Sports Psychology - A Brief History
"All battles are won before they are fought."
- Sun Tzu, Legendary Chinese Warrior, 496 BC
Original Olympic Games
The connection between mind and body has fascinated people since ancient times. Many of the commonly recognised sports psychology principles such as emotional control, competitive tactics and skill formation have their roots in traditional Chinese culture, which were expressed in Sun Tzu's book 'The Art Of War' in the 5th century BC. The Greeks, the founders of the Olympic Games, use the maxim "healthy mind in a healthy body" which was first uttered by the philosopher Plato in the 4th century BC.
Modern sports psychology was birthed in Europe in the 19th Century. In 1830, German scientist Carl Friedrich Koch published an article on "The Psychology Of Calisthenics." In 1879, Wilhelm Wundt conducted skill related sports psychology experiments at the Univeristy of Leipzig. In 1898, Norman Triplett of Indiana University made a contribution that is regarded as a landmark in sports psychology with a journal publication on the psychological factors in cycle racing. He noted that the presence of another contestant "served to liberate latent energy not ordinarily available." This is what we would refer to today as social facilitation.
In 1900, the term sport psychology was first used by the founder of the modern Olympic movement, French nobleman Pierre de Coubertin. He published an article entitled "La Psychologie du Sport" and wrote extensively on the subject for over 30 years.
Modern sports psychology was birthed in Europe in the 19th Century. In 1830, German scientist Carl Friedrich Koch published an article on "The Psychology Of Calisthenics." In 1879, Wilhelm Wundt conducted skill related sports psychology experiments at the Univeristy of Leipzig. In 1898, Norman Triplett of Indiana University made a contribution that is regarded as a landmark in sports psychology with a journal publication on the psychological factors in cycle racing. He noted that the presence of another contestant "served to liberate latent energy not ordinarily available." This is what we would refer to today as social facilitation.
In 1900, the term sport psychology was first used by the founder of the modern Olympic movement, French nobleman Pierre de Coubertin. He published an article entitled "La Psychologie du Sport" and wrote extensively on the subject for over 30 years.
Coleman Griffith - the grandfather of sport psychology
The first practising sport psychologist was American Psychologist Coleman Griffith. In 1925, the University of Illinois asked Griffith to work with some of the University coaches in the hope that it would have a positive impact on their teams' performances. Subsequently, the University won two national championships with their American Football team.
Griffith then began to teach on the subject and wrote the first ever text books - Psychology Of Coaching (1926) and Psychology Of Athletics (1928). He was mostly fascinated in his studies by anticipation skills and reaction times. In 1938, Griffith became the first sport psychologist to work with a professional sports team, the Chicago Cubs Baseball Team. He was appointed by the owner of the club, William Wrigley, the chewing gum magnate.
Post war, once the world started to prosper again in the 1960s, sport psychology became more widespread in the USA. The next great pioneers were psychologists Ogilvie and Tutko at San Jose State University, who undertook in depth research into how personality influenced sports performance.
Griffith then began to teach on the subject and wrote the first ever text books - Psychology Of Coaching (1926) and Psychology Of Athletics (1928). He was mostly fascinated in his studies by anticipation skills and reaction times. In 1938, Griffith became the first sport psychologist to work with a professional sports team, the Chicago Cubs Baseball Team. He was appointed by the owner of the club, William Wrigley, the chewing gum magnate.
Post war, once the world started to prosper again in the 1960s, sport psychology became more widespread in the USA. The next great pioneers were psychologists Ogilvie and Tutko at San Jose State University, who undertook in depth research into how personality influenced sports performance.
USSR athletes dominated in the 70s and 80s
At the same time, the USSR had invested heavily in athletic related research. What had been learned by their sports psychologists in improving the performance of athletes was then deployed into the Russian space programme as the space race between USSR and USA was hotting up. The sports psychologists were engaged to increase the endurance, adaptability and resiliance of astronauts. They pioneered psychic self regulation to help the astronauts cope with the anxiety associated with zero gravity, as well as controling muscular tension and heart rate. These self regulation techniques used by their small army of sports psychologists helped the USSR to dominate all sporting competition the world over during the 1970s and 1980s, up until the fall of the Iron Curtain in1991. The rest of the world started to invest in the training of sports psychologists in the 1980s in order to compete on a level playing field.
The 1990s saw the birth of national and international Sports Psychology bodies the world over, such as the International Society of Sport Psychology.
The 1990s saw the birth of national and international Sports Psychology bodies the world over, such as the International Society of Sport Psychology.
Jurgen Klinsmann
One of the fascinating features of the 2006 World Cup was that, for the first time, the mentally tough Germans had a sports psychologist, Dr. Hans-Dieter Hermann, in their camp. The new manager, Jurgen Klinssman knew that his own sense of purpose would not be enough for the testing journey that lay before him. The presence of an eminent sports psychologist would allow him to liberate his natural leadership skills and help reinforce positive principles.
The German team were mostly young and relatively inexperienced. They represented a country that expected them to do well on the world stage, no matter whether this was their first tournament together as a team or not. Add to that the pressure of being the host nation, there was a distinct possibility that the German team would fail to deliver. However, they played some surprising and great football, finishing 3rd in the tournament, losing their semi-final narrowly in extra time to the eventual winners, Italy. They had exceeded the expectations of the footballing world.
Nowadays, all of the top football clubs in the world have an association with a sports psychologist. They know that they cannot afford an anologue approach to the game in a digital age. No opponent or competitor can be allowed to have an edge over them. Sport Psychology is now recognized universally as a key ingredient in sporting achievement.
The German team were mostly young and relatively inexperienced. They represented a country that expected them to do well on the world stage, no matter whether this was their first tournament together as a team or not. Add to that the pressure of being the host nation, there was a distinct possibility that the German team would fail to deliver. However, they played some surprising and great football, finishing 3rd in the tournament, losing their semi-final narrowly in extra time to the eventual winners, Italy. They had exceeded the expectations of the footballing world.
Nowadays, all of the top football clubs in the world have an association with a sports psychologist. They know that they cannot afford an anologue approach to the game in a digital age. No opponent or competitor can be allowed to have an edge over them. Sport Psychology is now recognized universally as a key ingredient in sporting achievement.
