Research Paper

The world of sports has become highly competitive and the intensity is continuing to increase as athletes become better and better. This causes sports to be physically and mentally demanding. Obviously sports are physically demanding, but many people do not think about how mentally demanding sports are. The mentality of an athlete can keep them from winning and succeeding though. These emotional issues that can hold an athlete back for reaching their full potential consistently can be resolved by treatment and training. Mental training includes goal setting, visualization, mental imagery, self-talk retraining, mind control treaining, emotion control, and ways to establish thought and emotions.

            Robert Nideffer, a professor from San Diego State University and President of Enhanced Performance Systems said that, “if an athlete is satisfied with his or her performances on good days but unable to reach that level of excellence during competition, there might be a psychological problem.”

            There is so much pressure in the world of sports today and this creates great amounts of stress and anxiety for athletes. 90 percent of all athletes, of all ages, experience performance anxiety (Sigi). Most athletes claim that they fear falling, making a mistake, or choking in a competition. Anxiety is something an athlete must learn to control in order to perform their best. Bad nerves before the competition as well as during the competition can both negatively affect an athlete. Anxiety and stress cause “choking” which leads to an inability to perform well. Choking can cause an athlete to freeze up, lose concentration, rush their moves, feel tension, move slower, and many other negative effects on performance. Athletes that deal with anxiety and choking must be trained to relax, concentrate, handle distractions, and manage self-talk in order to put forth their best performance every time.  Athletes who learn and practice these mental skills will be more calm and confident which leads to a better performance.

            Another common psychological issue for athletes is their response to sports injuries. Many athletes that are injured actually slow down their recovery process by their psychological responses of fear, impatience, and depression.

           

http://www.mentaltraininginc.com/

http://www.mentaltoughnesstrainer.com/2012/01/how-to-eliminate-anxiety-in-sports/

http:http://www.intropsych.com/ch14_frontiers/psychological_problems_in_sports.html//www.behavioralassociates.com/treatment_mot_spo.asp