Sports Psychology

In today's society, we look up to professional and amateur athletes, admiring their extraordinary physical attributes and their ability to stretch the limits of the human body. However, we often overlook the fact that these people are not simply born with physical prowess and mental resilience. There is a tremendous amount of preparation that goes into performing at a high level, and success almost always depends on both physical and mental toughness.

While coaches typically focus on the physical side of sport, sport psychologists focus on the mind. They focus on applying psychological principles that facilitate peak athletic performance, enhance your participation in physical activities and help you achieve optimal results. Sport psychologists can help you:

• Enhance sports performance. Various mental strategies, such as visualization, self-talk and relaxation techniques, can help you overcome obstacles and achieve your full potential.
• Cope with the pressures of competition. Sport psychologists can help athletes of all ages at all levels deal with pressure from parents, coaches or even their own expectations.
• Recover from injuries. After an injury, you may need help tolerating pain, adhering to your physical therapy regimens or adjusting to being sidelined.
• Keep up an exercise program. Even those who want to exercise regularly may find themselves unable to fulfill their goal. Sport psychologists can help you increase your motivation and tackle any related concerns.
• Enjoy sports. A sport psychologist to educate coaches about how to help kids enjoy sports and how to promote healthy self-esteem in participants.

Sport psychologists are experts in helping you overcome problems that impede athletic performance. They can offer strategies that help you maximize your physical prowess, overcome anxiety, effectively communicate with teammates and/or accept a coach's critiques. And their advice can even help you off the playing field. The same strategies that sport psychologists teach athletes — relaxation techniques, mental rehearsals and cognitive restructuring, for example — are also useful in the workplace and other settings.

Contact us to learn more about sport psychology services.

Source: American Psychological Association