John Mathers

Dr John Mathers is a Chartered Psychologist with the British Psychological Society (BPS) and a BASES Accredited Sports Psychologist. He is the Director of Learning and Teaching in the School of Sport at the University of Stirling and lectures on sports science topics within the Sport Studies Degree Programmes. He is module co-ordinator for three sports science modules within the programme including module SPS9B4 (The Psychology of Sport) which centres on the control of behaviour in competitive sports settings. In addition to the academic teaching, John also provides sports psychology services to members of the University’s International Sports Scholarship Programme (ISSP). ISSP athletes are given the opportunity to combine their academic study with the development of performance in their chosen sport.

He also works with elite amateur and professional sportsmen and sportswomen from a range of different backgrounds and sporting interests. He has provided in-service workshops in sport psychology for the Professional Golfers Association of Great Britain, Belgium, Denmark and has also worked with a range of National Governing Bodies of Sport including the Scottish Cricket Union, the Scottish Hockey Union, Scottish Rally Association and the Scottish Institute of Sport. He has also worked with the SFA Referee Development Department providing advice and guidance to Category 1 referees who are responsible for officiating at SPL and SFL games.

John's research interests include the impact of anxiety on human performance, and on the golf putting stroke in particular. He has received external funding for this research from the Carnegie Universities Trust. His research work also extends to the impact of psychological factors (such as mood state) on performance in sport and perhaps most specifically, on the performance criteria in sport that a range of coaching interventions can be measured against.