The role of the sport psychologist

Italy’s Luca De Aliprandini competing in the Giant Slalom. Image credit: Christian Jansky.

In elite sport, the role of the sport psychologist has taken on an increasing prominence as part of athlete support and perhaps as a result we see increasing media coverage. Sometimes an athlete might attribute help from a sport psychologist as giving them the edge to win, whereas at other times a sport psychologist may be blamed unfairly when their influence on outcomes is misunderstood. Check the news articles below and you can see how the influence of sport psychologists is reported in the media.

• Sports psychologist helped the Cowboys reshape their attitudes and help players focus on ‘the moment’
• Why sports psychologists couldn’t save Brazil’s World Cup hopes

What does a sport psychologist do?

In general terms, a sport psychologist works closely with athletes to help equip them with the mental skills they need to perform at their best. Elite athletes are human like the rest of us and despite their incredible talent can suffer from anxiety, poor concentration, or lack of motivation. At times they must deal with failure or a run of poor form, and sometimes personal circumstances can cause performance lapses.

Sport psychologist profiles

As you navigate your way through this course, you will be provided with expert insights from experienced sport psychologists with distinguished careers working with elite athletes. Most of these practitioners have also contributed chapters to the accompanying open textbook Secrets of Asian Sport Psychology. 

View their profiles in the slideshow panel below.

• Michael LloydMichael Lloyd DPsych MAPS is Lead Psychologist for Cricket Australia, having previously been Senior Psychologist at the Australian Institute of Sport, and Sport Psychology Consultant for the Australian Sports Commission and the Queensland Academy of Sport.He has over 15 years of experience providing psychological service to elite sporting programs within Australia and has worked with athletes, coaches, and officials from sports including Triathlon, Swimming, Netball, Rowing, Australian Rules Football, Rugby League, Rugby Union, Soccer, and Cycling.Michael has conducted research into performance routines, motivation, precompetition emotion and arousal states, and has presented his research findings both nationally and internationally.View Michael’s profile on the Cricket Australia website