What Is Sports Psychology?
For all SINI athletes, competing in high performance sport on an international stage, involves managing the associated pressures and stressors of excelling in such an environment.
It is with this in mind that SINI aim to assist and empower athletes with the necessary psychological skills and strategies, so that the athlete is sufficiently prepared mentally to deal with any challenges that they may encounter in their pursuit of excellence.
The primary aim of this service is to assist the athlete in maximising their own individual potential on a continuum from consistent through to winning performances via the development of several key mental areas necessary for individual and team success. It is about facilitating the development of mental toughness and making athletes mentally robust in the pursuit of their sporting goals.
Commonly addressed skills/strategies include the ability to:
- Regulate arousal levels to a desirable and optimal level to ensure peak performance;
- Challenge athletes to maintain appropriate attention on their individual training & competition goals with regular review & monitoring.
- Relax and focus under pressure;
- Help athletes develop a sound performance routine and behaviour regulation.
- Assist in improving an individual's ability to sustain concentration and focus on the right things at the right time;
- The ability to use coping strategies to deal appropriately with both success and setbacks.
- Develop an individual's levels of intrinsic motivation for both training and competition;
- Provide appropriate imagery and simulation training strategies
- Team building and development
- Dealing with injury, de-selection, loss of role, etc
- Mental aspects of recovery
- Facilitate confidence in an individuals' own ability.
Key to the success of a strong mental training programme is the importance of developing key practical skills for the athlete within the context of their unique sporting environment. Therefore the importance of integrating a baseline mental skills screening with the development of sound mental training strategies resulting in on site & remote competition support is vital to developing mental toughness in athletes.
These skills are not learned over night but, like a technical skill, can be achieved over time. The SINI staff that assist in developing these skills ensure that they do not work in isolation and make every attempt to incorporate the above skills and strategies within an integrated approach with athletes, coaches, performance managers and other relevant SINI service providers. This ensures that any newly acquired/developed psychological skills/strategies are integrated successfully into the athletes' everyday training and competition routines.
