T.J. Yates must have gone and seen a sports psychologist this off season. Heading into the year, he was considered UNC’s greatest weakness. Now he is considered UNC’s greatest strength. His consistency and decision making are drastically improved. Sports psychology seems to be the most likely answer to this incredible change. As the physical gap between athletes has decreased over the years, athletes are looking for every advantage they can get and sports psychologists offer a solution. Sports psychologists study how emotions and attitudes affect athletes on the physiological level, the athletes’ behavioral responses, and the effort they put forth.
To understand the effects of sports psychology, one needs to understand the difference between absolute and relative performance. Every athlete has a specific level of play that they can attain. These are based exclusively on the physical gifts they possess. This level of play is called one’s absolute performance. An athlete’s performance on any given day is called one’s relative performance. Whereas absolute performance is set, one’s relative performance is not. What determines one’s relative performance is based on environmental factors. Some cannot be controlled. Weather, the crowd, fatigue, injury and illness are all examples. What can be controlled though is an athlete’s reaction to them. This is where the sports psychologist comes into play.
Anxiety is normal before a game, but too much can be detrimental to an athlete’s performance. It is either cognitive or somatic. Cognitive anxiety is mental and can lead to a narrower perceptual field, an inability to shift attention, and impaired decision making skills. Somatic anxiety though manifests itself physiologically through impaired fine motor skills, disrupted blood flow, and tense muscles.
Cognitive anxiety is a common opponent to an athlete. Cognitive anxiety is all the negative thoughts and self-doubt an athlete experiences that consume the attention of the athlete, causing them to miss some of the external cues. These issues need to be addressed before the problems manifest themselves in an in-game situation through rational emotive therapy. The therapy essentially assumes that the athlete’s negative energy is a result of irrational beliefs, and these beliefs must be erased. Retooling the human thought process though is much more intensive and time-consuming. When cognitive anxiety attacks during the game still, the athlete must take the time to step back and rethink everything. Common methods for this are self-talk, thought stopping, centering, and reframing. The point is to get the athlete into a positive disposition.
Sports psychologists often use biofeedback and related techniques to help athletes combat somatic anxiety. In biofeedback, athletes are taught to recognize the feeling of relaxed vs. tense muscles. Then when they are able to recognize the symptoms of anxiety manifesting them, they can take the necessary steps to reduce the anxiety. These steps are similar to those taken to fight cognitive anxiety and are usually orientated towards breathing exercises.
Sports psychology doesn’t make you a better athlete; one’s absolute performance cannot change. What sports psychology does is improve one’s relative performance. Very rarely does anyone perform at their absolute performance. So if one can make up enough difference in one’s relative performance, one can beat a better opponent. In the higher playing levels, where almost all the athletes are the best there is and the difference in absolute performance is small, it is whoever can make up the most ground in the relative performance department that will win.
Reference:
Gee, Chris J., "How Does Sports Psychology Actually Improve Athletic Performance? A Framework To Facilitate Athletes' and Coaches' Understanding." Behavior Modification 34.5 (2010) 386-404. Web. 23 October 2010. http://www.bmo.sagepub.com/content/34/5/386.full.pdf+html
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