Description
Welcome to the latest issue of the Sport & Exercise Psychology Review. I write this editorial in anticipation of a summer of sporting fanfare, especially in Scotland, with the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games in July followed by the Ryder Cup in Gleneagles, Stirlingshire. Such iconic sporting events stir our jingoistic pride with at least one consequence: national squads procure the services of sport psychologists to confound the wrinkles of human psychology that belied them before. They wish to gain a home advantage or side-step a home disadvantage whilst moulding a cohesive and successful team. Sport psychologists offer precept and advice on these issues because of the substantial contribution to the field from a recently deceased ‘giant’ in sport psychology: Albert Carron. His cutting edge research left an indelible footprint within our field, and though absent now, he is immortalized within our finest journals and books. Fittingly, his name decorates these pages alongside Kyle Paradis and Luc Martin in their original article examining athlete perceptions of intra-group conflict in sport teams. Next, Charalampos Fountoulakis and Sarah Grogan present an investigation of the links between body image and exercise participation. Finally, Peter Olusoga, Ian Maynard, Joanne Butt, and Kate Hays explore mental skills training for sports coaches. Alister McCormick offers a case study using solution-focused brief therapy with an amateur football team. Andrew Evans and Matt Slater discuss the challenges of doing sport psychology with gifted and talent youth athletes. We have another intriguing discussion among Amanda Martindale, Dave Collins and Hugh Richards about whether elite sport is good for you. A week in the life of an applied sport psychologist comes from Pete Lindsay from the English Institute of Sport. Pete lets us peek inside the curtains of a typical week as head of sport psychology. I welcome Karen Howells, our new student editor, who has followed outgoing student editor, Matt Slater. Matt adds a touch of class to everything he does; he coordinated and delivered the student section with a clever blend of erudite and entertaining articles over the past few years and I am most grateful to Matt for all his help and support. Karen began her student editor role as she meant to go on with an excellent article about the dual relationship as a neophyte practitioner in sport psychology. The second article is Jo-Anne Kelleher’s reflections on the transition between therapist and sport psychologist. David Woods, Gavin Breslin, John Kremer, Yvonne Cooke, Sarah Corrie, and Alison Clarke discuss the place of sport psychology in the workplace while Janine O’Gorman and Gavin Breslin reflect on the working group in sport and exercise psychology. Helen Owton presents a review of the Brunel International Research Network for Athlete Welfare (BIRNAW) International Symposium. To conclude, James Lambdon offers his reflection on a recently published book ‘Becoming a Sport Psychologist’ by Dr Paul McCarthy and Professor Marc Jones. It has been a pleasure co-ordinating this issue of the SEPR on behalf of the Division of Sport & Exercise Psychology. The articles between these covers reflect the breadth and depth of research and applied practice within the UK and among our friends abroad. I am indebted to the authors for considering the SEPR as an outlet for their research and applied practice experiences. I’ll with a final pitch for the Ryder Cup and let’s hope our home support offers a suitable advantage to help Paul McGinley and his team retain the Ryder Cup in the home of golf. Paul McCarthy| Period | 1 Sept 2014 |
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| Type of journal | Journal |