SPORTS PSYCHOLOGY.

 Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) can be used to help athletes in improving their
performance by handling stress more effectively. A well applied cognitive behavioral
approach has been found particularly helpful to athletes who may need more
traditional clinical support for critical stress management, as well anxiety or clinical
depression treatment.
 One CBT technique, also known as cognitive restructuring, helps athletes to identify
the source of their stress, understands how they responded emotionally, and
empowers them to respond more constructively. As a result, players start seeing
threats as challenges, generating more positive emotions and higher satisfaction with
their performance.
 Positive Self Talk
 One of the most effective strategies that proved to be immensely helpful in this
therapy was the positive self-talk. It gives the ability to a player to change automatic
negative thoughts which contribute to negative emotions the individual experiences
during and after their performances. It will save your much-needed cognitive effort
and energy and you can instead focus on the key elements of your performance that
will help you excel in your performance.
 Imagery
 In addition to positive self-talk, imagery is one of the key cognitive-behavioral
methods used to enhance athlete performance. Imagery follows the principle of ‘you
get what you believe’ and as such, practitioners from a cognitive-behavioral
perspective start imagining what they want to achieve in the end, basically equivalent
to their desired thoughts. Therefore, cognitively rehearsing the desired performance
outcome enables athletes to regulate negative cognitive thoughts, ruminations, and
emotions which as a result improve the irrational thought and anxiety associated with
athletes to be the best.
 Goal Setting
 Goal setting is another example of a cognitive-behavioral approach that supports
athletes with perfectionism. Within the context of CBT, practitioners can use goal
setting to set real and achievable task-orientated goals in an attempt to avoid any
manipulative thoughts on achievement and subsequently, reduce perfectionist
behavior. This approach helps reduce the unnecessary pressure from athletes who tend
to engage in self-criticism when unrealistic standards are not met.
ROLE OF SPORT PSYCHOLOGIST

A sports psychologist is a psychologist with expertise in the following areas:

 Performance enhancement through the use of psychological skills training, and
performance improvement, imagery, and athlete's self-talk.
 Issues that are specific to the psychological well-being of athletes
 Working with the organizations and systems that are present in sport settings
 Social and developmental factors that influence sport participation
GOAL SETTING: A goal is simply something you are trying to accomplish; it is the
object or aim of an action. Although goals can function at an unconscious level, the
process of goal setting represents the deliberate establishment and refinement of
goals and the evaluation of goal progress. The concept of goals and the practice of
goal setting are well known and established within settings where performance
enhancement is the objective. It is important to understand goals because they have such a
broad function in terms of affecting the thoughts and behaviours of those to whom
participation, productivity, and performance are important. The sport psychology literature
consistently distinguishes between three broad goal types: outcome goals, performance
goals, and process goals. Outcome goals describe intentions relative to the performance
of others involved in the activity. Performance goals are based on levels of personal
achievement and are entirely self-referenced (subjective). Typical performance goals are to
run a race in a certain time, to jump a certain distance, to lift a specific weight, or to
do a number of repetitions in a training situation—perhaps within a certain time; they refer to
products of performance. Process goals are similarly self-referenced but are distinguished
from performance goals because their focus is on the process of performing rather than a
product of performance. The variation in process goals is subsequently far broader than
that of outcome and performance goals. For example, they might range from the
breathing techniques designed to regulate heart rate in a pistol shooter, to imaging in the
mind’s eye the flight of a golf ball before taking a shot, to focusing on maintaining
position while executing a half-court press in basketball. In essence, process goals center
on the execution of behaviours regarded as contributing to effective performance.
It is suggested that combinations of goal types may be more effective than any single type
alone. The benefit of performance goals (compared to outcome goals at least) lies in the
fact that they are more controllable and flexible than outcome goals; they do not rely on
the performance of others to be achieved. However, the achievement of performance goals
may still be influenced by external factors, such as environmental conditions, luck,
officiating, or even natural fluctuations in personal performance levels. Process goals,
conversely, are almost entirely under the control of the individual, and so there is no
reason why external factors should disrupt their achievement. Goal setting is widely
regarded as the most popular basic sport psychology technique and is an integral part of any
mental training program designed to maximize athletic potential. There is an established
view that goals facilitate performance through motivational effects. Seminal work into
the application of goal setting to sport suggested that goals influence task performance in
four main ways;
 they direct attention to the task,
 promote increases in effort,
 encourage persistence in the face of failure,
 and facilitate the promotion of new task-relevant strategies
http://psychology.iresearchnet.com/sports-psychology/psychological-skills/goal-
setting-in-sports/
DELIBRATE PRACTICE: Deliberate practice is a popular concept in
sport and performance domains. Performers and practitioners in
these domains are eager to understand and use deliberate practice
to improve their performance. The term ‘deliberate practice’
refers to targeted and task-centered training programs based
on instructions.

HYPNOSIS: Sports hypnosis refers to the use of hypnotherapy with athletes in order to enhance
sporting performance. Hypnosis in sports has therapeutic and performance-enhancing functions.
[1]
The mental state of athletes during training and competition is said to impact performance.
[1]
Hypnosis is a form of mental training[2] and can therefore contribute to enhancing athletic
execution. Sports hypnosis is used by athletes, coaches and psychologists. Hypnosis is one of
several techniques that athletes may employ to accomplish their sporting goals and it is equally
beneficial to coaches as well as athletes.[1] Hypnosis may do for the mind what physical activity
does for the body of an athlete.[7] The theory behind sports hypnosis is that relaxation is key to
improved sporting performance and athletes may perform better if they are able to relax mentally
and focus on the task at hand. Hypnosis may help athletes attain relaxation during practise and
competition.[1] Hypnosis may also help to control anxiety and manage stress in athletes.[1] Athletes
may develop auto-response to preestablished stimuli which is geared towards achieving optimal
performance levels.[8] Sports Hypnosis can also eliminate phobic responses, such as 'Trigger
Freeze' in the Clay Pigeon Shooter, 'Target Panic' in the Archer and Fears of further injury in
sports people following injury.
The impact of hypnosis on various aspects of sporting performance has been studied. Research
has studied the role of hypnosis in enhancing basketball skills,[9] on flow-state and golf-putting
performance,[10] its impact on long-distance runners,[11][12] on archery performance[13] and on flow
states and short-serve in badminton.[14]
The use of hypnosis in sports offers the following potential benefits that may help athletes handle
personal challenges that would otherwise negatively affect sporting performance. Hypnosis:
 Helps to reinforce established sporting goals
 Aids athletes to better handle nervousness
 Contributes to relaxation
 Facilitates stress management
 Increases concentration
 Eliminates sports phobia responses
 Provides the ability to eliminate distractions
 Assists in controlling pain
 Increases performance motivation[1]
 Improves bodily awareness
Mental imagery is described as “repetitive mental practice or mental training that
designates mental representation of the performance of a motor pattern without
concomitant production on the muscular activity normally required for the
act.”[4] Mental imagery is a technique that athletes can use to supplement physical
practice and improve their performance in their given sport. Mental imagery is often
part of a mental practice routine that might also include such techniques as relaxation,
self-talk, and goal setting. Athletes use mental imagery in these programs so much that
mental imagery and mental practice have almost become synonymous terms.
[2]
Research has proven that mental imagery is effective in increasing performance in
such sports as:

 Dart throwing
 Diving
 Figure skating
 Gymnastics
These studies can also be generalized to other sporting performances. [5] Healthy
individuals using mental imagery may experience performance gains in areas such as:

 Strength
 Arm-pointing capacity
 Range of motion
 Postural control
  Speed
 Accuracy
 Motor skills .[3]
Training/Coaching techniques,
The key aspects that require to enhance the sports performance and also helps to create
motivational environment are , 1) Create the right environment : The working environment is key to
making your team a happy and motivated one. Make sure everything you do is geared towards
creating that environment. 2)Communication goes two-ways: As a coach the onus is generally on
you to present solutions to your team that they are then expected to implement. But
communication should always be a two way street, and listening to your players can help you gauge
their thoughts on how best to improve and move forward. 3) Making it fun : Challenging your
players and breeding that drive and endeavour to succeed is itself part of the fun of taking part in
sport. Use the pointers in this article to create that engaged, motivated environment and players will
get much more enjoyment out of playing for you and with one another. 4) Use competitive aspects:
There’s nothing wrong with inflaming that innate competition in sportsmen and women. It fuels that
necessity for fun and helps to motivate your team to constantly improve and become better than
their peers. 5) Don't punish failure: Coaches who adopt this authoritarian, hard-line stance has been
proven to have a negative effect on performance on player performance. Stay positive and
encouraging in front of your players and fuel their motivation to constantly improve.