Psychological Skills Training for eSports Athletes

The advent of video games as sport has been slowly developing since the 1980’s and has exploded in recent years, with over $100 million awarded in 2017. According to Bountie Gaming, eSports revenue will surpass $1.5 billion by 2020 and video game revenue surpassed movies and music combined as of 4 years ago. As popularity has increased, so has the competition, and more and more esports athletes are looking to gain an edge at the elite level.

Sports Psychologists have worked with athletes of all sports for years and are now helping esports athletes using the same methods as athletes from other sports. Astralis, a Counter-Strike:Global Offensive team, had long suffered from “choking” under pressure in tournament situations. In an effort to remedy this, they hired a Sports Psychologist named Mia Stellberg to work with them on mental strategies to overcome pressure and adapt to the various stresses present in their day-to-day lifestyle.

Sports psychologists use a variety of techniques to help with attaining peak performance and deal with pressure. Here at FPA Performance, we design a custom program for the athlete or team based on areas identified for improvement. Some of the techniques include learning imagery techniques to help practice situations that come up often in competition, from failure to success, which allows the athlete to practice anywhere they are. They can also focus on developing specific skills by going through a script designed in collaboration with their psychologist. Another major technique to overcome pressure is developing better self-talk. Self-talk is used in a structured way to help develop quick adaptation under high levels of stress, such as being the last one alive. Under these situations, self-talk can help reduce negative thoughts and create a simplified approach that reduces the feeling of being overwhelmed. Working with a Sports Psychologist can help esports athletes develop the mental skills necessary to go from amateur to pro, and move from pro to champion. Contact us at FPA Performance for an evaluation of what can help you move to the next level of gaming!

Citations:

https://medium.com/@BountieGaming/the-history-and-evolution-of-esports-8ab6c1cf3257

http://www.kfvs12.com/story/31140647/who-rules-the-entertainment-industry/

https://mashable.com/2017/02/15/astralis-counter-strike-esports-psychologist/