1. Sports: Mental or Physical?
By: Stephanie Kenefick

2. Sports Psychology
It is a branch of psychology that researches mental factors in attainment of athletic skills and performance
Psychologists study the physiological processes of the brain and their influences on physical activity (Susic, 2002).
Most often it includes techniques such as visualization and mental rehearsals
hypnotherapists help individuals picture and rehearse a desired event.
Sports psychology has been proven to improve athletes in their sports.

3. In sports, the mental aspect is more important than the physical because
it provides one with the necessary ‘four c’s’ of athletics,
the mind controls the body,
there are physical connections between the mind and body,
and it provides intrinsic motivation.

4. The four c’s
The four c’s that are required for a good athlete to have are:
Concentration
Confidence
Control
Commitment
Such qualities are “generally considered to be the main mental qualities important for successful performance in most sports” (Mackenzie, 1997)
The four c’s help athletes stay focused on the task at hand.
“Top athletes must also be able to quell mental and emotional demons like stress, loss of focus and fears of losing” (Murphy, 1990).

5. 1st c- Concentration
This is the mental quality that allows one to focus
“if athletes lack concentration then their athletic ability will not be effectively or efficiently applied to the task” (Moran, 1996).
Three types of concentration:
Sustained- distance running, tennis, biking
Short burst- golf, field, shooting
Intense- skiing, sprinting
Athletes are constantly fighting many distractions (anxiety, fatigue, weather, spectators, etc.)
Concentration allows the player to only focus on the game not the distractions. More of their ability and energy can be used to succeed

6. 2nd c- Confidence
This is the belief in oneself and one's powers or abilities
Confidence is necessary in athletics because “if you believe you can achieve”(Culver, 2003).
“When an athlete has self-confidence they will tend to persevere even when things are not going to plan and be positive”(Williams,1993).
Achieving: confidence grows and continues; losing: many lose confidence and doubt themselves which leads to failure.
If an athlete has self-confidence they will be able to achieve all the time and continue to do their best even when behind.
But first, the player must believe in themselves consciously

7. 3rd c- Control
Regulation of one's emotions, desires, or actions by one's own will
Emotions are another major distraction among athletes
Extremely important that an athlete can consciously comprehend why they feel a certain way and adjust. Don’t let emotions control their actions
Control is “essential to successful performance” and “a lack of control leads to a loss in concentration which causes performance to deteriorate” (Cox, 1998).
If one cannot realize when their emotions change and they cannot identify what they feel and why they feel it, then they cannot focus on the task and their actions will be random and spastic.

8. 4th c- Commitment
The desire to do something or uphold a promise/action/want
“performance depends on the athlete being fully committed to the sport” (Le Unes, 1996)
If a player does not want or have a desire to do the task, then they will never succeed at completing it
With commitment comes the will do to anything to achieve a goal and distractions can be overlooked so that they will be successful

9. Mind controls body
“Mental part is even more important than physical because if you don’t think you can do it, you won’t do it” (Cox, 1993)
Mind controls one’s pain tolerance and whatever your mind says you can/can’t do is what you actually do/don’t do.
“The body is always willing to do more, but the mind tells it that it can’t”(Moran, 1996)

10. Pain tolerance
Pain travels along your nerves and spine into your brain
Body does not recognize pain until brain acknowledges it
If one decides pain is nothing or not threatening, then the body will continue
If one constantly thinks about the pain and thinks body is ‘suffering’, then the body will stop
Power of the mind
“Athletes must prepare themselves to be hurt mentally in order to succeed” (Kerr, 1997)

11. Can vs. can’t
Think you can and you will. Think you can’t and you won’t.
Mental cognition decides your body’s actions and abilities
“the subconscious mind does whatever it thinks you want, and so it makes it come true” (Dale, 1996)

12. Example
In an experiment by Monica Dobbie, the can vs. can’t was supported
She asked people if they thought they could walk across a balance beam on the floor and most said they could. When trying, they did it without a problem.
She then asked the same people if they though the could walk across the same beam only it was three feet off of the floor. Most said they couldn’t and when trying, they would fall off.
Nothing physical changed.
The mind controlled the outcome.
(Dobbie, 2010)

13. Connection between mind and body
When imagining yourself perform perfection, you create neural pathways in brain similar to the ones formed when actually performing perfection
This makes it easier to actually perform the action and boosts confidence
Mental/ emotions impact physical body
“Anxiety, primarily a mental condition, can increase arousal and cause muscles to tighten” (Dishman, 1982)
There are six specific autonomic nervous system responses correlated with mental cognition
Through rehearsal, these responses are triggered and they improve sports performance

14. Example
In an experiment by Feltz and Landers, the mental/ physical connection was shown
48 out of 60 studies proved that mental imagery practice improved performance more than no practice
High imagery groups showed more improvement than lower imagery
Clear that sports psychology and visualization improve athletic performance
(Dobbie, 2010)

15. Intrinsic Motivation
It is the undertaking of an activity without external incentive; personal satisfaction derived through self-initiated achievement
“top athletes first of all need a strong, overriding internal motivation that carries them through the pain of competitions” (Culver, 2003)
By mentally wanting to succeed and participate, athletes perform better and can gain more skill
They enjoy the sport and will succeed for themselves because they mentally want it

16. Mental influences performance
Mental imagery elevates game
By going over tapes “they will increase confidence, focus, and self-composure, which will improve performance” (Cox, 1998)
Sports counseling reduces anxiety, boosts performance
Completely deals with mental aspect
Sports: 90% mental, 10% physical

17. Mental influences performance (cont.)
‘“In all of my years in sports, I don’t think I have made a play that I didn’t visualize myself executing long before I made it happen on the field”-Tom Brady’ (Russell, 2003).
Mental preparation is vital and successful
Then becomes automatic
Successful at any level

18. Impact of team Cohesion- team work together
Teams and coaches can affect players mentality and, in turn, their sports performance
Teams can have cohesion or division
Cohesion- team work together
Mentally- improve confidence, commitment, motivation, and control
Leads to success
Division- so not work together
Mentally- out of control, no confidence, commitment or motivation
Team fails

19. Impact of coaches
Good coaches help boost the player’s game by preparing them mentally
Helps player gain confidence, control, concentration, and motivation
“keeps the player in the moment and focused on manageable task. Asks player to do something, tells them they can do it, and then the player goes out and does it” (Morris, 2005).
Coach acts as psychologist
Mentally prepares them
Helps them visualize

20. Mental or physical? No mental, no physical Technically, both
However, without the mental edge the physical cannot succeed
Mental toughness establishes physical toughness
No mental, no physical
“mental toughness can give you an edge over other athletes allowing you to be the best” (Brewer, 2008)
Mental gives discipline and drive allowing them to set goals and achieve them
Gives physical talent

21. References
Susic. Paul. (2003). Sport psychologists and the history of sport psychology. Retrieved from
Mackenzie. B. (1997). psychology. Retrieved from
Murphy. S. (1990). Models of imagery in sport psychology. Retrieved from The Effects of Mental Imagery on Athletic Performance
Moran. A., P. (1996). The psychology of concentration in sport performers, Print.
Culver. D., M. (2003). Sport psychology. (1 ed., Vol. 17, pp. 1-15). New York, NY, Print.
Williams. Jean., M. (1993). Personal growth to peak performance. Applied Sport Psychology, 16(383).
Cox. Richard, H. (1998). Sports psychology. (4 ed.). New York, NY: William C Brown Pub. Print.
Le Unes, A. (1996). Sport psychology: an introduction. Paris, France. Print.
Kerr, J.H. (1997). Reversal theory. Motivation and Emotion in Sports.
Dale,G.A. (1996). Emphasizing the experience of the athlete in sport psychology research. Existential phenomenology
Dobbie, M. (2010). Sport Psychology. Mental Practice, 3(15).
Dishman,T. (1982). Effect of Mental Imagery. Visual Athletics.
Russell, G. (2003). The social psychology of sport. New York, NY, Print.
Morris, T. (2005). Sport psychology:theory and applications. (3 ed., Vol. 35, p. 63). Washington DC: Summers Co. Print.
Brewer, B. (2008). Newspaper portrayals of sport psychology in the united states. Sport Psychologist, 12(1),