Interviews Richard Suinn, a psychologist at the Colorado State University. Background of the Suinn; His achievements; His view on the sports psychology; Examples on how psychological techniques help participants in the Olympic Games.
Sports psychologist Richard Suinn, Ph.D., of Colorado State University, is a man familiar with firsts:
in 1972, he became the first psychologist to serve on a U.S. Olympic sports medicine team, and today he's
the first Asian-American to head the American Psychological Association. Suinn recently spoke with contributing
editor Robert Epstein about the mind-body connection.
PT: How has sports psychology changed over the years?
RS: In its early days, sports psychology was mostly concerned with developing assessment methods that would identify
those people with the potential to become superior athletes.
Modern sports psychology, which dates from around the early 1970s, is focused on psychological training,
on exercises that strengthen the mental skills that will help athletic performance. Those skills include stress management,
self-regulation, visualization, goal setting, concentration, and focus, even relaxation.
PT: Can you give us an example of how techniques are helping Olympians?
RS: I remember one case in which an Olympic boxer lost his desire to go on competing. A consultation with a sports
psychologist helped him to become focused again on his goals, an approach that often provides the solution to issues
of motivation.
Instead of just getting athletes "psyched up," sports psychologists prefer to help them become
more definite about why they're doing what they're doing now, even though their eventual goal--say, winning a gold
medal--may be a few years down the road. Goal setting helps to bring the future a little closer by breaking it down
into steps to take this week, next week, next month. That way athletes can chart their progress, keeping in mind
where they're eventually going to end up. It enables those who are feeling that they want to give up to stay
with the program.
In the case of the boxer, he did stick with it and he went on to compete in the Games.
PT: You've often written about a technique called "mental practice." What do you mean by that--and how
does it work?
RS: Mental practice is also referred to as "visualization" or "imagery rehearsal."
We start with 20 to 30 minutes of relaxation training, followed by the visualization of some aspect of the
athlete's game that needs improvement. It's the mental equivalent of physical practice.
For instance, if your golf swing is a little off and your coach shows you the proper swing, then during visualization you
practice making that correct swing in your mind. It may be that your muscles start to learn through this visualizing
practice the proper way of moving. There is in fact research evidence that indicates that when athletes use visualization
after relaxation, their performance does improve.
There is also evidence to suggest that if you use the wrong imagery--if you imagine yourself missing the swing or losing
the game--your performance will get worse.
PT: Can the techniques you use to help athletes be applied to everyday life?
RS: Let's take stress as an example. The first thing that athletes do in dealing with their stress is to identify what triggers
it. For some people it's a particular environment in which they find themselves; for others it's certain words that people use.
The second step is to be aware of how they react when they're under stress. Sometimes they have a physiological reaction, such
as sweaty palms or an elevated heart rate. In that case, we have them use biofeedback or relaxation training. Prevention is
even better: if they know that they're going to face a stressful situation, they can engage in some relaxation procedures
beforehand.
These are all tactics that people can use in their own lives. But people should be aware that many of these
exercises do take some time to learn. They have to be practiced, in the same way that athletes have to practice their physical
skills.
Adapted by Ph.D.
Robert Epstein is University Professor at United States International University and host of radio's nationally syndicated
PSYCHOLOGY TODAY.
Publication: Psychology Today
Publication Date: May/Jun 99
(Document ID: 474)
This article was originally located at:
http://www.psychologytoday.com
/articles/pto-19990501-000018.html