Sports Psychology
SPORTS PSYCHOLOGY? WHY MANY PRO SPORTS
TEAMS STILL DO NOT HAVE LEGITIMATE SPORT PSYCHOLOGISTS.
WEST PALM BEACH, May 4 - The New York
Yankees recently hired a “Director of Optimal Performance.” The Boston Red
Sox last year hired a “Sports psychology coach.” Both individuals are
trained at the Masters degree level, and neither is a licensed sport
psychologist, with the ability to handle both serious clinical issues as
well as sports performance issues.
Why is this happening? It might seem amazing that with the money involved
and the performance of the team a critical priority that two of the top
franchises in baseball have done this. The truth is that these teams are
very advanced compared with the majority of NFL, Major League Baseball, and
NBA teams, who have not even created a similar position within their
organization yet.
When owners, managers and coaches search for professionals to provide sport
psychology services to their players, they are presented with an interesting
dilemma. 99.9% of the time, the individuals they interview are either mental
skills experts with little or no training or licensure in traditional
psychology, or licensed psychologists with little or no significant training
or experience in sports performance issues. So they are left thinking that
an individual trained in both sides of the coin does not exist, and they
often have to rely on two or more professionals to meet the clinical needs
as well as the performance needs of their athletes.
The field of sport psychology is relatively new, but there are some
professionals with credentials and experience in both sides of the coin.
This provides a “one stop shopping” advantage for teams and players who do
not want to have to change providers when either a clinical issue or sports
performance issues arises. If you hire a professional with only one or the
other side of the coin covered, you are necessarily missing out on 50% of
the equation,” says Dr. John F. Murray, a licensed clinical and sport
performance psychologist inSouth Florida.
"Pure motivational gurus are not qualified to handle serious clinical
issues, or even mild clinical issues when they arise. The player
experiencing interpersonal conflict, mild depression, anxiety or historical
issues goes untreated most of the time, or has to be referred to another
provider. But this often does not happen. On the other hand, pure
psychologists, without the training and experience in sport performance
psychology, may not understand the athletic context and the whole range of
performance psychology techniques that help athletes remain confident,
handle practice more efficiently, reduce pressure, maintain focus and set
proper goals.”
What is the solution? “The Red Sox and the Yankees should be commended, says
Dr. Murray, for taking a step in the right direction. But the optimal
solution for the future is to find a professional who can handle both sides
of the coin and help athletes and teams reduce unnecessary personal
distractions (e.g., clinical problems) with proper counseling when needed,
while at the same time teaching the athletes and teams proper mental skills
techniques and providing motivational services.
Because the field is new, these fully trained providers are often hard to
find or have not yet been discovered. Hiring decisions are often influenced
more by who an executive or manager knows rather than what their credentials
are. But these providers do exist.
Owners, managers, and coaches planning to add this department to their staff
are wise to keep a lookout for professionals with academic training and
experience in mental coaching/performance enhancement as well as a license
to practice psychology legitimately. This way the athlete’s issues can be
fully understood at the outset and handled in the proper way by one
professional rather than having to refer to another provider, or missing a
critical piece of the overall equation. The bottom line is enhanced team
performance – which comes about by having healthier athletes with fewer
distractions and improved mental skills too.
Below are a few recent quotes related to the need for legitimate sport
psychologists and the field of sport psychology:
Arizona Republic (On Vince Spadea’s record comeback):
“Spadea worked with sports psychologist John Murray to focus and prepare for
matches and "have a positive attitude generally," Spadea said on Center
Court with Chris Myers.”
Sun Sentinel (on Vince Spadea’s record comeback):
“After reassurances that the field (sport psychology) wasn't taboo, he
(Vince Spadea) relented and for two years worked with West Palm Beach-based
John Murray, concentrating on visualization as well as relaxation and
breathing techniques. Spadea is back, having finished the 2004 season ranked
No. 19, and was a member of the U.S. Olympic tennis team. Although he no
longer sees Murray, he said he continues to utilize some of the techniques
he learned. “Anytime you have reinforcement ... it gives you confidence.
Different aspects improve," Spadea said. "You go over all of the details in
your tennis agendas, mental goals and mental skills, areas that are really
important in life. Guidelines and encouragement are things I don't know if
anyone can use enough of."
Newark Star Ledger (on Ricky Williams’ retirement from NFL):
Dr. John F. Murray, a sports psychologist based in West Palm Beach, Fla.,
said teams need to be more proactive in tapping into with players' psyches.
Having a full-time sport psychologist as part of the coaching staff would be
a good start, he said. Murray worked with two high-profile athletes on the
verge of quitting. One, he said, went on to win the Super Bowl with the New
England Patriots. The other was tennis player Vince Spadea, who wanted to
quit after enduring a 21-match ATP losing streak. "There are many ways to
keep people fresh and keep their desire to play sports alive," Murray said.
"We have maxed out on physical training, but we haven't come close to
realizing our potential when it comes to dealing with the mental side. "It's
time for coaches to wake up and realize you can't address these issues in
old-fashioned, antiquated ways. It's time to wake up and get real and help
these athletes." In some cases, psychologists say, a break will help an
athlete recover and prod him toward returning, as was the case with Jordan.
Sports Illustrated (on the field of sport psychology in article “Prisoners
of Depression”):
The abiding irony is that athletes--our indestructible gladiators, our
iron-clad warriors--might be more prone to mental illness than the
population at large. "Athletes are so paradoxical because physically they
are so much healthier than the average person," says Murray, "but from the
clinical side of things, they are very much an at-risk population." … The
wheels of change do turn in sports, however slowly. In interviews, nine
mental health experts who treat athletes unanimously asserted that disorders
of the mind are gradually shedding their stigma in sports. In some cases the
shift in attitude is merely a matter of semantics. When Murray was doing his
doctoral work, he approached the soccer coach at one university and asked if
he could consult the team on matters of sports psychology. "He wouldn't even
listen to me--I had said the magic word, psychology," says Murray. "Then I
came back a while later and called what I was doing 'mental coaching,' and
he got all excited." Similarly, Lardon stresses to his athlete-patients that
depression is "an imbalance in brain chemistry," so it is less abstract and
subjective. When appropriate, he shows patients their brain scans, giving
them tangible evidence of a problem, not unlike an X-ray revealing a cracked
rib.
Sports Illustrated Online (SI.com) (on the field of sport psychology):
More and more and athletes are willing to discuss their feelings with a
professional. One of those well-respected confidants is Dr. John Murray,
PhD, who treats NFL players, professional golfers and professional tennis
players.
Palm Beach Post (on field goal kicking in football):
"A skill that is automatic in practice, you start blowing the situation out
of proportion,'' Murray said. "The problem with this guy is he's going to
have the possibility of choking much higher.'' … "Napoleon said the battle
is often won in the mind, or the mind is more powerful than the sword,"
Murray said. "If it's not, patterns have tendencies to repeat themselves.
You have to figure out a way to break the pattern.''
Palm Beach Post (on proper mind-set in baseball):
"It's all about staying positive and seeing only opportunity as opposed to
going into the situation with the weight of the world on your shoulders,"
says Murray, a Marlins supporter. Mind-set being so important, it's up to
managers to set the tone in the clubhouse. Last season and this, Jack
McKeon's approach hasn't changed. |
