Mental Performance Consultants’ Perspectives on Content and Delivery of Sport Psychology Services to Masters Athletes

Abstract

In the absence of sport psychology resources for Masters Athletes, mental performance consultants could benefit from information to assist consultancy with older adult athletes. We conducted semistructured interviews to explore 10 Canadian professional mental performance consultants’ (two men and eight women) perspectives of targeted content and the nature of service delivery to Masters Athletes. Following inductive thematic analysis, results for Content of Sport Psychology related to performance readiness (e.g., preparatory routines, mental focus plans); prioritizing sport (e.g., balance/time management, recruiting social support); preserving sport enjoyment (e.g., self-reflection, gratitude/sport as opportunity); and age-related considerations (e.g., managing changing physical realities). Results pertaining to Addressing and Delivering Sport Psychology Services included considerations toward age-related attributes (e.g., values/identity, engaged/invested clients) and accommodating barriers/constraints (e.g., time, stigma). Our results show there are novel considerations when consulting with Masters Athletes, and we discuss what these findings mean for adult-oriented approaches in applied practice.