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ABOUT
SPORTS PSYCHOLOGY
Here are some suggestions for students and others who
may want to consider sports psychology as a career. Sports
psychology used to be thought of as being relevant only
to sports such as golf, tennis, and archery. However,
now we know that sports psychology is relevant to sports
across the board, including the major team sports, football,
basketball, and baseball. It would be good to learn something
about the structure of the field.
Sports psychology is one of the sports sciences. Sports
psychology is divided into three main parts: clinical
and counseling sports psychology, research sports psychology,
and educational sports psychology. These three areas within
sports psychology are also the three main roles that sports
psychologists typically play in the world of sports.
The counseling/clinical sports psychologist is a person
trained in counseling and /or clinical psychology. He
or she functions in the ways that regular clinical psychologists
do, except that this practitioner specializes in working
with athletes. This role in sports psychology usually emphasizes
dealing with the emotional problems and emotional issues
that athletes have. The training for clinicians combines
training in clinical or counseling psychology with extensive
training and understanding of athletes and the athletic
experience.
Research sports psychology. This individual does not act
as a clinician. The roles played by the research sports
psychologist relate to being a researcher and a scholar.
The research sports psychologist conducts research studies
that seek answers to questions about athletes and their
performance, development and training. Typically, the
research sports psychologist works at a college or university,
or a human performance lab. In this area, the emphasis
is on adding to the knowledge base of sports psychology.
Educational sports psychology. The education and training
division of sports psychology involves practicing applied
sports psychology. The educational sports psychologist
is "in the field" teaching methods and information
that have been learned from the science of sports psychology.
In Phoenix, Arizona, I work in this area and my emphasis
is on teaching mental methods and strategies that increase
performance, particularly how to develop mental skills
that relate to competitive performance. The educational
and training work is done with athletes and coaches.
Although there is overlap and variations on these three
main orientations in sports psychology, it is good to know
about these divisions because it is very different being
a research sports psychologist and being a counseling sports
psychologist.
Also there are new areas being described and explored
such as social sports psychologist, which deals with questions
and issues related to groups and social dynamics and group
communication.
In relation to pursuing sports psychology, it's good to
get a sense of what individuals in each of the three main
orientations in sports psychology do.
In relation to education to prepare for the field, what
I see is that generally people involved in sports psychology
come into the field on one of two main educational paths.
One is with an educational background in physical education
or coaching. The other is with an educational background
in psychology. Either path seems like a good one, especially
if it's combined with studies from the other. So that
a person training to be a sports psychologist by getting
a MS or Ph.D. degree in psychology wants to make sure
to acquire a strong educational background in the sports
sciences-physiology, sports nutrition, biomechanics, sports
medicine, exercise physiology, motor learning.
My third recommendation is that you start to gain experience
in the area as early as possible. Learn the standard relaxation
techniques (there are many individual exercises, but the
fundamental types of relaxation techniques are breathing
methods, autogenic training, progressive relaxation, and
biofeedback). Learn some visualization methods.
Learn what people in your area or community are doing.
If you have sports medicine centers in your community,
find out from them what sports psychology services are
available through their center. So my suggestions
in summary are these:
- Know that there are different orientations in sports
psychology and learn something about each of them.
- Whichever of the educational paths you choose,
it good to keep in mind a balanced background that
combines sports sciences with psychology.
- Learn some of the basic methods that are used in
sports psychology. Find out what people in your area
are doing.
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