Psychology in the Sports World

Oftentimes, athletic sports are not considered to be very “mental” games. Instead, we think of mental games as strategy-based; games that require the most focus and require players to think steps ahead of their opponent (chess, checkers, etc.). It is very rare that physically demanding sports like football, soccer, and basketball are believed to be equally as demanding psychologically. As a former college track & field athlete, these beliefs are far from the truth. I have seen first hand how sports that require peak physical performance are a product of being mentally prepared as well.

The mental toll athletes deal with doesn’t just begin on the day of competition. In fact, it traces all the way back to the long hours of training that lead up to it. Training for hours, days, weeks, and months at a time can be difficult. Early morning workouts, two-a-days (or even three-a-days if you’re lucky), thousands of repetitions, and still finding the time/energy to get through the day can only be successfully completed with a resilient mind and motivated attitude. These athletes are constantly pushing their bodies and minds to the limit to get positive results.

Even as recently as last year, we’ve seen top tier professional athletes like Kevin Love and DeMar Derozan come out about their dealings with anxiety and depression. In turn, we’ve seen the rise in demand for sports psychologists and other mental health experts in the professional sports world. Even colleges are beginning to see its importance. The narratives that “pro athletes are making too much money to be depressed” and “as a famous athlete you have to be thick-skinned” are slowly starting to die down. More and more sports fans are beginning to understand that these athletes are real people who go through real mental problems.

Anybody still skeptical? Well think about this: As anyone who has played sports in their lifetime, what kind of space were you in mentally when you had your best performances? What were you thinking about? Most people will say that they in fact, had an absence of thought. Their mind was focused on nothing but the task at hand, with little to no distractions. If this is true for any of you, you were most likely practicing mindfulness. This is an instance where a person focuses the mind on being present and aware of what is going on at that exact moment, while also eliminating distractions. This practice is very common in meditation, another skill that sports psychologists and other mental health specialists alike use to help their clients both focus and relieve stress.

If mindfulness has helped you perform at your best, it’s reasonable to assume that some of your worst performances were due to lack of focus. Maybe your mind was elsewhere, or you were flooded with different thoughts and emotions at that time. This same feeling can happen to all of us, even the greatest athletes in the world. So who’s to say sports aren’t mental games?