Sport Performance Interventions

In a variation of an old joke, a boy asks a taxi driver, “How do I get to Fenway Park?” The cabbie replies, “Practice, practice, practice.” Although conventional wisdom suggests that physical practice is the path to sport performance excellence, enhancement of mental skills can also help athletes reach their sport goals. Sport performance interventions focusing on the ability to reach optimal performance states (i.e., “the zone”), management of arousal and anxiety, self-talk, imagery, goal setting, mindfulness, biofeedback, and modeling have been identified as techniques that contribute positively to sport performance. Research on performance enhancement treatment packages indicates that combining two or more of these psychological techniques is particularly effective.

Keywords: anxiety; biofeedback; goal setting; imagery; mindfulness; modeling; self-talk; sport psychology