Sport psychology is a field of study that looks at how our minds and emotions affect sports and athletes. It has a long history dating back to the 1890s. In the early years, researchers like E. W. Scripture, Philip Tissie, Angelo Mosso, and Norman Triplett started investigating sport psychology (Bäumler, 2009; Kornspan, 2012).
In the 1920s to 1940s, the focus shifted to creating departments and laboratories that studied sport psychology topics. Different countries like Germany, Russia, Japan, and the United States started these research centers (Kunath, 2003). At the same time, sport psychology consultations with coaches and athletes became popular (Kornspan, 2012).
In the 1940s to 1960s, the application of psychology to sports became more common. Experts like Dorothy Yates, David Tracy, Bruce Ogilvie, and Thomas Tutko began working with athletes to help them improve their mental game (Espito Santo & Jaco ́-Vilela, 2016; Kornspan, 2012).
As interest in sports psychology grew, the International Society of Sport Psychology was formed in 1965, and since then, the field has expanded significantly worldwide.
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Espito Santo, A. A., & Jaco ́-Vilela, A. M. (2016). As invisibilidades da histo ́ria: Athayde Ribeiro da Silva e a psicologia doesporte no Brasil [The invisibilities of history: Athayde Ribeiro da Silva and sport psychology in Brazil]. Memorandum, 31, 56 79.
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Kornspan, A. S. (2012). History of sport and performance psychology. In S. M. Murphy (Ed.), The Oxford handbook of sport and performance psychology (pp. 3 23). New York: Oxford Press.
Kunath, P. (2003). Psychology and sport: A historical review. In E. Apitzsch, & G. Schilling (Eds.), Sport psychology in Europe. FEPSAC An organizational platform and scientific meeting point (pp. 20 26). Biel: FEPSAC. (FEPSAC Monograph 2).
