Sport psychology - Regional Centre for Sport, Exercise and Health - North

Photo: Stian Høgland

The belief in your own or the team’s capacity and ability is an essential factor for performance. This belief in mastery is affected by your own previous experiences in addition to model-learning, verbal persuasion (i.e. Inner monologue) and tension levels. The use of audiovisual tools such as video and music in combination with conscious inner monologue can be efficient methods to increase the belief in mastery for both individual and team athletes. Research within sport psychology should further our knowledge in how psychological characteristics affects sport performance.