Sport Psychology
Westdale PE
PSE 4U
© Thompson Educational Publishing, Inc., 2003. All material is copyright protected. It is illegal to copy any of this material without written permission.
This material may be used only in a course of study in which Exercise Science: An Introduction to Health and Physical Education (Temertzoglou/Challen) is the required textbook.
Sport Psychology: A Definition
 Scientific study of the thought processes, feelings and behavior of
humans and other animals in their interaction with the environment
 Sport psychology is this study placed within context of sports-how
people think, feel and behave in sporting situations and what mental
processes motivate the way they behave in training and competition
© Thompson Educational Publishing, Inc., 2003. All material is copyright protected. It is illegal to copy any of this material without written permission.
This material may be used only in a course of study in which Exercise Science: An Introduction to Health and Physical Education (Temertzoglou/Challen) is the required textbook.
Lecture Task 1
 Think of an instance where you have experienced or witnessed
someone who is “in the zone”.
What characteristics does this person have while s/he is in this moment?
What are they like?
© Thompson Educational Publishing, Inc., 2003. All material is copyright protected. It is illegal to copy any of this material without written permission.
This material may be used only in a course of study in which Exercise Science: An Introduction to Health and Physical Education (Temertzoglou/Challen) is the required textbook.
The Ideal Performance State
 AKA: “In the zone”, “auto-pilot”, “nailed routine”; Combining right
mental commands with flawless physical execution
 Psychologists call it the “ideal performance state”:
Complete absence of doubt and fear of failure
Lack of critical thought of performance
Narrow focus of attention; little or no distraction
Sense of effortlessness
Powerful feelings of being “in control”
Feeling that “time has stood still”
Little or no fatigue: could “go forever”
© Thompson Educational Publishing, Inc., 2003. All material is copyright protected. It is illegal to copy any of this material without written permission.
This material may be used only in a course of study in which Exercise Science: An Introduction to Health and Physical Education (Temertzoglou/Challen) is the required textbook.
Key Terms in Sport Psychology
 Anxiety
The ‘bad’ feelings during a performance: apprehension, general sense of
uncertainty, muscular tension, “butterflies”
Must be limited or controlled in order to perform well
 Arousal
The ‘good’ feelings during a performance: being “psyched up”, athlete feels
ready both physically and psychologically to be very best
Allows athlete to perform at high levels during competition
© Thompson Educational Publishing, Inc., 2003. All material is copyright protected. It is illegal to copy any of this material without written permission.
This material may be used only in a course of study in which Exercise Science: An Introduction to Health and Physical Education (Temertzoglou/Challen) is the required textbook.
Sport Psychology:
The Inverted-U Hypothesis
© Thompson Educational Publishing, Inc., 2003. All material is copyright protected. It is illegal to copy any of this material without written permission.
This material may be used only in a course of study in which Exercise Science: An Introduction to Health and Physical Education (Temertzoglou/Challen) is the required textbook.