Observational methodology and sports psychology: state of affairs

Abstract

This paper examines the evolution of the observational methodology in developments in sports psychology. As noted in Martens’ pioneering work, the crisis in social psychology has seen a shift towards observation, an approach that has now become well established. Indeed, considerable advances have been made over the last decade, with different elements of the observational methodology (designs, observational instruments, data recording software etc.) being increasingly applied in the context of sports psychology and in various sporting disciplines (soccer, handball, basketball, hockey, swimming, tennis, judo, physical exercise, athletics etc.). This situation is crucial in the development of these new methodological approaches, and we need to ensure that they continue to bear fruit and can be applied in an open flexible way to the wide range of perspectives that characterize the field of sports psychology.