Sport psychology is the science of behavior applied to exercise and sport participation. Increasing numbers of athletes and coaches are using sport psychologists to help them gain a personal and competitive edge--to manage stress and anxiety more effectively, improve concentration and motivation, increase confidence, and promote better communication. This field has been percolating for 70 years, yet many people still think of it as commonsensical mind games.

A right mindset is one of the determinants of an athlete's performance, right along with his or her physical condition and technical skills. Just as there is a set of well-known physical characteristics of a champion (i.e., strength, speed, and stamina), there is a set of mental factors identified as part of a winner's mindset. They are confidence, concentration, consistency and control. Mindset is important for several reasons. It is often the factor that sets apart the best from the good. Research has revealed that at least 50 percent of athletic performance successes and even more athletic performance errors and failures are due to mental factors. Often times, talents plus physical and technical training can take athletes and teams only so far before they reach a performance plateau. It is mental training that will carry them to the next level.

In their practices, sport psychologists apply many psychological principles, such as behavioral analysis, anxiety, arousal, attention, motivation, aggression, personality assessment for individuals, and leadership and cohesion for teams. The specific techniques used by sport psychologists include:

• Autogenic Training:
Learn about personal physiological responses to stress in order to control those responses.
• Imagery/Simulation:
Mentally rehearse your performance, in details.
• Positive Visualization:
Try to "see" yourself win, in your mind.
• Relaxation Training:
Use various relaxation methods to help with consistency and performance.
• Concentration Training:
Learn to tune out distracters and develop focusing strategies.
• Positive Thought Training / Cognitive Restructuring:
Change thinking patterns: Catch negative thoughts and stop them; think positive instead.
• Confidence Training:
Develop your own way of building confidence.
• Emotion Regulation Training:
Learn to regulate emotional responses to situations during competitions.
• Goal Setting:
High but attainable goals often best motivate athletes.
• Team Building:
Identify leadership and foster team cohesiveness.

Many athletes have benefited from working with sport psychologists in achieving peak performance, as well as in improving and maintaining mental health. Currently, every US Olympic team and many major college athletic departments, such as Ohio State University, Washington State University, Notre Dame, and UCLA, have sport psychologists available to work with their athletes and teams.

What is the current state of the science that supports the use of psychological interventions to improve sport performance?

Williams: Individual variation certainly exists. However, a review of peak performance literature clearly indicates that successful athletes tend to have higher levels of self-confidence, a more task-oriented focus of concentration, a lesser likelihood of becoming distracted, a greater ability to keep anxiety at facilitative levels, a more positive preoccupation with sport (imagery and thoughts), and more determination and commitment compared to less successful athletes. These psychological characteristics can be developed through appropriate psychological interventions. Using meta-analytic procedures, reviewers of intervention research found support for mental rehearsal (imagery), cognitive restructuring interventions, goal setting, and relaxation interventions to improve athletic performance in diverse sports such as golf, karate, skiing, tennis, and baseball.

Under what circumstances, if any, can psychological interventions lead to more harm than good for athletes?

Dr. Kirschenbaum: Psychological interventions can have a negative impact on performance under certain conditions. For example, some research indicates that focusing on details of a technique when performing complex motor movements can sometimes decrease performance. Having athletes concentrate on how their hands are moving or their swing is taking shape could lead to at least a temporary interference in smooth motor performance. Thus, if a sport psychologist encourages athletes to focus on microscopic aspects of their performance he or she can adversely affect athletic performance. It may also be harmful for sport psychologists to encourage all athletes to try to attain a certain level of calm before performing. Certain sports and certain movements within sports generally require a higher level of activation. Also, some athletes tend to respond at their best when they are at high levels of activation or arousal. Competent sport psychologists are likely to observe and closely evaluate the effects of their interventions with athletes. If the intervention appears to be doing more harm than good, the psychologist should be able to recognize this, and make adjustments accordingly.