Physical exercise requires both physical and mental strength, improves children’s development and, in adults, helps maintain a better overall state of the body and brain, however, in many situations, we don’t find the motivation to begin with. where the psychology of sport comes in.
You don’t have to be an Olympic medalist, like Michael Phelps, to know that you can’t put limits on anything. The more you dream, the further you go? Whether it’s feeling good about yourself, for fun or just for necessity, sport is central to our lives from birth to the moment we leave this world.
If you need to jump, jump. -Fablehaven. Flight 3-
Although the psychology of sport makes more sense in the professional world, knowing some reasons why applying your tools outside this field can help us see them differently, if we do this, we can understand how these tools can also be of great value to us. who don’t live in sport.
But first, and in relation to the psychology of sport, it is important to distinguish the intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, it will be very important to know both aspects in order for the work applied to be effective.
According to the authors Sánchez-Oliva, Leo Marcos, Miguel, Amado Alonso and Calvo, in?Relationship of the motivational climate of the coach with self-determined motivation and involvement towards sports practice?(2010, University of Extremadura), intrinsic motivation may refer to the participation of the individual’s own initiative in an activity, that is, it does so out of sheer satisfaction of participating in the activity.
Also in this sense, Sans and Frattarola in?Basic football training?(2000, Paidotribo) considers that intrinsic or internal motivation is useful for the individual to develop his capacity for realization, when born, responds to his need in achieving a goal.
Naturally, knowing when and how to promote this type of motivation aimed at one or more people requires a certain amount of knowledge What moves the band?What interests do they have? In this way, we can adapt the tasks to your specific needs.
Now we return to the thesis of Sánchez-Oliva, Leo Marcos, Miguel, Amado Alonso and Calvo, in?Relationship of the motivational climate of the coach with self-determined motivation and involvement towards sports practice?(2010, University of Extremadura) to describe extrinsic motivation.
In this case, we mean the motivation that always occurs for a profit for personal growth, however, the interest in performing the activity begins and remains to obtain external rewards, as this may be to avoid a sense of guilt.
In this way, some people can influence others to practice sport, both between players and participants, and on the part of a coach you can vary performance, attitudes and motivation, which is especially important to improve sports skills. Cruz Feliu (1994, “Psychological advice to coaches: the basketball experience for beginners”, magazine Apunts 35) imagines itself.
Thus, we consider this motivation as external, since it comes from the outside and is provided by agents outside the person, but belonging to their environment, as we said, colleagues, family, friends, coaches, etc.
Psychologist and personal trainer Jonathan Garcia-Allen considers these 10 reasons why sports psychology is critical. Let’s get to know and discover the benefits that come with each of them.
The practice of sports psychology allows the individual to achieve his ideal mental state. In addition to the necessary good physical condition, mental preparation is also essential, especially at the competitive level. This is called in this area of knowledge the optimal level of operation.
The use of reinforcement is also considered essential, in this way you can improve the self-esteem of the participants, in addition it is considered a basic principle of learning techniques, tactics and psychological skills.
Psychological techniques adapted to sport are ideal for achieving goals, with proper planning and realistic goals it is much easier to follow in the footsteps of its execution, and it also increases self-confidence and builds self-esteem.
This advantage is achieved in team or group sports, this can incentivize joint work, because if they are united the benefit is much greater, it is used to improve and optimize athletic performance, reducing internal problems.
Increasing motivation and skills is possible through self-learning, negative habits are eliminated, according to Garcia-Allen, they are also ideal for developing attention, focusing on the goal and increasing performance, better supporting sports fatigue
Another reason why the implementation of sports psychology appears during the introduction of imaginative training, in this case reduces anxiety and new skills are acquired through mental practice.
We continue to see positive aspects of psychology adapted to sport. It’s an excellent stress controller. Although competition involves stressful situations, in general, the lifestyle associated with exercise is much healthier, it balances the bonds of the routine with higher performance, lower pressure and better response in complex scenarios, achieving goals and exceeding goals in all vital aspects.
The psychology of sport is a great ally of attention, techniques are used to improve performance, this requires emotional control, greater concentration and excellent learning skills, only then can we overcome the most complex moments of the sport.
Sport is also a facilitator of productive emotions. This is because the mental state of the individual really determines their competitive performance, so it is important to generate productive emotions capable of providing the ideal state of the person, so it is necessary to avoid anger, disappointment or fear and allow positivism to enter. the mind of the individual during physical exercise.
The psychology of sport is ideal as support for the recovery of sports injuries, it is very important to accept the injury and not lose the stirrups in the bad times and recovery, this is when professionals need to do an excellent motivational work so that rehabilitation is adequate, both psychologically and physically.
“I’m a very positive thinker and I think that’s what helped me in the most difficult times. -Roger Federer-
We find that the psychology of sport has a difficult job, however, its contribution is fundamental to the ideal performance both professionally and for sports fans, adequate physical preparation is required to achieve the proposed objectives.
Therefore, the physical capacity of an athlete is very important, however, if it is not combined with an emotional, technical, strategic and psychological training, there is a long way to go.
Mental capacity concentrated in the right direction is a very important part of achieving goals in any sport, so the psychology of sport has excellent work in different mental compartments.
“If you don’t trust, you’ll always find a way not to win. “Carl Lewis?
It can be concluded that thanks to the psychology of sport the individual becomes much more efficient, competent and effective, during practice he will make better decisions, better manage his emotions and overcome any critical moment with great efficiency.