated by task goals, such as the desire to learn and improve regardless of outcome. Others are motivated more by ego-centered goals, such as displaying competence over others, which makes winning and losing extremely important.

According to findings described in Weinberg and Gould , males appear to score higher on competitive and win orientation, whereas females score higher on goal orientation oriented more toward improving performance.

Elite athletes appear to be higher on both win and goal orientations than less skilled athletes. Another area of motivation is intrinsic versus extrinsic motivation. Intrinsic motivational factors are states within the athlete, such as pride or satisfaction, while external motivational factors are rewards from outside the athlete, such as money or attention.

As tennis is played for so many different reasons such as joy, money, ego, learning or recognition , you must treat each athlete as a unique individual and seek an approach that is optimally motivating for that person.

Pitfalls occur when athletes are primarily motivated to please others rather than themselves or when outcomes are so important that players become threatened by fear of failure or base their self-worth solely on how well they play tennis.

The use of sport psychology may extend far beyond mental skills training. For example, problems such as academic stress, strained relationships, time management, family conflict and financial concerns affect everyone at one time or another.

When such problems arise, discuss them with your players and seek professional assistance when needed, as there is much at stake for both of you. When you recommend the services of a sport psychologist -- whether for mental skills development, resolution of off-court issues or treatment of more serious distress -- introduce it to the player as a positive opportunity to improve performance and well being by learning new mental skills and reducing distractions.

Team USA Players Coaches. Mental Skills for Achieving Optimum Performance The information in this article was taken or adapted from the High Performance Coaching Program Study Guide. Players can use these techniques to Help build self-confidence Set goals Manage their stress Use imagery and visualization to work on game skills Focus concentration and attention.

You all should agree upon a developmental plan that includes the following parts developed in this order Saviano, : A long-term, comprehensive vision of the type of player the athlete wants to become style of play, weapons, conduct, physical conditioning, etc.

Imagery and Visualization Imagery is the process of simulating sensory experiences in the mind in the absence of external stimuli.

Concentration and Attention Control Concentration and attention control are perhaps the most important mental skills to master in tennis. Off-court Issues The use of sport psychology may extend far beyond mental skills training. Copyright © by United States Tennis Association.

All Rights Reserved. This is a key skill that can help athletes become more successful. It refers to rehearsing the skill or routine perfectly in your mind. It aids performance because by vividly practicing the skill in your mind, your brain primes your muscles to complete the physical action in a competition scenario.

So, by training your mind, you prepare your body as well. Visualisation also allows athletes to become confident and focused by regulating any nerves, and can be a source of motivation by giving a vision of what the athlete wants to achieve. Coaches can help their athletes develop it by teaching athletes what it is and how to do it, as well as incorporating it into training sessions.

This is a relatively simple concept on the surface, but there are actually a number of things coaches need to be aware of when helping their athletes set effective goals.

We have a blog that gives 11 ways to improve your goal setting. The most important things to remember are:. Feedback is a major contributor to learning, especially in sport. If it is given badly, it can lead to negative effects for the athlete and their performance.

In our 10 ways to give better feedback blog , we suggest these tips to give better feedback:. At InnerDrive, we also focus on the idea of " feeding forward ", which means putting an emphasis on what to do next and on how to get better, not just what happened.

It offers suggestions on what to do next time, allowing the athlete to focus on moving forward. Negative self-talk leads to a poor emotional state , which in turn hurts athletic performance. These types of thoughts will help regulate athletes' emotions , as well as increase their confidence, improve their coordination and help them focus and ultimately perform better.

For more tips on how athletes should talk to themselves, check out our blog on improving self-talk here. Cognitive Load Theory highlights how working memory has a limited capacity. Working memory is where we hold and process new information — for learning to take place, this information has to be transferred to the long-term memory.

Cognitive Load Theory is all about acknowledging this and presenting information to athletes in a way that aids and accelerates that transfer to long-term memory. Learn more on using Cognitive Load Theory as a coach here ….

Rosenshine's Principles of Instruction have the potential to revolutionise coaching. They're based on teaching guidelines underpinned by cognitive science, and we think they can be useful for coaches as well. These principles can help anyone learn anything much more effectively, especially in sport.

They include things such as reviewing learning at the start, asking lots of questions and using models. The final thing coaches should be aware of is the prevalence of pseudo-scientific ideas and neuromyths in sport psychology.

In the world of sports and coaching, there are many ideas surrounding learning and the brain that are thrown around. For example, you might have heard the notion that everyone has a preferred learning style.

You also learn how your state of mind influences your behavior. Like CBT, MBT is an evidence-based therapy that can offer real benefits in sports performance.

We recommend MBT for athletes who want to:. MBT can also be very effective for athletes who have suffered setbacks. Maybe you made a bad call that cost you a win, or maybe you missed a shot you know you should have made.

MBT helps you identify and address the emotions around those mental blocks, so you can move past them. You take your athletic performance seriously, and so do we. Contact us online or call our Beverly Hills, California, office at to learn more information or to schedule your first session.

Now accepting Telehealth appointments. Schedule a virtual visit. Psychology Beverly Hills Blog 2 Therapeutic Techniques That Can Enhance Your Sports Performance. You Might Also Enjoy Your thoughts, feelings, and emotions are part of being human.

Learn how mentalization-based therapy can help you understand your feelings and enjoy better mental health. Good communication is critical in every relationship, but even the strongest partners occasionally need help communicating effectively.

Athletes should continuously review and adapt their visualisations as they make improvements and develop.

Try and visualise the positive emotions you will experience when competing, and make sure to not let any negative emotions creep in.

Keep perspective, whether this is visualising in the first person through your own eyes or in the third person as if you are watching yourself on the TV.

This is a personal preference, and it can sometimes be beneficial to do both types. Do goal setting effectively This is a relatively simple concept on the surface, but there are actually a number of things coaches need to be aware of when helping their athletes set effective goals.

The most important things to remember are: Goals should be SMART: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Time-framed. Both long-term goals and short-term goals are important for motivation and focus. Obstacles occur all the time in sport — being flexible is vital.

This is when you should sit down with your athlete and plan what do moving forwards. When working with athletes, we encourage process goals, which focus on developing skills, not just the end outcome.

It is however, important to have an overarching goal to reach for. Athletes will work harder on a goal if they trust the person who has set it. This is another reason to work hard on your athlete-coach relationship. Provide great feedback Feedback is a major contributor to learning, especially in sport.

Encourage positive self-talk Negative self-talk leads to a poor emotional state , which in turn hurts athletic performance. Which other areas of sport psychology should coaches be aware of?

Cognitive Load Theory Cognitive Load Theory highlights how working memory has a limited capacity. Neuromyths The final thing coaches should be aware of is the prevalence of pseudo-scientific ideas and neuromyths in sport psychology. Final thoughts Being aware of these skills and ideas and teaching them to your athletes will lead to significant benefits on their performance.

Search the blog. Most Popular Blogs. How to encourage athletes and why your support matters. The Psychology of Perfect Penalties. What is flow, and how to achieve it. Recent Blogs.

How Confirmation Bias impacts athletes and how to overcome its influence. Game-changing choices: improving decision making in sports. next article Does superstition actually help athletes perform better? As there are so many potential distractions during play sights, sounds, feelings, thoughts , remaining optimally focused pays dividends.

Selective attention is the ability to choose the most appropriate stimuli to focus on, while concentration is the ability to sustain attention over time. Players need to be able to shift attention rapidly and accurately. For example, a player first broadly scans internal thoughts to find a winning strategy.

He or she then shifts attention quickly to external elements, such as the ball height, spin or the position of the opponent, and finally narrows attention to the ball for the winning volley. This constant mental shifting from external to internal, broad to narrow and back is the essence of attention control.

Proper attention control allows a player to choose what is important, stay focused upon it as long as necessary and shift focus as needed. Concentration and attention are often enhanced with strategies, such as reciting key phrases to oneself, remaining centered in the present, sustaining attention during distractions and using imagery and self-talk to refocus when distracted.

Some tennis players are primarily motivated by task goals, such as the desire to learn and improve regardless of outcome. Others are motivated more by ego-centered goals, such as displaying competence over others, which makes winning and losing extremely important.

According to findings described in Weinberg and Gould , males appear to score higher on competitive and win orientation, whereas females score higher on goal orientation oriented more toward improving performance.

Elite athletes appear to be higher on both win and goal orientations than less skilled athletes. Another area of motivation is intrinsic versus extrinsic motivation.

Intrinsic motivational factors are states within the athlete, such as pride or satisfaction, while external motivational factors are rewards from outside the athlete, such as money or attention. As tennis is played for so many different reasons such as joy, money, ego, learning or recognition , you must treat each athlete as a unique individual and seek an approach that is optimally motivating for that person.

Pitfalls occur when athletes are primarily motivated to please others rather than themselves or when outcomes are so important that players become threatened by fear of failure or base their self-worth solely on how well they play tennis. The use of sport psychology may extend far beyond mental skills training.

For example, problems such as academic stress, strained relationships, time management, family conflict and financial concerns affect everyone at one time or another. When such problems arise, discuss them with your players and seek professional assistance when needed, as there is much at stake for both of you.

When you recommend the services of a sport psychologist -- whether for mental skills development, resolution of off-court issues or treatment of more serious distress -- introduce it to the player as a positive opportunity to improve performance and well being by learning new mental skills and reducing distractions.

Team USA Players Coaches. Mental Skills for Achieving Optimum Performance The information in this article was taken or adapted from the High Performance Coaching Program Study Guide. Players can use these techniques to Help build self-confidence Set goals Manage their stress Use imagery and visualization to work on game skills Focus concentration and attention.

You all should agree upon a developmental plan that includes the following parts developed in this order Saviano, : A long-term, comprehensive vision of the type of player the athlete wants to become style of play, weapons, conduct, physical conditioning, etc.

Imagery and Visualization Imagery is the process of simulating sensory experiences in the mind in the absence of external stimuli.