Our Culture Desperately Needs Sports Psychology
Our world is addicted to visible progress. This is why strength and conditioning coaches and nutritionists have been in high demand for so long.
"My deadlift increased 20% since I started this program!"
"I shaved 0.2 seconds off my 40 time after training with this coach!"
"I lost 4 inches off my waist size thanks to this diet!"
Our world is not addicted to invisible progress. Mental conditioning expert James Leath said it best: "The difficult thing is that it's tough to gauge our impact. In strength programs, you can concretely see a player improve by looking at their numbers on bench press and squat. On the mental side of the game, it's tougher to gauge how beneficial we really are."
Sports psychology is the study of how psychological factors influence sports, athletic performance, exercise, and physical activity. So how do these invisible factors influence performance? Why do we need sports psychology in our culture today?
For starters, I've begun to realize that those who are addicted to visible progress typically don't last long in what they do. Whether it's an athlete, academic, or entrepreneur, so many people burnout after a big success because it doesn't last forever.
Because the visible progress seemingly disappears!
We should instead turn our focus towards invisible progress; this is where sports psychology comes in.
In order to focus more on invisible progress, try using these three steps:
Frame the work as an ongoing practice. Whatever you're working towards (a new career, a new PR, a new hobby, etc.), constantly remind yourself that it is an ongoing practice, not something to be achieved overnight or in one setting. Give yourself a timeline, and make it longer than you think it should be.
Measure and judge the process. If you're trying to improve your 40-yard dash, don't worry about your time. How was your start? How was your breathing? Was your first step as explosive as it should've been? If you're trying to implement reading more into your schedule, don't worry about how many books you read. What's your reading environment like? Do you have your go-to chair to read in? Did you carve out thirty minutes into your schedule, or did you hope you'd muster up the willpower to read when you felt like you had time to? Be strict with your process, not the result.
Let progress be a byproduct of that. When you implement and adhere to the previous two steps, progress occurs. Don't believe me? Try anything - literally anything - and follow the first two steps. Progress is just a byproduct of framing the work as an ongoing practice and strictly adhering to an intentional process. Try it and tell me I'm wrong.
This is why sports psychology is the "secret weapon" for today's athlete. If you can improve in areas that are not always seen, you can succeed on fields and in arenas that are.