APA Authors on Mindful Sport Performance

“Eye on the ball.”  “Just relax.”  “Short memory.”  “Head in the game.”  “Come on and focus!” Anyone who has ever participated in sports has undoubtedly been given such instructions at some point.  Coaches and athletes have long understood the importance of maintaining present-moment attention, letting go of past mistakes, and keeping a level head, but not necessarily how to teach or do these things.  For much of the history of sport psychology, the dominant approach to mental training for athletes (if athletes were given mental training at all) has involved the control, suppression, or elimination of the “negative” thoughts and emotions believed to interfere with performance. Over the past few decades, however, there has been a growing recognition of the lack of convincing evidence for the efficacy of these control-based strategies (Gardner & Moore, 2004), along with increasing support for acceptance-based approaches to sport performance enhancement.  Rather than control, mindfulness- and acceptance-based approaches emphasize how to relate differently (i.e., nonjudgmentally) to thoughts and emotions once they inevitably arise.

Acknowledgement of the potential power of combining awareness and acceptance (often cited as two primary components of mindfulness) during sport performance is not entirely new (e.g., Gallwey, 1974), but it wasn’t until the 1980’s that Jon Kabat-Zinn, a pioneer of modern research on mindfulness, did an initial investigation of its applications in sport. It took another 20 years for consistent and rigorous lines of research to emerge, and in truth, this science is still emerging.  Our group was among the first to develop and test a standardized mindfulness-based program for sport performers, which we call Mindful Sport Performance Enhancement (MSPE). More than a decade of theory, research, and practical experience has been integrated into our recent book, published by APA, entitled Mindful Sport Performance Enhancement: Mental Training for Athletes and Coaches.

The core of the book is our complete 6-session MSPE protocol, structured in an easy-to-follow format and accompanied by useful exercise scripts and supplementary handouts.  The intent is for readers to be able to guide themselves or others through this innovative program, and to adapt it as necessary for their purposes (e.g., to any particular sport; working with a group, team, or individual).  MSPE uses meditation-based practices to help strengthen a mindful perspective on performance and daily life, starting with more sedentary practice and progressing to mindfulness in motion. The training culminates with the mindful practice of key sport-specific movements, building a clear bridge between mindfulness fundamentals and direct applications to sport. Additionally, we suggest how to promote commitment to this type of training (often a challenge when it comes to mental training programs), outline best-practices for MSPE leaders and participants, and highlight potential applications to realms outside of sport (e.g., the performing arts).  Also discussed in the book are the theory and science behind MSPE and other sport mindfulness programs, with research support