What is sports psychology, when and why does an athlete need a psychologist?

Sports psychology is an applied branch of psychology that combines several practical areas, including classical psychotherapy, coaching, training, etc. In addition, within the framework of sports psychology, the characteristics of the athlete’s psyche are studied in the context of competitive activity.

Peculiarities

The subject of study of sports psychology is the personal characteristics of a person living in conditions of specific activity. Sport is considered as a separate type of activity, close to the conditions of extreme survival.

Sports activity requires the use of potential that is at the limit of possibilities.

What makes sports activity extreme are specific factors that apply to all sports:

• increased physical and mental stress;
• strict selection conditions;
• high competition;
• competitive element within the team;
• special social situation;
• intense pre-competition preparation;
• psychological, social consequences of defeats.

Modern sport is a reflection of the model of society. The interconnection of mechanisms regulating the life of social groups is reflected in the behavior of athletes. Knowledge of the mechanisms and the use of techniques based on them can significantly improve results, improve the training system, and minimize risks when selecting candidates for the team.

Theory of Intelligent Behavior

Another attitudinal component that predicts healthy behavior was identified by Fishbein and Ajzen (1980), who developed a model of reasonable behavior. The theory of reasoned action is based on the idea that an action is a direct consequence of the intention to perform it. Consider, as an example, reducing your intake of foods high in cholesterol. Imagine that your father is convinced that cholesterol is dangerous to health, and its excess in food is fraught with serious consequences (promotes a heart attack). Suppose he also believes that he can change his diet to be healthier and believes that this will reduce the risk of heart disease. However, he is still not ready to take decisive action. In this case, knowing whether he intends to change his diet or not will increase your ability to predict whether your father will actually take action to change his diet. Knowing an individual's intention to take certain actions allows us to predict whether he will, for example, control his sexual behavior to reduce the risk of AIDS, use birth control pills, regularly check the health of his lungs during fluorographic examinations, apply sunscreen and exercise along with other healthy behaviors.

Feelings of self-efficacy or self-control also play an important role in implementing healthy lifestyles, and they predict behaviors as diverse as college students' condom use, exercise, and smoking cessation success. A woman trying to diet may unintentionally undermine her efforts with one thought: “I’ll never be able to do this” or “I’ve tried dieting many times before and it always failed.” Conversely, she will achieve success if she assures herself that her nutrition is completely under control and that she is able to change it if she wants.

Analyzing the determinants of healthy behavior allows us to better understand why so few people practice it. A smoker may find it very difficult to stop smoking (low self-efficacy). Those who do not do morning exercises may believe that physical exercise alone cannot reduce the risk of a particular disease (low behavioral effectiveness). An overweight individual may not understand that being overweight actually threatens his or her health (low threat perception). In order for any health-related action to be implemented in practice, all these ideas and beliefs must intersect at one point; In addition, each person also has a range of excuses and rationalizations for why a particular health-related action should not be taken.

Among other things, there are other factors that undermine the best intentions of following a healthy lifestyle. For example, many adolescent health-risk behaviors are not planned at all; they occur as a result of a combination of circumstances: smoking, drinking alcohol, unprotected sex and other risky activities. Other negative health behaviors may be caused by poor mood, as occurs in people who have disordered eating habits. Alcohol contributes to a loss of self-control and may increase the likelihood of smoking or having unprotected sex. Health-seeking actions are driven by expectations of positive or negative consequences, and these factors are also not fully captured by health attitude models. For example, people tan to get a beautiful skin color, but do not think about the risk of skin cancer or other negative consequences of exposure to the sun. Finally, attitude models are based on the assumption that people have considerable cognitive abilities and use them when making decisions regarding their health; however, quite often our conclusions or decisions are reached through the use of extremely simplified or heuristic processes rather than as a result of the systematic and sequential steps of the decision-making process that these models provide. Some researchers believe that the degree of identification of oneself with the category of people who practice actions aimed at preserving (destructing) health makes it possible to better predict the specific actions of an individual. So, for example, a teenage schoolgirl who considers herself similar to her friends who smoke, drink and break driving rules will be more likely to commit the same actions than a girl who does not associate herself with the prototypical image of a “loose” teenager. In other words, there are many other social psychological approaches to understanding the causes of health-damaging behavior; According to these approaches, attitudes and intentions to perform certain actions may play an important role only in relation to some forms of healthy behavior and only under certain conditions. Health-damaging habits such as smoking are cited as leading causes of illness and death. Unfortunately, they are often acquired very early in life, before people begin to realize the danger they may face.

Assessing the conclusion that health beliefs are important determinants of healthy lifestyles must also take into account the fact that most of the research on this issue has been conducted among relatively affluent middle-class people receiving decent health care. When we look at the realities of poor families, we find that far more important determinants of healthy lifestyles than health beliefs are the cost of preventive health care, such as free mammograms and access to health care. Thus, many low-income families do not have the opportunity to regularly use medical services and therefore are forced to either resort to them in extreme cases or do without them altogether. These facts look even more sad in light of the fact that people with low incomes tend to have poorer health compared to those who are more affluent. The reason appears to be that members of minority groups and people with lower income, education, and occupational status are more likely to be exposed to highly stressful and negative life events. Contrary to what is desired, these social, class and ethnic differences tend to become even greater.

The role of psychology in sports

Psychological support consists of diagnosis, prognosis and impact. The task of a sports psychologist working with a professional team includes:

1. Study of psychological characteristics of athletes.
2. Creation of a data bank consisting of diagnostic and therapeutic material.
3. Drawing up a forecast of activities, potential development paths.
4. Formation of an athlete’s psychological attitude that helps to overcome the difficulties of the training process.
5. Helping new players during the adaptation period.
6. Development and implementation of corrective measures.
7. Increasing the level of psychological culture of athletes.
8. Providing advisory, diagnostic, therapeutic and other types of psychological assistance.
9. Development of means of relieving psychological stress.

The psychologist, working with the team, takes part in developing a training program, selecting players for individual positions, and creating a training strategy. The use of psychodiagnostic techniques and individual psychotherapy techniques to maximize the athlete’s potential, taking into account personality characteristics.

How much should you train?

To reap maximum benefits, most studies show that exercising three times a week (3x) is ideal. The best form of exercise for your brain and mental health is aerobics. Increasing your heart rate and movement is what will release endorphins and those “feel good” chemicals (neurotransmitters) in your brain.

Most people these days don't exercise at all and are wondering why they feel depressed, stressed and nervous. Exercise has significant psychological benefits. So, the next time you go for a run, it will not only help improve your appearance, but it will also help your brain.

The purpose and objectives of a sports psychologist

The main goal of sports psychology is the study of activities, personality traits of players, the development of training methods, the prevention of psychological injuries and burnout, and the creation of an attitude to win.

Achieving the goal becomes possible when certain tasks are completed:

1. Studying methods of influencing the athlete’s psyche. The psychologist determines a set of personal qualities to achieve success in the chosen discipline. Conducts individual diagnostics of character traits and determines the availability of necessary skills. Evaluates the training program and the availability of adequate living conditions. After a series of tests and studies, the expert makes a conclusion by which the fitness of the athlete can be judged.
2. Creating comfortable conditions that increase overall efficiency. Together with the coach, the psychologist simulates a training situation close to the conditions of a real competition. Observing the behavior of players makes it possible to evaluate the reaction of each team member, choose a winning position for the players, strengthen weak points, and predict possible defeat scenarios.
3. Development of individual training methods. The results of observations and other diagnostic methods are used by a psychologist to create pre-competition preparation methods that help cope with stress and stabilize the mental state.
4. Development of preventive methods. Preventive direction in sports psychology is necessary to prevent the risk of overwork, reduce the level of injuries, and prevent professional deformation of the individual.
5. Studying the characteristics of the psychological climate of the team. To preserve the psychological health of players participating in team competitions, psychologists study methods of interpersonal communication between players and coaches, identify motives for activity, and determine the roles and types of human behavior in a team.

The work of a psychologist with a team determines the adequate distribution of roles, the development of a successful training strategy, and the disclosure of the team’s maximum sports potential.

Exercise increases IQ

It has been proven that young people who play sports have higher IQ scores than people who do not. If you want to be as smart as possible, you should consider introducing a regular exercise program into your life.

Don't smart people take care of their physical and mental health to the best of their ability? Some people are naturally smart, but if you want to maximize your intelligence, scientific research shows that exercise can help. []

Features of the psychology of a winner

The key task of a sports psychologist is to develop a winning mentality in a player. Since personality characteristics are individual, applying one method to all players is impossible. The difficulty of working with a team lies in selecting a suitable means of mental regulation, mental training aimed at strengthening the necessary qualities of different players.

Mental training includes verbal methods of influence that influence mental processes. This is a comprehensive method that helps control psychophysiological and behavioral reactions.

The methodology for developing the winner’s psychology involves dividing the training into 3 programs:

1. The main one is to prepare the athlete for the conditions of competition in everyday life.
2. Installation - used during the main training program.
3. Pre-competition - occurs before the competition itself.

The main methods of influence used in the training program are visualization and verbal settings. The psychologist conducts individual and group sessions, during which athletes are shown motivating videos and given special recordings to listen to, aimed at developing general motivation.

Psychology of team play

In the psychology of athletes, preparing a cohesive team is important. The player must be able to put the interests of the team above his own aspirations, be able to work in conjunction with other players, and clearly follow the coach’s instructions.

Fostering team spirit requires:

• positive impact on the strong-willed orientation of the team;
• optimization of internal relationships between players;
• systematic psychological preparation before the start of competitions.

Team preparation consists of the following methods:

• assessment of the psychological state of athletes selected for one team;
• psychodiagnostics of individual personality traits of new players;
• making a forecast of behavior options for players in a team;
• mental training aimed at developing a sense of belonging to a group;
• motivation to achieve a common result;
• relieving tension that arises in the process of joint activities;
• psychological adaptation before, during and after competitions.

The psychological preparation of the team is realized through the participation of all participants in the training process in the educational work.

How to start moving if you don’t have the energy or desire to go to the gym?

Depression is insidious in that a person stops communicating, moving, eating right, often smoking a lot, and abusing alcohol or antidepressants. This provokes various diseases. There is only one way out: start moving.

But not everyone can bring themselves to go to the gym right away. Here are some ways to get moving without going to the gym.

1. In and around the house. Clean the house, wash the car, tend to the garden or yard, tidy up the lawn, sweep the path or deck.
2. At work and on the road. Walk to work - at least part of the way. Or ride a bike. Use stairs instead of elevators. Get off the bus one stop early. Take a walk during your lunch break to drink coffee.
3. In the family. Jog around the soccer field while your child practices. On weekends, ride a bike or roller skate with your children. Look for new places to walk your dog.
4. For the mood. Pick fruit from the garden, dance to music, go to the beach or take a walk in the park. Do a warm-up while watching TV. Take martial arts, dance or yoga classes.

Modern sports psychology

The peculiarity of modern sport is a reflection of modern trends in the development of society. The constant increase in loads makes it impossible to minimize the stress that accompanies the athlete. This leads to the development of various disorders, psychological trauma and distress - a complex state of anxiety, cognitive distortions, and demotivation. The task of the psychological service accompanying modern sports is to minimize discomfort caused by feelings of anxiety and activate psychological defense mechanisms.

More details about sports psychology and the points of contact between these two seemingly completely different concepts in the video: