The strong media and public interest in sport psychology has had the unfortunate effect of publicising its sensational aspects, rather than its scientific and professional substance. The articles in this issue of Behaviour Change show that sport psychology does have strong connections with the mainstream of scientific and professional psychology, and that sporting settings provide a substantial and stimulating focus for a behavioural approach. Sport psychology's subject matter has overlaps with clinical psychology and with behavioural health care, there is a large and growing research literature, and issues of accountability and quality control have received considerable attention.