Football success- a mind over matter.

Sports psychology is the study of a person’s behaviour in sport. A sport psychologist works with sports participants across a range of both team and individual sports and from amateur to elite levels of competition- including professional footballers. The aim is predominately to help athletes prepare psychologically for competition and to deal with the psychological demands of both competition and training.

Today due in large to the increasing demands placed on professional footballers many leading Managers including-Sir Alex Ferguson, Fabio Capello and Arsene Wenger, recognise the need for the services of a sports psychologist. In addition more and more professional players- due to the fine line between success and failure- are independently seeking the help of sports psychologists to help them develop the necessary mental tools for success.
                                                                                                                                                                 
‘"I first became interest in psychology at City when I was relatively stagnant in my career, doing things the same as I'd always done. I realized that if I wanted to move on, I'd have to sacrifice a bit more to my job and commit in certain areas. I began working with [the sports psychologist] Mike Griffiths and he's been a real help. On Saturday I made a mistake, but you move on, keep your body language good and, the next time you get the ball, you have to be very positive or do something very simple. All these things help with being able to perform at the elite level."

Mathew Upson (West Ham & England), The Times, 2008.

                                                                                                                                                                         
The sport psychologist looks to work with professional footballers to increase performance by managing emotions and minimising the psychological effects of injuries and poor performance. Some of the most effective skills taught are goal setting, relaxation, visualisation (a technique used routinely by David James), self talk, concentration, confidence and using rituals. It is felt that such skills are of major importance to successful goalkeepers this is due to the situational demands placed on them during competition- in particular the level of time a goalkeeper spends as a passive player during a game.


Be sure to look out for the monthly psychological updates on Sells Goalkeeping Academy. which will look to provide an overview of some of the most effective psychological skills used within the professional game- in particular those associated with the role of a goalkeeper.