Nowadays it is practically normalized that teams, clubs, athletes or federations include professionals in the area of psychology and coaching, in their daily work to improve their performance. This professionalization or specialization in sports psychology is done with the main objective of improving the performance of the athletes. Although nowadays the coaching phenomenon has already started to be applied also with coaches, their staff, sports directors or any person linked to the athletic area of any institution within the sports industry.

Is Sports Psychology a good career?

Faced with this growing need, many programs and masters in sports psychology have appeared and we are going to talk about them today, so that you get a clear idea about everything that covers this type of graduate program in sports.

The first thing you need to understand is that these masters in sports psychology prepare and train specialists in getting the best out of athletes so that they can meet their goals during the season. Unlike other industries, a KPI that will define part of the work is whether it helps the athlete to win or meet his/her goals that were set at the beginning of the season, that is, the final score. We are talking about a result-oriented career when we talk about the top level of sports competition.

What does Master in Sports Psychology mean?

A master’s degree in sports psychology not only prepares candidates to work with athletes and get the best out of them, but also to work with the families and environments that surround the day-to-day life of the athlete, both in their professional sports career and when they retire and have to face a new stage away from what it means to be an elite athlete.

This program teaches that, in addition to the physical & technical conditions or the talent that an athlete, coach or industry professional needs to have to be successful, the mental aspect is as important or more important than the previous ones. Athletes and coaches are people, understanding and working with them on how to get the best version of themselves is what often makes the difference between victory and defeat, between winning a title or not winning it.

Where can you study a Master in Sports Psychology? | Aspects to be considered

A master’s degree in sports psychology has many factors that make it special. It is convenient to understand what makes each of them special, and that is determined by the universities or graduate schools that offer the master in sports psychology.

Professors during the Master in Sports Psychology

One of the most crutial aspects of this type of master’s degree is that the professionals are sports psychologists or sports coaching professionals who are currently working with athletes or high-level clubs/federations/agencies in different sports disciplines.

It is not only the theoretical knowledge that they can teach you, but they explain how they work and what is more important: things that have worked for them and things that have not. Because don’t think that sports psychology only has good moments. It is important that you understand that competitive sport has many more bad moments than good ones, but the difference is that a good moment compensates for the 7 bad ones. A differentiating aspect of many of these professionals who will teach you is that they will teach you how to prepare an athlete not only for success but also for failure. You need to understand that if it is already difficult to become an elite athlete, it is much more difficult to win in elite sport, that is, to be the best out of the best.

How can a Master in Sports Psychology help Athletes?

Well-known athletes in different sports will often be case studies that you can analyze during the master. But it will also be the athletes themselves who will tell you about their experience and how they work, what they like the most and what they have to do because it is part of their job.

Athletes will also bring you closer to reality and their day to day life. Their experiences, cases of success, cases of failure, their fears, concerns, challenges to be met…. If you are not aware of all this yet, it will bring you closer to the true reality of elite sport.

Practical content in a Master in Sports Psychology

One of the essential aspects of the master’s degree in sports psychology is its practical content and all the cases you will study about athletes, coaches, clubs, federations ….

Forget about taking notes all the time, the important thing is that all the theoretical concepts you learn you know how to apply them. It is useless to know the theory without interpreting what happens to the person. Sports psychology does not deal with clubs, it deals with the athletes or coaches who work in the club, regardless of their sport discipline.

Latest news in the contents of the Master in Sport Psychology

Discover the most unique techniques and the latest case studies that are applied today in professional sports. Do you want to be the best? We will always recommend you that to become the best you need to learn from the best. It’s about learning, reading, listening and interpreting, but always executing everything you learn from sports psychology professionals.

All the training you receive is good, but do not limit yourself to replicate what others do. Listen and learn from your referents, all this will make you create your execution plan together with your essence, learn to differentiate yourself and connect with the athlete or people you are working with.

Masterclass and webinars in the Master in Sport Psychology

Another of the many advantages is that you will have numerous classes and lectures that will be either face-to-face or virtual. In these types of classes you will focus on specific topics and go into more detail. Obviously it is important that, whenever you can, you can attend, because the more you know, the better you will be able to use that knowledge in real cases. Focus on what you are interested in but always be open to listen to things that are not your priorities.

Why is it important not to underestimate any masterclass in a master in sports psychology? Remember that you are in a training phase and the key to progress has 2 words: knowledge and contacts. Make the most of them.

Networking in the Master in Sports Psychology

Once again we arrive at the networking area, and what is the networking? Well, as always try to be aware that opportunities are provided by people, not by clubs or federations. The opportunity will come, but you need to be prepared and at the right time & place, but the opportunity never comes to you if you have not previously connected and established a personal bond with the person who hires you. Don’t forget that in the master’s degree in sports psychology your classmate could be your next co-worker or the one who opens the door for you in a club, federation or working with an elite athlete in any sport discipline. Treat people well, build your personal brand and create an indelible memory during your master’s degree about everyone you interact with, from classmates to professors. Remember that, although it sounds very inspirational, people do not remember you for how you work (you are supposed to have the basis and talent to be a sports psychologist), people remember you for the way you are.

What internship or jobs can you get in a Master in Sports Psychology?

Internships are also always a great incentive. They will depend largely on the type of master’s or postgraduate program you take, that is, the university, graduate school or academic organization that offers the master’s degree in sports psychology.

Each academic organization is a world of its own and here much depends on your career goals. If you want to work in a club it makes all the sense in the world that you do the master in sports psychology at the Escuela Universitaria Real Madrid Universidad Europea since besides being able to know how the sports psychology department of the first team works you will see how they work in the youth team, that is, you will know everything related to psychology and sports coaching in an elite club, in addition to all the teachers who are professionals who work in the club and other clubs, people who besides providing you with knowledge will teach you their work methodology and the things that work best for them.

There are many more masters and graduate programs related to sports psychology, we recommend you to ask yourself what are your professional objectives so you can choose the one that best fits your goals.