Sport psychology consultants that use evidence-based mental skills training typically teach interventions like goal setting, positive thinking strategies, relaxation and intensity management techniques, and imagery to help performers overcome problems that interfere with performance. How well do these interventions work?
During the Summer 2018 Semester, I taught a sport psychology course at the University of Nevada, Reno for the 14th time. In addition to covering academic subjects in this course, we practiced in-class mental skills training exercises. Students actively practiced:
- SMART goal setting
- positive thinking via mindfulness and cognitive reframing
- diaphragmatic breathing, progressive muscle relaxation, cold water for relaxation and intensity management
- and imagery
Students also learned about evaluation, measurement, and assessment in sport psychology, and they took the Athletic Coping Skills Inventory before and after learning these mental skills. This allowed us to compare their self-reported mental skills strengths and weaknesses before and after learning mental skills. The results were promising:
The 11 students who participated in pre-post testing reported statistically significantly increased coping with adversity, concentration and achievement motivation, confidence, and goal setting and mental preparation, and total personal coping resources. The more frequently students attended classes that taught sport psychology, mental skills, and related subjects, the higher they performed on the final exam and with respect to their final course grades (after removing their attendance grade from their final grade). In other words, the more students received and practiced mental skills training and related education, the more they reported having solid mental skills, and the better they performed academically in this course. Follow this blog and check out these resources to learn more about the value of sport psychology for improving performance.
