Reflections on a 5-Year Consultancy Program with the England Women’s Cricket Team

1995 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 148-163 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen J. Bull
Keyword(s):  
Service Delivery ◽  
Sport Psychology ◽  
Skills Training ◽  
Mental Skills ◽  
World Cup ◽  
Mental Skills Training ◽  
Evaluation Form ◽  
The World ◽  
Psychology Service ◽  
Informal Feedback

This paper documents a 5-year sport psychology consultancy program with the England Women’s Cricket Team. The paper describes the method and content of sport psychology service provided and distinguishes between four phases of delivery: introduction and education in mental skills training, competition preparation and thinking, preliminary World Cup preparation, and final World Cup preparation and on-site provision. Service delivery was evaluated by the use of the Consultant Evaluation Form (Partington & Orlick, 1987), ongoing informal feedback from players and coaches, and a formal interview conducted after the World Cup. Reflections on successful and unsuccessful aspects of the program are provided. Overall, the sport psychology program was very well received and was considered instrumental in achieving the stated goal of winning the World Cup. The paper concludes with a number of recommendations for delivering extended sport psychology services to an international team.

How Does Sport Psychology Actually Improve Athletic Performance? A Framework to Facilitate Athletes’ and Coaches’ Understanding

2010 ◽  
Vol 34 (5) ◽  
pp. 386-402 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chris J. Gee
Keyword(s):  
Sport Psychology ◽  
Athletic Performance ◽  
Academic Discipline ◽  
Skills Training ◽  
Mental Skills ◽  
Mental Skills Training ◽  
Athletic Competition ◽  
The Past ◽  
Physiology And Biochemistry ◽  
Sport Psychologist

The popularity of sport psychology, both as an academic discipline and an applied practice, has grown substantially over the past two decades. Few within the realm of competitive athletics would argue with the importance of being mentally prepared prior to an athletic competition as well as the need to maintain that particular mindset during a competitive contest. Nevertheless, recent research has shown that many athletes, coaches, and sporting administrators are still quite reluctant to seek out the services of a qualified sport psychologist, even if they believe it could help. One of the primary reasons for this hesitation appears to be a lack of understanding about the process and the mechanisms by which these mental skills affect performance. Unlike the “harder sciences” of sport physiology and biochemistry where athletes can see the tangible results in themselves or other athletes (e.g., he or she lifted weights, developed larger muscles, and is now stronger/faster as a result), the unfamiliar and often esoteric nature of sport psychology appears to be impeding a large number of athletes from soliciting these important services. As such, the purpose of this article is to provide the reader with a simple framework depicting how mental skills training translates into improved within-competition performance. This framework is intended to help bridge the general “understanding gap” that is currently being reported by a large number of athletes and coaches, while also helping sport psychology practitioners sell their valuable services to individual athletes and teams.

Sport Psychology Service Delivery: Implementation Within the University Community

1987 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
pp. 248-256 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steven J. Petruzzello ◽  
Daniel M. Landers ◽  
Darwyn E. Linder ◽  
Don R. Robinson
Keyword(s):  
Service Delivery ◽  
Intercollegiate Athletics ◽  
Sport Psychology ◽  
Skills Training ◽  
Psychological Skills ◽  
State University ◽  
Arizona State University ◽  
Psychological Skills Training ◽  
Psychology Service ◽  
The University

In this paper we outline a sport psychology service delivery program that has been implemented at Arizona State University. We feel this is a unique program in that it is housed within, and funded by, the Department of Intercollegiate Athletics. The program has four major components: (a) an undergraduate psychological skills course, (b) psychological skills training programs for athletic teams and small groups of athletes, (c) individual psychological consultation for athletes, and (d) psychological skills seminars and consultations with coaches. Each of these components is explained in detail. In addition, information is presented regarding the future directions for the program.

Brief Contact Interventions in Sport Psychology

2000 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 176-187 ◽  
Author(s):  
Burt Giges ◽  
Albert Petitpas
Keyword(s):  
Sport Psychology ◽  
Skills Training ◽  
Brief Interventions ◽  
Mental Skills ◽  
Short Introduction ◽  
Mental Skills Training ◽  
Case Examples ◽  
Psychology Literature

The sport psychology literature provides many examples of the use of mental skills training with athletes. Little attention, however, has been given to those brief interventions that occur frequently when working with athletes in the field. Such interventions are time limited, action oriented, and present focused. The purpose of this article is to provide a brief overview of the use of brief contact interventions with athletes in field settings. In particular, we provide a short introduction to such interventions, describe a framework for their use, and present several case examples. We believe that brief contact interventions can be made more effective by following the principles described in this article.

NCAA Division-I Student-Athletes’ Receptivity to Mental Skills Training by Sport Psychology Consultants

2009 ◽  
Vol 23 (4) ◽  
pp. 470-486 ◽  
Author(s):  
Craig A. Wrisberg ◽  
Duncan Simpson ◽  
Lauren A. Loberg ◽  
Jenny L. Withycombe ◽  
Ann Reed
Keyword(s):  
Sport Psychology ◽  
Ncaa Division I ◽  
Student Athletes ◽  
Prior Experience ◽  
Skills Training ◽  
Division I ◽  
Mental Skills ◽  
Chi Square ◽  
Mental Skills Training ◽  
Sport Type

In the current study NCAA Division I student-athletes (n = 2,440) completed a Web-based survey assessing their willingness to seek mental skills training, perceptions of the potential benefits of mental training for their team, and support of possible roles for a sport psychology consultant at their institution. Multiple chi-square tests revealed significant (p < .001) dependence of respondents’ ratings on gender, sport type (individual vs. team), prior experience with a sport psychology consultant, and perceived effectiveness of prior experience (low, moderate, high). Generally, females were more receptive than males, individual and team sport athletes were interested in different types of mental skills, athletes with prior consulting experience were more open than those with none, and athletes with highly effective prior experience were more receptive than those with less effective experience. These findings extend previous research examining collegiate student-athletes’ attitudes toward sport psychology consulting and provide several important insights for consultants conducting mental skills training for NCAA Division I level athletes.

Mental Skills Training to Improve Soldier Performance: Development and Implementation

2010 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bernie Holliday ◽  
Louis Csoka ◽  
Coreen Harada ◽  
Jon Hammermeister ◽  
Michael A. Pickering ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Skills Training ◽  
Mental Skills ◽  
Mental Skills Training ◽  
Performance Development
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