Sports Psychology Research Paper

Sport Psychology Sport psychology is the application of psychology to exercise and activity of athletes (Feldman, 2010). Back in 1918 when sport psychology was invented it was mainly founded to find how vision and attention would predict performance (Tartakovsky, 2011). Sport psychology is often though of as very similar to exercise psychology but exercise psychology focuses on slightly different principles and works with different clients. Sport psychology has evolved into something that has a great influence in the world of sports today. The history, psychological factors that effect psychology of performance, processes used to help mental and physical performance, and areas/environments where sports psychology is used all contribute to

Coaching, team environments, and youth sports are the three main areas which sport psychology is utilized. In coaching sport psychology is used to improve determination, leadership, assertiveness, and coachability and confidence of players (Tutko, 1971). In team environments sport psychology is used to build unity, motivation, leadership and communication. Teams and groups will usually go through sessions with a sport psychologist to repair and build these factors as a team (SPINW, n.d.). In youth sports sport psychology there are three main focuses, these are intensity, continuity, and balance. Intensity is the level of how much a kid participates in a sport on a weekly basis. More participation is beneficial to development but too much is harmful so it is hard to say what the perfect amount is. Continuity is duration and how steadily a kid participates in sports from childhood through the adolescent years. Showing a commitment in sports over these years is beneficial to a child's whole life because it develops internal strength and drive to be a responsible teammate or leader. Balance is the most important aspect of this because achieving balance between sports and other activities is crucial for a child to live a happy life and it encourages a kid to see beyond life as a game of winning and losing (Price-Mitchell, 2012). Sport psychology in these three environments are very important for the development of young athletes, teams,