HISTORY OF

SPORT
PSYCHOLOGY
ORIGINS
CURRENT STATUS
PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE ISSUES
FUTURE OF SPORT PSYCHOLOGY

MS. BEVERLY P. ACAIN

BEGINNERS
THE MAN THAT STATED IT ALL
Born in 1861
Psychologist at Indiana University.
His long journey into sport psychology would begin
one day while researching a group of runners.
A young Norman Triplett discovered that people became more
competitive in group situations. This was very mysterious to
researchers at the time of its discovery. The first sport
psychology discovery came from an experiment with
runners. They discovered that a runner who performed in a group
would achieve a much better time then the same runner attempting
a solo time trial. There was some sort of invisible competitive engine
which drove these groups of athletes. Norman Triplett realized that
groups brought out a more intense demand for performance in
NORMAN TRIPLETT athletes.
 THE FATHER OF NORTH AMERICAN
WOR
SPORT PSYCHOLOGY
first sport psychology laboratory, University of Illinois,
EQU
1925
Psychology of Coaching (1926)
Psychology and Athletics (1928)
He taught a course called “Psychology and Athletics,” and in
1928, opened the first research lab specializing in sport psychology
topics. Many of his topics are still being researched today, including
methods of teaching psychological skills in football, the effects of
fatigue on performance, the persistence of errors, and mental
variables associated with excellent athletic performance.
The International Society of Sport Psychology (ISSP) was
founded and the International Journal of Sport Psychology
created soon after. Around the same time, North American leaders
in sport psychology began the North American Society for the
Psychology of Sport and Physical Activity (NASPSPA). This was a
huge step for the field, having journals and conferences devoted to
only research related to sport psychology.
COLEMAN ROBERTS GRIFFITH
 HISTORY
1965: International Society for Sport Psychology (ISSP)
founded in Rome.
1967: North American Society for the Psychology of Sport
and Physical Activity (NASPSPA) founded.
1985: (APA) American Psychological Association approves the
formation of the Division of Exercise
and Sport Psychology (Division 47)
1986: The Association for the Advancement of Applied
Sport Psychology (AAASP) holds first meeting.
CURRENT
STATUS
 Clinical and research practice seem very promising
The field still has a division between those who
“study” and those who “work” with athletes
Dishman and Buckworth (2001) state that 4 areas
should be involved:
1.Exercise and mental health
2.Anxiety and depression
3.Sleep
4.Self esteem
PROFESSIONAL
PRACTICE
ISSUES
THE 10 BIGGEST
ISSUES SEEN IN
PRIVATE PRACTICE
1. PERFORMING WELL IN PRACTICE BUT NOT IN
GAMES
2. ANXIETY

3. LOW SELF-ESTEEM OR LOW CONFIDENCE

4. POOR FOCUS OR CONCENTRATION

5. ANGER OR FRUSTRATION

6. RELATIONSHIP
7. PERFECTIONISM
8. DEPRESSION

9. LOW MOTIVATION/ WANTING TO QUIT

10. TRAUMA/SUBSTANCEABUSE/EATING DISORDERS

THE FUTURE
OF SPORT
PSYCHOLOGY
 These days, sport psychologists can specialize in research or application.
Although the practice of sport psychology is much more popular now, it still lacks
the commonplaces of counseling and therapeutic psychology (aka clinical
psychology). This is likely a result of both psychology’s history of being associated
with mental illness and the lack of awareness that sport psychologists exist and are
helping individuals achieve their goals every day.illustrate athletes’ reluctance to
seek help from a sport psychologist or psychiatrist.
IN THE SAME STORM
‘We are not all in the same boat, but we are in the same storm’
Dr Adams-Norenburg, through her experiences supporting British Canoeing,
explained how encouraging coaches to converse with athletes about their
purpose, instigating a daily routine and recognising and dealing with grief (for the
loss of training, livelihoods and loved ones) allowed athletes to cope with
lockdown. When working with her athletes, Dr Adams-Norenburg used a
mixture of wellbeing focused (e.g. supporting athletes to review and
reconnect with a meaningful purpose) and performance psychology (e.g. use of
imagery to reflect on critical performances and decision making) activities to
‘settle the ship’ and ‘discover the opportunity in ambiguity’.
British Cycling also focused on empowering and upskilling coaches to help
athletes during lockdown, with how a ‘lockdown screening’ survey (including
reference to sleep quality, energy, routine, and motivation) was used.
Responses were used to both reactively manage issues and proactively buffer
future problems, empowering coaches and support staff to manage the new
environment as restrictions lifted.
 RACISM IN SPORT
Racism is not new to sport – it has always impacted individual’s abilities to
participate in sport, and their ability to do so safely. Professor Wilson
provided examples of how today’s media captures racism across
sport, citing how the lack of racial diversity in the media leads to
the differential reporting of the same stories. She highlighted how the
media portrayed Tosin Adarabioyo (a black footballer) as ‘a young
Manchester City Footballer’ who ‘splashed out on a mansion, despite never
starting in the Premier League’ yet reported how Phil Foden (a white
footballer) was a ‘young starlet’ who purchased a ‘home for his mother’ –
despite the properties costing roughly the same amount.
Go a way to raise awareness of racist issues in sport, we need to ‘move
beyond [these] empty symbolic gestures’ to make a real change. This led to
the question of what we, as individuals, should be doing?
Firstly, we must educate ourselves – we do not live in ‘a colour-blind world’
and hence we must actively work towards diversifying our workforces and
advocate for curriculum that address racism.
 A WIDER VIEW OF HARM
Dr Kavanagh encouraged professionals to take this wider view of the types of harm, suggesting
that the likes of self-harm and peer-to-peer violence should be acknowledged alongside welfare
concerns that are often triggered by the power differentials in coach-athlete relationships. The
rise of highly digitised athletes with many now having a high social media presence (which Dr
Kavanagh called the ‘Rise of the Athlete’) has also presented new outlets for abuse, with the
virtual violence of fans towards athletes demanding athletes learn to navigate new online spaces,
as well as physical training ones.
Spaces must be developed where athletes can ‘still train to break records, but from an
environment that considers welfare’. This will allow for more emphasis on duty of care and caring
for athletes (i.e. performing acts that show caring) rather than just caring about them (which has
little tangible output).
Ultimately, we should all use safeguarding as a point of planning and reflection within our
daily practice and seize the opportunity to keep people safe in sporting places.
Dr Darren Britton, who organised the event alongside Dr Vaithehy Shanmuganathan,
concluded the conference by saying ‘we have been offered a glimpse into the future
of sport and exercise psychology; a future of greater collaboration, a future continuing
to support athletes through the current Covid-19 pandemic, a future where we as
psychologists take a stand against racism and a future where we play an essential role
in safeguarding our athletes’.
 Gracis!
MUCHISIMAS