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SPORTS
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Articles on Issues in
Sport Psychology:
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Although sports psychology is still in its infancy, a tremendous amount
of interest has been generated by the potential of psychological principles to
enhance athletic performance. In
particular, the dedication to empirical examination of the tenets of
cognitive-behavioral theory has led to more effective clinical techniques which
have been intuitively appealing to sport psychology consultants.
As a result, psychological methods were implemented to enhance
performance prior to solid research support.
However, recent reviews of studies conducted in the last approximately
fifteen years have shown the psychological methods to be useful in the area of
sports performance enhancement (Greenspan & Feltz, 1989; Weinberg and Comar,
1994).
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"...sports
psychology can assist martial artists with achieving peak perfor-mance in both katas and sparring."
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Low self-esteem has been implicated in most psychological dysfunction; however,
low self-esteem is not necessarily the root cause of this dysfunction.
It is believed (Aro, 1994) that individuals with high self-esteem who may
be predisposed to psychological disorders are better equipped to cope with those
disorders, and thus, reduce the negative consequences that may result.
Therefore, if self-esteem can be enhanced, the psychological consequences
of disorders can be reduced. This process can be illustrated
by describing a similar process that occurs with physical illness such as
diabetes. The individual may be genetically predisposed to
developing the illness, but if they engage in the proper healthy care-taking
activities, they may prevent the development of the illness or, at least, reduce
its consequences (Amir et. al., 1990. The enhancement of
self-esteem and self-efficacy can be an important contributing factor to both
the prevention of psychological and physical illness and the maintenance of
health.
Exercise is in the position of being able to contribute to the prevention of
illness or the reduction of its effects through the process of improving
self-esteem. Reviews of the literature (Gauvin & Spence,
1996) illustrate clearly that exercise contributes to improvements in
self-esteem.
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RECOMMENDED BOOK
Inner Focus, Outer Strength: Using Imagery and Exercise for Health, Strength and Beauty
By Eric Franklin
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Developing Focus
Although martial arts derive from the eastern
philosophical thinking which focuses on the importance of the combined
interaction of the mind and body, many western martial artists tend to ignore
the mental aspects of the art and only focus on the physical aspects.
Interestingly, other sports that were not so
grounded in the metaphysical traditions seem to have more easily accepted the
precepts of sport psychology and embraced the development of mental skills. It
seems that more and more frequently, whenever a sporting event is on television,
references are made to sport psychologists assisting the athletes. Top athletes
in most sports are turning to sport psychologists to enhance their performance
because the development of the mental skills has been shown to give an edge to
those athletes.
It is true
that elite martial artists do develop the necessary mental skills required to be
competitive; they achieve these skills mainly through trial and error. However,
this is a very inefficient way to develop a skill. (Click
to continue)
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RECOMMENDED BOOKS
Thinking Body, Dancing Mind: Taosports for Extraordinary Performance in Athletics, Business, and Life
By Chungliang Al Huang
Embracing Your Potential
By Terry Orlick
Articles on Issues in
Wellness:
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Psyching for Sport Mental Training for Athletes
Beck Diet Solution Weight Loss Workbook: The 6-week Plan to Train Your Brain to Think Like a Thin Person
By Judith S. Beck
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