Psychological Preparation of the Highly Competitive Athlete

Abstract

In brief: Improving athletes' concentration under stressful conditions is one of the ways that sport psychologists work to enhance the performance of highly competitive athletes. The mental skills program presented in this paper emphasizes the importance of providing coaches and athletes with a common behavioral definition of concentration, as well as the need to assess and meet the concentration demands of the competitive setting. The role of the sport psychologist in training and competition and the importance of working with and through the coach are illustrated in two case reports.