ABSTRACT
The point is that now most sport performers recognize the role of psychology and are comfortable with the idea of 'mind coaching' – whether it is by a psychologist, psychiatrist, mental skills coach or other type of practitioner. This chapter addresses some big questions which have come from parents, teachers, coaches and performers, and they set the scene for what is to come later in the text. The questions are will sport psychology help me win, what percentage of sport performance is mental, from a psychological perspective, what are the hardest sports to excel in. The type of attitude change summarized by Sir Bradley Wiggins was enough to demonstrate the value of psychology. Sport psychology is a major part of the performance equation. The problem relates back to one of the central principles of applied sport psychology – control the controllables. Sport psychology can play a crucial role in developing the processes which make winning more likely.
