Pol SàlviaFollowing an interview in the magazine Clarín, the goalkeeper of the Argentine national team in the Qatar World Cup, Dibu Martínez, spoke about the role that the psychologist had during the World Cup, said statements have once again put the focus on the relevance that psychology has in the world of sports.
Sports psychology is a branch of Psychology like any other, it consists of evaluating what are the causes and consequences of human behavior before and after having performed a sports activity. The purpose of psychology in the world of sport is to obtain the psychological well-being of the athlete. In order for the sports psychologist to make a correct assessment of the athlete, the psychologist must first carry out a thorough analysis of the athlete. It focuses on knowing in depth the athlete‘s personality, diet, social and family relationships.
The creator of Psychology in the Sports World was Colemann Griffith. He was the first director of a Sports Research Laboratory at the University of Illinois between 1920 and 1930. Colemann was the precursor who deepened the field of sports psychology from a scientific perspective.
EXPERIENCES
Xavi Lucas, psychologist of the first team of RCD Espanyol, reports that the evolution of the players is what impacts him the most personally, because thanks to psychological advice his sporting performance improves exponentially. On the other hand, it highlights that the management of emotions and how they face defeat determines the evolution of the player. Currently, he said that he was not given the importance he deserved. However, in recent years efforts had been made to standardize the role of psychologists in sports.
He also states that obviously in professional sport more is invested in psychologists, because the budget is higher. But today, the psychologist is still a minor figure. He says it will always be so because the protagonists in the end are the doctors, the coaches, and the components who practice any sport. What determines on a psychological level that an athlete have good psychological behavior is self-dialogue, audacity and the level of competitive behaviors.
Obviously, the athlete cannot be separated from the person. Any personal situation can affect their performance. In the field of sports, the most difficult thing for athletes to manage is stress and long-term injuries, added Xavi Lucas.
SECONDARY FIGURE
Mental health has now been put on the table, as it has been shown to be a fundamental pillar for human beings to be able to perform good behaviour in different areas of life, not just in sport. However, Xavi Lucas affirms that everyone fills their mouths with the importance of the field of psychology and the mental aspect. Although in the case of sports, he reports that psychologists are the ‘’secondaries’’. There is a parallel reality on this subject because there is a majority sphere of people who defend the figure of the psychologist. However, there is not a strong investment in the world of psychology.
On the other hand, according to an interview in the magazine elguerreromoderno, José García Donate, who is a psychologist who has worked with martial arts athletes, revealed that people in general are ashamed to say they go to a psychologist. Maybe there‘s a fear of being considered weak. In contact sports there is a tendency to want to appear the strongest, the invincible.
Let’s hope that in the future the figure of the Sports Psychologist is given the value it deserves, since the mind of the athletes is fundamental for the good development of their career.
