Psychological Skills Boost Sports Performance.

Researchers have found that college athletes perform better in their sports when they take a class to sharpen their mental skills. The report, published in the July issue of the "Journal of Applied Sport Psychology," analyzed results from 168 athletes in a variety of sports who took the class between 1996 and 1999 at a National Collegiate Athletic Association Division 1 college. The bulk of the class—a sopho-more-level course that was also open to nonathletes—consisted of learning mental strategies such as goal-setting, controlling responses to pregame stress and excitement, and pregame rituals. At the end of the 1999 spring semester, coaches reported that the study group achieved more in their sports, played with more confidence, peaked better under pressure, and coped better with adversity.

ATHLETES; SPORTS psychology; MENTAL health; COLLEGE athletes

Physician & Sportsmedicine, 2003, Vol 31, Issue 12, p16

0091-3847

Academic Journal

10.3810/psm.2003.12.589