Sport Psychology and how it can help students?

First off, what is sport psychology?

This term is quite hard to define and multiple definitions can be given. However, the simplest one is that,  sport psychology is a science-based specialisation in psychology that offers professional counselling to help adults, adolescents and children who are interested in improving their lifestyle through exercise and sport. It overlaps the fields of physical performance, social psychology and health and exercise. Professionals search to introduce certain concepts to their patients such as goal-setting, imagery, relaxation, self-talk, attention and commitment to rigorous training. 

Calmer and more attentive students

Sport psychology has been evaluated and researched since the late 19th century when the term was defined through the work of psychologists, and more specifically Norman Triplett’s. He found that cyclists who trained with other cyclists performed considerably better thanks to social and competitive aspects. Many experiments have been conducted in the 20th century since these affirmations. In the 1950s and 1960s, research was done while looking at the connection between exercise and academic benefits. In France, an experiment was put into place where students were given longer hours at school but with academic classes in the morning and PE classes in the afternoon. As a result of this experiment, students were found to be calmer and more attentive, and academics remained close to their normal classes which had more time dedicated for academic purposes. 

Furthermore, the University of Bridgeport explained that through sports there was an increase in blood flow to our brains and therefore created more connections in our nerves. This increased concentration and memory, stimulated creativity and better developed problem-solving skills. Sport as well created interpersonal skills such as leadership, time management and working with others for a common goal. This latter part enhanced psychosocial capabilities and created higher self-esteem, efficacy and self worth.

Practicing a sport can help develop a ‘protective shield’ towards depression and psychological resilience

Moreover, other benefits can be found by implementing sport in our everyday life, specifically focusing on our mental health and well-being. The UK government released in 2015 a research report on the “value of the health and educational benefits of sport and culture”. In this record, they explained that by practicing a sport, we develop a ‘protective shield’ towards depression and psychological resilience. In a more recent study in 2022 through the National Library of Medicine, scientists and psychologists analysed the links that one could make between sport participation and mental health difficulties. While comparing children that did team sports and children that did no sports, team sports children had a 10% lower rate of being anxious and depressed and a 17% lower rate of having thought problems. Where children practicing a team sport gained interpersonal skills, children practicing individual sports gained discipline, goal-setting strategies and responsibility. 

Sport psychology has become increasingly crucial for students as they advance in their studies

There has been a decrease in sports participation from middle school to high school and an increase in burnouts in school, more commonly in 12th grade. It is therefore essential that children, adolescents and even adults learn, through sports, skills that can help them in everyday life. Everything that has been stated so far are skills that one will need later on in life, regardless of their career choice. The mental health benefits that can come out of sports participation are things that could help all students reduce academic burnouts and balance out academic and down time. 

I carried a survey at FIS

I was able to do a few statistics regarding our school, and I looked at classes on the French section from 4ème to Terminale. I centered my survey regarding their knowledge on sport psychology, the type of sport they did, the frequency of sport per week and what they believed they gained from partaking in a physical activity. In the responses I received, 95.5% did sports, 51.5% believed that sport did not motivate them to do their school work and 66.7% explained that they experienced an ameliorated mental health. Though a select few responses showed signs that sport did not fully help them overall. Sport psychology can also help through that because many factors can make doing sports difficult but balancing out sports’ good factors and the bad factors can be easily managed with the right help.

Therefore, if you believe you need help, reach out to a coach or a consultant and they can help you reach the optimal sport performance and mental health.