The Importance Of Psychology In Sports Psychology

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Most would assume that physical fitness and training, by themselves, are what is takes to become a world-class athlete. However, research has shown that mental health and mental readiness are crucial elements in an athlete’s performance.
‘Mental will is a muscle that needs exercise, just like the body’ – Lynn Jennigns (Long Distance Runner).
Whether it is giving a presentation, dancing for a recital or running a marathon, repeatedly performing at a high standard can be mentally draining. Psychologists have tackled this mental exhaustion by establishing performance psychology. Performance psychology builds effective emotional and psychological skills people need in order to perform at an optimum level in their given field. Principles of performance
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Olympic gold medallist Greg Louganis has repeatedly confessed to using imagery before any of his dives. But, what is imagery and why is it so important in Sports Psychology? Imagery in the area of Sports Psychology is a form of simulation where one creates pictures of past events or recreates new, positive ones in order to anticipate a good performance. Peter Johnson (1982) argues that images of movements that are already rehearsed in the brain reduces the likelihood of error in real life performance. His Functional Equivalence Theory showed that imagery creates references in memory similar to a past or invented event which one can use in future performances. Considering these findings, Sport and Performance Psychologists use the Functional Equivalence Theory to prepare clients for optimal performance. By helping clients mentally picture and envision what a perfect performance would be like, athletes can anticipate the coming performance, therefore relieving stress and anxiety while also building confidence. Evidence gathered from several Sports Psychologists, athletes and case studies, report that imagery does enhance performance. In particular, Murphy, Jowdy & Durtschi (1990) established that 90% of Olympic athletes and 100% of sports consultants utilize some form of imagery in their programs. As expected a high percentage, 97%, of Olympic athletes reported that imagery helped their …show more content…
Understanding what it is that drives individuals to achieve certain goals plays a huge part in athletic success. Whether it may be external rewards such as, medals, trophies, money or the internal desire to achieve personal goals, aim to master a craft or beat one’s opponents, it is vital that Sports and Performance Psychologists learn how motivation can be improved and optimized. Goals are believed to be a key factor in improving motivation, thus improving an athlete’s performance. The Achievement Goal Theory (Maehr & Nicholls, 1980) describes two types of goal orientated behavior which motivate individuals internally in order to achieve said goal. ‘Ego’ goal orientation (comparing one’s abilities to others in order to beat them) and ‘task’ goal orientation (solving a problem for its own sake, not to show skills) demonstrate how individuals motivate themselves in order to achieve a goal. Though ego and task orientation show how individuals motivate themselves to achieving a goal, it should be noted that there is still a heated debate amongst psychologists on which element performs the best in terms of results. Studies show that task orientated athletes have greater motivation due to focus and hard work in the given challenge, therefore improving performance. Duda and White (1992) discovered that skiers whose goals were task oriented had higher motivation and performed

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