Sport Psychology: What It Is & Benefits

What Is Sport Psychology?

Sport psychology is an interdisciplinary science that applies principles of psychology to sports and athletics. Sports psychology acknowledges the major impact of emotional and psychological factors can have on athletes competing in sports. For example, confidence, self-esteem, motivation, and determination are just a few of the psychological components that can influence how an individual athlete or team performs.^1,2,4

Sport psychologists often use well-known counseling techniques like cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) or motivational interviewing to help athletes achieve optimal performance.⁴ In recent years, the importance of sport psychology has led to an expansion into other industries and fields.

Sport psychology techniques seem to be especially helpful to individuals or more comprehensively with a whole team who need to perform under high pressure or high stress conditions. This may be why sport psychologists now work with individuals in the military, police force, and executive leadership positions.³

Sport psychologists may also work with  individuals who have a mental health diagnosis (anxiety, depression etc.), or with individuals or teams to proactively optimize mental health aspects and to prevent mental health problems due to added risk factors from the pressure of sports performance.

Education, Training, & Certification of a Sport Psychologist

There are many levels of education to be able to work within sport psychology; most involve earning either a Masters or Doctoral degree and then becoming certified. All of the certification boards also require internship or practicum hours and passing a certification exam. One option to practice sports psychology is to earn a certification as a Certified Mental Performance Consultant (CMPC) through the Association for Applied Sport Psychology.⁵

Another option is to become certified as a sport psychologist by the American Board for Sport Psychology. This process involves more intense training and a practicum program. For example, the ABSP requires 750 hours of experience, including direct experience working with athletes, research, and completion of a final written or oral project. Board certified sport psychologists also need additional field training and to pass a sport psychology certification exam.⁶

What Can Sport Psychology Help With?

Sport psychologists can help athletes competing at all levels (recreational or professional) improve their performance. Common issues and focus points in sport psychology include goal setting, attention, motivation, coping skills, teamwork, leadership, and burnout.^1,2,4 Sport psychology is also useful to individuals looking to improve their performance, even if they are not athletes or sports officials.³

Goal Setting & Achievement

Goal setting and achievement is key to optimal performance in athletic and sporting activities, especially when competing at the higher levels. According to theories on goal setting, goals that are challenging and specific in nature are most likely to improve performance.⁴ For this reason, individual and team goals are both important components of sports psychology.^1,4

Team goals are especially important in professional sports because they help teammates work together and have more of an overall impact on performance.^1,7 As an example, a sport psychologist working with an NBA team to improve the percentage of 3 point shots may use a number of different psychological techniques.

Goal setting techniques include:^1,2,4,7,8

• Motivational interviewing to evoke and build upon internal sources of motivation
• Setting SMART (specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound) goals
• Helping teams work towards collective goals to enhance collaboration and cooperation
• Use of CBT interventions to help athletes improve their self-talk to stay motivated
• Encouraging coaches to keep athletes motivated by using praise and feedback
• Improving athletes confidence in their skills (self-efficacy)
• Writing goals down (which can help to improve achievement rates)

Attention & Focus In Sports

Sports require a high level of focused attention, including the ability to remain focused on the most important parts of the game even when there are multiple distractions, including crowds, shouting, and movement. In sport psychology, athletes are taught skills to track and respond to a variety of cues, signals, and situations at the same time.⁴

Many of the skills that are used by a sport psychologist working to help athletes improve their attentional focus are borrowed from cognitive theories.^2,4

These skills include:^2,4,8,9

• Helping athletes turn their focus outward in order to improve their ability to track multiple cues and respond appropriately (as opposed to being internally focused)
• Coaching athletes on how to change negative self-talk in ways that improve their ability to stay focused on certain cues
• Using verbal cues like “ball,” “ready,” or “hit” that athletes can use in self-talk or to communicate with one another
• Using positive imagery to “visualize” making a shot as a method of improving focus during a game

Motivation & Determination In Athletes

Competitive sports require a great deal of motivation, determination, and mental toughness. These qualities need to be honed, developed, and maintained by athletes in order to prevent them from declining, especially when they’re challenged or performing poorly. For example, individual athletes and sports teams often feel demoralized after losing a game, missing shots, or failing to execute a plan.

Sport psychologists often work with athletes, teams and coaches to learn strategies to improve their motivation and determination in these situations.

These strategies include:^1,2,4,8

• Providing positive reinforcement in the form of praise or support
• Teaching athletes to improve their self-talk
• Using encouraging positive statements and finding internal sources of motivation
• Identifying a specific plan of action to help make goals seem more achievable

Coping Skills & Emotion Regulation

Athletes are bound to face challenging, frustrating, and upsetting moments. For example, missed shots, game-losing mistakes, boos from the crowd, and bad calls are just a few examples of the stressful aspects of participating in sports. These are even more prevalent when athletes are competing in professional or competitive sports where the stakes are higher.¹⁰

This is why sport psychologists often focus on teaching athletes how to cope with stress, handle high pressure situations, manage performance anxiety, and regulate their emotions.^2,4,8 They may teach a variety of coping skills, including impulse control skills, mindfulness, and relaxation skills that can be used during difficult moments.^8,10 These skills help prevent them from having outbursts that have the potential to damage their reputation or career.

Teamwork & Sportsmanship

Teamwork is an integral part of success when it comes to team sports, and sportsmanship is also an expectation, especially for athletes playing professionally. Sport psychologists understand the importance of team cohesion and cooperation, and often work with teams on these issues. Setting shared goals and encouraging players to have a team-focus vs. a self-focus are all strategies they may use to help athletic teams improve their performance.^1,2,7

Sportsmanship could be considered the “etiquette” of sports, and is an expectation of athletes playing at the competitive or professional levels. Not all athletes are familiar with this code of etiquette, so some sport psychologists will spend time helping players (especially newer athletes) understand the importance of these things.¹¹

Examples of sports etiquette include:

• Shaking hands with the opposing team after a game
• Showing concern for injured players
• Avoiding arguments with the referee
• Listening and following the directives of the coach
• Not talking trash or being aggressive to opponents
• Sharing the ball or letting other teammates have their moments
• Playing by the rules (not cheating or causing intentional injury to others)
• Being respectful to all teammates, athletes, coaches, referees, etc.

Preventing Burnout In Athletes

Athletes who play sports often or at the professional or competition level have a high risk of burnout. The mental and physical toll of playing sports at this level is high, which is why burnout prevention is another common issue sport psychologists focus on.^2,10 One way they help prevent burnout is by providing education about the signs of burnout to athletes, coaches, and others.

Some of the early signs of burnout, including mental and physical exhaustion, lack of motivation, and negative thoughts. When it progresses, burnout can cause athletes to become apathetic and lose interest and passion in the sport. Eventually, this begins to impair their performance. By noticing the early signs of burnout, it’s sometimes possible to prevent its progression.²

Recent research has found that the use of mindfulness practices can reduce the risk for burnout in athletes. Mindfulness involves refocusing attention to the here-and-now, and is also a proven method to reduce stress and anxiety.¹⁰ Other studies have found that helping to improve motivation, confidence, reduce perfectionistic thoughts, and cope with stress and difficult emotions can also help lower the risk of burnout in elite athletes.¹²

Rehabilitation After an Injury

Some sport psychologists specialize in helping rehabilitate athletes recovering from an injury. Physical injuries are relatively common in athletes, and often result in an athlete needing to take time off to recover and go through rehabilitation. In some cases, an injury can even be a career-ending event for a professional athlete. Because of this, recovering from an injury is not just a physical process, but also a psychological one.^2,8

This highlights that rehabilitation is a physical process and a psychological one. When injured athletes are able to confront negative emotions and thoughts associated with their injuries. By confronting negative emotions, they can participate in therapy and take medication as prescribed, which would optimize the healing process. Getting the right physical and psychological support from qualified professionals, they can recover faster and set more realistic timelines and goals to prevent further injury.^2,8,13

To aid in the rehabilitation and recovery of an injured athlete, a sport psychologist may:^8,10

• Provide basic education to athletes about some of the psychological effects of a physical injury
• Assess the psychological impacts of the injury on the individual athlete and come up with an individualized treatment plan to help them address these
• Work to re-evaluate professional and athletic goals and timelines based on the injury and establish new, more realistic goals and timelines that allow time for recovery
• Teaching coping and relaxation skills to athletes experiencing negative psychological effects after a sport injury
• Use of positive thinking strategies (including CBT and self-talk skills) and positive visualization to increase hope and optimism during the recovery process

Who Do Sport Psychologists Work With?

Sport psychologists often work with athletes who experience emotional problems that are believed to impact their play. However, there’s a growing awareness of the link between physical and psychological well-being that’s helping to broaden the use of sport psychology in situations where there is no clinical diagnosis. For example, a number of professional sports teams now have a psychologist on staff to help their athletes improve their confidence, motivation, and other aspects of their performance.³

In addition to athletes, sport psychologists are now expanding their practice to work with other professionals, including:^3,4

• Individuals looking to improve physical fitness or athletic abilities
• Coaches, referees, and other athletic staff
• Military members, police, fire fighters, and other first responders
• Business professionals and executive leaders looking to improve performance

Specialized Areas of Sport Psychology

There are some sport psychologists who specialize in specific aspects of their field, or who choose to work with more specific populations. Some specializations are less formal, and include a psychologist who focuses on working with specific types of athletes (i.e., professional basketball players or swimmers).

Specializations of sport psychologists include:^3,5,6

• Educational sport psychology: educational sport psychologists are often focused on teaching and training athletes, teams, and other professionals specific psychological principles and skills. These professionals may act more as advisors or trainers, and may not be licensed psychologists who provide treatment.
• Clinical sport psychology: clinical sport psychologists are licensed psychologists who are able to diagnose and treat psychological disorders. They often treat athletes struggling with specific psychological issues or conditions, including anxiety disorders, mood problems, body image issues, or eating disorders. The focus of treatment is usually on resolving the issue in order to improve athletic performance.
• Exercise psychologists: exercise psychologists tend to work with a broader range of clients, including those who are not athletes competing at a professional level. Instead, exercise psychology helps people understand the link between exercise and mental wellness, and they often apply many of the principles and strategies of sport psychology.
• Tactical: these sport psychologists may specialize in working with military members, police, fire fighters, and other first responders. Using the principles of sport psychology, they help these individuals learn to manage and cope with stress and high pressure situations.
• Performing arts: some psychologists use sport psychology techniques to help people in the performing arts (i.e., theater, dance, music, etc), as many of the same skills apply to performers.

Effectiveness of Sport Psychology

Sport psychology has been studied for decades and has become more widely used and supported in recent years than ever before. As of 2003, the APA recognizes sports psychology as a distinct field of practice, and rigorous standards of licensing and credentialing boards also have helped legitimize the field.^3,5,6

Here are some of the studies highlighting the effectiveness of sport psychology interventions:

• A 1994 review of 45 studies in sport psychology found that 85% showed significant improvements in performance in athletes receiving sport psychology interventions ¹⁴
• A 2017 study found that psychological and psychosocial interventions had a moderate positive effect on sport performance that lasted at least 1 month after interventions¹⁵
• A 2020 study found that psychological skills training and mindfulness led to performance improvements in athletes, and specifically helped in areas of emotional regulation and attention/focus¹⁶
• A 2022 meta-analysis of research done between 1983-2021 found that sport psychology interventions enhanced performance, leading to a reduction in symptoms of anxiety and depression in athletes who received psychological interventions¹⁷

How Much Does Working With a Sport Psychologist Cost?

Depending on the level of training, education, certification, and location of the provider, the cost for a sport psychologist session can vary. Many athletes playing on a professional level are provided these services at no cost, as it is covered by the expenses of the sports organization. There are also many insurance plans that cover mental health treatment, including sport psychology sessions.

Still, some sport psychologists do not accept insurance and require patients to self-pay. In some instances (for professional athletes or active duty military), there can be professional risks associated with having a diagnosed mental health condition. For this reason, some prefer to self-pay for sessions to avoid having a documented diagnosis added to their medical record.

In general, the cost of therapy can also vary depending on where you live and the provider you see; however, a session with a sport psychologist can range between $150-300.

How to Find a Sport Psychologist

Finding a therapist, especially a sport psychologist, can be tricky because some professionals may list this as a specialty without credentialing from a professional board. For this reason, the best way to find a credentialed and licensed sport psychologist is to use an online therapist directory or look for a therapist who is a Board Certified Sport Psychologist.

Final Thoughts

Over recent years, sports psychology has expanded to offer services to a broader range of individuals, including coaches and other professionals in the athletic field. There are even military members, first responders, and business executives who have benefitted from the services of sport psychologists.³