Sports psychology: all in the mind?

When Steve Bull joined the England cricket team as a sports psychologist in 1997, the team was in a bad way. Since 1987 it had been on a long losing streak, particularly against Australia, which had kept the Ashes trophy firmly in its grasp since 1989. Something had to be done, and so the England and Wales Cricket Board had decided to invest in some serious coaching.

Bull’s influence, among other changes made by the board, began to make itself felt. Come 2005, the England cricket team’s resurgence was complete – the Ashes were back in English hands for the first time in 16 years.

Bull, who has a doctorate in sports psychology from Brighton University, says he worked with the team and the players on a one-to-one basis to help them find their strengths. 'My work was around establishing clear goals and helping players to understand that the team is full of distinct personalities – some extrovert, others introvert,' Bull says.

Mark Bawden, head of performance psychology at the English Institute of Sport (EIS), says he is already preparing the Great Britain team for this level of expectation at the London 2012 Olympics and Paralympics. 'A home Olympics presents a different environment, which athletes need to be ready for and have the mental endurance to cope with, no matter what sport they’re in or what their medal prospects are.'

It’s partly for this reason that Bawden and his colleagues at EIS have labelled London ‘the psychological games’. London’s winning bid for the Games has been a boon for UK universities offering sports-related degrees, such as Loughborough, Bath, Liverpool John Moores and Roehampton in London, which have seen a rise in demand from overseas students.

Fever pitch

The University of East London, which has a campus in Stratford, right next to the Olympic Park, is making the most of the Olympic fever. 'We’ve had quite a bit of interest from students since London won the bid,' says lecturer James Beale. With close links to West Ham Football Club, the Amateur Swimming Association and the Newham Sports Academy, UEL’s aim is to get students involved in preparations for the Games. The university has been working hard to build international links – the Indian Olympics team also trained at the university’s Docklands campus last year on a visit organised by 1984 Olympic gold medallist Tessa Sanderson and the Newham Sports Academy.

UEL discovered the value of such global relationships after it sent a delegation of senior teaching staff to the Beijing Olympics in 2008. The delegation made contact with 10 Chinese universities, many of which are embarking on staff and student exchange programmes with UEL. 'We’ve got Chinese students coming soon, as well as some from Sri Lanka and India,' Beale says. 'They will find a warm welcome, as east London is one of the most multicultural places in the world.'

Over at Liverpool John Moores University, international students are drawn by the institution’s links with the world of football. Liverpool player and England captain Steven Gerrard is an honorary fellow, and the university has coaching links with Liverpool and Everton. One of LJM’s former students, Mike Ford, is performance director of Chelsea football club. 'We have Finnish, Greek and Japanese students,' says sports psychologist Mark Nesti. 'Recently I was interviewing a Polish girl and asked her why she wanted to study with us. She told me, "I wanted to come to Liverpool because the famous Polish player Jerzy Dudek has played for Liverpool. He is from my village." '

The business end

Academic staff emphasise the fact that prospective students should not think purely in terms of a career linked to the world of sports. In fact, a sports psychology degree will also cover nutrition and biomechanics as well as pure psychology, and some graduates transfer the skills they have learned to teaching or the health sector. Sports psychologists are also now in demand in the high-stress corporate world.

'Sports psychologists can work as human resources or performance consultants, or run employee health and wellbeing programmes,' says Dr David Fletcher, a lecturer at Loughborough University. 'There is a lot of overlap between sport and business.'

Beale, from UEL, agrees that, while the skills students learn have an obvious relevance to sport, they can also be adapted to helping people excel in a variety of fields.

'We teach imagery as a technique for maintaining concentration under pressure. It’s a method for getting students to imagine the sounds, the sight, and the sensations of being in an unfamiliar environment,' he says. 'The skill is to make someone believe they are competing and winning. They practise the skills and they visualise the success.'

A longer version of this article appears in  Issue 20 of Club UK magazine .