Psychology of Competitive Sports

High-stakes contexts, such as competitive sports or corporate environments, encompass a high load of challenges and stressors for those that act in such contexts. Thus, competitive and elite athletes face many stressors, threats and challenges to their well-being in their everyday life. Self-doubt, overtraining, burnout, fears, high expectations, risk of injury, disappointment, failure, poor performance, external pressures, etc. are all factors that affect the mental health and wellbeing of competitive athletes. Furthermore, other variables such as social relationships within and outside the sport contexts, as well as community and organizational processes and dynamics, all affect the health and wellbeing of the athletes. Therefore, an understanding of such individual, group, and societal processes is essential for athletes, coaches, managers and practitioners to functionally engage and commit long-term their sport domain.

Accordingly, the course deal with such themes, specifically with: introduction to sport psychology of competitive sports, research methods and applied interventions, motivation and self-regulation, sport psychological skills training, social identity and group performance, sport injuries and career transitions, and clinical issues in competitive sports