Nowadays nearly every sportsperson mentions some aspects of sports psychology in an interview. Every report on a game or contest, every article written, also touches the subject to some degree or other. This pattern has increased in the last few years and seems to be accelerating.
What makes this remarkable is that, as a field in its own right, sports psychology is a comparatively recent phenomenon. There are many reasons for this. The amount of media exposure that sport now gets is a big factor. Dedicated sports channels are now available. Every incident is replayed from as many different angles as possible. Panels of guests (most of whom were never subjected to the same degree of scrutiny) debate and argue over everything that has taken place. Professional sportspeople are interviewed immediately after their greatest victory or most humiliating defeat. This analysis is also carried out by managers and coaches who use all sorts of vaguely psychological language to explain team or individual strengths, or apparent losses of form.
Having noted all of this, it is interesting that there are still very few true sports psychologists operating in Britain (unlike in America). One reason is that many people do not understand what psychology (let alone sports psychology) is, or what it can and cannot do.
Many players will consult a sports psychologist because they want to win - at all costs. This then places the sports psychologist in a dilemma, if the victory is to be achieved to the detriment of the player's overall psychological wellbeing. Therefore most sports psychologists choose to concentrate rather on improving performance and the psychological wellbeing of the sportsperson they are dealing with.
In the USA the sixties produced a number of books and research reports. These were taken up avidly by sportspeople, managers and coaches. A vein had been struck, and this started to be mined, although slowly at first. Books on sport started to appear that, though not necessarily written by psychologists, carried the momentum forward. Perhaps the most famous of these is Run To Daylight, which was written by the well-known American Football coach, Vince Lombardi, and it is still worth a read today.
Lombardi is still quoted today, and many of his expressions, such as 'winning isn't everything, but wanting to is', have passed into sporting legend. This, and other books that followed, carried forward the momentum that the sports psychologists were also creating and made it become an avalanche. Following this, and again mainly in the USA, a wide variety of organisations and societies were created in order to further develop and monitor this expanding subject. Many of these became warring factions which, however, did not seem to hinder the growth and interest in the field. This was because sportspeople were looking for anything that worked and helped. However, it did result in the field becoming split into specialist areas, something again that caused some confusion to potential users.
Nowadays the topic, though still not widely understood, is becoming accepted more and more at all levels. Many fans and spectators dismiss it but still use some of its language in analysing their heroes' various strengths and weaknesses. Within some sports, e.g. tennis, golf, and athletics, its use is visible and expanding. In many other sports, e.g. rugby and football, much less use of it is made at this time.
One reason for this is the issue of individual versus team sport. To many people it is obvious how sports psychology can assist an individual, but much less clear how teams can use it. This is understandable but a misconception, and it is likely that more and more use will be made of sports psychology in team situations.
In Britain the increase in use will continue as the subject becomes more understood. This book, whilst not about psychology as such, broadly comes within this field. Readers who wish to explore the field of NLP further or to become specifically acquainted with sports psychology, can start this process by reading some of the books mentioned in the bibliography.
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