Sports psychology is simply the study of how sports, athletism, exercise, and physical activities are influenced by psychology (Silva 266). Sports psychologists work together with coaches and athletes in an attempt to improve performance and motivation. Some make the use of sports and exercise to improve how people live throughout their whole lives. The history of sports psychology is a short one that can be traced back to 1920 when the first sports psychology laboratory was founded by Carl Diem at the Deutsche Sporthochschule in Berlin, Germany. Five years later saw the arrival of two more laboratories one at the Institute of Physical Culture in Leningrad and the University of Illinois by A. Z. Puni and Coleman Griffith respectively (Silva 269). The first course in sports psychology was offered by Griffith in 1923 and later went ahead to write the first book on the subject known as Psychology of coaching. The industry experienced a downward trend with the closure of Griffith’s lab due to lack of funds but then experienced a revived interest in the 1960s when Ferruccio Antonelli started the International Society of Sport Psychology (ISSP) in 1965. By the 1970s sports psychology had become a course offered in universities and in the 1980s it became a center of focus for rigorous research by scientists on how to use psychology to enhance the performance of sportsmen and to use exercise as a means to improve mental well-being and reduce stress.

Modern-day sports psychology is a bit broader in scope. While it focuses on how to improve the performance and motivation of athletes, it also plays a major part in enhancing well being of those who are not sportsmen (Silva 267). Sports psychology has a number of topics to cover, some professionals prefer focusing on just a few areas that interest them, while others take on the broader way of the subject.&nbsp.