Sport Psychology: Mental Training Essay

The intended audience for this book are athletes, but anyone can read this book because his philosophies can be used in our daily lives. The book spreads forty lessons in four parts: Part I - Welcome to the Inner Game Part II - Living the Dream Part III - Mind-Set for Success

Some of the concepts discussed in the video "Nine Myths about Psychology and the Brain" by Ben Ambridge, were accurate, while others weren't. One interesting concept Ben discusses is the "hot hand" streaks in sports—in which players frequently have extraordinary success—that I learned from the video. But it's clear that in sports, achievements and failures tend to be random, expressing our passion and need for greater obstacles as we mature. These random events are frequently recognized by our brains as patterns mentioned, "where there are none," leading us to conclude that a player aims to succeed in their skill and form. As covered in Chapter 1 of this module, this part of the video relates to psychobiology since this shows how our brains

Fear has been the barrier for goals and dreams leading to great possible success. Especially in athletics, many athletes experience failure and obstacles throughout their athletic career. Therefore, there are very few athletes that do not attempt or avoid the athletic fears. Whereas a student attempts to achieve the top of their academic rank, athletes will strive to be the best in the sport as well. Whether one is an athlete or student, one cannot succeed with just a strong “fixed” mindset of success. They must have more of a “growth” mindset to achieve. One must constantly seek challenge and difficulty in every step of their life. Avoidance is not the way to achieve success; in fact, you cannot achieve anything with avoidance. World-known NBA legend, Michael Jordan shares a very motivational statement through an interview, “I’ve missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I’ve almost

Sports psychology deals with the mental and emotional aspects of physical performance. It involves describing, explaining and predicting attitudes, feelings and behaviours in an attempt to improve performance. In the film 'Coach Carter,' directed by Thomas Carter, sport psychology is used effectively to enhance the performance of a high school basketball team. However, this improved performance is not limited to the basketball court, it extends into the classroom where the students use goal setting, motivation, concentration and confidence control, ultimately to become accepted into college, avoiding a life of drugs, gangs and prison.

The client’s name is Jose, a male, single, eighteen years old, Latino and a high school student. He is currently attending a nontraditional high school to complete the required credits to receive his high school diploma. Jose was dismissed from his previous high school because he was failing all of his classes. While reviewing his transcripts it can be evaluated that the student has struggled with academic performance since he entered high school. Jose was scheduled to graduate last June, but failed most of the required courses. The client was referred to mental health counseling because he wrote negative comments about classmates in a free style writing assignment. On assignment, the client talked about how upset he

Management of performance and competitive anxiety can be challenging. The first strategy would be to consult with a clinical psychologist, who will often suggest a behavioural approach. These approaches have been found to be the optimal coping strategy for sport-related anxiety, specifically Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) (Patel et

It is not mentally not looking at circumstances with eyes that see only what you want to see”. In other words using Positive Self-Talk shows us the truth on real situations. For example: you were trying out for the school volleyball team and you messed up on bumping the ball, when the negative thoughts occur that is when the positive self talk will take place “ok I’m now going to focus on what I need to complete in order to make it on the team.” There is a way in which you can develop a positive self talk habit, there are 3 steps and the first one is “Mantra”, choose a mantra and find a positive self talk for example; “I feel strong”. This positive self talk will encourage you to feel motivated. The second step is “Practice Multiple Scenarios”after using the positive self talk from step one, repeat the line so you can practice having it sink in your brain. It will help you during real situations in sports a example for this step is “Anything can happen, and I’m definitely not out of this, Don’t let up”. Finally, the last step called “Creating A Positive Mental Image Or Visualization” this technique can help you create a visual picture on what you are doing and saying This powerful combination will create a positive message.

In The Fall of the House of Usher, Edgar Allan Poe writes of a sickly brother and sister that live in an old estate, and a narrator’s account of the Ushers’ final days. The story is scary on two different levels. The first and most obvious that is noticed just by reading on the surface is the creepy atmosphere of the house and death of the main characters. Poe makes this level of scariness very accessible by the diction and imagery that he uses. The second level of scariness is the psychological aspect of the story. The themes of isolation, madness, and fear become terrifying because they are able to transcend the story; they are real, and they could quite possibly affect us.

contemplation, practice, or training in solitude led to higher skill levels, be it in sport,

Despite the in-depth analysis of these athletes’ personal narratives, Hurley’s (2014) study also had several limitations. First, the sample size was small. Second, all findings were exclusively obtained from the interviews, as there were no quantitative measures used. Third, no follow-up information was provided. Therefore, Hurley’s (2014) findings are not generalizable to all athletes.

Self- hypnosis is very common for athletes to use. Relaxation before a major competition or event can be extremely helpful. The wrist watch doesn’t have to be carried around every day for this technique to work either. Athletes simply close their eyes and go through their relaxation techniques in their head. Within the article “Mind Games”, Konrad Marshall describes the techniques of Dr. Fraser Carson, holder of a bachelor's degree focused on sports psychology, a master's in coaching education and a PhD in sports science. Dr. Carson is an ex professional rugby player and mental skills coach of the Melbourne Football Club, and is now a triathlete. Because of his experience in the field and his awareness of the environment of strenuous physical

Mass Hysteria Society has reacted negatively to fear throughout the ages. There are many examples of people filled with fear gathering together to conquer a seen or unseen enemy. Mass hysteria is the common term used to describe a situation in which various people suffer simultaneously from similar hysterical symptoms. The small samplings of examples below demonstrate the power fear can have in our society. Mass hysteria begins with troubled times in the culture.

Today in sports athletes endure many mental and physical obstacles from there competitive environment. Many of today's best athletes work with sports psychologists to help them handle the pressures found in this competitive atmosphere. One question that athletes ask is, why cant they play in big games as well as they anticipate themselves doing? Sports psychologists feel that spending all their time on body conditioning and athletic skills will not ensure that athletes reach their peak performance.

When it comes to emotions and psychological well being athletes are not machines and they should not be expected to deny any mental struggles. Trainers, coaches, and physical therapists are there for their physical training but they also require psychological support. Those closest to the athletes need to learn to recognize the warning signs such as an overly self-critical nature, perfectionism, and fear of failure to be able to seek out help for the athletes. Sport governing bodies and organizations should induce protocols and procedures about how peers, coaches, and support staff can help when dealing with an athlete suffering from a mental illness. The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) has released “Mind, Body and Sport - Understanding and Supporting Student-Athlete Mental Wellness” which is a resource developed to provide information and outline the roles and responsibilities of sports staff and coaches as well as identifies the Models of service, and NCAA resources and policies. This is an extremely helpful and reliable source that other sporting organizations should follow. Also, high performance programs for both individual and team sports should require programs to have a team sport psychologist to be readily available for athletes, and to work with them on throughout the sporting season to be able to develop mental skills to better them on, and off the court. It should become the “responsibility (of the sport association) to provide the services and care to help each athlete reach his or her full potential” (Hainline 2014, 7) In some situations, Sport psychologists may find themselves having to address mental health issues with the athletes they counsel that they may find is out of their capability to deal with mental health problems. It may be

In earlier days sports psychology was mostly concerned with developing assessment methods that would identify those people with the potential to become serious superior athletes. Today the focus is on psychological training, exercises that strengthen the mental skills that will help athletic performances on the path to excellence. These skills include mental imagery and focus training. If an athlete is serious about becoming the best he or she can possibly be, the most essential ingredient is commitment to practice the right things. It takes incredible commitment to reach the top: a commitment to rest and train the body so it can perform under the most demanding conditions and a commitment to train the mind to