SPORTS PSYCHOLOGY

 INTRODUCTION

IMPORTANT DEFINITIONS AS TOLD BY DIFFERENT SCHOLARS:

NAMES DEFINITIONS

 JOHN LUTHER Sports psychology is an area which attempts to

apply psychological facts and principles to
learning performance and associated human
behavior in whole field of psychology.

 K.M. BURNS Sports psychology for physical education is that

branch of psychology which deals with the
physically fitness of an individual through his
participation in games and sports.

 SINGER Sports psychology explores one’s behavior in

athletics.

 Sports psychology is an interdisciplinary science that draws on knowledge from the

fields of Kinesiology and Psychology. It is the study on how psychology influences
sports, athletic performances, exercise, and physical activity.

 FOUNDATION – 1920 – CARL DIEM – founded the world’s first sports psychology
laboratory – Deutsche Sporthochschule in Berlin, Germany.

 In 1925, two more sports psychology labs were established – one by A.Z. Puni at the institute
of Physical Culture in LENINGRAD and the other by COLEMAN GRIFFITH at the
University of Illinois.

Nature of sports psychology

 The approach of Sports Psychology is psychophysiological in nature.

 Sensory motor integration is an integral part in sport psychology.

 The techniques and approaches of behaviorist and cognitive behaviorist school are robustly /
vividly followed in sports psychology.

 It is multi-disciplinary in nature, having a mixed approach of – biological, cognitive,

behavioral, social, and psychodynamic perspectives.

 Any physical activity or sports can essentially be considered a social process that in turn help
in learning processes like cooperation, competition, assimilation, acculturation, enculturation,
etc.

 Sports is essentially educative in nature helping in unconventional learning and overall

performance enhancement in broader sense.

 The training in sports not only helps in physical training but also assist in training of behavior
and mind.