Applied Sport Psychology

Reflection and goal setting
Performance can be broken down into many different aspects. These aspects are psychological, technical, physical, and nutritional. Performers alongside their coaches need to be mindful about these aspects and write down what has gone well for them this year and what improvements could be made from January onwards. Essentially, performers who wish...
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Physiology

Napping for weekly sleep health in elite junior athletes
In my last clinical update on sleep and sports injury in adolescent athletes, I described the stressors that they face in day to day training and competition. As well as...
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Performance

The stigma of mental health: is it increased for athletes?
“Mental health has a stigma that is tied into weakness and is absolutely the antithesis of what athletes want to portray. ” (Dr. Thelma Dye Holmes) When an athlete experiences...
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Physiology

Cold water immersion - more than just a placebo effect?
We have all seen pictures in the media of sports stars huddled together taking a dip in an ice bath. The hugely successful Mo Farah, Jessica Ennis and Andy Murray...
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Applied Sport Psychology

Achieving optimal concentration
Further to my last article on “attention” I decided to come back to the more specific aspect of concentration. Despite it being one of the more obvious mental skills that...
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Applied Sport Psychology

Cricket: The batting mindset
You begin your journey from the pavilion to the middle. Maybe you’re a club cricketer, you’ve been waiting all week to play your favourite sport, been standing in the field...
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Applied Sport Psychology

Can we develop or enhance the concept of grit?
The concept of grit is often discussed in the field of high performance athletics. We have seen the post-game interviews with coaches and players alike stating that “we need to...
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Applied Sport Psychology

The importance of awareness
For me awareness is one of the essential ingredients of developing belief.  Awareness has been highlighted by many as a key indicator of success in a range of performance environments. ...
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Applied Sport Psychology

Developing helpful and useful beliefs in sport: The theory of Cell Assembly
Cell assembly theory developed by Donald Hebb (1949) explains how within the brain we develop neural pathways that act like roads, these are formed through learning, experiences, and the thoughts...
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Mental Health

The sportsman's demon depression
Numerous accounts of high profile sports people suffering from depression have surfaced in recent times. Unfortunately, not all cases have been reported by the victim and recent newspaper reports in...
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