Elite sport psychology/introducing psychological skills/the role of the sport psychologist

In elite sport, the role of the sport psychologist has taken on an increasing prominence as part of athlete support and perhaps as a result we see increasing media coverage. Sometimes an athlete might attribute help from a sport psychologist as giving them the edge to win, whereas at other times a sport psychologist may be blamed unfairly when their influence on outcomes is misunderstood. Check the news articles below and you can see how the influence of sport psychologists is reported in the media.

• Sports psychologist helped the Cowboys reshape their attitudes and help players focus on ‘the moment’
• Why sports psychologists couldn't save Brazil's World Cup hopes

What does a sport psychologist do?

In general terms, a sport psychologist works closely with athletes to help equip them with the mental skills they need to perform at their best. Elite athletes are human like the rest of us and despite their incredible talent can suffer from anxiety, poor concentration, or lack of motivation. At times they must deal with failure or a run of poor form, and sometimes personal circumstances can cause performance lapses.

Sport psychologist profiles

As you navigate your way through this course, you will be provided with expert insights from experienced sport psychologists with distinguished careers working with elite athletes. Most of these practitioners have also contributed chapters to the accompanying open textbook Secrets of Asian Sport Psychology. 

View their profiles in the slideshow panel below.

• ==== Michael Lloyd ==== Michael Lloyd DPsych MAPS is Lead Psychologist for Cricket Australia, having previously been Senior Psychologist at the Australian Institute of Sport, and Sport Psychology Consultant for the Australian Sports Commission and the Queensland Academy of Sport. He has over 15 years of experience providing psychological service to elite sporting programs within Australia and has worked with athletes, coaches, and officials from sports including Triathlon, Swimming, Netball, Rowing, Australian Rules Football, Rugby League, Rugby Union, Soccer, and Cycling. Michael has conducted research into performance routines, motivation, precompetition emotion and arousal states, and has presented his research findings both nationally and internationally. View Michael’s profile on the Cricket Australia website
• ==== Georgia Ridler ==== Georgia Ridler MPsych MAPS is a Registered Psychologist who has worked with many athletes, teams, coaches and high performance managers to create strategies that lead to enhanced performance. Over the past 14 years, Georgia has consulted to a range of sports at both the Olympic and professional level, playing a significant role in the success of Olympic gold medallists and several Olympic teams, including Track Cycling, over the last three Olympic cycles. She is currently the Team Psychologist for Swimming Australia. Her vibrant style and insight is drawn from a hybrid of experiences in high-performance sport, psychology, science, leadership, and organisational development. Visit Georgia’s website
• ==== Costas Karageorghis ==== Costas Karageorghis, PhD CPsychol FBASES is a Reader in Sport Psychology in the Department of Life Sciences at Brunel University London. He has worked with many UK national governing bodies of sport as a consultant psychologist, most recently England Rugby, as well as with a number of multinational companies that include Nike, Red Bull, Sony, Spotify, Speedo, and the International Management Group (IMG). He is best known for his research and applied work in the area of music-related interventions in exercise and sport. Costas's scientific output includes more than 150 scholarly articles, ten book chapters, and the popular text Inside Sport Psychology (Human Kinetics, 2011), which he co-authored with Prof Peter Terry (University of Southern Queensland). He has just completed a second text entitled Applying Music in Exercise and Sport that will be released by Human Kinetics in the spring of 2016. View Costas's profile on the Brunel University London website
• ==== Jeff Bond ==== Jeffrey W. Bond OAM, FAPS is the Director of Bond Performance Consulting. He was previously Head of the Sport Psychology Department at the Australian Institute of Sport from 1982-2004 and one of the founding group of the Australian Psychological Society’s College of Sport and Exercise Psychologists. In addition to working as a sport psychologist for many of Australia’s international athletes and teams, Jeffrey has provided business performance consultant services to numerous international corporate organisations. He has a background in physical education, psychology and sport psychology and has worked as a sport psychologist for the Australian Team at nine Summer and Winter Olympic Games. Visit Jeff’s website
• ==== Zhang Li-Wei ==== Zhang Li-Wei PhD EdD is Professor of Sport Psychology at the Beijing Sports University and President of the Asian-South Pacific Association of Sport Psychology (ASPASP). Author of 18 books, 31 book chapters, and more than 300 journal articles and conference papers, his main academic interests are self-concept and burn out among athletes and coaches. Li-Wei was a professional table tennis player and coach for 14 years, and has worked as a mental training consultant with the China Olympic freestyle skiing (aerials), rhythmic gymnastics, short-track speed skating, table tennis, tennis, and trampoline teams.
• ==== Gene Moyle ==== Gene Moyle DPsych MAPS is Associate Professor and Head of Dance at the Queensland University of Technology (QUT). Gene has supported a number of Olympic Winter sports programs across three Olympic cycles (Torino 2006, Vancouver 2010, Sochi 2014), and has worked extensively within the elite sporting system at both State and National level in both service provision and leadership roles. Gene’s research focus has centred upon studies across both dance and elite sporting domains, she is currently an Associate Editor of the Performance Enhancement & Health journal, on the Editorial Board of the Annals of Applied Sport Science, and regularly contributes to international and national journals and magazines including DANCE Australia. View Gene’s full profile on QUT’s website
• ==== Andy Lane ==== Andrew Lane PhD CPsychol is Professor of Sport Psychology at the University of Wolverhampton in the UK. He is accredited by the British Association of Sport and Exercise Sciences (BASES) for scientific support and research and is also a Chartered Psychologist with the British Psychological Society. He has authored more than 100 peer-reviewed journal articles and edited two books. He is a member of the Emotion Regulation of Others and Self research network investigating emotion regulation in sport and other settings. His applied work has involved clients including the English Institute of Sport and the London Boxing Association. A former amateur boxer, he remains active in sport as a runner and duathlete. View Andy's profile on the EROS website
• ==== Sandy Gordon ==== Sandy Gordon PhD FAPS is Professor of Sport and Exercise Psychology at the University of Western Australia, a Registered Psychologist, and a Fellow of the Australian Psychological Society (APS). He is a Member of the APS College of Sport and Exercise Psychologists (CoSEP) and APS Interest Group in Coaching Psychology (IGCP). Sandy has contributed to coach education programs in over 10 different countries, including the Cricket Boards and national teams of Australia, India, Sri Lanka, and Zimbabwe, and has consulted with Hampshire County Cricket and the Western Australian Cricket Association. His consultancy work with Australian Football (AFL and WAFL), Basketball (NBL) and Football (Hyundai A-League) teams is ongoing. View Sandy's full profile on UWA's website