Associate Professor,
The term “sports” is an umbrella term that includes different kinds of sports, exercise, and other physically activities. These types of physical activity are also used in other settings such as organized physical education, leisure, and rehabilitation (healing). Psychology is the scientific study of behaviour and experiences of organism in relation to the environment. “Sports psychology is concerned with the psychological foundations, processes, and consequences of the psychological regulation of sport-related activities of one or several persons acting as the subject(s) of the activity” (European Federation of Sport Psychology "(FEPSAC 1995). There are two major focuses in sports psychology research, with two corresponding trends in applied work. (i) To understand the psychological factors that affect athletic performance and how athletes realize their potential in sport. Applied aspects here include high-quality practices, optimal performance, and adequate recovery at the level of an individual athlete and team. (ii) To understand how athletes develop in sports and what are the “benefits” and “costs” of their multiyear sport participation. Applied aspects here include the need to help athletes cope successfully with career transitions and find a balance between sports and other spheres of life. In team sports, this also involves dealing with team-building issues and helping individual athletes find a balance between individual and team interests and values. The major emphasis in sports psychology is on the study and application of psychological factors enhancing athletic performance and on the impact of sports participation on a person's (or team's) development.
