This study's purpose was to evaluate athlete willingness to seek help from
various sport-titled and non sport-titled individuals when confronted with
three common sport performance problem scenarios: midseason slump, return f
rom serious injury, and desire to perform more optimally. Athlete intervent
ion preferences were also assessed. Data were collected on a stratified (by
gender) random sample of 60 NCAA Division I athletes. Using an observable
one-point difference on a nine-point Likert-type scale and a corresponding
moderate to large main effect (Cohen's d > .40), results indicated that for
all scenarios, athletes preferred seeking help from a coach over sport-tit
led professionals, whereas sport-titled professionals were preferred over c
ounselors and clinical psychologists. Goal setting and imagery were the pre
ferred interventions. Hypnosis and medication were less preferred. The disc
ussion focuses on sport-related professional titles and athlete education t
o enhance service acceptability.