Sports psychology in football

By

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

My family, my friends and my mentor encouraged and supported me throughout this research and this research became possible only because of their supports. I would like to thank everyone who contributed directly or indirectly to this project.

DECLARATION

I, [type your full first names and surname here], declare that the contents of this dissertation/thesis represent my own unaided work, and that the dissertation/thesis has not previously been submitted for academic examination towards any qualification. Furthermore, it represents my own opinions and not necessarily those of the University.

Signed __________________ Date _________________

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTII

DECLARATIONIII

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION1

Background1

Problem statement1

Significance2

Aims and objectives2

Research question2

Nature of the study3

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW4

Early Sport Psychology4

Contemporary Sport Psychology6

Sport Psychology's Core Identity11

Training Issues in Sport Psychology13

Perceived Barriers to Sport Psychology15

CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY19

Mixed Research19

Classification of research methods19

Multi-method studies20

Mixed method studies20

Steps in mixed methodology20

Instrument for data collection21

Data analysis21

Reliability/Dependability21

Triangulation23

Validity24

Ethical Considerations26

CHAPTER 4: DISCUSSION27

Sports psychology and Performance27

The 4C's of sports psychology28

Questionnaire Analysis29

CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION39

Recommendations41

REFERENCES43

APPENDICES47

QUESTIONNAIRE47

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

Background

Sports psychology is an emerging field. Many sports coaches use sports psychology to motivate their team. Sports psychology improves the performance of the players and motivates them to outperform their opponents. Football is a tough game and players need to acquire psychological skills to outperform their opponents. Only those football players succeed who have mental toughness. The players must have sharp focus. Most of the sports need only 10 percent physical efforts and remaining 90 percent is mental efforts. Hence, players must be very much focused and sharp in order to attain their goals. Research shows that all sports players can learn few psychological skills through coaching and these skills improve their game performance (Andersen 2001 12).

The field of the sports psychology has developed in last few years. Sportsmen and the health care specialist both acknowledge the importance of the sports psychologist. The sports psychologist coaches the players to stay focused and maintain decorum. The players learn to cope with the game pressures and perform their best during the game. It is important to include psychological training along with the basic training to enhance the performance of the football player.

Problem statement

This research will focus on the sports psychology in football players. The researcher has chosen to study whether the sports psychology enhance the performance of the football players. Though sports psychology is very beneficial in all sports, the football player learns to maintain focus in distractions and perform better than their opponents. Many football players and authorities don't acknowledge the importance of sports psychology. This study will throw light on sports psychology and see how it can be used to increased performance.

Significance

This research aims to fill out the gaps in the existing literature. Many studies have been conducted on sports psychology in the past but all these studies are qualitative and subjective in nature. None of the previous research focused on football only. All the studies conducted in the past are generalized or conducted on baseball. This research focuses on sports psychology and its impact on football player's performance. This research is quantitative and thus it would be helpful for ...