Performance pressure in professional football

The fact that psychology is still given such a low important in football, but also in society as a whole, upsets me and makes me so sad,” said Robin Gosens. The left-footed Union Berlin player is a protagonist in the ZDF documentary “Erfolgsdruck im Fußball” (“Pressure to succeed in football”), which was made by film-maker and author Ella Poulhalec and is well worth watching.

Poulhalec spoke to several players and decision-makers for the documentary, which lasts almost 45 minutes. In an interview, TSG Managing Director Prof Jan Mayer provides insights into how and why TSG are actively and preventively addressing the issue. In collaboration with the TSG ResearchLab, sports psychologist Lina Bürger recently carried out a study on this topic that attracted nationwide attention. In addition, the first TSG Congress was held at the PreZero Arena under the motto of “Performance under pressure”.

“The results of the study are extremely important for us so that our coaches and sports psychologists know exactly what our players are mentally preoccupied with, why, and how they deal with it. The results revealed that women are affected by this more often and that anxiety increases in the second half of the season,” explained Mayer.

View the documentary here