Elite rugby league players’ attitudes towards sport psychology consulting

Abstract

The primary aim of this study was to investigate elite rugby league players’ attitudes towards sport psychology consulting. A secondary aim was to understand the extent to which these attitudes might impact on the utilisation of psychological services in elite rugby league. A purposive sample of elite rugby league players (N=8) participated in a semi-structured interview designed to explore their knowledge, attitudes and experiences of sport psychology support. A general inductive analysis of the qualitative data was performed. Results show that despite the participants displaying positive attitudes and expressing a willingness to engage psychological services, many have concerns regarding how they will be perceived by significant others. Despite all participants describing their own use of specific mental skills in preparation for competition, only one participant confirmed having access to a full-time sport psychologist. Many participants indicated that attitudes of coaches and senior management are a key factor in the apparent lack of provision of psychological services within elite rugby league.