It has been suggested by Nideffer(0000) that one of the principal functions of sport psychology is to construct training programmes which develop self-regulation skills in performers via the use of such techniques as goal-setting, biofeedback, meditation, attention control training, mental rehearsal, relaxation and hypnosis.With this approach it is often the case that the clinician's skills are called upon to compensate for a lack of skill in self-control on the part of the performer in the face of increasing stress. In many cases the need [or intervention would arguably have been avoided had an educational approach to training been prescribed in the first instance. Furthermore, whilst there is a fairly extensive literature on the efficacy of such clinical techniques in dealing with psychotic disorders, there has been relatively little controlled empirical research conducted on the efficacy of clinical interventions in the area of . Downloaded by [FU Berlin] at 00:00 00 May 0000 0000 L. Hardy and D. Nelson sport. Most reports have been of a case study nature (Meyers and Schleser 0000, Silva l000), although exceptions to this do exist (see, for example, Mace and Carroll 0000).