Mapping knowledge and experience about sport psychology consulting among Finnish premier football coaches

Abstract

Mikola, Noora 2016. "Mapping knowledge and experience about sport psychology consulting among Finnish premier football coaches” Sport and Exercise Psychology master's thesis. The Faculty of Sport and Health Sciences, University of Jyväskylä. 50 p. Background: Perceptions of sport psychology consulting in Finnish premier football have not been studied before. The current study was inspired by two earlier studies made in England by Pain and Hardwood (2004) and in Sweden by Johnson, Andersson and Fallby (2011) and was done in co-operation with the Football Association of Finland. The purpose of the study was to examine knowledge and experience about sport psychology consulting among Finnish premier football coaches. Method: Fourteen coaches within the Finnish male and female premier football leagues and first divisions completed the Finnish version of the “Psychology for Football Questionnaire” and then seven interviews were conducted. Results and conclusions: Only 1 of the coaches was at the time of the study using the services of a SPC and 57% of the coaches had previous experience working with a SPC. The most common way of co-operation with an SPC was individual meetings with the players. The quantitative results showed that the coaches perceived that they have the most knowledge in group cohesion (4.31 ± 0.75) and goal setting (4.15 ± 0.69). Motivation (4.86 ± 0.36) was rated as the most important topic. In collaboration with an SPC the most common topics were self-confidence (4.38 ± 0.52) and goal setting (3.88 ± 1.13). Group cohesion (3.54 ± 0.66) was rated as the most used topic among the players. The qualitative results show that the general opinion towards sport psychology was positive. Some coaches would like the SPC to work with the coaching staff, some coaches would want the SPC to have individual meetings with the players. All the coaches agreed that the SPC should be a warm and caring person who is easy to approach. Lack of finance and resources were described as the biggest barrier for using the services of an SPC, as well as fear and lack of knowledge. The possibilities for overcoming these barriers were success through mental training and education. Education was the biggest possibility for sport psychology.