Tillämpad idrottspsykologisk verksamhet med inriktning mot tävlingsidrott och prestation : en komparativ studie mellan Sverige och Serbien

Sammanfattning: Aim The main aim with this study is to research weather there are differences in applied sportpsychology activities between Sweden and Serbia, with a focus on competitive sports andperformance. What are the differences and similarities, and in which way is the sportpsychology helping the sportsmen and sportswomen? The main goal with this study is tocome to conclusions that can be of importance to both countries development in applied sportpsychology activities. Method For this study the qualitative method was used and the design is descriptive and comparative.A practical comparison in the form of interviews has been done. Eight persons wereinterviewed at different times, four in Sweden and four in Serbia, one researcher in sportpsychology, one practitioner in sports psychology (a common term for a sport psychologist,mental trainer, performance coach etc.), one sports coach and one sportswoman in eachcountry. For the interviews an adequate interview guide was designed and used. Results Practical application in the form of various training opportunities within the sport psychologyfield, sports psychology advisory services and research in sports psychology are applied to agreater extent in Sweden then in Serbia. Generally, the Swedish sport psychology activitiesare governed of the National Sports Association and in Serbia of the National Sport Institute. Conclusions Sweden is one step ahead Serbia when it comes to applied sport psychology activities withinthe competitive sport, but at the same time both countries can learn from each others sportpsychology practice in different fields. Improvement that can be done both in Sweden andSerbia, when it comes to applied sport psychology activities with focus on sportsperformance, are identified mainly in the form of planning and systematizing the work ofsportsmen/women in their sport psychology preparation and to increase the quality of theservices offered by the sport psychological activities.