By Sapna Pathak
Staff Writer

Superior athletic achievement – sinking the clutch free throw, driving in the winning run with two outs, nailing the landing off the balance beam – goes beyond the physiology of shooting a ball, swinging a bat or sticking a dismount.

Certain athletes have a mental makeup that marries a positive thought with a successful outcome.

Still, it’s fair to question whether everyone can be taught to succeed with the game on the line.

Sports psychology, the study of human behavior in the sports environment and the effect of sports on participants, is a growing field in athletics.

From the professional ranks to college campuses, sports psychologists help clarify the relationship between what’s inside an athletes’ heads and what they do on the field.

But what about high school athletes?

A chance for kids to thrive
Salem girls tennis head coach Curt Killion has brought his team to the Class L finals for the last three years. He said tennis is 99 percent mental, so he focuses on that aspect of the game in the short amount of time allowed each season.

A typical tennis season lasts six weeks, with two more for playoffs. Between regular- and post-season matches, Killion said he’s left with about 15 to 20 days of practice.

Taking a hint from Blue Devils softball coach Harold Sachs, Killion concentrates on self-motivation, team cohesiveness and preparing his team to “mentally peak” as the playoffs approach.

In the Granite State, coaches must be CPR and First-Aid certified, engage in a sportspecific Rules and Regulations course, and complete “Coaching Principles,” a course in the American Sport Education Program (ASEP).

“There is some sport psychology in the ASEP class,” said Dr. Heather Barber, associate professor of sports psychology at the University of New Hampshire. “But is there enough? I certainly think we should be doing more. A lot of time is given to legal issues and liabilities instead of learning how to cultivate a positive performance environment, a place for kids to thrive.”

Want vs. need
Neighborhood coaches and athletics directors who agree with professionals like Barber still list a number of reasons coaches do not need sports psychology education.

“First and foremost, money is a factor,” said Goffstown AD Howard Sobolov. “We’re working with a limited budget, so it’s first things first. I have to outfit and equip the teams. We could look into it, but in New Hampshire it’s not a high priority.”

Dave Gosselin, Manchester’s city athletics director, agreed with Sobolov, saying any extra money could be used more prudently.

Part of being a good coach, Gosselin argued, is playing a psychologist’s role. With some 40 sports in each Manchester school, there is enough interaction between coaches to address any issues that arise.

“I mean, it’s high school sports,” said Gosselin. “It is what it is. There’s only a small percentage who go on to play in college where there are sports psychologists on staff.”

Jane Clayton, athletics director at Central, said coaches would most likely be deterred if extra courses were added to their already taxing list of duties.

Sue Hutchinson, the athletics director for Pembroke Academy, had the same concern as Clayton. She said it’s hard to find coaches who will work for the stipend given to them by public schools.

Salem’s Killion, despite being a self-proclaimed liberal, said if he takes his coaching hat off and puts his parent hat on, he would think a sports psychologist is a luxury.

“Having a sports psychologist on staff is a toss-up,” said Killion. “Some are good and some aren’t. But I certainly wonder if a little extra training would show coaches how they affect kids.”

Like Killion, Sobolov said asking the community to fund hiring a sports psychologist would raise concerns. Sobolov said parents would forever question the effectiveness of a sports psychologist, viewing it as a “want” rather than a need.

Concord AD Bill Whitmore said he would have a hard time justifying hiring a sports psychologist for 1,000 athletes and their coaches.

“It would be a positive thing for the program,” said Whitmore. “If I had a wish-list, a sports psychologist would be a nice piece.

But with all the expenses and other roadblocks, it’s just not gonna happen.”

Dr. Kimberly Bogle, sports management instructor at Southern New Hampshire University, said there is a fine line between being a life-coach and an athletics coach. Bogle simply said some coaches don’t feel it’s their responsibility to question the effect of sports on an athlete.

Bogle said there is a paradox between the desire to win at any cost regardless of how a coach treats players, and the idea that coaches should be approachable.

Add in parents and the community, and Bogle said high school athletics is raised to an entirely different level.

“Coaches think it’s their job to show you how to biomechanically swing the bat,” said Bogle. “They may not take into account what their teaching style does to the development of the athlete. Are we in this for competition, or for the best development of athletes?”

Concord’s Whitmore asked, “How much is too much?” Whitmore said if coaches wanted to, they could delve further into First-Aid or CPR, but there needs to be a limit.

Whitmore added sports psychology is different than school psychology, but it would be difficult to introduce more training for coaches.

Nationally renowned sports psychologist Dr. Patrick Cohn owns and operates Peaksports. com. His Web site offers courses and programs designed for athletes and coaches at all levels to benefit from sports psychology.

Cohn said the best high school coaches know how to keep their players completely focused. Cohn defines being “in the zone” as “having a higher level of concentration and being totally engrossed in an endeavor.”

According to Cohn, there are two reasons high schools will not look at hiring a sports psychologist.

“One, they only have so much time to work with kids during practice so they think, ‘We don’t even have enough time to work on the physical parts of the game. When can we do the mental?’” said Cohn. “And two, there’s a stigma attached to the word ‘psychology.’ People think it’s for problem players or teams, or it has to do with lying on a couch.”