Sport and exercise psychology has been defined as 'the scientific study of human behaviour in sport and exercise as well as the practical application of that knowledge in physical activity settings' (Gill et al., 2017, p. 6).
In other words, sport and exercise psychologists examine an individual's emotions, actions and thoughts in order that the relationships that exist between their affective, behavioural and cognitive states in physical activity settings can be explored.
Weinberg and Gould (2019) have advanced this definition by distinguishing between Sport psychologists and Exercise psychologists. Whereas sport psychologists are concerned with understanding the effects of psychological factors on physical performance in competitive sport and athlete development contexts, exercise psychologists are primarily focused on how engagement in sport and exercise can affect an individual's psychological development, health and wellbeing.
For instance, a sport psychologist might be interested in exploring:
How can an individual's self-talk influence their performance?
How can imagery be used to reduce pre-performance anxiety?
How can the relationship that an athlete shares with their coach affect performance?
On the other hand, an exercise psychologist might seek to answer:
Does swimming reduce anxiety and depression?
Does participation in organised sport improve self-esteem?
How can goal-setting practices be used to reduce sedentary behaviour?
Whereas sport psychologists are concerned with understanding the effects of psychological factors on physical performance in competitive sport and athlete development contexts, exercise psychologists are primarily focused on how engagement in sport and exercise can affect an individual's psychological development, health and wellbeing
Sport and exercise psychology can, therefore, be said to be composed of two distinct, but related, sub-disciplines, each with their own objectives. In this way, most sport and exercise psychologists typically specialise in one sub-discipline or the other, not both.
References
Gill, D.L., Williams, L. and Reifsteck, E.J. (2017). Psychological dynamics of sport and exercise. Human Kinetics.
Weinberg, R.S. and Gould, D. (2019). Foundations of sport and exercise psychology, 7E. Human kinetics.
Nice read, I did not know there's a a thin line separating sports psychology from exercise psychology.Thanks for the