It takes a single-minded person to get up at dawn day after day to train for a major sporting event. But this tenacity is precisely what’s needed if goals are to be achieved. After all, ‘Sports are played by the body and won in the mind,’ as eminent sports psychologist Aidan Moran said. Physical prowess is one thing, but without the mental fortitude to back it up, sportspeople may (literally) fall at the first hurdle. This is where sports psychology plays a crucial role. Coaches of the world’s elite athletes and sportspeople focus their charges not only on being faster and stronger than their rivals, but on their mental fitness, too, taking into consideration the athletes’ feelings, thoughts, perceived obstacles and behaviour both on the track and beyond, in order to optimise performance.

Sports psychology isn’t a new discipline. Its beginnings lie in the 1890s, when psychology was first applied to sports. This gave rise to a ‘new psychology’ linked to sport and, by 1913, the first sports psychology convention had been held in Switzerland. Sports psychology laboratories were subsequently devised, and psychology methods experimented with. The discipline continued to develop throughout the 20th century, until, ultimately, it started to be used for the enhancement of performance. Sports psychology as we know it today is used across performance domains and encompasses the performance, mental processes and wellbeing of people in sports settings, supported by psychological theory and methods.

Sports psychology is no longer perceived by non-athletes as pandering to sportspeople’s fragile egos, a sentiment that arose as the discipline became more widely recognised. It’s now accepted as crucial for providing athletes with a competitive edge, offering them optimum physical ability and psychological wellbeing. But it also extends to other areas where optimising performance is of value. Even those without a sports background can benefit from its insights: the reduced anxiety, increased motivation and improved sense of self that the discipline instils. Where athletes are concerned, mental wellbeing is now understood to be essential for enabling individuals to consistently achieve results and outperform their opponents.

Cognitive scientist Massimiliano Cappuccio, of the University of New South Wales, Australia, says, ‘Physical training and exercise aren’t sufficient to excel in competition’ and that an athlete must be prepared mentally for the challenge that lies ahead. Does the research back him up? Findings show that the mind has more influence on an athlete’s decision to end a training session than any tiredness within the body. But there’s much more than endurance in play: mental preparation enables athletes to maintain focus, cope with injury and failure, and equally, manage success. The role of the sports psychologist in these processes is to advise on how to be at one’s best when it really matters. Natural aptitude alone will not suffice.

Many of us believe that the adage ‘You can do anything if you put your mind to it’ is simply motivational speak, when in fact, achievement is far more science-led. Top sportspeople recognise the role of the mind in helping them achieve their goals. They say it’s all about what they want to accomplish, and knowing that they’re heading into a competition with the intention of beating everyone else. Having a robust mindset, being prepared and having a plan are key. Any sports psychologist worth their salt will take time to tune in to what an individual is experiencing and find ways to resolve mental blocks. They will help reframe what’s going on to get the athlete ready for performance. Even the ordinary person can be sufficiently prepared to take part in a new physical challenge: take the British comedian who went from not owning a pair of running shoes to completing a marathon. With the right levels of vision, determination, training and psychological support, anything can happen.

Sports psychology encompasses several theories and concepts which combine to try to get to the bottom of how sportspeople achieve success in an increasingly challenging environment. The techniques and practices employed by sports psychologists are becoming more and more sophisticated, with multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary approaches being used to learn how psychological, biomechanical, physiological, genetic and training elements interact. The research concentrates on five established areas that are considered essential to success: mental toughness, motivation, goal-setting, anxiety and arousal, and confidence. That said, there must surely be a point at which the human body – and mind – cannot get any higher, stronger or faster. For all its endeavours, what will happen to sports psychology, then?