1. DUE: in class Friday, February 20:
Write an Abstract (2 pages) ­ a summary of your research findings.
Psychological aspects of a sport can be just as important in becoming an elite athlete as
physical motions of the sport. America’s emphasis on sports causes athletes to face increased
pressure in order to become the best athlete possible. Experts in the field of sports psychology no
longer think peak performance is directly connected to the amount of practice you do or physical
conditioning. They recognize that athletes need the same sharp mental skills used to compete
successfully in business, public speaking, or in the operating room. The popularity of sports
psychologists today in collegiate and professional sports is comparable to the rise of strength and
conditioning trainers from 30 years ago when athletes didn't routinely lift weights. In other
words, sports psychology has become the most recent form for athletes to reach their top form in
competition. In my presentation I plan to prove the point that it is just as important for athletes to
practice and develop their mental abilities as it is for them to practice the physical motions. This
can be applicable to all sports from basketball to golf. In the presentation I will speak of the
history of the science, look shortly into the biology of motor neurons, visit some case studies
both on the college and professional level, and end with some advice to become a better mental
athlete.
Sports Psychology has been around for a number of years, but just in the last decade or so
has escalated to become such a prominent area of study. The first paper regarding the study of
sports psychology appeared in 1897. However, the first sports psychologist in the United States
Dr. Coleman R. Griffith, who in 1923 created a laboratory. Dr. Griffith also became the first man
to work with a team in sports psychology, working for the Chicago Cubs. Professional sports in
2015 is a huge business that generates around $400 billion of revenue each year. We live in a
society today that loves sports. Because of this passion the athletes we love to observe playing
these sports are required to have a higher ability than ever before, and that’s where Sports
Psychologists come in. Sports psychologists care about five things: time commitment, affiliation,
payment, services, and clients. The increase in college athletics was show in a survey involving
96 Division I schools, 45% of which have sports psychology services for their students. Of the

2. schools that did not have them they stated that the cost was the reason for not giving their
students this support.
(Cole, Bill, Voelker, Rebecca, Connole, Ian)
Dopamine and other neurotransmitters, such as norepinephrine, are associated with the
sympathetic nervous system, an autonomic response to prepare the body to deal with high stress
situations; it is also called the “flight or flight” response. Sports psychology helps athletes
control the level of arousal the athletes are experiencing so they can perform at their peak. It is
seen by a few studies that the practice of imagery before doing an action in a sports setting in
fact strengthens neural circuits. Imagery helps athletes prepare both mentally and physically for
competition so that they can be at their top possible performance. Finally it has been revealed in
genetic tests in 2011 that there are slightly different versions of genes between people, and these
have the ability to predict the inherited component of an individual subject’s potential aerobic
improvement. Thus, while mental preparedness is critically important for athletic perfection, it is
not the whole story.
(Rodriguez, Tori, About Applied Sport & Exercise Psychology, Epstein, David)
There are a significant number of students and professional athletes who have used sports
psychology to become the best athlete they can be. A large contributor and supporter of sports
psychology has been Olympic runner Michael Johnson. He mainly talks about how it is that the
person who handles the moment and the pressure the best will ultimately become the champion.
He explains how, in the moment, there is no more preparation that can be done once you are in
the place of your competition. The last thing that can be done is mental preparation in the
dressing room before a performance. In the dressing room is where most superstitions and pre
race routines will occur. In the collegiate situation, most athletes will compete on a huge stage,
such as the Final Four for the NCAA basketball tournament or National Championship for
football. These athletes are being watched by millions of people and they have to perform at their
top level in order for their team to win. To make it even harder, they have to balance
relationships, school work, the challenge of living on their own for the first time, and much more
while being in this high pressure situation. A specific example of someone who has been highly
affected by mental issues on the course is Tiger Woods. Known in the early part of his career for

3. his mental toughness, Tiger has fallen in the last year from number one in the world to number
87, his lowest ranking ever. Jack Nicklaus,who is considered by many the only man who is a
better golfer than Tiger, connected Tiger’s recent issues not with his mechanics but with his
head. Many professionals feel that, if Tiger does not figure out what is wrong soon he will never
compete at the at the highest levels again..
(Athletes Mental Performance BBC Clip, Grasgreen, Allie, Jack Talks Tiger)
Sports Psychology can benefit the casual athlete as well. I myself improve my mental
abilities without a sports psychologist available at Thacher. Of the three main tips that every
sports psychologist uses, the first is simple, trust your abilities. Similar to what Michael Johnson
mentioned, many coaches around golf and other sports have talked about this as a beneficial
thing to do. A specific example of someone who improved once they started trusting their skills
and not talking negatively is former USC quarterback Carson Palmer. Special techniques to
improve confidence and focus that the psychologists have will help improve techniques of sport,
and improve mental skills training for performance enhancement and participation satisfaction. A
second thing that will help many athletes is visualization. This is basically just when an athlete
will bring to mind the sights, sounds and feelings of a successful performance in order to be
better prepared for the real situation. Visualization can happen right at the beginning of a
competition or even during a competition in the situation of a free throw, penalty kick, or any
shot in golf. There are many other ways to improve your mental skills under pressure, but these
are two of the main ones that are used by almost all successful athletes. A final tip that often is
not used as well as it could be is controlling breathing. Taking calm deep breaths before a
competition or shot can help ease our mind and slow everything down to help us focus in on our
one goal of winning.
(Albaugh, Glen, Dr., Public Description of Sports Psychology, Can You Compete Under
Pressure?)