As a sports fan, you probably want to know everything about the sports you are following or the sports industry itself. Yes, you’re mainly focused on the teams and athletes that you follow but it takes a village for these teams and athletes to get to do the things that they do.
There are many things that you can do to show your support to your favorite teams or athletes, and aside from placing favored bets towards them on apps like the bet365 mobile app, you can also familiarize yourself with the people that help to be planted where they are today.
In many industries, psychology would always play an important role. This is because it concerns human performance and an industry function with this. In sports, psychology is also present. Sports psychology, in particular, is a study of how psychology influences sports, exercise, performance, and activities.
It was in 1920 when the first sports psychology laboratory was founded. It was founded by Carl Diem at the Deutsche Sporthochshule in Berlin, Germany. This was followed by two more sports labs in 1925 in Leningrad and the University of Illinois.
This profession evolved as time goes by and currently, it’s very diverse. Still, sports psychologists prioritize the well-being of athletes and the crucial members of a team. They deal with an athlete’s mental state to improve their athletic performance.
The industry has a growing need for sports psychologists too because the industry understands better how important mental health is of the athletes. Based on the study done by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, the need for sports psychologists will grow at 12 percent from the year 2012 to 2022.
A sports psychologist can earn as much as 100,000 US dollars annually. However, the average salary of this professional would only range from 60,000 US dollars to 80,000 US dollars each year. They would earn more if they work in private practice.
The major focuses of sports psychologists are the following.
This involved the visualization of a task. It includes participation in athletic or major events and being successful with a certain skill.
This could very well be the main focus of sports psychology. This is taking a look at the extrinsic and intrinsic motivators. Which include rewards and recognition and desire and a sense of pride when winning.
- Attentional Focus
This is the ability of an athlete to tune out distractions when they are in the game. Ever wonder how they perform away with the boos of the fans? They know how to focus on the game because sports psychologists would help them deal with it.
Different Sports Psychology Specialization
Like with most professions, sports psychology also comes with different specializations. Here are the branches of sports psychology that you can choose to focus on.
- Academic Sports Psychology
Working in the academic sector means you will be working in colleges and universities. With this, you get to teach sports psychology and conduct research on anything that involved psychology in sports. You may also lead to surveys, experiments, and analyze data. You can also work with the athletes of the college or university.
- Applied Sports Psychology
This is where you get to train people or athletes on different skills. You can help them improve their performance and endurance. You also help athletes remain motivated to do better on the sport that they are into. You get to use the techniques you learned to improve an athlete’s performance. Your guide and assist them in recovering from an injury and preparing for a big competition.
- Clinical Sports Psychology
This still concerns applied sports psychology but your main focus here is the mental state of an athlete. You help them with things or factors that affect their athletic performance. You assist them if they have troubles that affect their well-being inside and outside the court or the field. You help them deal with fear and even with the losses that they encounter. Performance anxiety is very common in athletes and this is where you can step in.
Now what do sports psychologists do and how do they help the athletes? The truth is that they can play multiple roles in the career of an athlete. Here are how they can help sportspeople.
- Helps with an athlete’s mental state or well-being
- Helps athletes mentally prepare for competition
- Prepare injured athletes for their return
- Help improve practice efficiency
Overall, the role of a sports psychologist is fairly big and much needed nowadays. People are getting rightfully more concerned about the mentality of athletes and this is why these professionals are needed more than ever.
