Author: Tania Ramirez
As society becomes more complex each day, so do the factors that impact mental health. More specifically, in the sports world, athletes must endure a rigorous, intense, and competitive environment. However, it doesn’t stop there. Because athletes are seen as more than just a source of entertainment, but also a public figures, they must be aware of, and able to comment on, cultural, social, and political occurrences at any given time. It is inevitable to conclude that all these added stresses take a toll on an athlete’s performance and mental health.
In fact, over the past 10 years, athletes’ mental health has been a topic with increasing priority and interest worldwide. According to the National Library of Medicine, “Suicide represented 7.3% (35/477) of all-cause mortality among NCAA student-athletes.” This research primarily revealed that added stress interfered with mental health and detrimentally led to a great amount of suicide-related deaths among all levels of athletics.
Taking other factors into consideration, 7.3% is a significant percentage attributed to suicides as the cause of mortality, and this is at a lower division of athletics. At a greater scope, it is unimaginable the amount of pressure and stress that professional athletes face on a daily basis.
As a result of these types of data collected, a wide search for resolutions began, and thus the widespread interest in sports psychology.
In order to truly understand the importance of mental health in the sports world one question must be asked: What is a sports psychologist? In simple terms, a sports psychologist uses proficiencies in psychological knowledge to achieve the optimal performance and well-being of athletes ranging from recreational to Olympic needs.
Here are 6 of the most common things sports psychologists do:
(1) Help Athletes Cope with Performance Fears
Sports psychologists can help athletes overcome fears, such as fear of failure, fear of embarrassment, and general anxiety. This is common among athletes who are perfectionists or highly dedicated athletes that worry too much about what other people think in terms of their performance.
(2) Help Athletes Improve Mental Skills for Performance
The most common role of a sports psychologist is to teach mental skills for enhanced performance. A mental game expert can help you improve confidence, focus, composure, intensity, and trust in athletic performance. These mental skills help athletes improve performance and can help in other areas of an athlete’s life.
(3) Help Athlete Mentally Prepare for the Competition
Another common role of a sports psychologist is to help athletes mentally prepare for competition and practice. This includes many of the mental skills mentioned above but is applied to specific situations on the athletic field. For instance, in the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics, international guests were not allowed and the number of spectators per discipline was diminished from previous years. As a result, psychologists had to help Olympians prepare for an environment where cheers and distractions would not be in abundance.
(4) Help Athletes Return After Injury
Returning to play after an injury can sometimes be difficult for many athletes depending on the nature of the injury. Athletes are often left with “mental scars” long after an injury is physically healed. A sports psychologist can help injured athletes cope better with the pressures associated with returning to a prior level of performance–pre-injury.
(5) Help Athlete Develop Pregame Routine
As part of mental preparation, the role of a sports psychologist includes helping athletes develop mental skills used during pregame or prerace routines. Athletes learn how to focus on the process instead of results and be more proactive with their confidence prior to competition.
(6) Help Athletes Improve Practice Efficiency
Another common role of a sports psychologist is to help athletes improve the quality or efficiency of their practice. Many athletes, such as collegiate athletes, have limited practice time. Coaches want to help these athletes get the most out of their practice time by understanding the principles of motor learning and performance.
Clearly, sports psychologists work with athletes to help them develop an array of skills that help them manage their busy agendas. Therefore, it can be said that sports psychology is one of the industries within the sports world that is rapidly growing both in demand and insignificance.
Sports psychology is also a fascinating field to explore which combines a passion for the sports industry with an interest in human behavior and the mind. Although more on the STEM side of the spectrum, it is important to keep in mind that physical aspects of athletics such as strength, speed, and stamina are equally as crucial as psychological aspects because after all, sports are mental games, making sports psychology the key to victory.
Imagine having front row seats right behind the 50-yard line at every Super Bowl or even courtside seats at the NBA finals. This sounds like a dream come true for most sports fanatics. Still, to those working in the sports media industry, this experience can sometimes be taken for granted.
Over the past decades, the introduction of high-quality equipment and devices has amplified the accessibility within the sports industry. Whether it’s capturing an athlete’s greatest victory or live streaming the biggest rivalry game in town, technology has made it possible.
It is important, however, to not overlook the people that make it possible for fans to reminisce on some of these greatest sporting moments. Camera crew, photographers, videographers, and journalists are the ones that have contributed to the glorification of the sports industry.
Being part of the sports media industry is no easy job nonetheless. According to freelance photographer Katelyn Mulcahy, sports photographers have great battles with “accessibility and approach”. Because attending sporting events has become a highly coveted experience, more and more people hope to be the ones to capture these moments. However, it can be quite difficult to take that one up-close shot that encapsulates the unique experience of the game. As Mulcahy displays the double-truck image of Shohei Ohtani she took, which was later published on the 2018 MLB World Series Program, she explains, “… again access, we were pretty restricted, but I was able to take a picture of him [Shohei Ohtani]”.
Whenever anyone thinks of a career in the sports business world, the skills most often needed are drive, perseverance, and sports knowledge. However, within the sports media world, creativity tends to be a driving aspect of the job. Unfortunately, such a unique skill to have, as is creativity, becomes a setback when so many people are interested in taking that one perfect shot. Eventually, it is inevitable to hit a point where it seems like all unique ideas have been exhausted. Although it sounds like a draining experience, at the end of the day, this process is what prompts creativity to continue growing within the sports media industry.
Capturing the right shot, however, seems to always be an exciting experience filled with shock. Mulcahy never knew that her image would make it onto the MLB World Series Program, and much less did she think it would be a double truck. As Mulcahy puts it, “If you didn’t make what they wanted then they might put it somewhere else.” Photographers find out what images are being utilized at the same time that viewers have access to the content.
Referring back to Mulcahy’s experiences, once you’ve gained access into the nooks and crannies of the event the question is: now what? How do you determine what a worthwhile shot is? How do you make sure you don’t miss a spectacular dunk or touchdown? Like Mulcahy says, “Sometimes you leave without a single good shot and that’s part of the job.”
Still, the job does not end once the game is over and all the photographs have been taken. In fact, hours of work follow each sporting event for those working in sports media. Mulcahy shares that after each event she averages about 2000-3000 images which she must look through, star or tag, and make minor edits if necessary before making a final submiss of about 100-200 images. According to Mulcahy, at a much bigger sporting event as is the Super Bowl, which happened this past month at the SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles, around 54,000 pictures were necessary to capture the event’s scope.
Out of the thousand pictures that come out of a single game or even of a single player, narrowing it down to a single picture can be quite the haunting and time consuming task. However, most people in the sports media industry would agree that having that once-in-a-lifetime opportunity is all worth it in the end.
Regardless, the sports media industry is a very competitive field with great opportunities to grow and develop professionally while being a good way to mix creativity with a passion for sports. Still, the sports media industry is nowhere from perfect, and therefore, it continues to develop. For sports photographers, learning new techniques and equipment is crucial in the process of moving from good to great. As a parting tip, Mulcahy says that “going above and beyond and getting there early” is what truly makes the difference between an average photographer and a great one.