Sports psychology
For the latest information in sports psychology and sports motivation, read the following articles. Performance psychology is an important part of modern athletics… To browse our library of free sports training articles, browse using the categories on the left or use the search box.
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Articles
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The sports psychology of tennis
Game, set, and match – developing resilient self-confidence in tennis
Sports Psychology techniques to avoid anxiety
Competition Anxiety Needn't Get You Down
Does exercise affect brain function?
Effects of maximal exercise on the brain
Team sports have sports psychology benefits
Never walk alone
How yoga and motivation exercises boost performance
Sports Psychology: Be Creative!
'Tuning up' performance - music and videos as ergogenic aids
Motivation in Sports Psychology
The motivational dynamics of sport
Carbohydrate benefit during cycling
How carbohydrate affects your mood
Imagery in sport – how imagination can enhance performance
The Science and Practice of Sports Motivation
Use Mental and Physical Sports Motivation
Half-time nutrition – what’s best for maximising fulltime performance?
Half-Time Training for Team Sports
Half Time Strategy - Temperature
Coping With The Effects of Temperature on The Pitch
Don't let competition anxiety get the better of you
Sports Psychology: endurance training
using your mind to help with endurance training
Football coaching - half time psychology
Make sure your football coaching mentally prepares you for the second half!
Emotional Intelligence and Performance
Can emotional awareness be developed as a sports skill?
Sleep Loss - Making Sure it Doesn't Affect Your Training
waking up to the performance of sleep
Chinese Sport : The future's not orange - it's Chinese
Detraining - why a change really is better than a rest
Sports Injury Pain : Pain and brain - a revolutionary approach to chronic injury
Sport Motivation : To create a positive motivational climate you need more carrot than stick
Fans feel the pressure too
Mental Effects Of Exercise: Prolonged exercise and mental function
Sport psychology demystified - or not
Sports science: What have the sport scientists done for us? Craig Sharp on the interface between knowledge and performance
Rugby recovery: Exercise and recovery in rugby players
Sports psychology article: Beset by 'Olympic phobia' and lacking in focus and toughness: a sport psychologist's damning verdict on the underperforming GB swim team
Pressure: Choking under pressure
Child protection in sport
SPORT PSYCHOLOGY: The importance of attributions - or how to learn from success and failure alike
Marathon world record: The day of the two-hour marathon
Successful coaching: The secrets of success with high-level athletes
Runner's high: a new explanation
Mental imagery for physical people: how recreating all-sensory experience can profoundly affect your performance
Football managers - Who is there to support the managers? A psychologist reflects on survival techniques in a cut-throat world
Body building - Why bodybuilding dependence is not just a problem for men
Underperformance Syndrome - how youth rugby coaches are using psychology to raise their players' game
Goal setting: One step at a time - how to raise your game through effective goal-setting
East African running: an alternative explanation for the East African dominance of distance running
Exercise addiction
The majestic self-confidence of Jonny Wilkinson - or how expectations can make or break your performance
athletes eating disorders | female athletes
Athletes and eating disorders - Too thin to win: why athletes who lose weight to enhance performance are dangerously misguided
Endurance Exercise: If at first you don't succeed, should you exercise or eat chocolate?
Ergogenic aids
Noel frost | rowing world record
Noel Frost: How I started from nothing and won a rowing gold medal in nine months
psychometric testing | sports training
Psychometric testing: How the Giants kicked tradition into touch with psychometric testing
Competition & Emotional Control
Competition & Emotional Control
How sport improves the body image of adolescent girls.
Exercise And Depression: Slimming down the body while fattening up the brain
Sports science of the future - Here's an exclusive report on a world-record attempt made in (or about) the year 2025
training | depression | overtraining
Depression, Training and Overtraining
Mental Fitness: When you can manage your emotions, you can perform at your best
The crucial importance of paying attention
The crucial importance of paying attention (part two)
Sports Vision: In most sports, you'll never achieve your true potential if your eyes aren't up to it. Here's a special report on how they can be trained.
Sports Psychology Resistance: Why is it that athletes so often resist the benefits of sports psychology?
Sports Psychology - Thought Control
Sports Psychology - Thought Control
Eating Disorder Athletes: Female athletes who are obsessed by food and body weight can develop anorexia athletica.
Mental Fatigue: When your brain tells you to stop going, here's how to tell it to shut up.
brain | vital organs | exercise fatigue 2
The governor: how the brain protects your vital organs by inducing exercise fatigue
Why MCTs alone don't work. It's important to bear in mind that the MCTs had to be ADDED to carbohydrate in order to shore up performance; the MCT-only drink produced terrible results.
Squash: The ball-boy servants who watched, waited - and conquered
choking | golf | sports psychology
Do Pro Golfers 'Choke'?
Sports Psychology: Tennis. How a promising young tennis player was rescued from the clutches of overtraining.
Pity the poor referee - he gets all of the stress and none of the lolly
suicide | physical activity | aerobic exercise
Suicide and physical activity - Why Active Women May Be More Suicidal
Reading The Game: While lesser mortals grind out victories with their patient shots, eliminating risks and playing the percentages, the truly gifted seem to conjure with time. They bring an unhurried genius to their game that allows them to play shots with an audacity that sometimes surprises even them.
Motivation: Here's how to design a self-determined training programme that will drive you to new heights
mental strength | mental fitness | mental toughness
Mental strength - When you can manage your emotions, you can perform at your best
To improve performance, you have to start by fortifying the mind.
bilateral co-ordination | training
Bilateral Co-ordination: Why dexterity alone just will not do: some lessons from a young piano player
Team Sports Cohesion and Success: What Is the Link?
Team Sports Cohesion and Success: What Is the Link?
Winning: The relevant question is not "Did you win?" but "Did you come up to your expectations?"
Mental Strength: To improve your performance, you have to start by fortifying your mind--
stress inoculation training | sports psychology
Learn how to 'inoculate' your stress, and take mental charge of your performances
breathing techniques in running
Breathing Techniques In Running: If you let your mind control your heart, you can improve your performances
Here's an exclusive report on a world-record attempt made in (or about) the year 2025
'Stages of change': how to motivate your athletes to help themselves
'Stages of change': how to motivate your athletes to help themselves
Cheering someone on can boost their muscle power - it's been scientifically proven!
football | penalty taking | soccer
Football - penalty taking: How to win the shoot-out mind game
Self-Awareness in Sport
Positive Thinking: Golf - although the following report is not in the true sense a scientific study, I think it offers a few useful pointers to tackling some of the psychological difficulties encountered by competitive golfers.
Pressure Training Sessions: How to keep your skills even when all about you are losing theirs.
Attention Control Training - The crucial importance of paying attention
Pity the poor referee - he gets all of the stress and none of the lolly
Why visual training programmes for sport don't work
Aerobic exercise beats drugs for depression
thought suppression | sports psychology
Thought Suppression - a Paradoxical Effect
Sports Supplements: Here's a survey of what the nutrition experts take
sports psychology | expectations
Why 'good enough' is actually better than perfect (and a lot more fun, too)
warming up | substitute players
Warming up, substitute players & sitting on the bench
Injury Rehab Programme: An injured sportsman is like a sick gorilla - no use and a lot of trouble. The coach has to deal with the mind as well as the body in maintaining the athlete's equilibrium.
Sports injuries prevention: A cynic would say that the way to prevent sports injuries was to not play sport, but for readers of PEAK PERFORMANCE that rather misses the point.
Steph Cook: gold medallist. The inspiring tale of the rower who became a shooter-fencer-swimmer-rider-runner
Mood States: High-level college swimmers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in the States were studied for a research project published in 1991.
Golf - The Inner Game: How learning to play the inner game put a top golfer back on course
Overtraining and Depression: Is There a Difference?
Overtraining and Depression: Is There a Difference?
Anxiety and sport: If you want to get rid of anxiety, go out and run for 10 hours.
sports psychology | imagery | lower back pain
Sports psychology - imagery: how a young professional golfer used imagery to conquer his persistent lower back pain
Encouragement Boosts Performance
How Encouragement Boosts Performance
Training with verve gives you extra nerve.
Sports coaching: J'accuse! A noted coaching guru launches a broadside at outmoded thinking and models
Sports psychology: Mental toughness: do you have what it takes to maintain focus, motivation and self-belief when the going gets hard?
performance profiling | mental training
Performance profiling: a coaching tool for pinpointing strengths and weaknesses, designing training strategies and building better communication with athletes
Questions
What is a good training program for a 48 hour, 100km walk?
I'm looking at undertaking a 100km walk, which must be completed in 48 hours,in about 10 months time. My aim is to complete the walk in about 30 hours.
What do you think of the Peak Performance Premium area? (!)
As the main provider of information in this area, I'd like to find out what you think about the videos and the articles in particular.
Carron's (1988) Conceptual Model for the Study of Sports Groups
Can anyone please briefly describe the inputs through puts and outputs of this model? I need to get my head around it for an exam on the 28th. Thanks to anyone who can help Allan C. x
Hi im currently at university doing an assignment looking at creating a 12 week pre season rugby programme for a university athlete.
How to train your mind for a wrestling match
How do you train your mind to be more focused?
What things can i do to improve my high jump?
I'm doing high jump in mid may. Any tips on how to train?
Effect of gender stereotypes on sporting goals/achievements?
any thoughts towards this topic? do you know of any articles i can read up on? thanks so much for your time
i want to know about mental training in volleyball ?
i want to know about mental training in volleyball
How do I increase speed, explosiveness, and my verticle leap?
I am an 20 yr old collegiate basketball player, wanting to improve my speed, foot speed, stability, explosiveness, and verticle leap.
What is a good way to prepare in the last weeks prior to a track meet?
I am running the 400m and 200m I am wondering: What types of food should be eaten and what one should do in the last week or two prior to the competition to increase the chances of performing to thei
What is a good frame of mind to be in before and during a sprint ?
How shall one feel emotionally during these times ? What mind state should one posses ?
What is the best way to train for a judo tournament?
Our matches are 5 minutes long with no breaks, up to 8 matches in the tournament. I am trying to find the best exercises to get us ready for the tournament.
What can you do in an overtrained state to remedy the position?!
I am 27 and compete in many sports and train with weights additonally and have done from a young age. I do have an addictive requirement to exercise hard and compete, often 'pushing through'.
How do you tell if you have shin splints. I have a pain in my left leg above my ankle, but I don't know what it is.
Run 1.5 miles in under 12 minutes
I am 45 years of age and require to pass a fitness test, I work irregular hours but can gaurentee that i can run most mornings over a distance of between 2 and 3 miles with varying outcomes of success
I need to be able to sprint 50 meters very quickly. My sport being paintball, i have to have my head down keeping a low profile.
If i Drink Skimmed milk every day for a month and not drink anything else or eat anything else cept from veg and fruit.. will that be a healthy lifestyle?
Describe a training cycle and periodization for bodybuilding?
I have been bodybuilding for four years. I am 36 years old.
Does increased protein intake depress mood?
In summer I train outdoors for 10k and half-marathon, with some gym work. In winter I tend to train indoors and work on strength and speed, with an occasional outdoor run.
Are there any good online sport psychology courses ideal for someone located in the uk .
Des resting heart rate affect your performance?
i am a 22 year old male having played soccer my whole life, my resting heart rate is about 68 beats per minute, this is quite high compared to other elite athletes, would this affect my performance, c
for someone who can not take lessons? I have pull-up/ dip bars and know about the planche and front lever. Any training tips would be appreciated.
uses the the entire lower body, to what extent does it work the hamstrings and calves?
How do I endure heat during a training session?
I live in South Africa and attend a Virgin Active gym nearby. I am increasing my training schedule this year.
At home I have a pull-up bar and some weight plates and I want to know how I can perform pulldowns.
I have heard that push-ups work the back.
Is this true and if so to what extent?
Opinion. If you could only do one aerobic exercise, which would it be?
Facts are lovely. Which one provides the best overall benefits?
What are the benefits of boxing as a sports to college students?
I want to know the psychological benefits a college student can get from boxing as a sport. People tend to associate boxing with violence thus it is not offered as a P.E.
Has anyone dealt with vocal fold dysfunction in a swimmer
My daughter, a competitive swimmer, has developed vocal fold dysfunction.
What is the best diet for a football player before and after a match?
I am an amateur footballer but try my hardest and want to achieve what i can at this level and need to do whatever i can for optimum performance eg best training best diet best lifestyle.
I am a 16 year old girl who plays competitive netball.
Do you have a question for our community?
PP Online has over 10,000 registered users, all of them keen sportsmen and women, including many coaches, personal trainers and sports scientists.
I feel selfish when I exercise before doing anything else
Primarily in the morning. How do I get over this? "Danny O'Dell M. A. CSCS*D is an NSCA certified strength and conditioning coach, and the co-owner of The WeightRoom Gym and Explosivelyfit.com, both located in Nine Mile Falls, WA. Here, he shares with us some of the questions he gets asked most often. How would you answer this question?"
I think one of my athletes may have an eating disorder but I am unsure. What signs should I be looking for and what should I do?
What is mental imagery and how can mental imagery help improve my performance in sport?
Blogs
Have shoulder pains? You came to the right place.
“The 7 Deadly Sins of Lifting” this is another installment from A. Jay of a series of motivational articles.
Mindtree NLP in Sports Seminar Mindtree would like to invite you to attend our NLP in Sports seminar to find out how we can assist your players to achieve their maximum potential.
next NLP Sports Practitioner Course that we run here at Mindtree Ltd.
Drug testing what's out there a physiotherapists view point
Testing Athletes for Drug Use Why do some “athletes” try to enhance their performances on the track and field by taking drugs?
Here is the first and not the last instalment of Nick Mitchell’s long awaited All Strength Q&A.
A frequent phenomenon that I have noticed over my time rowing, is the pre-event incompetence syndrome.
Are you making these mistakes as an Athlete?
Don’t get me wrong nobody’s perfect, especially me, many of these ideas came from my “Stupidity”, a rollercoaster of discovery, injuries and re-injury, does that sound about right?
When does it become an obsession...?
When does your pastime or interest become an obsession? Are all obsessions unhealthy..?
It's been so long since my knee injury. You'd think I'd have got over it and be back on my bike as it were! . . But alas It's taking me a while to build my fitness up again.
Sports Medicine Foot and Ankle Rehabilitation
This article was a long time coming. After writing and then scraping and re-writing it is a good way to describe this.
The Insider’s Secrets to a Flat Stomach
Hey regular blog readers myself and Nick sat down and and had a conversation, long story short this article was born.
When to turn to a clinical sport psychologist?
As a sport psychologist, there is always the possibility of encountering an athlete that does not simply need help with performance, but may need clinical help, for example relating to eating behaviou
Rotational Carbohydrates "RO-CHO" ?
Rotational Carbohydrates "RO-CHO" Article by Steve Blades. It is all about carbohydrate rotation for ultimate performance.
Another great read by Steve Blades aka "Marmite". If you are not making gains in the gym or the track this will change everything completely.
You are a Beginner, READ THIS!
A great,long article about everything on general bodybuilding ,training, nutrition and supplementation as a beginner.
Is it a case of hearts over minds as Keegan returns to Newcastle?
When Sam Allardyce left Newcastle United last week after less than a year, it became clear that cold, hard analysis wasn't behind the decision.
Mental Toughness (or how to keep going)
Picture the scene: It's the first interval session of the year.
A great new update to hit Rawgrip.com, a great article for all of the new found health freaks this year.
Squat Rx Video Creator Interview
If you are a serious lifter you must have heard of the “Squat Rx” video series all over the net. The Videos are available on YouTube.
How Focused Are You at the Gym?
Sean discusses The Top 10 Reasons why you are slacking in the Gym and How to prevent this. He exposes some great Tips how to make your training sessions more productive for better end results.
Finally an article created for all you serious weight shifters. C Pikey discuses the truth about A massive Bench Press and gives some tips How To Improve your Weak Bench.
Strictly Speaking, is it Sport? Who Cares? Come Dancing Proves Great Competition
As this year’s Strictly Come Dancing season progressed, so it became quite a family ritual, a weekly treat that we let the kids stay up for.
Glycemic Index in Athletes and Weight management
An article about the glycemic index of carbohydrates pertains directly to athletes and their performance.
A new article by Michael Nystrom discussing the protein intake amounts in athletes. Athlete Protein intake article
Introduction to Tai Chi Training
This article is merely a brief and light hearted introduction to Tai Chi. My next article will focus upon how the key principles of Tai Chi can be used to develop optimum sports performance.
Catalano (Sam) All about tennis coaching.
Hi seeking info to implement into my tennis coaching to increase the development of my young players, all suggestions greatly appreciated. For e.g simple ways to understand a kick serve.
What is Mental Toughness, and How Does it Relate to Motivation?
Mental Toughness is a concept that has been given a lot of attention in sport psychology in the last few years.
Is 'Glorious Failure' the Comfort Zone of the Scots?
After watching Scotland just miss out again last night, I was reflecting on our National character and how it shows itself in our National game of football (soccer).
It's a very exciting day for us today, because we've had our first major relaunch in 7 years.
When we set up the new PP Online site, one of our biggest aims was to create a place where anyone with a passion for sport could share their opinions and experiences.
Joey Barton will miss the start of the season
Unremarkably, Joey Barton will miss the start of the Premiership season. Remarkably, it's not due to suspension.
Parkinson's & Cerebral Palsy Case Studies
Every so often a patient walks through the door who requires you to really think outside the box.
How to learn from success & failure
In order to learn from mistakes and failures, it is important to be able to assess what has happened objectively.
What causes skilled and experienced athletes to ‘choke’ under the many pressures of competition?
