Sport psychology (or sports psychology) is a branch of psychology.

It is the study of the psychological

factors that affect participation and performance in sports. It is also a specialization within the brain
psychology and kinesiology that seeks to understand psychological/mental factors that affect
performance in sports, physical activity, and exercise and apply these to enhance individual and team
performance. It deals with increasing performance by managing emotions and minimizing the
psychological effects of injury and poor performance. Some of the most important skills taught are goal
setting, relaxation, visualization, self-talk, awareness and control, concentration, confidence, using
rituals, attribution training, and periodization

The history of sport psychology

The first sport psychologist is said to have been Norman Triplett (1861-1931). Triplett's first
finding as a sport psychologist was that cyclists cycle faster in pairs or a group, rather than riding
solo.

Carl Diem, a German, founded the world's first sport psychology laboratory in 1920. Five years
later, A.Z. Puni opened a lab at the Institute of Physical Culture in Leningrad. Also in 1925,
Coleman Griffith opened the first sport psychology lab in North America at the University of
Illinois. He began his research in factors that affect sport performance in 1918, and in 1923,
offered the first ever sport psychology course.

The International Society of Sport Psychology (ISSP) was formed by Dr. Ferruccio Antonelli of
Italy in 1965. In 1966, a group of sport psychologists met in Chicago to form the North
American Society of Sport Psychology and Physical Activity (NASSPPA).

In the 1970s, sport psychology became a part of the curriculum on university campuses

Motivation and Goal-Setting for Exercise

Finding motivation to train or stick with exercise on a regular basis isn't always easy. Demanding
schedules, burn-out, and illness are just a few of the things that may interrupt your fitness routine.
However, sometimes motivation can be found by following a very simple formula. Goal setting based
upon the S.M.A.R.T. approach, is a simple technique that provides structure for your training program.
Many athletes and coaches successfully use this formula to set both short and long-term training
goals.

The S.M.A.R.T. principle

1. Set Specific Goals. Research shows that specific goals are the most motivating. A specific
goal is to reduce your 5K time by 30 seconds within 6 months. Many people just say they want to
get faster. This goal is far too general to really motivate you in your training.
2. Set Measurable Goals. Simply saying that you want to get faster is not enough detail. You
need to be able to chart and document progress toward your goal. One way to measure your
progress is to document your performance at set intervals. In the above example you may want
to time your 5K performance once a month so you have a good measurement.
 3. Set Adjustable Goals. This means your goals are flexible enough to accommodate
unexpected challenges without becoming obsolete. An injury may force your to modify your goal.
If you goal is too run a certain marathon and you are injured, you may need to change your goal
to do the half marathon, or some other event. An injury doesn't need to mean you abandon all
your plans. At the same time, you may find you are progressing quickly and need to raise your
goal.

o Set Action-Oriented Goals Another important aspect of goal-setting to to keep them

focused on personal action. Don't forget to consider not only what you want to achieve, but
how you plan to acieve it.

 Set Realistic Goals. Start where you are, and increase your goals accordingly. If you haven't ever
run a 5K it's probably not a wise goal to say you want to run a marathon. While that may be your
long-term goal, in the short-term you may want to shoot for the 5K and 10K and half marathon on the
way to your marathon goal. This sort of progression is healthy and realistic. Also, keep in mind that as
you become more and more fit and near your full potential the room for continued improvement gets
smaller. Similarly, if your goals are too simple, you won't feel much satisfaction by attaining them.
Only you truly know what is realistic for you.
 Set Time-based Goals. Look again at first example: reduce your 5K time by 30 seconds within 6
months. This is specific and time-based. Without a time line there is a tendency to procrastinate or get
bored. You may also need to set interim goals with shorter timelines to keep you on track. Consider
the previous example of working up to a marathon by completing shorter distances first. each of those
because a separate goal with a shorter timeline. In general, goals that stretch out beyond 6 months
are too long to keep you interested and motivated. Try to re-evaluate your goals every 2-3 months.

Goal setting is an art as well as a science, but if you make sure your goals follow the S.M.A.R.T.
formula, you will find you are more likely to stay motivated and reach goal after goal.

Visualization and Muscle Strength

Visualization is a skill athletes often use prior to competition to mentally rehearse every aspect of their
event. You will often see ski racers or gymnasts or divers doing such an exercise before they compete.
Eyes closed, heads bobbing and weaving and bodies moving slowly through all the gates or rotations
in an imaginary competition. Many athletes believe, and some research is backing up their claims that
this rehearsal provides a competitive advantage.

Now research is suggesting that visualization can actually strengthen muscles. Researchers from the
Cleveland Clinic Foundation in Ohio investigated the strength benefits of imagining exercising a
muscle. They reported that just thinking about exercise helped maintain muscle strength in a group of
subjects.

They split 30 healthy young adults into 3 groups. For 15 minutes a day, five days a week for 12 week,
Group #1 imagined exercising their little finger muscle. Group #2 imagined exercising their biceps
muscle and Group #3 acted as a control group and did no imaginary exercise. Those in the first two
groups were asked to think as strongly as they could about moving the muscle being tested, to make
the imaginary movement as real as possible. The researchers measured muscle strength before,
during and after the training sessions.

Group #1 (the finger exercisers) increased their strength 53 percent, wand Group #2 (the biceps
group) increased strength by 13.4 percent.

Sounds unbelievable, but consider that measurements of the brain activity during visualization
sessions suggest that these strength gains were due to improvements in the brain's ability to signal
muscle activity. Suddenly the benefit of visualization is clear.
Researchers hope these results will assist in the therapy of stroke and spinal cord injury patients, and
possibly injured athletes. The researchers believe that anyone who has difficulty doing physical
exercises can use mental training methods to improve the muscle strength they have lost or maintain
the muscle strength they have.

Still, there is no substitute for actual strength-training exercises as the most effective means of
building and maintaining muscle strength,