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A Forum for Disabled Athletes: On Sept. 6–17, 2008, nearly 4,000 athletes with disabilities representing 147 National Paralympic Committees (NPCs) competed in the Paralympic Games in Beijing shortly after the Olympic Games had concluded. (See Special Report on page 194.) The high profile accorded the 2008 Paralympics was judged by many to be a turning [...]

DRUG ABUSE IN SPORT AND EXERCISE : We have learned of athletes who have succumbed to eating disorders for purposes of performance enhancement. We have also learned of athletes who over train and experience burnout in an effort to perform at a level higher than that of their competitors. In this lecture we learn of [...]

THE PSYCHOLOGY OF ATHLETIC INJURIES: Physical factors such as overtraining, equipment failure, and poor playing conditions are believed to be the major factors contributing to athletic injuries. Psychological factors play an important role in the incidence, prevention, and rehabilitation of athletic injuries. In addressing the important subject of the psychology of athletic injuries, three main [...]

BURNOUT IN ATHLETES: Too much exercise can result in a reduction in the effectiveness of the immune system to fight disease and an increase in negative psychological mood. In a very practical away, exercise can be considered along a continuum from not enough exercise to too much exercise. Negative psychological and biological outcomes are associated [...]

EXERCISE PSYCHOLOGY The Immune System, Cancer, HIV and Exercise: In recent years research has linked two of the great plagues of our time (cancer and HIV) to exercise and its effect on the immune system. While exercise has generally been linked to benefits, in cases of excess it can have negative consequences. It is like [...]

EXERCISE PSYCHOLOGY Theories of Exercise Behavior: Psychological models of human behavior have been applied to the exercise-setting in an attempt to explain why people don’t exercise, why they start to exercise, and why they do or do not continue to exercise, and why they start exercising again if they stop. These models include: The Theory [...]

EXERCISE PSYCHOLOGY Theoretical Explanations for the Relationship between Exercise and Improved Mental Health Many hypotheses have been proposed to explain why exercise is associated with improved mental health. We will be discussing six of them. The first three explanations are considered to be psychological in nature, while the remaining three are physiological in nature. Psychological [...]

EXERCISE PSYCHOLOGY: Documentation of the psychological benefits of regular exercise has led to the inclusion of “lack of exercise” as a fourth factor for heart disease that can be modified or controlled by the individual. The other three risk factors are smoking, high blood pressure and elevated cholesterol. Among other things, regular physical exercise helps [...]

LEADERSHIP IN SPORT Theories of Leadership: Early interest in leadership centered on the traits or abilities of great leaders. It was believed that great leaders were born and not made. Leadership traits are relatively stable personality dispositions such as intelligence, aggressiveness, and independence. Leadership behaviors have to do with the observed behavior of leaders and [...]

TEAM COHESION IN SPORT Consequences of Team Cohesion : Most research on consequences of team cohesion has focused upon performance. The primary question that has been asked is to what degree team cohesion leads to improved team or individual performance. Research has consistently shown that a significant relationship exists between team cohesion and athletic performance [...]

TEAM COHESION IN SPORT Intuitively athletes, coaches, and sport enthusiasts understand that there is more to athletic success than the collective or individual skills of a team. Sport psychologists refer to this extra team ingredient as group or team cohesion. There are numerous examples of talented teams that failed to live up to expectations, or [...]

AUDIENCE AND CROWD EFFECTS IN SPORTS Audience participation is a powerful on athletic performance. Perhaps no social-psychological effect is more important to athletic performance and outcome than the audience, or spectators, effect. While many variables may help create the home court or home field advantage, none seem to be as important as the presence of [...]

AGGRESSION AND VIOLENCE IN SPORT The Catharsis Effect : The catharsis effect represents a release of pent-up frustration that makes one feel better. It is a purging of the anger and frustration associated with not being able to accomplish a goal. Venting frustration upon a punching bag or some other inanimate object may serve as [...]

AGGRESSION AND VIOLENCE IN SPORT: A number of critical questions come to mind as one contemplates the issue of sport aggression. Does participating in or observing violent sporting events serve as a catharsis, or release from aggressive tendencies? Conversely, do these events merely teach and encourage further aggression on and off the playing field? Is [...]

ETHICS IN SPORT PSYCHOLOGY: In 1965 the internal society of sport psychology (ISSP) was formed in Rome, Italy. The Association for the Advancement of Applied Sport Psychology (AAASP) is the primary organization within the United States and Canada for professionals interested in applied sport psychology. All members of these societies are bound by a code [...]

PSYCHOLOGICAL SKILLS TRAINING Who Is the Client? The first and most critical thing that must be determined by the sport psychologist is who the client is. If the client is the athletic department of the university, then the athletic department defines the nature of the relationship between the sport psychologist and the athlete or the [...]

PSYCHOLOGICAL SKILLS TRAINING: In this lecture we talk about ways of implementing relaxation procedures, energizing strategies, imaging, and hypnosis for the purpose of developing psychological skill. Our primary focus in this regard has been facilitation of athletic performance. Learning how to focus attention, increase self-confidence, and control the debilitating effects of anxiety and worry is [...]

THE ROLE OF HYPNOSIS IN SPORT The Hypnotic Trait Issue: A hypnotic state is a situation-specific response to hypnotic suggestions and induction, while the hypnotic trait is more of a personality disposition toward hypnotic responsiveness. There are at least three principles that can be identified relative to the trait issue, they are: 1. Hypnotic responding [...]

THE ROLE OF HYPNOSIS IN SPORT: Like imagery, hypnosis is a cognitive-behavioral process that has both a cognitive function and a motivational function. In a cognitive sense, hypnosis is used to restructure the way athletes think about themselves and about the way they execute and learn new sport skills. In a motivational sense, hypnosis is [...]

IMAGERY Conceptual Models for Studying Imagery: Imagery has both a cognitive and a motivational function. The cognitive function of imagery is the use of mental imagery to experience specific sport skills and to plan strategies in advance of competition. The motivational function of imagery is the use of imagery to experience goal attainment, effective coping, [...]

IMAGERY : This lecture is a continuation of the topic we started in the last lecture, imagery. In this lecture we will be discussing theories of why imagery works imagery perspective and sensory mode, and measurement of imagery. Theories of Why Imagery Works While a great deal of research has been published relative to the [...]

IMAGERY : Successful athletes use imagery and visualization to their advantage. Not all athletes are able to verbally describe exactly how they use imagery, but some can. Some great athletes who have commented on the use of imagery in preparing for competition include Michael Jordan in basketball, Chris Evert in tennis and Nancy Kerrigan in [...]

AROUSAL ENERGIZING STRATEGIES: This lecture is a continuation of lecture twenty-three. We have discussed five team energizing strategies in the last lecture. In this lecture we will be looking at four more team energizing strategies, and then we will be looking at some self-energizing strategies. VI. Publicity/Advertising The institutions newspaper and other advertisements can be [...]

AROUSAL ENERGIZING STRATEGIES In the previous lecture we discussed strategies that athletes use to relax and to reduce anxiety and arousal associated with the stress response. In this lecture we are discussing arousal energizing strategies needed to obtain peak performance. People have been looking to the sport psychologist to learn how to maintain optimal levels [...]

RELAXATION STRATEGIES FOR SPORT: While some athletes may suffer from low levels of arousal, the more difficult problems occur with athletes who experience excessively high levels of anxiety and tension. For these athletes, any strategy calculated to heighten arousal can only cause greater anxiety and tension. Relaxation procedures can effectively reduce tension and anxiety associated [...]

COPING STRATEGIES IN SPORT: Coping has been defined by Lazarus and Folkman (1984) as “constantly changing cognitive and behavioral efforts to manage specific external and/or internal demands that are appraised as taking or exceeding the resources of the person”. Coping involves a personal response on the part of the athlete to address the stress response. [...]

ALTERNATIVES TO INVERTED-U THEORY: In the previous lecture we learned that inverted-U theory is the primary theory used by sport psychologists to explain the relationship between anxiety and performance. However, sports psychologists have turned to other more complex theories to explain this relationship. It is believed by many psychologists that the inverted-U theory is a [...]

ANXIETY, AROUSAL, AND STRESS RELATIONSHIPS This lecture is a continuation of lecture eighteen. We were looking at anxiety, arousal, and stress relationship, and had divided this topic into six sections, they were: Differentiating among the terms anxiety, arousal and stress The multidimensional nature of anxiety Antecedents of anxiety Measurement of anxiety Time-to-event nature of precompetitive [...]

ANXIETY, AROUSAL, AND STRESS RELATIONSHIPS: In explaining the relationship between anxiety, arousal, and stress, and their relationship to athletic performance, it is important that we understand a number of conceptual relationships. This topic is divided into six sections, they are: Differentiating among the terms anxiety, arousal and stress The multidimensional nature of anxiety Antecedents of [...]

SITUATIONAL FACTORS RELATED TO ANXIETY AND MOOD : We have learned that individuals bring to the athletic situation certain traits or characteristics that are relatively stable and that basic personality traits were predictors of athletic performance. The environment or the situation is believed to interact with the athlete’s personality to influence behavior and athletic performance. [...]