Prof. Dr. Jürgen Beckmann has been honoured with the golden pin of honour of the "Arbeitsgemeinschaft für Sportpsychologie" (asp). The professor of the Chair of Sports Psychology at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) receives the award for "his outstanding and extraordinary commitment to the development of national and international sports psychology".
The pin of honour was presented by asp President Prof. Dr. Bernd Strauß at the asp gala in Halle/Saale on the occasion of asp's 50th birthday. Prof. Beckmann also held a senior lecture at the event. Prof. Dr. Ansgar Schwirtz welcomed the participants. The professor of Biomechanics in Sport is president of the German Association for Sports Science (dvs).
Sports Psychology: Core subject of sports science with great importance for other areas of life
In his senior lecture on the topic "From scientifically reflected to scientifically founded sport psychological practice", Beckmann looked at the successful development of the discipline over the past 50 years. Today, sports psychology is one of the core subjects of every sports science course and is gaining importance in various areas of life. Findings from sports can often be transferred to patient collectives. For example, in its research on embodied interventions, the Chair of Sports Psychology was able to show that the padding of the left hand activates brain areas that support standardized movements. This can be just as helpful when shooting a penalty kick as it is with dizziness in older people.
Criticism: "We threaten to lose the generalists."
Beckmann, however, also took a critical look at current developments - not only in sports psychology. "Scientists today are increasingly evaluated on the basis of metrics and fixed categories - such as the sum of publications or impact factors. This endangers the culture of our discipline," warned Beckmann. Because the metrics mean that scientists in the pursuit of a career often only conduct research in singular and very narrowly defined subject areas. "We are in danger of losing the generalists who have an overview of the entire discipline," says Beckmann, who served as chairman of asp from 2005 to 2009.
Research in sports science should be oriented towards practical needs
A second point of criticism is that too little practice-oriented research is carried out. "Sports psychology is an increasingly important partner in competitive sports," says Beckmann. In football, for example, many jobs have been created for sports psychologists at junior performance centres. In the meantime, the DFB has even made these an indispensable component. "Therefore, we also have to orient ourselves to the needs that are verbalised by coaches, athletes and associations," demanded the habilitated psychologist. He also referred to the increasing importance of clinical sports psychology and urged that sports psychology should not be neglected in the school sports setting. "Because in school sports the foundation stones are set for the motivation to have lifelong fun with movement."
asp represents the interests of sports psychology in universities and non-universities. The organisation has around 450 members. The aim of the society is the promotion and further
development in research and teaching as well as in the fields of application of competitive, popular and health sports.
Homepage of the Chair of Sports Psychology
Information on the Working Group for Sports Psychology (asp)
Contact
Prof. Dr. Jürgen Beckmann
Chair of Sports Psychology
Georg-Brauchle-Ring 60/62
80992 Munich
Phone: 089 289 24541
E-Mail: info.sportpsychologie(at)tum.de
Text: Dr. Fabian Kautz
Pictures: private