Coleman Griffith

Coleman Roberts Griffith (May 22, 1893 – February 7, 1966) was an American sport psychologist. Born in Iowa, he is often described as the founder of American sport psychology, though some historians have characterized this status as an "adopted" rather than uncontested title. Griffith studied at Greenville College until 1915, and then studied psychology at the University of Illinois. While at the University of Illinois, Griffith established what he claimed to be the first sports psychology laboratory in the United States. At this time Griffith worked closely with the University of Illinois football team, studying how factors such as psychomotor skills and personality variables related to performance and learning of athletic skills. Due to financial reasons, the Research in Athletics Laboratory eventually was closed, which led to Griffith becoming a sport psychologist with the Chicago Cubs baseball team. Throughout his time with the Chicago Cubs, Griffith examined the players and completed a series of reports for Philip K. Wrigley, the owner of the Chicago Cubs team, with the results eventually summarized in a large report. His ideas were met with resistance, but he helped the Cubs to be successful while there. Griffith ended his career in the department of education at the University of Illinois until his retirement in 1961. Griffith's main contributions to the field of sports psychology, according to historian Christopher Green, came from his publications The Psychology of Coaching and The Psychology of Athletics (1928). These publications were written during Griffith's time at the University of Illinois and covered topics such as how a coach must have knowledge in athletics, physiology, and psychology to be successful. Much of Griffith's research and publications have become the foundation for the widely growing field of sports psychology and many of his ideas are still used today.

Early life and education Born in 1893, in Guthrie Center, Iowa, Coleman Griffith was the first of four children. He completed his undergraduate degree at Greenville University in Illinois in 1915, where he met his future wife, Mary Louise Coleman. While at Greenville College, Coleman was freshman class president, a member of male quartet, a member of the baseball and basketball teams, an organizer for various gymnastics events. In 1927, after receiving a Guggenheim Fellowship, Coleman studied at the University of Berlin. Coleman was later named head of the Bureau of Institutional Research. Wrigley believed that Griffith could help the team by giving them a psychological advantage. Historian Christopher Green has described the engagement as among the earliest instances of a professional sports team retaining an academic psychologist on an ongoing basis to improve performance. Griffith built on his writings in the field of sports psychology through the Psychology of Athletics (1928).

2. Psychology and Athletics (1928) and The Athletic Journal Griffith built on his writings in the field of sports psychology through Psychology and Athletics (1928) as well as many contributions to a journal called The Athletic Journal. Griffith wrote about the basic problems and psychological components of athletic performance such as skills, learning, habit, attention, vision, emotion, and reaction time. The Athletic Journal, a periodical founded by John L. Griffith (no relation), was aimed towards writing psychology for coaches. Griffith's contribution to this journal was the foundation of Psychology and Athletics. Griffith's Psychology of Coaching, Psychology and Athletics, and contributions to The Athletic Journal were written during his time researching at the University of Illinois.

Later life Griffith's professional work in athletics came to an end after the Cubs' season in 1940. Four years later, he became the provost of the University of Illinois; however, this position ended over a conflict with Illinois' professor of physiology, Andrew Ivy. The disagreement stemmed from Ivy's claim to have discovered a cure for cancer called "krebiozen". This conflict caused Griffith to resign by force, although he continued to work in the Department of Education until 1961. As provost, Griffith helped facilitate the 1951 reopening of a sport psychology laboratory at Illinois, closed since 1932, under the direction of Alfred W. Hubbard. After retiring from this position Griffith moved and took a new position in the Oregon State System of Higher Education until he died in 1966.