Latest Research in Sports Psychology Jan/Feb 2022
In an attempt to keep up with the current research in sports psychology, every two months or so I will summarize a few salient topics from the Journal of Applied Sports Psychology that pertain to endurance athletes or those looking to add a few mental strategies to their personal tool kit.
DISCLAIMER: I am not a doctor or practitioner (yet) and this is not advice I can recommend without proper diagnosis. This is for informational purposes only and should not substitute clinical psychological intervention if necessary. This is my interpretation of the literature. I encourage you to read the articles yourself if you are interested or think I made a mistake.
If you are interested in working with me, check out my Mental Performance Consulting page. I would like to get experience using the skills I’ve learned in my kinesiology degree at a sub-clinical level. I am in the process of going to grad school to become a CMPC (certified mental performance coach) and my understanding is deep yet not at the doctorate or clinical level. THIS IS COMPLETELY FREE TO EVERYONE — I WANT TO GET EXPERIENCE. Please go to that page for information about what I am offering and reach out to me via email (elliepell8[at]gmail[dot]com), Instagram or Twitter.
What’s new in sports psychology?
“The forgotten session”: Advancing Research and Practice Concerning the Psychology of Rest in Athletes
One of my favorite sports psychologist, Dr. David Eccles from the University of Florida published great work concerning rest and off-seasons in competitive athletes. Not only is it important to take a longer off-season (not days but weeks) after a long training block to recover the body, but the mind needs to remove the laser-like focus on competing and enjoy a break as well. Eccles and his team point out the lack of research in the psychology of rest and how that needs to be studied to enable athletes to take advantage of this part of training. I’ve often heard the phrase “eating is training” to remind me to refuel every workout, but sleeping, resting and “vegging out” is also important for training! Some athletes with high drive to succeed are selling themselves short when not using their off periods to their advantage. It sounds counterintuitive, but NOT thinking about training, doing OTHER things and letting the body FORGET to focus is the best thing for it when taking an off-season or rest.
Intercollegiate Perfectionistic Athletes’ Perspectives on Success and Failure in Sport
It turns out that perfectionistic athletes view of success or failure is driven by continued forward momentum in their chosen sport. This means that athletes with this type of personality are hardly satisfied with their past or current state of performance and continually look toward future competitions or challenges. They prioritize perpetual improvement and spend less time reflecting on the successes they’ve had in favor of striding forward. Constant improvement sounds a lot like the growth mindset and a harbinger for positive development. However, the study points out that these athletes also worried about their own athlete legitimacy and whether the work they’ve done was hard enough. Perfectionist athletes were also more prone to irrational fears about themselves when facing failures or uncertainty. Athletes who can see failure and success as equals towards personal growth are better able to find meaning in such results. In running, success can sometimes get to the head and failure gets to the heart. Though it’s important to process what went right or wrong after a competition or workout, it is counterproductive to dwell or ruminate on it. Doing so has the tendency to tie self-worth to result, which is not the way to make running an enjoyable, sustainable activity.
Elite Female Soccer Players’ Dual Career Plans and the Demands they Encounter
This study explored the lived experience of elite female soccer players advancing as both student and athlete. The majority of players felt their salient identity was as an athlete and considered education a fall-back option if elite sport did not work out. As education increased, the demands felt by the players increased proportionately. The players experienced differing levels of support from their social systems yet it was those same systems that most influenced student-athlete experience. Relating this to running, it’s easier to balance life, work and training demands when there is a support system behind the athlete. This does not need to be a team of professionals, but friends, the running community or even writers and thinkers who inspire self-reflection and awareness. Running can be tough some days. Successful runners know when they need to call for extra support.
Third Party Interventions in Coach-Athlete Conflict: Can Sport Psychology Practitioners Offer the Necessary Support?
There might be no more important relationship in an athletic career than the athlete-coach relationship. This is true in team sports, but maybe more so on the individual level. Post college, runners tend to work with a coach one-on-one rather than training in a group. Therefore when conflicts arise, it is essential that they be addressed. Conflicts usually begin when an athlete does not trust the training plan or thinks the coach might not understand an issue they are having. It is here that a sports psychologist can aid in mediation alleviating athlete anxiety and coach frustration. For example, an athlete might see others training for the same race as them doing higher mileage or more workouts. They might think this is the way to train and second-guess what their coach says. It takes a high amount of confidence and self-awareness to not want to push more training for the extra mental edge. A sports psychologist is helpful in this case if the athlete feels uncomfortable asking the coach directly. A practitioner could help either ease the athlete anxiety with their own sport knowledge or empower the athlete to ask the coach directly in a productive way.