Mental Training

In spite of some coaches still believing it does not make a difference, sport psychologists have rapidly become prominent in various teams across all sports.

Recently, the South African cricket team hired a sport psychologist to manage their habit of choking in every major tournament for the past decade. On an individual level, there is the example of Alex Rodriguez who was able to not only come out of his bad patch, but also address and work through childhood issues. The improvement in his form was surprisingly immediate. Even in e-sports, which some are yet to acknowledge as a competitive sport, sport psychologists are being implemented.

Having never made it to the finals before, Team Astralis (center) won their first e-sports ESL Major Championship after hiring a sports psychologist (right).

Still, there are some who are averse to sport psychology because of the degrading connotation it carries. In such cases, the simple act of integrating psychologists in teams and labeling sessions as "mental training" can remove the stigma from sport psychology.