What is Sport Psychology?

Sport psychology is the study of individuals and their behaviour in a sporting context, and the application of psychological principles to assist performance.  Sport psychology can be used to reduce the effect of injury or poor performances, increase motivation, improve confidence and control emotions with the aim of improving performance and enjoyment in sport.

Who is sport psychology for?

Sport psychology can be applied in a number of situations and can be used by those involved in any level of sport, be it recreational, national, international or professional level.  Athletes may benefit from using sport psychology as part of their regular training, and coaches and parents can also learn about these principles and use them in order to help an athlete improve.

Our sport psychologist

Bryan McCann is our sport and exercise psychology consultant.  He is a Scottish Karate Governing Body Level 2 Coach, and gained a BSc (Hons) in Psychology from Glasgow Caledonian University.  He recently completed an MSc in Sport and Exercise Psychology, and is undertaking the final stage of training to become a British Psychological Society (BPS) chartered sport and exercise psychologist.

Bryan has experience working with a number of different athletes.  He has worked with both children and adults who train and compete in sports such as golf and martial arts at recreational, national and professional level.

Our sport psychology provision

We offer a wide range of sport psychology support:

• Assisting athletes of all levels with specific issues they are having within their sport, such as:
• Competitive anxiety
• Confidence
• Dedication
• Skill acquisition
• Poor performances
• Injury rehabilitation
• Coach-athlete relationships
• A general desire to improve

• One-to-one sessions with athletes, identifying areas for improvement and developing appropriate research-based interventions.
• Providing workshops to groups of athletes/teams, introducing basic psychological skills such as imagery, self talk and goal setting.
• Working with teams to tackle issues such as coach-team relationships, group cohesion, etc.
• Work with coaches to highlight effective coaching practices related to the coach-athlete relationship, skill acquisition, team cohesion, and other issues.