History of Sport and Performance Psychology

Abstract

This chapter presents an overview of the history of sport and performance psychology. First, the chapter will highlight the beginnings of sport psychology in the 1890s, when psychology was first applied to sport in laboratory settings. The applications of the “new psychology” applied to sport and the first sport psychology congress held in Lausanne, Switzerland, in 1913, are described. The chapter describes how psychologists began testing athletes in psychology laboratories using experimental psychology methods during 1920–1940. The development of sport psychology laboratories worldwide and the work of Coleman Griffith are highlighted. Next, the chapter explains the beginnings of the use of psychology for performance enhancement purposes between 1940 and 1965. The growth of sport psychology literature during this time is discussed. The chapter then focuses on sport and performance psychology from 1965 to 1980, including the development of sport psychology organizations. The chapter concludes by providing an overview of sport and performance psychology from 1980 to today. The modern period is characterized by an increasing application of sport and performance psychology knowledge across a variety of performance domains.

Professional development for sport psychology practice

“…Since the 1890's, researchers have examined the psychological principles involved in sport, and individuals have applied interventions to enhance athletes' performance [1].…”

Approaches to Supervision in Sport Psychology and their Influences on Initial Supervisees' Professional Development

“…The field of sport psychology had its first steps in North America in the end of the 19 th century (Kornspan, 2009) through laboratory research, and it was not until the decade of 1940 that applied sport psychology started to receive attention from scholars and coaches (Kornspan, 2012). Important historical figures in the field such as Dorothy Yates, Richard Paynter, Bud…”

“…Winter, Anna Espenchade, and Franklin Henry started to apply research results and cognitive-behavioral techniques to help athletes to improve their performance (Kornspan, 2012).…”

“…By the decade of 1960 scholars and coaches were showing interest in sport psychology and created many associations such as the North American Society for the Psychology of Sport and Physical Activity (NASPSPA) and the International Society of Sport Psychology (ISSP) (Kornspan, 2012). Nevertheless, the Association for the Advancement of Applied Sport Psychology (AAASP; later changed to AASP) was only created in 1986 (Association for Applied Sport Psychology [AASP], n.d.).…”

“…added the first sport psychology professional to their sports medicine team and the first graduate programs in sport psychology were created (Kornspan, 2012). Despite the increased interest in applied sport psychology at the time, at first these graduate programs focused more on research and academic careers (Williams & Straub, 2006) and it was not until the 70s when the term applied sport psychology began to be well known (Silva, Metzler, & Lerner, 2011).…”