Yani L. Dickens, PhD, MBA, CMPC

Imagery is internally experiencing something without it necessarily being physically present. It can occur spontaneously or purposefully. Imagery is also considered a mental skill, one that can be used to purposefully prepare for and improve performance. Most performers can benefit from using imagery to improve their performance, and most of them actually report using it, but not everyone is open and receptive to using it – even to improve their performance.

Mental skills including self-talk, relaxation strategies, and imagery can all improve performance for a number of sport tasks in both individual and team sports. Few people would expect to perform at a high level with little or no physical practice. Just like with physical skills, mental skills require practice. This is especially true with imagery.

Imagery can improve performance when performers practice it enough to control its usage. Performers can use imagery to rehearse a planned action, especially when they use it: 

• with positive thought content
• for motivation or self-instruction
• from their own perspective
• with vividness or clarity, so rehearsal matches the performance planned

Whether or not imagery is for everyone, most performers can benefit from using it with enough practice under the right conditions. Imagery is especially appropriate for tasks that allow a performer sufficient time to use it before performance or during breaks, so it may fit into a mental warm-up routine better than in the middle of an individual’s ongoing team performance. By contrast, imagery may help a golfer, for example, hit a shot when their target is obstructed or help an athlete stay mentally sharp when they cannot practice or play in the off-season or due to an injury. Follow this blog and these others (1, 2, 3) for more information about mental skills training to improve performance.

Many performers set goals that are vague, nonspecific, or so far off into the future that their goals fail to connect to the behaviors that help performers actually achieve them, sometimes even undermining motivation. Goals like “doing my best” or “making it to the pros” are excellent aspirations, but performers pursuing them may benefit from setting goals more systematically and cultivating intrinsic and autonomous motivation in the process.

Performers who choose to pursue their goals may do so for intrinsic and extrinsic reasons, and the type of motivation they have predicts their persistence and success in performing. Being driven to pursue goals for extrinsic reasons, like the need to satisfy others or be recognized, can make performers feel controlled and more likely to quit. Being driven by intrinsic reasons, like for fun or the love of the game, can help performers focus on effort, work harder, persist longer, feel autonomous, and make them less likely to quit. Related to this, self-determination theory shows that controlled extrinsic motivation undermines persistence, whereas autonomous motivation that is more intrinsic, promotes persistence.

Performers can foster optimal motivation by incorporating intrinsic effort, hard work, love of the game, and fun into the process of setting “SMART” goals. The classic acronym “SMART” emphasizes setting goals that are specific, measureable, assignable, realistic, and time-related¹. Most sources actually appear to suggest specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, time-related goals, but motivating, action-oriented, meaningful goals are important as well². Performers are encouraged to adopt the terms most important their own unique goals and to frame their tasks as fun, beneficial, and less effortful. In addition, performers often run afoul by setting only outcome goals (e.g., results), neglecting the importance performance goals, which are more within their control, and process goals, which are highly within their control:

Process goals

• Goals that are more specific components of performance goals or specific sport behaviors or steps to achieving peak performance (e.g., using proper technique, using a mental warm-up plan)

Performance goals

• Goals that relate to personal performance at a high level (e.g., personal best time, running a 5 minute mile)

Outcome goals

• Goals couched in terms of winning individual or group competition (e.g., winning, 1^st place)

Dedication, commitment, responsibility, effort, and consistent hard work is more likely to pay off when performers cultivate autonomous intrinsic motivation and set SMART process, performance, and outcome goals. Follow this blog and check out the self-determination theory website for more information about the value of motivation and goal setting.

References

¹Doran, G. T. (1981). There’s a SMART way to write management’s goals and objectives. Management review, 70(11), 35-36.

²Frey, B. S., & Osterloh, M. (Eds.). (2001). Successful management by motivation: Balancing intrinsic and extrinsic incentives. Springer Science & Business Media.

The field of psychology is broader than most people realize, containing a number of sub-disciplines reflected by the 54 divisions of the American Psychological Association (APA). The public is probably more familiar with the fact that psychologists help people with mental health problems by providing assessment, counseling, and psychotherapy. Where does sport psychology fit into the field of psychology?

According to the APA, “Sport psychology is a proficiency that uses psychological knowledge and skills to address optimal performance and well-being of athletes,” (and other performers outside of sport), as well as the “developmental and social aspects of sports participation, and systemic issues associated with sports settings and organizations.” Athletes and other performers seek sport psychology consultants to help them with issues that interfere with performance and also sometimes mental health concerns. If that were all, perhaps sport psychology could be seen as a niche, a narrower sub-discipline in the crowded field of psychology impacting just a small subset of the population. But what if sport psychology has more to offer other sub-disciplines, the field of psychology, and the public as a whole?

Research consistently shows that exercise reduces stress, anxiety, and depression, and it is about as effective at treating symptoms of depression as therapy, yet only about 10% of therapists consistently recommend it. Many therapists are untrained in interventions to promote exercise adherence, suggesting practitioners should learn more from sport and exercise psychology. Psychological disorders negatively impact one or more areas of peoples’ lives including social and occupational functioning, but many of us benefit from mindfulness strategies that sport psychology consultants have used for years to promote better focus, flow states, and optimal zones of functioning. Sport psychology overlaps with both social psychology and industrial organizational psychology as it studies human performance in groups including social facilitation, team cohesion, coaching, and leadership, so sport psychology has added value in helping not only individuals but also groups to overcome problems and improve performance.

Sport psychology offers added value to the field of psychology with its positive approach toward psychology, one that focuses not only on problems but perhaps even more on solutions, and its focus on improving human performance is clearly a central concern of the field and the public as a whole. APA and the Association for Applied Sport Psychology (AASP) both have great resources if you’re interested in learning more about psychology and sport psychology. You can also follow this blog to learn more about sport psychology.

Negative thoughts are common during sport and other forms of performance and can drive up negative emotions that interfere with peak performance. Performers can increase awareness of their negative thoughts, accept them without believing them, change their thoughts themselves, and prevent thoughts from interfering with their performance.

Some performers take their thoughts literally as facts, without considering whether they are realistic. Examples include “my coach and teammates don’t like me,” “I’ll never be able to play my best,” or “I always mess up under pressure.” Since thoughts are merely internal mental experiences, not facts, they are subject to change, and performers who understand this and learn to respond effectively to negative thoughts before, during, and after performance to get back on track.

Two ways of responding differently to negative thoughts include accepting or changing negative thoughts. Examples of accepting thoughts included thinking “I had the thought my coach and teammates don’t like me, I won’t play me best, or I’ll mess up under pressure, and I’ll have thoughts like these sometimes – it’s no big deal.” Acknowledging, accepting, and moving on from these thoughts can be quite effective. Changing negative thoughts can be done by thinking “I can’t read minds, but my coach and teammates probably think I’m just fine, I want to play my best and will do everything I can, and I’ll learn to manage pressure better if I stay focused and positive.”

Like learning new physical skills to perform better, these mental skills need consistent, repeated practice to show up when needed the most. With enough practice, performers can respond differently to negative thoughts to manage emotions before, during, and after performance to maintain and improve their performance.

How well performers manage their emotions can determine the quality of their performance. Performers are most likely to achieve peak performance when they are mentally and physically prepared, positive, focused, and able to manage emotions like anxiety. Anxiety is a negative emotion that performers can experience when they perceive a situation as threatening, and they can experience its effects in their body, their thinking, and their performance.

How Does Anxiety Impact Performance? It’s Complicated.

Most performers do their best in their optimal zone of anxiety, arousal, and intensity. How anxiety impacts performance depends on a variety of individual factors including the intensity of the anxiety, the performer’s skill level, the type of task they perform, how much they experience the anxiety in their body and in their thinking, and how they interpret the anxiety. Anxiety is more likely to harm performance the more intense it is, when a performer is lower in skill, the tasks are more technical and depend on fine motors skills (balance, coordination, timing, precision), the more their anxiety impacts their thinking (worry), and when they perceive the anxiety as harming rather than helping their performance.

How to Use Mental Skills for Managing Anxiety

Mental skills that help performers manage anxiety for peak performance include relaxation strategies, psyching up strategies, and cognitive restructuring. Relaxation strategies help decrease anxiety, arousal, and intensity and include diaphragmatic or deep breathing from the belly and progressive muscle relaxation, tensing and relaxing muscles to reduce the bodily effects of anxiety. Psyching up strategies increase activation if a performer needs to increase arousal or intensity and include intense pre-performance exercise, listening to music, and motivational self-talk. Cognitive restructuring involves noticing negative unrealistic thinking and generating positive realistic thoughts to reduce the effects of anxious thoughts and worries and remain focused on peak performance.

Performers can learn more about sport psychology online or enlist the help of a certified sport psychology consultant and design an evidence-based mental preparation plan to get to and stay in their optimal zone. In addition to following this blog, AASP has great resources for parents, coaches, athletes, and people interested in learning more. Follow this blog and check out the resources on the AASP website for more information about mental skills for performance and sport psychology.

Sport psychology is the field that studies mental factors that influence human performance. The field of sport psychology makes space for multiple performance activities including sport, exercise, music, dance performance, and more. For this reason, the field is also referred to as “performance psychology,” “sport and performance psychology,” and “sport and exercise psychology.”

Does Sport Psychology Matter – Who Cares?

Most of us are called upon to perform tasks in work and life, and many of us value sport, exercise, and sport performance, so we care about the quality of our performance and that of others. Skilled athletes commonly estimate that 40-90% of their performance success is determined by mental factors as opposed to physical factors, yet most report spending much more time working on physical practice than mental skills, even though mental skills could have a better potential return on their investment. Since most of us care about the quality of our performance, and much of our performance is determine by mental factors, many of us could benefit from understanding, practicing, and applying mental skills to optimize the quality of our performance. Since performance depends at least in part on mental factors, mental skills training and sport psychology offer significant value.

Why is it Called “Sport” and Not “Sports” Psychology?

What good is sport psychology if you’re not and athlete, coach, or fan, that is, if its applications don’t extend beyond sports? As Kate Hays explains, professionals in the field of sport psychology call what we do “sport” psychology in the European use of the word because we want to study a wide range of performance activities, so “sport” extends beyond a narrow handful of specific sports. She and others don’t fault laypersons and journalists for calling it “sports” psychology, but we do wonder how much a person knows about sport psychology when they refer to themselves as “sports” psychologists. Calling it “sport” (no “s”) psychology also keeps it consistent when we include “exercise” (no “s”) psychology. Two major professional organizations for sport and exercise psychology include the Association for Applied Sport Psychology (AASP) and Division 47 of the American Psychological Association (APA), Sport and Exercise Psychology, and so the field of sport psychology focuses on improving human performance across a broad range of activities.

How Can I Learn More About Sport Psychology?

In addition to following this blog, AASP has great resources for parents, coaches, athletes, and people considering a career in sport psychology. Follow this blog and check out the resources on the AASP website for more information about the value of sport psychology.

How to Choose a Sport Psychology Consultant

The Importance of Certification

Find a Certified Sport Psychology Consultant

Have you ever tried to start something, but you just didn’t feel motivated to do it – most of us have. What is motivation, and why do we believe we need motivation to change our behavior? Psychological definitions of motivation vary widely in content and complexity, but many students I ask describe it as the drive to do something. I like that, but what is drive? Some think motivation is a thought, others an emotion, and still others a behavior. This presumes, again, we need to think, feel, or be motivated to do something. Is this really true?

Have you ever dragged yourself to work, school, or stayed up late working on something without feeling like doing it? If so, maybe you didn’t need to be motivated to do the behavior in the first place. Whether motivation is a thought, emotion, behavior, or simply a word we use to describe our experience when we engage in goal directed behavior, rethinking our understanding of motivation can actually help us do behavior and perform more effectively.

According to a growing body of evidence, the type of motivation people report having when they do behavior predicts their persistence and success in performing. Being driven to do something for reasons outside yourself and your values, like the need to satisfy others or be recognized, can make you feel controlled and more likely to quit. Being driven by reasons inside yourself can make you feel more aligned with your values, keep you persisting, make you resilient, and make you less likely to quit. According to self-determination theory, controlled motivation undermines persistence, and autonomous motivation promotes persistence.

So how can this help you perform better and get things done?

• First, don’t wait until you feel motivated – you don’t need to. Motivation is nice but not necessary for behavior; motivation might not even be a thing anyway as much as just a concept.
• Don’t let it control you – start by doing the your behavior first, even without feeling like it.
• Try to stay present focused and on task, and see if your motivation changes. If it doesn’t, just keep going. You’ll be done before you know it, and you might even feel better when you finish.

We all have to do things we don’t like sometimes. If you’re doing something that’s truly consistent with your values though, you’ll probably find your motivation increases; but this way, you won’t have to wait until you feel motivated to get started. So if you’re stuck feeling not motivated to do something, but it’s important for you to get it done, don’t wait. Act first. Let motivation follow. Even if it doesn’t, you’ll be done before you know it.