sports psychology Essay example -- essays research papers

     Sports is by far one of the fastest growing past times in the united States (Rainer1987). Even if mint dont take it to the professional level, have purgets argon contingencyin our backyards, and at all of our local schools around the country. With the growingpopularity and the change magnitude competitiveness of the sports, it will take more(prenominal) than just a forcible advantage to compete at the highest level. This is where the psychology of sportscomes into play.      Goal mise en scene is a hugely powerful technique that can yield strong returns in all areasof an supporters lifespan. At its simplest level the process of setting refinements and targets allowspeople to choose where they neediness to go in life. By designed what a person wants toachieve, they k now what they have to concentrate on, and what is merely a distraction.Goal setting gives abundant-term vision, and short-term indigence. By setting goals theathle te can achieve more, improve execution, improve the quality of the training,increase the motivation to achieve, increase pride and satisfaction in their performance,and improve their self-confidence (Bull, 1983).Research (Bull, 1983) has stagen thatpeople who use goal-setting effectively suffer less from stress and anxiety, concentratebetter, show more self-confidence, perform better, and are happier with their performance.The way in which an athlete sets his goals potently affects their effectiveness. Beforesetting goals, the athlete should have set the background of goal setting by understandingtheir commitment to sports, understanding the level they want to reach within the sport,knowing the skills that will have to be acquired and the levels of performance that will beneeded, and know where this will fit into their overall life goals. The following broadguidelines apply to setting effective goals. Positive statements, be precise, set priorities,write goals down to avoid conf usion and give them more force, and keep operationalgoals small (Rainer, 1987). "Your body is a beautifully evolved sporting machine,comprising, among other things, muscles that can be trained to a peak of fittingness andnerves that control the muscles" (Morris 1992). The nerves are massively linked in anathletes brain vast numbers of nerve cells are linked with a hugely greater number ofinterconnections. Many of th... ...in proscribethinking (Bull 1983). The athlete needs affable cipher to be satisfactory to concentrate theirattention and maintain beneficial mental attitudes. If the athlete is concentrating effectivelythen the athlete can conserve physical energy by maintaining good technique when theirmuscles are tired. The athlete can waste mental energy on worry, stress, fretting overdistractions, and negative thinking. Over a long competition, these not alone damageenjoyment, but also drain energy so that performance suffers. It is therefore important toavoid th ese by good use of sports psychology, and by resting effectively between eventsand by ensuring that the athlete log Zs properly.     Sports psychology is a relatively new idea and just now it is becoming more of anormal thing rather than something only pro athletes do. The study of the mind and how itrelates to sports is a beneficial thing that even our own school uses to help improveperformance. Over the last 2 years our Varsity and JV boys basketball team has used asports psychologist from Boulder two or three times during the year. Sports psychology isno longer looked down upon, it is now a legitimate practice.