Introduction
Gross (1996) stated that psychology
could be defined as
'... the science of
mind and behaviour.'
In resemblance to the definition,
psychology is a broad topic in which numerous theories and concepts exist.
These theories and concepts are often applied across various types of
psychology, such as sport which has its own form of psychology. According to
Cox (2007, p.g 5)
'Sport psychology
is a science in which the principles of psychology are applied in a sport or
exercise setting.'
But why is sports psychology so
important? Furthermore according to Cox (2007) 'it's used to enhance sports
performance, but most psychologists are not content with enhancing performance
alone but also human enrichment.’ However it could be either sports performance
effecting enrichment or enrichment affecting the performance. Practitioners of
psychology are constantly coming up with theories and concepts to try and grasp
a better understanding of why certain things happen in sport. For example
Eysenck's trait theory, where people take into consideration personality and
conclude whether they are introverted or extroverted. (Leffner, L, C, 2014)
Many theorise that introvert characters are better suited to individual sports
and extroverts to team sports. (Kestenbaum, C, 1988)
Peyton Manning was drafted by NFL team Indianapolis
Colts over Ryan Leaf due to his personality assessment, showing his strong
extrovert character. He went on to be five time winner of the MVP (Most
Valuable Player) award. (Carey, 1999) Rafael Nadal a very humble champion,
within the world of individual’s tennis, both backing up the theory. However
Paul Scholes 11 time premier league winner and two time champions league with
Manchester United is also a very introverted character, as well as John McEnroe
once labelled 'hysterically extroverted' (Adams, T, 2003) despite
exceeding at an individual sport.
Psychology within sport is always
creating these sorts of debates about theories. Within this blog theories about
arousal and stress will be critically analysed in the same way as shown above.
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