2. Methods of sport-psychology

Methods typical of sports psychology and sport psychodiagnostics are similar to those of psychological counselling, but besides general guidelines for research and development, special procedures used only in joint work with athletes. Partially in this area is the transfer of psychotherapeutic methods to work with sportspeople, but special emphasis has also been put on procedures designed to promote sports activities and sports performance, which include techniques that are taught and supervised by the athletes individually, but by a specialist (see Figure 2.).

Figure 2. Main methods of sport-psychology

2.1. General psychological and lifestyle counselling

The general psychological and lifestyle counselling is basically aimed at supplementing and strengthening the athlete’s high level of physical and tactical preparation by developing his mental abilities. To do this, basically, the athlete’s confidence in psychological procedures must be gained and convinced that these methods can lead to sports results by working with a psychologist. To do this, you need to map out the factors that determine the performance of the athlete, and the relationship with the sports organization, the club, the coach, the athletes, and other social relationships in the training style and circumstances. In addition, the motivation of the athlete, his sports career goals, and his commitment to sports are not worth considering here, as all of these can have an impact on their effectiveness. In the course of psychological or lifestyle counselling, the psychologist will work with these athletes on these processes and try to point out and involve the athlete in understanding and developing their mental abilities, motivation and social relationships to the extent necessary to work together to enhance athletic performance. In addition to the athletes, the athletes and their coaches are accompanied by athletes or coaches to help with the advancement of the athletes’ performance goals and consciously built athletic careers (Budavári, 2007, cited by Tóth, 2010).

2.2. Relaxation methods

The basic psychological technique of working with an athlete is the relaxation method. It is basically used to strengthen athletes’ performance and competencies required for racing, with the advantage that they can be learned relatively quickly by an athlete and that their training plan can be incorporated. It can be used primarily to reduce anxiety in general and before and during competitions. The most commonly used relaxation method is progressive relaxation (Jacobson, 1938, cited by Tóth, 2010). During the procedure, certain muscle groups are consciously stretched for about 5 seconds with the athlete, and the same muscle groups are relaxed for about half a minute. They assume that, according to Jacobson (1938, quotes Tóth, 2010), if the athlete’s muscles are relaxed, then the mental tension will disappear, so, based on the athlete’s experience, it has been observed that if the athlete is tense, then the muscles tense, so for example, a fencer is not able to carry out sufficiently loose and springy forms of movement.

2.3. Psychotherapy methods

Systematic desensitization

Systematic desensitization can generally be effective in working together with an athlete when certain situations or conditions related to sporting activity (such as a venue for a match or competition, other competitive conditions) are typically expressed in high competitive distress despite high levels of physical and mental preparation. performance decrease. In accordance with this, the method of systematic desensitization was originally developed to reduce anxiety (Wolpe, 1988, Weinberg, 1995, cited by Tóth, 2010) and is based on the principle that anxious or relaxed condition cannot occur at the same time. To this end, relaxation and relaxation are first developed by the individual, and in a well-trained relaxation state, they gradually show more intense anxiety situations. By using this technique, an individual may first encounter a stimulus in a safe environment, relaxed, gradually desensitize, gradually acclimatize to anxiety-inducing stimuli, thus losing their anxiety-inducing or anxiety-inducing character. Its role in enhancing athletic performance and the development of sporting activities can be applied in such a way that it is a common phenomenon in athletic training, safe, well-known to the athlete, as a public performance in public, rather than the public at large, in many cases the media. It has also been closely monitored by TVs, including TV and / or online games or competitions. At this point, the psychological problem that results in performance degradation is usually a high level of competitive anxiety. Then, at the beginning of the work with the athlete, the neuralgic points of the anxiety-inducing competition need to be clarified.

Then, it is important that the athlete is informed about the essence of the problem, and here he / she expressly seeks out the details of the method. In providing information, particular attention should be paid to the understanding and acceptance of the problem by the athlete. The next step for the athlete to learn relaxation, which is a relatively long process, takes several weeks depending on the specific method. The most commonly used techniques are the original or modified version of Schultz’s autogenous training and Jacobson’s progressive relaxation. Then the discovery of the anxiety hierarchy follows, with the athlete to sort the most anxious events according to the anxiety (usually 20-25 items). First, less distressing situations are in the hierarchy, followed by an athlete’s increasingly intense anxiety response. During desensitization, the athlete who has been trained for relaxation is asked by a sports psychologist to imagine the first position of the hierarchy while being fully relaxed and relaxed. In the course of joint work, progressively and continuously, with the advancement of time, one to three situations are passed and touched with the athlete in the hierarchy. At a good pace, some encounters with anxiety hierarchy can be accomplished, and the speed of joint work is greatly influenced by the athlete’s co-operation in this area.

NLP training

NLP studies three areas (O’Connor, and Seymour, 1996, cited by Toth, 2010), neurology (thinking), linguistics (effect of language use) and programming (what do athletes do to achieve their goals). The NLP trainer strives to understand the athlete’s thinking patterns and uses the language to promote the desired change, for example, in athletic performance. NLP is basically a pragmatic, applied psychotherapeutic approach, thus becoming more and more important in working with athletes (O’Connor, and Seymour, 1996, cited by Tóth, 2010). It is characterized by a relatively quick and tangible effect, respect for individual values, simple techniques, emphasizing that athletic goals, beliefs and values interact with each other. In addition, NLP is also future-oriented and goal-oriented, as it proposes tangible solutions for athletes in areas that are so useful and understandable, what (what behaviour), where (in what situation), how to make it effective (O’Connor, and Seymour, 1996, cited by Tóth, 2010). NLP can also help the athlete’s preparation to help determine the most accurate and positive goals for their sports career (Lénárt, 2002, cited by Tóth, 2010).

2.4. Attention focusing techniques

Attention-focusing techniques can help the athlete to be able to perform more effectively in a given race or match with maximum care. In the light of the difficulty of the competition or match and the individual character, great differences can occur in the sport, as a longer match is difficult to play with maximum concentration (see football), but fast, focused concentration challenges can be at least as burdensome (see fencing). Especially for less routine, unprepared athletes, their attention can be easily distracted, in which case, for example, after a goal, the opponent scores almost instantly, as the team’s attention is sluggish, even at the team level, to deconcentration, then the opponents’ players focus on their attention relatively. they are more likely to score against a scattered, disorganized team. In addition, in the case of gamblers and goalkeepers, their goal is to reduce their attention and play with irrelevant things (such as dropping out into the auditorium) during the match, after the goal is scored or in the quieter periods of the match.

This is particularly disadvantageous from the point of view of continuous good performance, in order to prevent this, the glass lamp method has been developed, the essence of which is that the athlete can exclude the disturbing external stimuli. An example of this technique is that at the start of the match, the athlete imagines that the track is covered by a glass shade that does not pass the interfering external sounds and noises. Of course, the permeability of the set shoe can be modified according to the athlete’s goals, for example, you can exclude bangs coming from the disturbing auditorium, but you can let the encouraging support. Successful mastering of the glasscage technique and proper training will change the athlete’s perception, and then the athletes will only take into account the noises and sounds they want in the matches, eliminating distractions. The flashlight method is also used to achieve better attention concentration. In this case, the torch of the flashlight illuminates the object to be reached, so the illuminated target area is at the centre of the athlete’s attention. This method of focusing attention is especially recommended in sports that focus on goal performance, such as sport shooting or archery (Tóth, 2010).

2.5. Mental training

This psychological process is also suitable for enhancing sports performance. Occasionally, the athlete’s workout or post-injury recovery may be a situation where the number and intensity of the workouts cannot be further increased or applied in the manner and scope practiced by the athlete. At this point, the method of mental preparation can be applied, i.e. mental training, during which the athlete carries out the movement not by real movement, but in the imagination. It should be noted that some sports almost develop this mental training, because for example, athletes do not always have the ability to practice in time and space, that is to take off, they have almost instinctively developed a similar method during their racing career. Unesthal (1981, cited by Tóth, 2010) developed the scientific form of the method, which was named internal mental training (IMT). The method can be divided into three phases, the first to learn the relaxation, and then to recall and implement imaginative forms of movement like real workout, then to achieve mental fixation, focused attention and inner state.

CHECKING ISSUES

How could you define general psychological and lifestyle counselling?
What are the main relaxation methods?
What are the main psychotherapy methods?
What are the most common attention focusing techniques?
What are the key outcomes of sport psychology?
What is the psychological purpose of a Mental Training (MT)?