Bautesportspsychologist

What is Sports Psychology and How Does It Work?

2007-09-09T18:04:00.000-07:00

SPORTS PSYCHOLOGY: what it is --and does

A Sports Psychologist helps with the mental and emotional factors influencing health, healing, overall wellness and sports performance, including conditioning and rehabilitation. He understand that thinking and imagery intimately affect the physical body and its healing capacity. He has experience using tools to enhance the intense motivation needed for peak performance.

Dr. Paschal Baute has focused on the power of imagery, mental rehearsal, systematic relaxation and attitude in sports performance for many years. He has helped athletes perform at championship levels. He was an Athletic Instructor in the U.S. Army, a Physical Education major at University of Notre Dame, and has coached at three levels: high school, college and the U.S. Army.

Paschal is also trained and experienced in the use of hypnosis to enhance sports performance. He himself has medals or championships in seven sports. He is the former President of the Bluegrass Hypnosis Society and member of the American Society of Clinical Hypnosis and trained in Neurolinguistic Programming. He used hypnosis in Smoking Cessation for many years with 85% success rate, also with appetite control and some addictive disorders. He has clinical techniques to deal with stress, anxiety, pain and depression for athletes and others.

Besides his work at Midway College in Human Resource Management, Paschal leads a program he has created for non-violent addictive offenders at the county jail.. Although semi-retired, he is still “on call” for hypnosis for smoking cessation and mentoring in sports psychology.

Paschal had 29 boxing matches on the college and U.S. Army military levels, with 21 wins. He held the welterweight championship in the Far Eastern Command (Japan, Okinawa, Phillippines, Guam, Hawaii, etc), and the welterweight Bengal Bouts championship at University of Notre Dame. In short, he has a rich background in both competition and coaching.

He and his wife are outdoors persons, still avid skiers and love winter-time. He is available for consultation in sports performance. Tel (869) 293-5302
His Web site is www.paschalbaute.com

Summary. The sports psychologist:
1. Understands how the mind, via attitude, imagery and metaphor programs the body for healing, wellness, and for athletic performance.
2. Has systematic and tested ways to promote healing, wellness and performance.
3. Understands the interplay of emotional, mental and physical factors..
4. Has experience with imagery training and systematic relaxation techniques.
5. Appreciates the effect of exercise on the immune system, total wellness and disease.
6. Understands the specific role of personality types in resistance and change.
7. Is familiar not only with typical ways people sabotage or undermine themselves and their health, but has tools for countering and reversing negative self-talk

How I got into Sports Psychology, by Paschal Baute

2007-08-30T15:08:00.000-07:00

How I got into Sports Psychology.
By Paschal Baute.

There were several turning points. Fist fights were common in my grade school, anywhere and anytime. I was not very successful, either in these or other competitive games, even marbles.
There were no opportunities for team sports, no Little Leagues of any kind, and no swimming pools. I did not learn to swim until summer camp, Camp Fort Scott, near Cincinnati til I was 12 years old. I felt very much the outsider with other boys and gangs. And was bullied and terrorized by one large boy who used to surprise me with rock throwing on the way home f rom school.

In my sophomore high school year, I had a friend who introduced me to the joys and challenges of distance running. I was hooked and began running distances just for the sake of doing it. At home in Lebanon, I would run to the swimming hole (nearest place then to swim) and back just for the sake of running and doing it. I continued this practice for 20 years well into my thirties, and often averaged 20 miles per week. During some very difficult and stressful times in my monastic life, I feel my running is probably what kept me sane.

In boarding school my senior year, I went out for all the sports I could. I earned varsity letters in football, track, swimming and riflery. A high point of my life, at age 17, with that background, was being one of two seniors in my senior class who earned four varsity letters my senior year.

I had picked up boxing gloves in high school, and by that time, learned to use my fists, with a good left jab and right cross. In college I entered the Bengal Bouts, boxing tourney at University of Notre Dame, and won one or two. I had my choice of several schools in the U.S. Army in 1948 and chose Physical Training Instructor School at Fort Bragg, N.C. Graduating, I was sent to Guam, Mariana Islands. in the South Pacific.

There in that M.O.S, I worked in Special Services to organize, conduct and referral sports for all the Army units on Guam, of which there were many. I organized volleyball and Six man flag football with round robin tournaments. I refereed boxing matches for pocket money. I participated on the swimming, track and boxing teams. I went to Japan twice once on the Swimming team and once as track coach of the Track and Field team from Guam. I think it was also then that I became qualified as a Red Cross Life Saving and also First Aid Instructor.

I won the welterweight Far Eastern Command Boxing Championship while there. Have pictures.
Returning to college, I majored in Physical Education at University of Notre Dame, became #1 man on the USAFR rifle team, participating in swimming (high point man on the freshman team, gymnastics, wrestling and won the welterweight Bengal Bouts Boxing Championship.

I was hired by the University of Michigan Speech Improvement Camp, near Traverse City, Michigan as a camp counselor and athletic instructor. I learned first hand, how athletics and sports could increase the self-image and confidence of boys of all levels who were handicapped in their speech, sometimes terribly handicapped. The camp was a powerful experience not only for the boys but for the diverse staff of both speech language teachers but athletic coaches. It was such a powerful and rewarding experience that I later considered doing my graduate work in speech.

When I joined the Benedictine monastery at St. Leo in Florida, we had a first class College Preparatory school, (now it is St. Leo University). Soon I was organized physical education programs for the entire school, grades 7 through 12., intramural sports, (each boy played on six teams each year and regular sports skills classes. Soccer was not well known. We organized our first high school soccer team, spiced with Latin students from Cuba, Venezuela and other Latin countries. We competed against adult soccer clubs from the surrounding towns, Orlando, etc, in the absence of any high school competition, but soon found more competition because soccer was growing nationally. We had the first high school soccer team and one of the first college soccer teams in the state of Florida.. When I took over as Athletic Director of our Prep, that also involved helping coach our high school football team.

After a disastrous beginning of that first football season–we lost the first two games by large scores and did not score a single touchdown–I decided I needed to go psychological, that is, to undertake how to get this discouraged team “back in the game,” more specifically up for the third game of the season, which was scheduled across the state with a team that was undefeated in the last ten games, St. Ann’s of West Palm Beach.

I will report only the outcome. I worked for days to get these young men so up, so ready, so believing in themselves, that they would not be denied victory that Friday night in September. It was a massive defensible battle played almost entirely in mid field between the 20 yard lines. Our guys would not let their guys score. We could not move the ball consistently against them, except on one single play which caught them off guard. We won 6-0, against a team that had been undefeated ten straight, and it was the turning point of the season for our players . I think we lost only one other game that year. I used a variety of sports imagery and imagination to ‘psych” our guys, but also allowed each one to buy in or not.

Being a distance runner early in high school, I was always fascinated with TIME, and beating my previous times, stretching myself each time. I knew that I could push myself, set a slightly faster paces, and if the conditioning were sufficient keep it til the tape. The four minute mile fascinated me, as I was a miler in high school, and determined to reduce my time each match. The world record for the mile had hovered at 4:01 for decades, and I was sure that it was a psychological barrier, one that was sure to be broken soon. College came along, then miliary service, then college again, and I did not stay focused on the mile run. Roger Bannister, born the same year as myself, broke the four minute mile record in May of 1954. After that psychological barrier had been passed, it was repeatedly lowered again and again. So challenging oneself to go beyond what others think is possible has been a fascination with me.

From the age of 18 to 23, about five years, I climbed into the boxing ring some 29 times, in from of crowds from a few hundred to several thousand, in the U. S. Army and back at University of Notre Dame, winning 21 of the matches. As stated earlier, I won several championships in the welterweight (147) class. Most of those times, 28, I did not know the skill of the other boxer . Once I was beaten in a boxing match with an Air Force guy, but I knew I did not bring my A game that night, so I challenged him to a re-match, and decisively beat him. That is the only time I knew ahead of time the actual skill of my opponent. Several times, I took some lickings.

My wife and I loved water skiing and slalom. We were often at the lake when the kids were growing up. I did not consider the day at the lake a real success unless I had slallomed 4 or 5 times, each time as long and hard as I could. My wife got us into downhill skiing for her 50th birthday. It changed out lives. We have skied 6 countries, ten states and about 40 resorts, Midwest, West Virginia, Vermont, Colorado, Utah and Canada. We are still crazy about it, and go weekly from December to March. I have raced in the NASTAR downhill competition against by age group and won the silver and the bronze. Each time I went for the gold I wiped out and about ruined my ski season, so no longer compete. I did have some real crashes and broken ribs. We have introduced many persons both to water skiing and downhill skiing and both were family sports.

I know first hand that sports performance is about attitude. I have been able to ski on bad knees for about four years, ever since the VA was ready to give me total knee replacement. No, no5 like I used to, but I ski and still have some awesome days on the slopes. We love the outdoors, particularly in the winter time.

Perhaps the above can explain how sports psychology became not merely a professional interest, but a passion and intimate part of my life. I learned via the use of professional hypnosis to give athletes the imagery they needed to excel, also over many years.

I have been honored to share this enthusiasm and skill in programming attitudes with many others. . .

.

.

What is Exercise and Sports Psychology?

2007-08-29T16:42:00.000-07:00

Sports Psychology and Exercise Psychology

What is Exercise and Sports Psychology?

Exercise and sports psychology are the scientific study of people and their behaviors in sports and exercise contexts and the practical applications of that knowledge. Specialists in exercise and sports psychology, identify principles and guidelines that professionals can use to help adults and children participate in and benefit from sports and exercise activities.

Most people study exercise and sports psychology with two objectives in mind: (a) to understand how psychological factors affect an individual’s physical performance and (b) to understand how proper participation in sports and exercise effects a person’s psychological development, health, and well-being. They pursued this study by asking questions such as:

Objective (a): Understand the effects of psychological factors on physical or motor performance.

How does anxiety affect a basketball player’s accuracy in free-throw shooting?

How does a coach’s reinforcement and punishment influence the team's cohesion?

Does imagery training facilitate the recovery process in injured athletes and exercisers?

Objective (b): Understand the effects of participating in physical activity on psychological development, health, and well-being.

Does running reduce anxiety and depression?

Do young athletes learn to be overly aggressive from participating youth sports?

Does participation in daily physical education classes improve a child's self-esteem?

Sports psychology applies to a broad population base. Although some professionals use it to help elite athletes achieve peak performance, many others are concerned more with children, the physically and mentally disabled, seniors, and average participants. Recently, more and more, specialists in sports psychology have focused on the psychological factors involved in exercise, developing strategies to encourage sedentary people to exercise and are assessing the effectiveness of exercise as a treatment for depression. To reflect this broadening of interest, the field is now called exercise and sports psychology, with some individuals starting to focus only on the exercise aspects of the field.

Information provided by Weinberg and Gould’s Foundations of Sport and Exercise Psychology

By Paul Susic MA Licensed Psychologist Ph.D Candidate (Health Psychology)

Overview of Sports Psychology: Brief History

2007-08-29T16:36:00.000-07:00

Sport Psychologists and the History of Sport Psychology

http://www.psychtreatment.com/sport_psychologists.htm

Although sport and exercise psychology are probably more popular then at any previous time, their development dates back to about the turn of the 20th century. Some (Weinberg & Gould, 1999) have considered the first North American sports psychologist to be a psychologist from Indiana University named Norman Triplett. Triplett was the first researcher to confirm that bicyclists sometimes rode faster when they raced in groups or pairs than when they rode alone.

The field of sport psychology has come a long way since the early days of Norman Triplett. Modern-day sports psychologists may engage in several different roles including conducting research, teaching, and consulting with athletes and exercisers. Not all sports psychologists are trained in the same way.

"Clinical sport and exercise psychologists are trained specifically in psychology to treat athletes and exercisers with severe emotional disorders, such as substance abuse or anorexia. Educational sport psychology specialists receive training in exercise and sport science and related fields and serve as mental coaches, educating athletes and exercisers about psychological skills and their development. They're not trained to assist people with severe emotional disorders" (Weinberg & Gould, 1999, p. 19).

Sports psychologists may utilize various approaches (Silva & Weinberg, 1984) to working with athletes, coaches and other interested parties in athletic situations and with patients in clinical settings. The approaches used in working in sport and exercise psychology include social-psychological, psychophysiological, and cognitive-behavior orientations. "Social-psychological sport psychologists focus on how complex interactions between the social environment and personal makeup of the athlete or exerciser influence behavior. Psychophysiological sport psychologists study the physiological processes of the brain and their influence on physical activity, whereas cognitive-behavioral sport psychologists examine how individual thoughts determine behavior" (Weinberg & Gould, 1999, p. 20).

In addition to assisting athletes and coaches in coping with various emotional concerns which may inhibit their opportunities to perform athletic functions including symptoms of depression, anxiety management and substance abuse, of particular interest to many are the various techniques and methods which sports psychologists have developed to assist in promoting the optimum performance of those in the athletic arena. Major areas of interest (Silva & Weinberg, 1984) which help in the accomplishment of these athletic goals include issues related to anxiety, arousal and performance, motivation, aggression in sports, group dynamics and exercise and psychological well-being.

The issue of anxiety is an important aspect of athletic performance. Sports psychologists may consider how to optimize the level of arousal and how feelings of stress and anxiety may influence the performance of the competitor. Both situational and individual trait anxiety are considered in developing mental preparation strategies to enhance performance. Relaxation techniques and mental imagery are classic techniques utilized to achieve these goals.

Motivation is also a key factor in successful athletic competition. Both external rewards and internal motivation are important considerations in achieving athletic goals. Realistic goal setting in itself, may be an important motivational factor.

Sports psychologists also continue to try to understand issues related to aggression in sports and group dynamics. Factors related to the acquisition and exhibition of aggressive behavior may be considered as well as how aggression correlates with performance in sports. Group dynamics may consider how the audience effects the competition from both the perspective of competitor and viewer.

Sport and exercise psychologists have began to research and provide information in the ways that psychological well-being and vigorous physical activity are related. Also, sport psychologists are beginning to consider exercise to be a therapeutic adjunct to healthy mental adjustment.

In summary, sport psychologists are really beginning to be recognized for the valuable contributions they make to assisting athletes and coaches in optimizing performance in competitive situations, as well as understanding how physical exercise may contribute to the psychological well-being of the everyday man or woman.

By Paul Susic MA Licensed Psychologist Ph.D Candidate

References

Silva, J.M. & Weinberg, R.S. (1984). Psychological foundations of sport. Champaign, Illinois : Human Kinetics Publishers, Inc.

Weinberg, R.S. & Gould, D. (1999). Foundations of sport and exercise psychology. (2^nd. ed.). Champaign, Illinois : Human Kinetics Publishers, Inc.