Sport Psychology Essay -- essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  To fully understand sport psychology, we must ask ourselves two very important questions, first, what is sport psychology and second, who is it for? Put in the most sim-ple way, sport psychology can be an example of psychological knowledge, principles, or methods applied to the world of sport. "Two psychologists, Bunker and Maguire, say sport psychology is not for psychologists, but is for sport and its participants." (Murphy & White, 1978:2) However, it can be argued that sport psychology, can be for psycho-logy, just as it can be for sports scientists, managers, teachers, administrators, coaches and last but by no means least, the athletes themselves.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  It is sport psychology that has stood apart from the discipline of psychology as a whole. "Its history is different, its concerns are often different, its centres of learning and teaching are often different, and its professional training is different." (Garfield, 1984:34) Yet despite this, sport psychology remains permanently bonded to psychology through its common interest in the fundamental principles of psychology, human behavior, and experience.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  No one can deny the significant role which sport and recreation plays in every cul-ture and society across the globe. In the western and eastern worlds alike, sport and lei-sure continue to support huge industries and take up massive amounts of individual time, effort, money, energy, and emotion. Within the media, competitive sport has gotten enor-mous attention and despite this, the public's appetite for more sport never is stated. "It has been estimated that around two thirds of all newspaper readers in Great Britain first turn to the sports pages when they pick up their daily paper." (Butt, 1987:65) When one con-siders the number of people who actually engage in sport or even take regular exercise, then the significance of sport to all our lives cannot be denied.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  A common problem with sport psychology research lies in its somewhat myopic or short-sighted appreciation of present day accumulated psychological knowledge. As we look into sport psychology, we are confronted by a landscape of knowledge which rises and falls often suddenly and dramatically. "At certain times, massive peaks of understand-ing rise up before out eyes yet at other times, huge tracts of psychology remain untouched to the horizon." (Garfie... ...d of sport, something that cannot be ignored with the growing number in athletic participation by young people. "With each new year comes an increase in new developments dealing with sport psychology." (Murphy & White, 1978:9) However, there is still much work to be done in sport psychology. There are still many unresolved questions and even some new questions and even some new questions that have arisen over the years dealing with sport psychology. Take anxiety for instance. Psychologists have found ways to reduce anxiety but not eliminate it. Maybe there is no way to eliminate it since everyone has it. Another example is aggression. Wherever there are sports, there is aggression. Psychologists have stated that sports are a way for people to release their aggression. However, they still have not been able to fully eliminate the violence in sports. Psychologists are also working on new methods for motivating athletes because some athletes are harder to motivate that others. Even though there are these unresolved issues in sport psychology, the future of psychology in sports, especially youth sports, looks to be on a very progressive track with many new discoveries.