Kinesiology 3388A/B Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Sport Psychology, Kinesiology, Deeper Understanding
11 Jan 2017
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Lecture 2 2017-01-09 4:33:00 PM
Reading:
Intro:
• At some points, sports psych has been ahead of its time while in other
ways it is behind its time
o When psychology was focused on pathology it was focused on
growth and psychological enhancement but it has also struggled to
find its unique identity and to gain a wide acceptance to its target
markets
• Sports psychology is also in a difficult position for research identity –
often trying to create new ideas or applying theories to individuals
Historical Context:
• This may be due to the fact that sports psych is a concept over a
profession in psychology and that many universities don’t incorporate it
into the umbrella of psychology (it was developed through kinesiology)
• Coleman Griffith – the father of sport psychology
o Was the first to serve athletes and relate their psychological factors
to their performance
• Bruce Ogilvie – the father of applied sport psychology and his uniqueness
was the application in the context of performance – focused on improving
performance and helping athletes enjoy their sport
• The work from the 2 practitioners merged to create the Association for
Applied Sport Psychology and the American Psychology also added
Division 47 which looked at sports psychology in a broader context
Current State – Training Programs:
• It is believed that in order to properly study sports psychology you need
to have a multi-disciplinary approach but most graduate programs don’t
really do this
• Instead, they focus on one area with a deeper understanding and only
touch on other ideas – this is positive because it is somewhat of an
interdisciplinary approach but not enough
• This means that in order to provide a multi-disciplinary approach a
student needs a master’s in sports psychology and a doctorate in clinical
counselling
Current State of Profession:
• AASP developed a curriculum-based method of certification in both
kinesiology and psychology (Certified Consultant) that can provide a
range of services depending on their training
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o Educating about the psychological factors of sport
o Teaching participants mental and emotional control skills for sport
• Division 47 from APA recognizes sports psychology as a proficiency – a
branch of psychology that is distinct in specific parameters
• There problem is that there is a lack of a consistent title that is leading to
the confusion of what services they actually provide and the performance
vs. therapeutic side has not been distinguished
Future Directions:
• The biggest issue is the fact that there is not a distinct definition or title
for the practice, even though counselling an athlete for their emotional
needs and counselling them for their performance are usually separate
• It would be helpful to distinguish from psychologists and practitioners that
help with performance (ex: performance psychologists)
In Order for Performance Psychology to continue to built on the foundation made by
sports psychology:
1.We need to strengthen the knowledge base
o Performance psychology does rely on lots of research BUT most of
the theories/ research applied mostly stem from psychology – to
apply these theories to performance psychology, they should be
testable and attempt to bring in as many factors to performance
possible
2.We need to clearly delineate it as an ethical and competent practice
o Continued modification of graduate training programs to
incorporate:
▪ Competence in the psychology of performance and
performance enhancement (including performance research
and theories)
▪ Competence in mental health counselling that results in
eligibility for state licence
▪ Competence in psychology
▪ Competence in a performance specialty
• Graduate programs can be improved by offering both a classroom
component and a supervised opportunity to apply it
Building onto the Last Point:
• It will be beneficial for students to complete a certification in mental
health to allow them to understand it and to protect their clients
• Another beneficial thing would be an exam-based licencing and a more
direct path towards becoming a sports psychologist
Going over the Reading in Class:
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• Performance Psychology is a better name because they are focusing on
the performance, shows that they have an understanding of performance
and the understanding of the science and the psychology of sport and the
mind, background in clinical and counselling psychology
• Get them to specialize
• We want to mix a regular psychology degree or the kin based psychology
degree
• Want to make sports psychologist profession regulated – exam and
competency based evaluation
• Sports psychologists without the proper background may turn people off
so they suggest that you have the counselling piece, mental health piece
in case of underlying issues (eating disorders, anxiety) and talking about
the performance
• Performance piece makes them specialized – they understand that
athletes are different than non-athletes
Won’t test on this but important background
Video – How to Make Stress your Friend:
• Think of stress as positive have the lowest risk, even lower than people
with little stress
• View stress signs as your body’s way to energize you to overcome the
challenge – when you do this, your HR and breathing rate increase but
your vessels no longer constrict
Q1: What would this tell you if you were working with a team or athlete?
• Stress is not a negative response in sport – it is actually your body’s way
of giving you energy to face the challenges that you have in sport
• Your body will respond differently to the same thing if you think of it
differently – it will go from stress or anxiety to joy and confidence
o Teach athletes to interpret those signals as “I’m ready” you will
have a different response
o Reassure them that stress is okay and all about how they respond
to the situation
• Stress shows that you care and that you really want to succeed – if you
didn’t feel that way it would mean you didn’t care
• Demonstrates the importance of belief
Q2: How do you use this information/scientific data to enhance performance,
reduce performance anxiety, decrease pre-performance jitters, or other aspects of
performance?
• Get them to apply this to their sport – make them think of their
“performance anxiety” or pre-performance jitters as the physical
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Applied sport psychology and the american psychology also added. Division 47 which looked at sports psychology in a broader context. It is believed that in order to properly study sports psychology you need to have a multi-disciplinary approach but most graduate programs don"t really do this. Future directions: the biggest issue is the fact that there is not a distinct definition or title for the practice, even though counselling an athlete for their emotional needs and counselling them for their performance are usually separate. It would be helpful to distinguish from psychologists and practitioners that help with performance (ex: performance psychologists) In order for performance psychology to continue to built on the foundation made by sports psychology: Q2: how do you use this information/scientific data to enhance performance, reduce performance anxiety, decrease pre-performance jitters, or other aspects of performance: get them to apply this to their sport make them think of their.
