With his keenness for sports and inspiration from an overseas exchange module, 28-year-old Lim Jin Jie decided to go all in into sport psychology. From managing athletes’ mental health to enhancing performance at SportSG, Jin Jie gives us insights into how psychology is applied to varying aspects of sports in Singapore.
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00:00As a sports psychologist, I've seen that
00:02the sports sector is growing in Singapore.
00:06There's greater conversations around mental health,
00:08athletes and coaches alike.
00:10And I think that has helped to normalise
00:11some of the conversations about mental health.
00:19Hi, I'm Jin Jie.
00:21I'm an Associate Sports Psychologist with SSI.
00:23Prior to this, I was studying psychology in NUS.
00:30During my third year, I went on exchange to Canada
00:32where I took a module on sports psychology.
00:35So that got me interested in knowing more about sports psychology
00:39because firstly, I'm very interested in watching sports.
00:41I love sports.
00:43And also, psychology is something that I can see myself in
00:46as a career in the future.
00:47And then when I came back to Singapore,
00:49I managed to find a mentor
00:51who was able to explain a bit more about sports psychology
00:54and how it works in Singapore and how it's applied.
00:57After that, I was fairly convinced that
01:00this is something that I wanted to do with a psychology degree
01:03and I decided to pursue a career here in SSI in sports psychology.
01:08So as a sports psychologist,
01:09my primary role is to help athletes with their performance
01:12but also to take care of their well-being and recovery.
01:15My typical day entails support,
01:18mostly to the athletes and coaches,
01:20which involves a variety of activities.
01:23For example, consultations with the athletes.
01:26Sometimes when it involves teams
01:28or when it involves larger groups of athletes,
01:30then that would be in the form of workshops.
01:32Other than these direct contact,
01:34there are also different things that I do on the ground.
01:38For example, going down to the training
01:40just to check on the coach, just to check on the athletes,
01:42see how they're doing and how training is going
01:45and whether there's anything that I can help them
01:47in terms of sports psychology.
01:51I'm currently working with Contessa, who is an archer.
01:54I've been working with her for about a year or so.
01:57So this is something that we've been working on
01:59through consultations, trying to see how she's doing,
02:02trying to see how she's preparing well for competitions.
02:07I started working with JJ, I think, back in August 2023.
02:11Mostly because I needed a lot of help
02:12dealing with the stress that came up
02:15from competition preparation and from my injuries.
02:19The good thing about working with JJ is he's very flexible.
02:22He listens and then he puts things into, okay, A, B, C.
02:25It just makes it easier for me to comprehend, understand.
02:28And for me personally, an athlete doesn't come up
02:31just by myself, an athlete is produced
02:33through the efforts of the whole team.
02:34So all the different areas that sports science covers
02:37basically helps an athlete to target all the different areas
02:40to better improve the athlete's condition.
02:43It also gives me the assurance
02:44that when I step out onto the world stage,
02:46I will know that actually it's not just me, myself.
02:49I still have a whole team behind me.
02:51Those people who love me, they support me.
02:53They're all actually there with me on the line.
02:57Besides just preparing the athlete for competition,
03:00I think helping the athlete with the other life stages,
03:03be it in education, life after sport, before sport,
03:07these are really key areas.
03:09Because for athletes,
03:10we don't want to have to keep thinking about so many things
03:13when we are on the line, be it when we're in the court
03:15or even like pre-game, post-game.
03:18Because having the assurance
03:20that if you want to do sports and studies together
03:23or even to focus on sports first
03:24and then do your studies afterwards,
03:26that actually takes a lot off the mind.
03:29I feel it will make the athlete feel a lot better
03:31about their future as well.
03:38Sometimes when it comes to competitions or major games,
03:41then that's where we will share about different skills
03:43relating to the competition.
03:45Some athletes may have competitive anxiety, for example,
03:48and that's normal.
03:50That's part of the process.
03:51So it's more on us to kind of share
03:53what these skills might look like.
03:55For example, through different breathing techniques
03:57or different keywords to help them to focus
03:59on what they need to do at the moment in time.
04:05I think for me, it is a very fulfilling experience
04:09because I see myself as a facilitator of their experiences
04:15because they know themselves best.
04:18All I can do is to provide
04:21what I know about sports psychology
04:22to help inform these processes.
04:25While facilitating, I help to create that space
04:28for them to be able to process some of these things
04:30that they might be going through.
04:31And that helps empower them
04:34to be able to make the decisions that they can,
04:37that they have to in the future.
04:39In terms of sport, I would say
04:42you can't always win all the time
04:43and naturally there'll be ups and downs.
04:45So it's more of like treating it as a journey
04:47and moving together with the athlete.
04:50And I think when they come back
04:52and share about some things, I'm happy to hear
04:55because that means they are a bit more aware
04:57of what their thoughts are.
04:58So I think that's something that I take pride in
05:00when it comes to working as a psychologist.
05:04Compared to other sports sciences,
05:05I would say sports psychology is something
05:07that is not as objective
05:09as what other sports sciences would do.
05:12It's kind of between a science and an art.
05:14And I think it's a bit difficult to quantify
05:18that leads to different doubts
05:20over whether sports psychology is truly effective or not.
05:24Naturally, there's still a stigma in our society.
05:28People have the assumption that
05:30when I come to see a psychologist, I have a problem.
05:33But that's not the case.
05:34I think at SSI, what we do in sports psychology
05:38is able to help athletes with their wellbeing,
05:41helping them with these issues,
05:42but at the same time, we also help them with performance.
05:45So even if they're not having a problem
05:46or having an issue that they are facing,
05:48we can come in to help them to improve their performance.
05:52That being said, I don't think it's the only solution
05:55because we're just one of many factors
05:58that contribute to an athlete's eventual performance
06:01on the stage.
06:03We have to work together with the other teams
06:04so that we can help provide the best support to the athletes.
06:09One of the things that we work closely with
06:12is the medical team, sports medicine,
06:14because athletes, in their career,
06:17they are bound to have injuries one way or another.
06:20The sports psychology team would work
06:21with the sports medicine team to identify these athletes
06:24and help them to facilitate that process back
06:27as they recover and go back into competing eventually.
06:33There are many things that have been happening
06:34in the past few years that brought sports
06:36to the public attention.
06:38Compared to other countries,
06:40there's a lot of space to grow in Singapore
06:42in terms of the different ways we innovate.
06:46I think as a sports psychologist,
06:47I've seen that the sports sector is growing in Singapore.
06:51Especially after COVID,
06:52I think there's greater conversations around mental health,
06:56athletes and coaches alike.
06:57And I think that has helped to normalise
06:59some of the conversations about mental health.
07:01I think it also grew and gained a lot of attention
07:05because of high-level athletes.
07:07For example, Simone Biles, Michael Phelps,
07:10these are different athletes who have came forward
07:12and shared very candidly about their experiences
07:15with the mental health that they are facing.
07:19I started this job as a sports psychologist three years ago,
07:22but I've already loved it so much
07:24because of the different things that I've done.
07:26Managed to see, managed to work with athletes and coaches
07:30throughout these two years.
07:30And there's always the gratification that comes
07:33when athletes and coaches come back to you and say,
07:36whatever that I've shared with them
07:38has helped them in their competition
07:39or in their training.
07:41So that really keeps me going in my job.
07:44In the future, definitely what I would really hope
07:47is for everybody to have more conversations
07:50about mental health.
07:51And personally, in my role as a sports psychologist,
07:55then what I would hope to see
07:56is that when athletes and coaches come into this space,
07:59they will find a sports psychologist
08:00just like how they come and find a sport dietician,
08:04a strength and conditioning coach, a biomechanist,
08:06improving their performance and enhancing their performance.
08:09Of course, there's still the idea that we are here
08:12when they are facing any situation or facing any issues
08:15that they might be experiencing.
08:16But I would really love it if they can also come in
08:19with the idea that, hey, I want to improve my performance
08:22and I know you can help me.
08:24Let's try to work together to continue this journey.
08:27And this is my dream.