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I received my copy of The Sport and Exercise Scientist in the post today, and gave the cover the usual cursory glance. My scan picked up an interesting question: "Is studying anxiety interpretations useful for sport and exercise psychologists?". So I thumbed through and found a rather interesting debate between two sport psychologists, staged by email and reprinted for the benefit of others. The debate gave me heart and caused me frustration, because while it opened up an important avenue for research and practice, they both missed the fact that a theory has been in place for over 25 years that adequately addresses all of the issues raised. That theory is Reversal Theory (Apter).

Reversal theory is one of the few psychological theories of motivation or personality that takes sport really seriously and makes it a central topic. (When did Freud or Jung ever write about soccer, or Skinner go beyond teaching pigeons to play ping pong?)

ndividuals' motivations can directly influence their performance; this is especially true in the sporting world. Reversal Theory's "Eight Motivational States" provide the foundation for the AMSP, which; "provides a great way to help athletes and coaches understand themselves and use that knowledge to achieve their best performance under pressure." - Phil Moore, Sports Psychologist.