Sport Psychology: An Introduction

1. Sport Psychology: An Introduction

2. Sport Psychology The scientific study and application of psychological principles to sports and exercise.

3. What do sport psychologists do? Roles Consulting Teaching Research

4. Consulting • Utilizing techniques supported by psychology research • Examples: • U.S. Olympic Training Centers • Professional sports team • Professional athlete (e.g., golfer, tennis pro)) • College athletic department • High School athletics • Other (e.g., competitive or recreational athletes) • Fitness and health clubs

5. Becoming a sport psychologist • Two primary routes: • Psychological training (with specialty training in sports science) • Sports science / Physical education training (with special focus on psychology)

6. Research in Sport Psychology • Scientist-Practitioner model • Methodology -- how to ask and answer your question using an empirical approach • Examples: (“JASP recent contents”)

7. Research Question Example Is participation in organized youth sports beneficial to children ages 4-8?

8. Defining Variables Need to define the variables • Participation? • Benefit? • moral development • self-esteem • prosocial behavior • improved grades

9. Research strategies How would you study if participation is beneficial? • Observation • Case Study • Survey • Experiment (random assignment?)

10. Research strategies Small group exercise – how do you best answer your research question? (Use the question that you brought in and share in your group)