Sports psychology studies the psychological processes and behavior of a person during physical activity. It allows us to identify, understand and optimize the internal conditions (personality, key skills) to contribute to an improvement in sports performance and to enhance a good experience of sport. In order to achieve sport excellence, this service considers the importance of working with other sport professionals (sport doctor, podiatrist, nutritionist, physiotherapist, sport readaptor) that integrate the athlete’s preparation. We consider it important to help people to live, not only free of the psychopathological or emotional symptoms that have led them to the clinic, but also to live their lives developing their potential to lead a balanced life full of well-being. Likewise, we believe that in order to achieve sporting success it is necessary to incorporate their sporting and family environment into the work with the athlete. Sometimes in the triad (athlete – family – technicians) divergences appear that hinder the evolution of the athlete. That is why we believe in teamwork, providing guidance and training to parents of athletes, as well as sports coaches.

The sports psychology team at Ergodynamics works by agreeing with the athlete specific objectives in relation to several key areas in which we can intervene to improve their performance:

Self-knowledge. It is essential for the athlete to know the main variables of his personality, what are his strengths and weaknesses. In this way, we can help him/her to maximize those positive aspects and favor his/her attitude both in training and in competition that will improve his/her performance and, above all, apply changes in those aspects of the personality that may be a handicap for the athlete.

Attention and concentration. The ability to focus attention in certain moments of sports practice is as important as the technique itself and it is possible to train it. In this sense, in Ergodynamics we use visualization techniques along with the most innovative and scientifically proven techniques such as EMDR, to help the athlete to achieve high levels of concentration when needed.

Goal setting. Depending on how you set your goals an athlete will be able to achieve them or not. To do it properly, your challenges must be realistic, difficult but within your possibilities. Focusing on aspects such as the development of strategies to achieve your goals will facilitate a good evolution, avoiding unnecessary stress and injuries.
The Egodynamics team consists of different sports specialists who will unify the objectives of the athlete and will make a common front to establish an integrated planning.

Motivation. This is another aspect that must be worked with the athlete, helping him/her to set specific goals, the ability to self-reinforce the improvements obtained and feedback the capacity for constant effort while still enjoying what he/she does.

Stress management. Often in training things can go well, but as important dates approach at the competitive level, it can happen that anxiety or anxiety play tricks on us, causing a significant decrease in performance. In this sense, a good level of self-confidence and emotional intelligence (learning to identify, understand and control one’s own emotions and those of others) are skills that will help us make a difference in achieving brilliant results.

Within the stress management section, we can use different techniques that help the athlete to better manage stress:

Biofeedback: Technique that allows to control the physiological functions of the organism. In this way, it enables the athlete to become aware of parameters such as heart rate, blood pressure or skin conductance. All of them are beyond our awareness and learning to control them helps us to a great extent to keep anxiety and stress at bay.
Neurofeedback: It is based on biofeedback techniques but with a different approach. It focuses on people learning to regulate their cortical functioning in order to optimize their performance and focus their attention more effectively.
Breathing and relaxation techniques: With these techniques the athlete can control (increase or decrease) their level of activation. This is usually the reason why performance in competition decreases compared to performance in training.

Communication: The athlete, both in individual sports and in those that are team sports, will always be surrounded by people. Difficulties in communication often lead to conflicts that become entrenched and these can have important consequences on motivation, for example. It is necessary to take care of this aspect.
Positive self-talk: Depending on how an athlete internalizes what is happening to him/her, he/she can increase or decrease his/her performance. Negative thoughts can cloud their performance and generate added suffering. Learning to be resilient in the face of difficulties involves being more optimistic and having a greater capacity to develop strategies when obstacles appear.

Management of emotions: In competition the athlete faces stressful circumstances of different nature that involve his emotions. Sometimes these can end up being detrimental to good performances. Learning to identify, regulate and channel them will help you to be more regular in your performance.

Planning the competition
Competitions involve many variables that can alter the athlete’s performance. Planning everything that depends on one will increase confidence, the perception of control and help the athlete to maintain concentration at all times. Sports routines go a long way in establishing a successful personal method of working.

Injury intervention
This is the most critical time an athlete can face. When you are injured, your world stops and, in doing so, it is important to guide your recovery and prepare you for your return in an appropriate way. A good active recovery will help to avoid future injuries.
Ergodynamics also has professionals specialized in other branches of psychology such as clinical psychology, child psychology and psycho-oncology.