The esports industry has grown massively over the years, both in terms of revenue and viewership. This rapid growth has led to more people pursuing a career as an esports player and achieving the dream of making it to the top level. Just like any sport, achieving this dream has become increasingly difficult due to how competitive the field is. As with traditional sports, esports players practice, analyse and prepare more than ever to enhance their chances of achieving this dream. Winning that competition, getting selected onto an epsorts roster, or clutching in that vital moment comes down to the finest of margins.
Preparation is vital to ensuring the chances of success are increased. Sport Psychology is just as crucial in Esports as it is in traditional sports.
Why is Sport Psychology important in Esports?
As mentioned earlier, sport psychology is one of the components of performance esports players need to understand and practice. The use of psychological knowledge and skills to address well-being and optimal performance can have a significant role in helping esports players become the best version of themselves and achieve success. Players who spend time learning and developing their psychological knowledge and skills, incorporating this into their training schedule, will see their performances and results improve. Performance isn't just about grinding the game for hours and hours. Tackling performance holistically and spending time developing each component will take you to the next level.
Benefits of Sport Psychology
The question now is, how can Sport Psychology benefit the Esports player?
Controlling your emotions - Being able to not let your emotions interfere with performance, staying cool in those high-pressure situations, and not becoming 'tilted'.
Dealing with pressure - Feeling as though you can deal with those big moments in games, not choking, and being confident in your ability to stage a comeback.
Confidence - Believing in your ability to perform to the levels you know you can achieve, having little doubts about yourself and the situation.
Motivation - having the drive to train, scrimmage, and perform in competitions and achieve those goals you set yourself. Staying driven and motivated when things aren't going your way.
Focus and concentration - not letting external stimuli interfere with your performance, reacting quickly to the fast pace nature of esports.
Consistency - being able to perform and achieve those high levels of performance on a more regular basis
Team cohesion - ensuring the team performs optimally, keeping together, other's and having each other's backs to achieve your goals
Communication - ensures we communicate effectively and efficiently with teammates, instructions or call-outs to teammates are clear and help overall team performance
Support with injuries - helps players understand how to deal with injuries and how to keep motivation high whilst being side-lined
Coping with anxiety and stress - being able to perform to our best in competitions and training regardless of the stressors and demands affecting you.
Real-world examples of Sport Psychology in Esports
I have personally seen the impact sport psychology has on esports performance. I am an avid rocket league player and regularly play in the tournaments on the game with two other teammates. Due to me being better than my two teammates, they would always rely on me to carry them in certain games. I was able to perform well in the earlier stages but once it got to the semis or the final, I would choke and not be able to replicate those earlier performances. In short, I couldn't effectively deal with the pressure placed on me.
This situation is similar to the Astrallis CS:GO team (on a completely different level from my experience). They were very talented and people expected them to win tournaments. Despite this, they kept choking and couldn't make it past the semi-finals. They understood they had the ability to win tournaments but couldn't do this when the pressure was high. They hired a Sports Psychologist, Mia Stellberg, who worked with them on dealing with pressure and performing under pressure. Eventually, they went on to make it past the semi-finals and win the entire competition!
If you are interested in working with me to support your development, get in contact with me here at The Sporting Brain!
Comments