Sports Psychology: More Than Games

At first, it looks just like any other large departmental lecture. Scattered chairs and desks are filled in a large room by 140 students listening with varying levels of attentiveness. Professor Amy Baltzell speaks about the psychology behind intrinsic motivation, referencing a required reading from The American Psychologist.

But there’s something distinctly different about Baltzell’s Tuesday morning lecture. It’s a sea of gray with some Crimson mixed in, fidgeting as the 90-minute lecture carries on.

It’s the DHAs. They’re everywhere.

That’s because the class, Psychology 1003, has a different focus that most Psych classes. It’s not cognitive, abnormal, or even positive psych—it’s the Psychology of Sport. And not surprisingly, the students reflect the subject matter.

“I asked how many in the class were athletes, and 80 or 90 percent of the hands shot up,” Baltzell says.

If anyone is qualified to teach a class about athletics, it’s Baltzell. The visiting psychology professor from Boston University is also a former Olympian and National Rowing Champion. But when asked about her aim for the newly-offered class, she’s quick to point out the emphasis on the psych—not the sport.

“I want to provide the students with an overview of the field, both theory and research,” she says. “But I also want to give them an opportunity to reflect on the information as performers, and to see how it could contribute to their lives.”

Baltzell stopped short of saying that the class was designed specifically for athletes, but considering the makeup and the topics covered—the syllabus’ lecture topics range from “Coaching and Being Coached” to “Drug Use in Sport and Exercise”—it’s easy to see who the class has in mind.

“I saw it and I decided to take it automatically,” sophomore Evan Harris says. The Harvard men’s basketball power forward admits that his familiarity with the subject matter played a role in enrolling.

“It was kind of in the back of my mind,” he says.

But in the back of the minds of many was another issue. When the class met for the first time during shopping week, one of the scheduled teaching fellows was Crimson men’s soccer assistant coach Gary Crompton. A 13-year assistant with Harvard, Crompton is also completing a Master’s Degree from the Extension School.

But due to a lack of enrollment in the class, Crompton was left off the final TF roster.

“I was really looking forward to it,” Crompton said, “but it’s not going to work out this semester.”

But it begs the question: what if he had been kept on?

“It would only be a positive thing to have a coach as a teacher, as long as he was versed in sports psychology,” says sophomore football wide receiver Alex Breaux. “That’s the important thing. I think it’d make them a better coach, and as a player, it would give you more confidence in them, knowing that they know more.”

Across sports, however, opinions differed.

“It would be crazy if one of my coaches was a TF,” Harris says. “I don’t know if it’s the same with other coaches, but I definitely feel like there’s a difference between what you do on one side of the river and the other.”

Baltzell carries similar sentiments.

“Initially, I hadn’t thought it through because I hadn’t contacted him or invited him to be a TF,” she says. “Would it have been inappropriate for him to be a TF for his own athletes? Definitely. For other athletes, we would have had to see, but I’m grateful we don’t have to worry about that.”

Averted sectioning reassignments aside, teacher and pupil both agree that the class is more than just a glorified pre-game pep talk. Introductory Psychology or special permission from Baltzell was a prerequisite for the course, but for the small sect of non-concentrators or the athletically-impaired, Baltzell claims that there’s still much to be offered.

“One student who’s not an athlete came up to me after class and told me that everything I’m saying has helped her with her challenges in the academic realm,” she says. “We’re looking at current research on a number of topics, so we’re always speaking to performer on some level, whether it’s athletics or not.”

“I went to the first lectures and I realized how applicable it can be to my everyday life,” Harris says. “It’s my favorite class, in part because it does apply to everyday life.”

Still, there’s an undeniable advantage to taking a class about sports when you play one, too. And just as last spring’s highly-popular Psychology 1504, "Positive Psychology," seemed to boost the morale of each and every one of its enrollees, Psychology of Sport is a heightened experience for athletes.

“I think a lot of the stuff I’ll take away will help with training,” Breaux says. “Intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, a lot of that stuff goes along with training, and I can use it year-round. Later in the semester we’re going to learn about how to manage emotions, stress, and anxiety in your performance, and I think that could carry over to a football game and have a calming effect.”

But at a place like Harvard, where most competitors will see their athletic careers culminate in Crimson, the lasting effects of a learning experience must transcend the field, the court, or the ice. It is Harvard, after all.

“I feel like I’m going to learn some great things I can use on things unrelated to sports, absolutely,” Harris says. “Whether I play basketball after college or I’m in an office, I can definitely apply what I learn.”

—Staff writer Malcom A. Glenn can be reached at mglenn@fas.harvard.edu.