All of these are areas that can also be useful to an athlete. A lot of the tools used by a sport psychologist are adapted directly from clinical psychology. Concepts such as Freud s Psychodynamics, Caltel s Personality Test, and The Piagetial Cognitive Theory are widely used. All of these are critical tools used by a sport psychologist to assist an athlete with his or her problem. Sport psychology involves preparing the mind of an athlete, just as one prepares the body.
Sport psychology is an emerging field in the worlds of psychology and athletics.
The problem that an athlete is facing will dictate what type of approach a sport psychologist takes. Issues such as motivation, self-efficacy, and depression are common in the athletic arena. Athletes can also suffer greatly from anxiety and stress. Any of these conditions can be detrimental to ones competitive ability. Techniques such as mental imagery training and relaxation techniques can be used to attack problems in these areas.