Sports Psychologist: Roles And Functions

Psychology is a science that has several branches and each one of them approaches different aspects of the individual. Since sport is an activity with great psychological involvement, there is more than one reason why any athlete could benefit from the help of a sports psychologist.

Thanks to this type of professionals, athletes can count on an evaluation, orientation and intervention based on psychological aspects, to improve their levels of performance and sense of well-being.

Throughout this article we will take a tour of the most relevant functions of sports psychologists and the benefits of working with them. Let’s go deeper.

Assessment and diagnosis: essential functions of the sport psychologist

Among the main functions of the sports psychologist are the evaluation and diagnosis of the athlete.

The evaluation that is carried out is known as psychodeportological because it takes into account both sporting and psychological aspects. They are as follows:

• It focuses on behaviors. To do this, it analyzes the environment in which these occur, as well as the related emotions and thoughts.
• Identify. It recognizes what are the conditions associated with each behavior on the part of the athlete.
• Interview. Conducts various interviews to identify the behaviors to work and the thoughts and emotions of the athlete that influence their performance and well-being.

To carry out this type of interview, tests, follow-up sheets and various techniques are used to get to know the athlete in all their vital areas.

Once the interviews have been carried out and the cognitive-behavioral and emotional aspects have been identified, the sports psychologist makes a diagnosis. This helps you to define the areas in which you are going to work; although it is important to mention that with the passage of time, new aspects to be addressed may be included.

Psychoeducation

The sports psychologist is also responsible for psychoeducation. By exercising this function, it shows the athlete different strategies to enhance their performance through different methods of education.

Through the psychoeducational process, information is provided to the athlete on various areas that can influence their sports performance, information that deals with their relationship with the social, work, family, health or emotional world, among others.

The sports psychologist and planning

Once the evaluation and diagnosis process has been carried out, the sport psychologist moves on to the planning phase. Let’s see how it does it:

• Choose which psychotechnical tests and other instruments and techniques to use, as well as what is the purpose of their application.
• Execute strategies to exchange information with the different members involved, for example parents, family, community, etc.
• Set clear and realistic goals agreed with the people with whom you are going to work on a therapeutic level.

• Set the dates and the distribution of hours to meet the objectives.

Therefore,  the sports psychologist is a great organizer : he must distribute both the therapeutic time and the different activities to reach the objectives of his intervention.

In addition, he is in charge of advising his clients so that they not only fully understand the details of the intervention process, but also understand how to make each of the steps taken favorable for progress in sport. In this way, the athlete will develop greater adherence to the intervention.

Intervention

The intervention is the key point at which everything previously planned is executed to achieve greater performance and well-being in the athlete. It is, therefore, the fundamental step in the direction of achieving the established goals.

In his intervention, the sports psychologist uses a large number of different strategies, techniques and instruments to achieve the established objectives. This progress is always made hand in hand with the athlete, their team and their community.

To achieve the proposed result, the professional must know in depth the sport in which he is going to focus and the people with whom he is going to work. For this reason, it is essential for the sports psychologist to adapt to the people on whom he intervenes and to the environment in which they operate.

Research and promote health

The sports psychologist can also be in the field of research. This can be from a pragmatic perspective, after having finished the therapeutic process with an athlete or from an academic perspective, focusing on sports psychology as a science.

Thus, despite the young age of this branch of Psychology, we already have extensive research. For example, Olmedilla, García and Martínez in their article for the  Journal of Sports Psychology, present  their research on the relationship between psychological factors and vulnerability to injury.

In addition, the sports psychologist can also work in the field of health promotion and prevention. In this field, he is dedicated to proposing strategies associated with the world of sport and its benefits to promote health and prevent disease.

Benefits of working with a sports psychologist

For any sports lover who wants to boost their performance, that of their team or want to promote the sport in the community, working hand in hand with a sports psychologist can provide the following benefits:

• Greater motivation.
• Setting goals and strategies to improve.
• Increased self-confidence.
• Better self-esteem.
• Adequate management of emotions.
• Have a life project in relation to sport.
• Detection of risk situations.
• Helps in stress and anxiety management.
• Increase performance.
• Favoring the prevention and recovery of injuries.
• Improved teamwork capacity.

Now, it is convenient to clarify that not just any psychologist can dedicate himself to this branch of Psychology. You need specialization in this area to practice effectively.

As we can see, the sports psychologist can work with athletes, high performance teams, coaches, teachers, parents or communities. With your skills as a professional you can help improve sports performance and, in this way, contribute to a better quality of life.