The Advantages of Psychological Skills Training
Psychological Skills Training
What exactly is Psychological Skills Training and for a coach or instructor, what advantage is gained by its implementation? In other words, why bother? Psychological Skills Training (PST) is typically more comprehensive than a few short sessions with a few simple interventions that a coach or instructor might suggest. PST usually integrates cognitive and relaxation techniques in a more encompassing approach to mental training and as a complement to physical training. Individualism is a hallmark of most PST programs. (Gill, 2000)
The Importance of Mental Skills
Why are mental skills so important to performance and why are they often neglected by coaches and athletes? Yogi Berra has been quoted as saying, "sport is 90% mental and 50% physical." You can question his mathematical savvy, but if you 're an athlete, coach or fan, you can 't question his wisdom. (Hacker, 2000) Many athlete 's understand that while developing oneself to their physical potential is a critical element in performance potential, it is often a deficit in our psychological game rather than errors in our physical performance that keep us from performing at optimum levels in practice, games or matches. Spud McKenzie, the Budweiser poster puppy, suggested that it is important to say when, but also emphasized the critical element of knowing "when to say when". It is often the successful athlete has recognized what needed to be done and the unsuccessful athlete was unable to do so. As a consequence, it is not the physical talents or abilities that separate athletes and teams, or successful versus less successful performance, rather, the psychological dimension that most frequently explains a given sport outcome or individual performance. For this reason games are played. Prior to each contest, judgment could be made with regard to which team or individual is the "more highly skilled". If games were decided on who is the most physically gifted and/or talented
What exactly is Psychological Skills Training and for a coach or instructor, what advantage is gained by its implementation? In other words, why bother? Psychological Skills Training (PST) is typically more comprehensive than a few short sessions with a few simple interventions that a coach or instructor might suggest. PST usually integrates cognitive and relaxation techniques in a more encompassing approach to mental training and as a complement to physical training. Individualism is a hallmark of most PST programs. (Gill, 2000)
The Importance of Mental Skills
Why are mental skills so important to performance and why are they often neglected by coaches and athletes? Yogi Berra has been quoted as saying, "sport is 90% mental and 50% physical." You can question his mathematical savvy, but if you 're an athlete, coach or fan, you can 't question his wisdom. (Hacker, 2000) Many athlete 's understand that while developing oneself to their physical potential is a critical element in performance potential, it is often a deficit in our psychological game rather than errors in our physical performance that keep us from performing at optimum levels in practice, games or matches. Spud McKenzie, the Budweiser poster puppy, suggested that it is important to say when, but also emphasized the critical element of knowing "when to say when". It is often the successful athlete has recognized what needed to be done and the unsuccessful athlete was unable to do so. As a consequence, it is not the physical talents or abilities that separate athletes and teams, or successful versus less successful performance, rather, the psychological dimension that most frequently explains a given sport outcome or individual performance. For this reason games are played. Prior to each contest, judgment could be made with regard to which team or individual is the "more highly skilled". If games were decided on who is the most physically gifted and/or talented
References: Gill, D. L., (2000), Psychological Dynamics of Sport and Exercise, Champaign, IL, 2nd Ed., p197, Human Kinetics. Hacker, C., (February 2000), Introduction to Psychological Skills, Eteamz, http://www.eteamz.com/baseball/instruction/psych/index.cfm?m=1,2,3,4,5 Rushall, B. S., (1995). Mental Skills Training for Sports, Sports Science Associates, Spring Valley, CA., 8.1- 8.3, White, S. A., Psychological Skills: Differences between Volleyball Players on the Youth National Team and Those Involved in the 14 's High-Performance Camp, Unpublished Thesis, Illinois State University, Normal, IL. Weinberg, R.S. & Gould, D. {1995} Foundations of sport and exercise psychology. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics. Ch.15