Sports
Sports Psychology Enhances Performance
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Feb 27, 2006 - 7:00:00 AM

SPORTS PHYCHOLOGY ENHANCES PERFORMANCE

By Lee Degenstein


(HealthNewsDigest.com).. Like many of us, I just spent the last two and a half weeks watching the Olympics at various hours of the day and night. I kept hearing about sports psychologists helping members of our Olympic figure and speed skating teams as well as the ski team. I became curious and wanted to know what this was all about. (Lee Degenstein - Columnist at Large - HealthNewsDigest.com)

The field of sports psychology has been growing for the last 25-30 years, and seems to be utilized in more individual sports like skiing, skating, tennis, golf, and track and field. However sports psychology can also be helpful in team sports as well. The goal is to help an athlete perform his or her best by improving the necessary mental skills to achieve peak performance.

New York Yankee all-star third baseman Alex Rodriguez makes no secret of the fact that he has been helped by a sports psychologist for quite some time. Maybe there’s something to all of this as he is the highest paid player in Major League Baseball.

Since the late 1980’s tennis star Jennifer Capriatti never traveled to a tournament without her sports psychologist as part of her entourage. In fact for many athletes, having these professionals in their corner is just as important as their coach or trainer.

According to “Athletic Insight”, the online journal of sports psychology, a sports psychologist has expertise in the following areas:
· Performance enhancement through the use of psychological skills training
· Issues that are specific to the psychological well-being of athletes
· Working with the organizations and systems that are present in sport settings
· Social and developmental factors that influence sport participation
Dr. Patrick J. Cohn PhD., a leader in the field, prefers to be called a “mental game coach. Most athletes can relate to this title rather than sports psychologist, which for some have negative connotations. Mental game coaches deal with athletes’ performance on the playing field and usually do not deal with their personal problems. It’s all about performance enhancement.

Dr. Cohn explains that there are a lot of athletes who have been labeled as having “great talent” or being “gifted” in a skill, but for some reason never live or perform up to their full potential. This could be a sign that one’s mindset could be getting in the way. On his website peaksports.com, Dr. Cohen lists some of the questions that he might ask an athlete:

1) Are you self conscious and worry about what others think of your performance?
2) Do you have any doubts about your sport before or during competition?
3) Do you perform as well during the events as you do in practice?
4) During an event do you get so anxious you can’t think straight?
5) Are you motivated by fear or failure during a competition?
6) Do you get distracted easily by things going on around you?

Other areas of sports psychology include: goal setting, anxiety management, visualization, overcoming critical thinking ("choking"), recovery from injury, race day preparation, and maximizing peak performance.

Why hire a mental game coach? If an athlete or team has the physical talents and skills to succeed, yet performance either has taken a dip or has plateaued, then mental barriers may be hindering maximum performance. A good team or individual coach can spot the trouble signs before they become too late to correct.

Recently, sports psychology has expanded into the corporate boardroom. Many corporations are using sports psychologists to enhance the performance and the thinking of executives and sales staff. Dr. Cohn believes that salesmen can get so hung up on quotas that their numbers can begin to suffer. Executives need to develop strategies to keep focused on the present, rather than thinking about the past. They need to develop ways to cope with failure and keep their staffs motivated when things don’t go as planned. There are also many strategies that sports psychologists use to help staffs build self confidence.

Interestingly enough at the present time, no credentials beyond a state license are needed in order to practice sport psychology. One must major in psychology in college and a graduate degree is preferable and usually sought.

There are many organizations offering to certify individuals in sports psychology. The most reputable of these organizations is the Association for the Advancement of Applied Sport Psychology (AAASP). Designation as a Certified Consultant, AAASP carries the benefit of the possibility of being listed on the United States Olympic Committee (USOC) Sport Psychology Registry.

Perhaps someone from the NBA’s New York Knicks should read this article about sports psychology. The Knicks are perfect candidates for some help. Their record so far this season is 15 wins and 40 losses. In fact they have lost 19 out of their last 21 games. A sports psychologist certainly couldn’t hurt the team, especially if he or she had a decent shot from the foul line.

Lee Degenstein is a Columnist at Large for HealthNewsDigest.com. He has covered the financial markets for print and broadcast media for more than 15 years. Mr. Degenstein was also the news director and morning anchor at two major radio stations in New Jersey. He has been a reporter/contributor to United Press International, The Associated Press, The Mutual Broadcasting System and New York 1 News. A former winner of the Associated Press award for 'best business story' he lives and works in New York City. Mr. Degenstein can be reached by email at:

lee@healthnewsdigest.com

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