The psychology of sport specializes in studying the behavior of all types of athletes from different sports disciplines without distinction, giving equal importance to elite athletes as to amateurs.
LOOK: DT Anniversary Awards: how to vote for the best athletes of the last three decades
In recent years, this branch of psychology has become very important, due to the benefits that can be achieved with proper psychological preparation, improving emotions, performance, and stress. Many amateur runners focus only on physical training, overlooking psychological training.
It is interesting to note how many amateur marathon runners include psychological training in their next training, due to the countless mental obstacles they experienced when they ran a marathon and failed to achieve the goal they had set for themselves.
The importance of psychological preparation before running a marathon is crucial, as it involves dealing with a series of mental obstacles that arise during the journey. As the distance increases, the difficulty of the competition also increases, as a result, we must be psychologically prepared to overcome the mental obstacles that arise.
To prevent the mind from working against them, a comprehensive training plan must be structured, in which both the physical and mental aspects are united.
The news portal BBC Mundo indicates: "Athletes and sportsmen have been using visualization techniques for years. Many athletes repeatedly visualize all the details, including the sounds and feelings associated with the most tense moments in their specialty."
Most sports psychologists agree that the pressure present in a competition has a negative impact on the psychology of athletes due to stress. As a result, performance is significantly reduced. Therefore, athletes must be trained in such a way that they have the necessary tools to optimally manage the anxiety that arises during competition.
With the help of a good sports psychologist, the athlete can exponentially improve their performance, as they will design a training plan specifically for the athlete, which will help them overcome the most challenging moments of the competition.
Keep in mind that mental strength in a long-distance competition, such as a marathon, is as important as proper physical training.