Performance Analysis and Sports Psychology are perhaps the two newest additions to the strings of the sports science bow. Documents of their effectiveness are individual entities are becoming more widespread; with professional governing bodies and clubs rapidly expanding and creating departments in recent years. However, despite the fact that support roles complement each other, how […]
Frank Gardner and Zella Moore (2001) developed the Mindfulness-Acceptance-Commitment (MAC) approach to sport performance enhancement in a response to the absence of research supporting traditional psychological skills training (PST) techniques such as goal setting, imagery, self-talk, and arousal control. The MAC approach is comprised of a combination of mindfulness exercises and acceptance techniques, and is […]
I can only assume that with the abundance of information that is at our fingertips today, we are quite aware of what is good food and what is bad! We know a diet of natural foods; meat, fish, vegetables, fruit and wholegrain foods are far better for us than a diet comprised of confectionary items […]
Self-talk is a major psychological skill used by professional and amateur cricketers. It is a method which a player can develop without the help of a psychologist or coach, due to the simplicity of its nature. Weinberg & Gould (2011) defined a psychological skill as the systematic and consistent practice of mental skills for the […]
The end of the Tour de France 2014 has arrived and around 170 cyclists have battled their way through a lively, atmospheric Yorkshire to the mountainous region of Southern France. The riders have had to fight their way against heavy rain, hail, temperatures reaching 30 degrees Celsius and strong cross winds, whilst tricky surfaces including […]
Surprising though it may have been, one of the most talented athletes in our world today, LeBron James, has chosen to leave the NBA’s Miami Heat team to come home to the NBA’s Cleveland Cavaliers team. For all athletes, being happy where you are and with what you are doing is a crucial aspect of […]
As an Australian, one of the most memorable moments of the 2004 Summer Olympic Games was the final of the women’s eights rowing (www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZK529UiaFZQ). The Australian team, by no means the favourites, were well-positioned for a podium finish at the half-way point of the 2000-m race. Soon after the half-way mark they slipped out of […]
The nature versus nurture debate is still an ongoing debate concerning athletic expertise. As I have written before I believe athletes are made rather than born. My view thus leans more towards nurture than nature and from what I’ve been reading lately scientists are holding such a view more and more too. This view is also […]
One of the most frequently posed questions is why professional footballers often fail to perform in the big games on the international stage – I won’t mention any but I am sure that some names will spring to mind. At the end of the day, all supporters of the beautiful game wish to see is […]
What is a mental block? A mental block can be described as a psychological obstacle that prevents athletes from performing a particular skill. Mental blocks can be easily confused with performance anxiety, as they both consist of a challenging scenario which arises in sport which forces athletes to either ‘fight’ against the perceived problem, or […]