Imagine a boy who always dreamed of being a cricketer and playing for India. He worked hard his whole life, practicing and training for it. He gave various trials, played many tournaments, and made his way to the Indian team.
He finally got the chance to play for India, but when he stepped on the pitch, he choked. He got too overwhelmed with the situation as his emotions got the best of him. He was unable to perform at the big stage.
How often do we hear this? Players who are otherwise very good but unable to perform in pressure situations. Many are called “not made for the big occasion.”
What makes the likes of Virat Kohli, Michael Jordan and Cristiano Ronaldo so different from others? It’s their mental toughness.
From match preparation to delivering when it matters, the mental element of an athlete plays a huge role. All of this falls under sports psychology, and in this blog, we tell you what sports psychology is, its scope in India, and why it is so important.
So let’s break this down and get started!
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What is Sports Psychology?
Sports psychology is a field that studies how psychological or mental factors affect the well-being and performances of an athlete. It takes into account the developmental and cognitive aspects of sports participation, and the systematic issues associated with sports settings and organizations.
The field of sports psychology focuses on the relationship between the personality and performance of a sportsman. It is a link between the on-field and off-field acts of an athlete which helps the athlete achieve his untapped potential.
To summarize in one line, sports psychology is like medicine to a sportsman.
How does Sports Psychology help Athletes?
Applied sports psychology includes work with athletes, coaches and parents on topics such as match preparation, injuries, rehabilitation, communication, team building, and career transitions.
If applied correctly, sports psychology helps athletes to get great results, and improve their overall performances. It assists the athletes in:
- Coping with performance fears
- Improving mental skills for performance
- Develop pre-match routine
- Mental preparation for matches
- Improve practice efficiency
- Injury rehabilitation
Scope of Sports Psychology in India
India is a land that has a lot of sports, followed by millions of people, with cricket being at the top of the list. But when we compare the quality and standards of our athletes to those of other countries, we can see that India is lagging behind.
One of the primary reasons for this is that we do not give much importance to sports psychology in India.
If we talk about football in the light of the ongoing FIFA World Cup, India sits at 106 in their rankings. This goes on to show that India as a sporting nation has a lot of catching up to do. Things like infrastructure, investment and training are obviously big factors, but sports psychology is extremely important as well and often goes under the radar.
We need to improve on all fronts as a sporting nation. Talking about cricketers, they play throughout the year with very few breaks. Their mind is always focused on the game, which gives them very little time for recovery. Hence, they stumble on the big stage, like we saw in the T20 World Cup 2022.
There is a great need for sports psychologists in India. A team needs a coach for the mental skills that would help the players improve their on-field performances. Indian athletes are always hard workers, but they must have the right mindset to rise to the occasion on the big stages.
Sports psychology is a relatively new concept in India, but it is one that is extremely in demand. The rate of job growth in this field is increasing at a fast rate ranging from 11-56% and will continue rising. A lot of esteemed universities and colleges are also offering specialized courses on sports psychology to train individuals.
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Conclusion
India has a lot of scope for sports psychology. We have always been a sports loving nation and will continue to be so. But barring cricket, we are way behind in other sports compared to the rest of the world.
The world is realizing the importance and need for sports psychology. It is a growing field and will continue evolving exponentially. If we aspire to achieve great heights in sports, we need to work on the mental aspect of it.
This field has an incredible scope to grow in a nation like India!
Frequently Asked Questions
1. Which aspect does sports psychology deal with?
Sports psychology is concerned with an athlete’s mental state.
2. Does sports psychology only help athletes?
Apart from athletes, sports psychology helps teams, coaches, and parents or family members of the athletes. Apart from that, they are also involved in their mental training.
3. What are the benefits of sports psychology?
Sports psychology helps a player train his mind, prepare for a game, recover from injury, deal with pressure situations, and much more.
4. Is sports psychology a growing field?
Yes, sports psychologists are increasingly being valued as essential parts of the overall growth and success of a sports setup.
