Sports Psychology

The aim of this service is to assist athletes in the development of individually tailored psychological skills/coping strategies that will initially facilitate consistent performance but ultimately lead to increased possibilities to enhance performance. Put simply, the primary aim of this service is to assist the athlete in maximising their own individual potential.

Commonly addressed skills/strategies include the ability to regulate arousal levels to a desirable and optimal level to ensure peak performance; the ability to relax and focus under pressure; assist in improving an individual’s ability to sustain concentration and focus on the right things at the right times; develop an individual’s levels of intrinsic motivation for both training and competition; and to facilitate confidence in an individuals’ own ability.

These skills are not learned over night but, like a technical skill, can be achieved over time. The consultants who assist in developing these skills ensure that they do not work in isolation and make every attempt to integrate the above skills and strategies within the coaching process. Often they will work closely with coaches and other relevant service providers. This ensures that any newly acquired/developed psychological skill/strategy is ingrained into the athlete’s everyday training and competition routines.

In addition to the above performance enhancement issues, other performance related areas that can be accessed/addressed include team-building activities, helping athletes to cope with injury and focusing on recovery, mediating and neutralising conflict resolution (ie: coach with athlete or athlete with athlete), coach education and in combination with the ESIS performance lifestyle advisor, assisting in providing lifestyle management advice to athletes.

John Marchant is the lead Sports Psychologist in the East of Scotland Institute of Sport.