Part one

INTRODUCING SPORT

AND EXERCISE

PSYCHOLOGY

Overview

Many prominent athletes and coaches believe that although sport is played with the body,
it is won in the mind. If so, then sport offers psychologists an exciting opportunity to
develop academic theories (e.g., about how expert athletes differ from novices in a
variety of mental skills) and practical strategies (e.g., teaching athletes how to cope with
pressure situations) about mental aspects of skilled performance. In Part one of this book,
I introduce sport and exercise psychology as both an academic discipline and as a
profession.