Sports psychology: a question of magic?

A reflection on the role of sport psychologists in promoting change.

In the world of physical activity and sport, psychology is a discipline that still has a long way to go.psychology is a discipline that still has a long way to go. There is a lot of confusion about what the role of psychology is and what benefits it brings.

In my opinion, despite the progress that sports psychology has made, its importance has not yet been understood.

There are people who see psychology as a fundamental part, others believe that it only works on an individual level with athletes, others that it should only be dedicated to high performance or that it only serves for the formative phases, there are those who do not "believe" in it, those who think that it only serves to work on motivation, etc.

Sport psychology and its scope

There are different ways of thinkingThis is logical considering that people's thinking differs greatly from one another. However, sometimes it is too similar.

Within these views on sports psychology, there seems to be one that, in my opinion, unfortunately is shared by many professionals (or not so many) in the world of sport. I have observed this in comments, questions that people have asked me, requests for help, etc., both from people who value our work in this field as something important, and from others who do not have so much faith in its usefulness.

Whether it is due to a lack of confidence or lack of knowledge, or a reaction caused by a reaction provoked by the frustration derived from a competitive situationOften coaches and athletes come looking for us when "all the fish is (almost) sold" to see if we are able to solve a situation that they have been trying for a long time, or not, in a few hours.

I would like to know what kind of magic they think we psychologists can do to think that we can turn their situation around 180 degrees, dedicating a tenth of the time they have dedicated during a whole season, without succeeding. Because a reality is that, many times, our work is counted on when there is no other option.We are often used as "fire extinguishers", forgetting the preventive work. And those times, usually coincide with situations that are already difficult to save.

The worst thing about all this is that in the end, in most cases, the situation does not change enough, reinforcing the idea that the sports psychology professional should not be dedicated to sport and that he/she should not work in the field. should be limited to being in a clinical consultationfollowing the medical model, which is more popular in our sector.

I dedicate this article to comment on this situation, without wanting to convince of the importance of my work, with the sole intention of helping to understand that psychologists do not have a miracle pill that changes things overnight.

There are no shortcuts: change requires effort

Like any physical or technical-tactical conditioning training, psychological training requires time, work and dedication. If a runner seeks to increase his endurance, he will not achieve it in two workouts, but will require constant work through which he will will be obtaining over time a series of improvements until the desired performance is reached.. In the same way, if this runner wanted to optimize the management of concentration and relaxation prior to competition, a day or two of practice would not be enough to acquire that skill.

As with training, so it is with the work of the sports psychologist. Just as a coach who arrives new to a team needs to gain the confidence of the group, get them to believe in his work and follow him in his intentions; a sports psychologist needs to know the people he is going to work with and, fundamentally, gain their confidence so that they will work and develop his proposals, convinced that this will help them to achieve their objectives.

Every job well done, in the long term, depends on the same factors: time, dedication, perseverance; miracles do not exist. Success in the achievement of objectives is preceded by a combination of an interdisciplinary training that covers the physical, technical-tactical and mental areas.and training will be of higher quality to the extent that each of its aspects is carried out by a professional in that field.

Fortunately, not everything is so black. Day by day, the importance of our work in the world of sport and physical activity is more and more recognized. and we are acquiring greater relevance as another important figure within the sports field. I look at reality with hope, trusting that with hard work and perseverance we will manage to make our way, overthrowing this and other myths that are created around us and giving way to a reality in which we are valued as another professional. It takes time.