Dr Simon Petrie gives an insight into the work of a psychologist in sport
Making sure you are physically prepared is one of the most important aspects of being a professional athlete.
Putting in the hours in training and making sure nutrition is aiding performance, all add up to ensure individuals are in a position to do their best in competition.
While so much importance is put on external training, for many, making sure they are internally and mentally ready to compete can be more vital.
Dr Simon Petrie - a qualified clinical psychologist who works in sport - knows the level of commitment that many athletes put on mental training, despite acknowledging it’s not for everyone.
Having worked across a wide range of different disciplines in sport, Dr Petrie understands the way in which psychological training can help athletes as he gives an insight into his profession.
He said: “There is two elements to the sport work. One would be working as a clinician in sport as a clinical psychologist.
“In health care you are dealing with people who have got issues with depression or anxiety and those kinds of issues do pop up for athletes.
“My other role is in performance psychology which is different as in order to benefit from psychology intervention you don't necessarily have a clinical problem.
“Therefore somebody might consult with a performance psychologist or sports psychologist to help with whatever part of their performance they think they need to improve. That covers a whole range of things from confidence, concentration, training and motivation.
“I’ll be giving them direct advice on what I think will improve aspects of their performance. So, if there is something they need to work on in terms of mental skills or psychological aspects of what they do then I will give advice on that.
“Ideally what you are looking for is an uplift in performance. That’s the easy way to gauge the effectiveness of an intervention in sport.
“With performance psychology what you are looking for is that they swim faster or shoot a lower score on the golf course or whatever it is. That’s one measure of it but it’s not the only one.
“I would never go into a situation assuming that what I do is what they need. There will be plenty of athletes who actually do just fine without any work with a psychologist - it depends on the individual.
“If you were to rewind to five or ten-years-ago it was probably still frowned upon a little bit or looked in some sort of negative way. But the work I do is widely accepted now.
“Not everyone will work with a psychologist in the same way that not everyone would work regularly with a physiotherapist. It prevails more in some sports than others.
“I think there is a pretty open acceptance so where there may have been a stigma once there is not anymore.
“There is now more of a prevailing attitude. Of course if you are developing at 15 or 16-years-old with a strength coach that’s a given. But it’s now becoming more of a given that you will be working on your psychology as well.”