Episode 7: Use Psychology To Compete Like An Olympian

Image via Flickr

This is Episode Seven of PsychCrunch, the podcast from the British Psychological Society's Research Digest, sponsored by Routledge Psychology.

Can psychology give you a competitive edge in sport? Our presenter Christian Jarrett learns about the importance of having the right competitive mindset, and how to use self-talk and positive imagery to boost your sporting performance.

Our guests, in order of appearance, are George Hanshaw (International Sport Achievers and HanshawPerformance.com), Marc Jones (Staffordshire University) and Sanda Dolcos (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign).

Studies discussed in the episode include:

• Cardiovascular indices of challenge and threat states predict performance
• The inner speech of behavioral regulation: Intentions and task performance strengthen when you talk to yourself as a You
• Effect of self-talk and imagery on the response time of trained martial artists.

Episode credits: Presented and produced by Christian Jarrett. Mixing and editing Jeff Knowler. PsychCrunch theme music Catherine Loveday and Jeff Knowler. Additional music Vincent Pedulla and Jeffrey Peterson (via Pond5). Art work Tim Grimshaw.

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Previous episodes:
Episode one: Dating and Attraction.
Episode two: Breaking Bad Habits
Episode three: How to Win an Argument
Episode four: The Psychology of Gift Giving
Episode five: How To Learn a New Language
Episode six: How To Be Sarcastic ;-)

PsychCrunch is sponsored by Routledge Psychology.