Text 2. Myths About Sports Psychology

History shows that in 1920 the world's first sport psychology laboratory was founded in Berlin Germany. Soon after that another laboratory began in Russia, and in 1925 America's first sport psychologist Coleman Griffith founded the first sport psychology laboratory in North America at the University of Illinois. He wrote the first sport psychology book published, The Psychology of Coaching, in 1926.

From the first days of sports psychology in the 1920's there have been controversies, misunderstandings and myths surrounding this fascinating field. Sports psychology, while more accepted than ever, and utilized at the highest levels of sport, still carries a stigma in the eyes of some athletes and coaches.

This article examines the many myths about sports psychology that still exist, separates fact from fiction, and attempts to dispel many of them. It answers some of these critical questions about the field:

1. How does sports psychology work?

2. Who can benefit from working with a sports psychologist?

3. What are the approaches and techniques of sports psychology?

4. What misinformation about sports psychology exists?

It is hoped that this article will lead to broader and more robust discussions around the values, ethics, processes and future of sports psychology.

Myth 1. All Sports Have The Same Type And Degree Of Psychological Demands.

Fact:

Different sports have differing degrees and types of mental requirements for success. Perhaps every competitor would say that their sport is very mentally demanding, and it is true that each sport has its own specific mental requirements. Athletes who are mentally strong in one sport perhaps often could not imagine themselves handling the mental challenges in another.

A sport like weight lifting, for example, is clearly less mental than a complicated sport like competitive tennis. Tennis incorporates complex strategies and tactics, is played over a longer time frame, has deception, and is a high-technique sport, requiring many hours of learning and grooving strokes.

Which sports are "more mental" than others? And how would one measure this? One somewhat objective measure of which sports seem to be the most mentally demanding could be based on the volume of literature on the psychological aspects of the sport. This may demonstrate the degree of difficulty in learning and mastering the mental demands of the sport. Two sports stand out in this respect. Golf has, by far, the most books and articles written about the "mental side" of the game, with tennis a close second. It seems reasonable to say that individual sports create the most mental hazards and internal pressures on a performer, far more than team sports. There is no place to hide, and the winning and losing belongs only to the individual. These sports are also usually more technique-laden and hence subject to mental interference issues.

Myth 2. Sports Are At Least "90% Mental" At Higher Skill Levels.

Fact:

Yogi Berra, the legendary baseball great, was known to once say, "Baseball is 90% mental -- the other half is physical." So much for mathematical science. It is true that in the upper levels of a sport, the mental game becomes more critical. After all, beginners in a sport are simply struggling to achieve a basic competence in physical skills. Thinking about complex game strategies and competitive psychological issues are the least of their concerns.

Another common statistic (spoken with such conviction as to sound downright scientific) thrown around is that humans use only 10% of their brain power. How can anyone possibly measure or prove a statement like this? Because these percentage-based statements are impossible to verify, they add little credible discourse to sport psychology.

Here, though, is one never-ending oddity. If at least 90% of all athletes and coaches state that the mental arena is vital, and absolutely critical at the higher reaches of a sport, then why do they also admit that they rarely practice mental skills? Perhaps they don't know how to practice these skills, or are not psychologically minded enough to seek assistance in this area. There still remains, in many sports, a stigma associated with an athlete who is "too mental". That's unfortunate.

Myth 3. The Mental Game Always Makes The Difference Between Two Otherwise Equal Athletes In A Competition.

Дата добавления: 2017-02-01