Sports Psychology and Athlete Well-Being
What this domain tests
Psychological factors in performance and recovery: arousal regulation, mental skills, overtraining and burnout recognition, and appropriate mental-health referral.
Core rules and concepts
- Arousal and performance: the inverted-U hypothesis and the individual zones of optimal functioning (IZOF) both argue that optimal arousal is individual, not uniformly high or low. Cognitive anxiety and somatic anxiety can diverge.
- Mental skills: goal setting (specific, measurable, process-focused), imagery, self-talk, and pre-performance routines have the strongest support when practised systematically.
- Overtraining continuum: functional overreaching (days to weeks) → non-functional overreaching (weeks to months) → overtraining syndrome (months). Markers include performance decrement, mood disturbance, elevated resting heart rate and sleep disruption.
- Burnout is characterised by exhaustion, reduced accomplishment and devaluation of sport; it is distinct from overtraining and often driven by chronic stress and low autonomy.
- RED-S affects both sexes and includes menstrual dysfunction, low bone density and impaired performance; screen with energy availability questions.
- Mental health: validated tools (PHQ-9, GAD-7) support screening but not diagnosis; know when to refer.
Worked example
A swimmer reports a 6-week performance decline, irritability, poor sleep, and resting heart rate 8 bpm above baseline despite unchanged training. Reasoning: this pattern fits non-functional overreaching rather than simple fatigue. The response is to reduce load, review sleep, nutrition and life stressors, and screen for depression - not to add more training or label the athlete as mentally weak.
Traps that cost marks
- Equating high arousal with better performance for every athlete.
- Missing depression because symptoms were attributed to overtraining.
- Breaching confidentiality when discussing an athlete with coaches.