{"id":9747,"date":"2019-05-14T06:50:20","date_gmt":"2019-05-14T06:50:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/trifocusfitnessacademy.co.za\/?p=9747"},"modified":"2022-08-17T10:50:56","modified_gmt":"2022-08-17T08:50:56","slug":"what-happens-during-sport-psychology-session","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/trifocusfitnessacademy.co.za\/sports-course-blog\/what-happens-during-sport-psychology-session\/","title":{"rendered":"What Happens During a Sports Psychology Session?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Whether you\u2019re an <a href=\"https:\/\/trifocusfitnessacademy.co.za\/eating-sugary-foods-before-event-hurt-athlete-performance\/\">athlete<\/a> and think you might need one, or you\u2019re an aspiring fitness professional looking to learn more about the area of sports psychology, sports psychologists are becoming more and more popular in the world of health and wellness. Why is this? Who should be seeing one? What happens during a sports psychology session? Let\u2019s find out!<\/p>\n<h2>Sports Psychology Defined<\/h2>\n<p>According to the American Psychological Association, <a href=\"https:\/\/trifocusfitnessacademy.co.za\/what-does-sport-psychologist-do\/\">sports psychology<\/a> uses psychological insight and mental techniques to address lifestyle and performance issues faced by athletes. These issues range from performance barriers, social problems, issues with management, and self-limiting beliefs.<\/p>\n<p>Sports psychologists can also assist other sports stakeholders, like sports coaches and families of professional athletes, do deal with issues that arise as a result of their loved ones taking part in the professional world of sport. Playing in the big leagues brings immense pressures and sports psychologists help athletes \u2013 as well as their families &#8211; deal with these in a positive way.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>A Typical Sports Psychology Session:<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>\n<h3><strong>Assessment<br \/>\n<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>The first step in a sports psychology session is to assess exactly where the athlete or athletes are mentally. If it\u2019s the very first session, sports psychologists might want to assess an athlete using a mental aptitude profile (MAP). This will reveal their psychological strengths and weaknesses. It highlights which areas require the most work.<\/li>\n<li>\n<h3><strong>Goal Setting<br \/>\n<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Once a sports psychologist has an idea of how an athlete is feeling and where their head is at, they\u2019ll proceed to set specific goals to be achieved before the next sports psychology session. Athletes new to sports psychology will receive a \u2018goal roadmap\u2019 at this point. This plan shows the overall outcome that the athlete wants to achieve (like playing for the A team) and a timeline of steps required to get there.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-9750 size-shop_single\" src=\"https:\/\/trifocusfitnessacademy.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/IMG_1478-600x400.jpg\" alt=\"Trifocus fitness academy - sports psychology session\" width=\"600\" height=\"400\" \/><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\n<h3><strong>Coaching<br \/>\n<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>With a game plan in action, a sports psychologist will then share specific mental and emotional exercises with athletes. These are the techniques used to keep them in the zone, or to get them over that hurdle they\u2019re facing in training. Some of these exercises are used when the athlete is exercising while others are used in-between performances during down time.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/li>\n<li>\n<h3><strong>Practice<br \/>\n<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Once an athlete is given the mental and emotional exercises, they\u2019ll need to practise them under observation. This is when the sports psychology session might move to the field or <a href=\"https:\/\/trifocusfitnessacademy.co.za\/elements-of-solid-workout-programme\/\">workout<\/a> It\u2019s a no-pressure environment where the athlete and the sports psychologist work on implementing psychological techniques in the heat of the moment.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Together with seeing a sports psychologist, an athlete must make sure that he does the basics in order to ensure that he conditions his body and eats cleanly in order to give themselves the fuel that they need in order to perform at their optimum.<\/p>\n<p>In terms of diet, an athlete needs to make sure that they eat in a balanced manner. They need to eat from all five food groups and make sure that they don\u2019t take in more of one nutrient than they need. Before a big meet or an important race, they will need to <a href=\"https:\/\/trifocusfitnessacademy.co.za\/why-athletes-carbo-load\/\">carbo-load<\/a> so that they have enough energy to sustain themselves. However, this doesn\u2019t mean that they need to go wild and eat all the pizza and pasta in sight! Athletes need to make sure that they eat the right types of carbs when they carbo-load (such as low GI carbs) which will release energy slowly into the blood stream so that they can have a sustained energy release throughout the race.<strong><br \/>\n<\/strong><\/p>\n<h2><strong>Get Qualified in Sports Psychology with Trifocus Fitness<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>With learning comes understanding. If you\u2019d like to learn more about the psychological aspects of fitness, see our Trifocus Fitness Academy <a href=\"https:\/\/trifocusfitnessacademy.co.za\/courses\/sports-psychology\/\">sports psychology qualification<\/a>. This course teaches how to deal with individuals as well as sports teams, dealing with discrimination and injury, and how to foster motivation and commitment among athletes. Find out more by contacting us today or visiting our <a href=\"https:\/\/trifocusfitnessacademy.co.za\">website<\/a> to learn about our other online fitness courses!<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/trifocusfitnessacademy.co.za\/courses\/sports-psychology\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-5228 size-shop_single\" src=\"https:\/\/trifocusfitnessacademy.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Footer-600x140.jpg\" alt=\"Trifocus Fitness Academy Register button\" width=\"600\" height=\"140\" srcset=\"https:\/\/trifocusfitnessacademy.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Footer.jpg 600w, https:\/\/trifocusfitnessacademy.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Footer-300x70.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Sport Psychology\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/UaI8A0h39HQ?start=7&#038;feature=oembed&#038;enablejsapi=1&#038;origin=https:\/\/trifocusfitnessacademy.co.za\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Whether you\u2019re an athlete and think you might need one, or you\u2019re an aspiring fitness professional looking to learn more about the area of sports psychology, sports psychologists are becoming more and more popular in the world of health and wellness. Why is this? Who should be seeing one? What happens during a sports psychology&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":9749,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"rank_math_lock_modified_date":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2119],"tags":[2306],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/trifocusfitnessacademy.co.za\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9747"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/trifocusfitnessacademy.co.za\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/trifocusfitnessacademy.co.za\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trifocusfitnessacademy.co.za\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trifocusfitnessacademy.co.za\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9747"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/trifocusfitnessacademy.co.za\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9747\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trifocusfitnessacademy.co.za\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9749"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/trifocusfitnessacademy.co.za\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9747"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trifocusfitnessacademy.co.za\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9747"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trifocusfitnessacademy.co.za\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9747"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}