ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on new ways to approach the concept of play in psychology applied to sport. In sport psychology, there have been very few references to the concept of play. In everyday speech sport psychologists talk about watching a play, and playing music. Play connects to deeper ideas around identity and meaning, and is intimately connected to health in mind and body and to superior performance. Some of the reasons why there is so much talk about play in real-world settings could be because sport offers the athlete an opportunity to participate holistically: mind, body and spirit in unison. Play and the expression of playfulness have been associated with psychological health through its links to the concept of spontaneity. If the sport psychologists turn to well-being, health and play, one of the most striking qualities of play is that it involves much spontaneous thought and behaviour.
