A Professor of Psychology of Sports and Exercise at the University of Ibadan, Professor Olufemi Adegbola Adegbesan has advocated the development of mental game clinics in tertiary institutions and sports centres to provide essential support and strategies to enhance mental resilience for both athletes and non-athletes.
He made this call while delivering the 587th Inaugural Lecture of the University of Ibadan on behalf of the Faculty of Education.
The title of the lecture was: “A Mental Game: Revolutionalising Sports and Exercise Through the Lens of Sports Psychology Partnership.”
Professor Adegbesan explained that mental games in sports and exercise psychology is a collection of psychological characteristics that help athletes perform at their best, stating that these characteristics include: mental toughness, confidence, motivation, focus, resilience and emotional regulation.
According to him, mental clinics teach coping strategies, specifically for managing stress and anxiety, building confidence and fostering a growth mindset among participants, and promoting a healthy relationship with failure, encouraging resilience and learning.
Professor Adegbesan said that the concept of mental game applies to all life situations outside of sports and exercise, adding that one real life experience that many people can relate to is test-taking, stressing that whether it be at work, school or even at home, test-taking can be stressful.
He said the importance of sports psychology has been realised for decades but lamented that many coaches and athletes pay too little attention to how it can help them perform better.
Professor Adegbesan stated that physical aspects of sports are critical, but they become better and more significant when combined with an effective mental training programme.
He stated that mental games make the difference between winning and losing, having noted that it is becoming increasingly evident that the psychological principles underlying human sporting performance such as mental toughness, mindset and motivation are just as important as the physical ones.
He affirmed that without the mental aspect of the game, athletes will not be able to manage emotions or visualise success and this calls for a focus on the mental strategies needed to be successful in any competition as mental game coaching seeks to achieve the overall goal of performance improvement, and enhance consistency in performance.
The Inaugural lecturer disclosed that mental game research in sports and exercise psychology primarily focuses on studying the psychological factors that influence athletes and exercise performance, particularly aspects like motivation, imagery use, focus, self confidence, anxiety, stress management, and the ability to bounce back from setbacks.
He, therefore, called for strong emphasis on research activities related to sports and youth development, supporting the continuous growth of the sporting ecosystem and collaborations with private partners, aiming to attract athletes and sporting bodies for training camps.
Professor Adegbesan encouraged the National Sports Commission (NSC) to leverage the current globalisation of sports and exercise psychology to revolutionalise the sports business industry in Nigeria.
He advocated the inclusion of sports psychology as a mandatory part of the selection process of the National Sports Commission.
He advised that the Commission should mandate Sports Psychologists to be part of the technical team for athletes competing at different levels within and outside the country, adding that athletes with mental edge have the competitive advantage even if their physical abilities are equal to that of their opponents.
The Inaugural Lecture was the tenth in the series for the 2024/2025 academic session.
