Psychological Skills Training Essay -- Sports PST Training Athletics E

Psychological Skills TrainingWhat exactly is Psychological Skills Training and for a coach or instructor, what advantage is gained by its implementation? In other words, why bother?Psychological Skills Training (PST) is typically to a greater extent comprehensive than a few short sessions with a few simple interventions that a coach or instructor might suggest. PST usually integrates cognitive and relaxation techniques in a more encompassing approach to cordial training and as a complement to physical training. Individualism is a hallmark of most PST programs. (Gill, 2000)The Importance of psychic SkillsWhy are mental skills so important to performance and why are they often neglected by coaches and athletes? Yogi Berra has been quoted as saying, pastime is 90% mental and 50% physical. You can question his mathematical savvy, but if youre an athlete, coach or fan, you cant question his wisdom. (Hacker, 2000) Many athletes understand that while developing oneself to their physical potential is a critical chemical element in performance potential, it is often a deficit in our psychological game rather than errors in our physical performance that assert us from performing at optimum levels in practice, games or matches. Spud McKenzie, the Budweiser poster puppy, suggested that it is important to say when, but also emphasized the critical element of knowing when to say when. It is often the achievementful athlete has recognized what needed to be done and the unsuccessful athlete was unable to do so. As a consequence, it is not the physical talents or abilities that separate athletes and teams, or successful versus less successful performance, rather, the psychological dimension that most frequently explains a given sport outcome or individual performance. For this reason games are played. Prior to each contest, judgment could be made with regard to which team or individual is the more highly skilled. If games were decided on who is the most physically gifted a nd/or talented individuals or teams, it would prove to be an exercise in futility to compete. As a result, whether you are an athlete or a coach, mastering the mental game of sport will allow you to achieve a level of success as a competitor than you could otherwise not achieve by focusing exclusively on the physical side of sport.PST - The Initial Learning strainThe four comm however used PST techniques are arou... ...file becomes increasingly significant in terms of achieving desired performance levels. The margins for success and failure as a initiatory athlete can be miniscule. Skiers go wide on the third gate of a downhill race to find they have not only lost the gold medal, but any medal. Members of the PGA, after playing 72 holes, find themselves losing the tournament by one stroke, as a result of the helpless three-foot putt on the second day of competition. Works CitedGill, D. L., (2000), Psychological Dynamics of Sport and Exercise, Champaign, IL, 2nd Ed., p197, Human K inetics.Hacker, C., (February 2000), Introduction to Psychological Skills, Eteamz, http//www.eteamz.com/baseball/instruction/psych/index.cfm?m=1,2,3,4,5Rushall, B. S., (1995). Mental Skills Training for Sports, Sports Science Associates, Spring Valley, CA., 8.1- 8.3,White, S. A., Psychological Skills Differences between Volleyball Players on the Youth National Team and Those Involved in the 14s High-Performance Camp, Unpublished Thesis, Illinois State University, Normal, IL.Weinberg, R.S. & Gould, D. 1995 Foundations of sport and exercise psychology. Champaign, IL Human Kinetics. Ch.15