Psychology in sport Mental preparation for sport & Psychological skills training.
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Transcript of Psychology in sport Mental preparation for sport & Psychological skills training.
Psychology in sportMental preparation for sport
&
Psychological skills training
Arousal
Arousal is a physiological and
psychological state of being
awake or reactive to stimuli
A mental preparedness for action, closely
associated with the concept of motivation.
When motivation increases so does
arousal.
With arousal the body gears itself up for
action, physically and psychologically:
- Heartbeat goes faster
- Breathing goes faster
- Increase in sweat
- Better focus
- Better concentration
Mind interacts with the body
Arousal
Physiological arousal
Refers to physical readiness for action:
heart and breathing rates, sweating,
reaction times are indicators for this.
Warm-up activities are designed to
increase physiological arousal in
readiness for peak performance
Psychological arousal
Refers to the emotional and
motivational state of the sportsperson
and can range from indifference and
boredom to alertness and then high
excitement or tension.
Theoretical approaches to arousal
Drive reduction theory- proposes that arousal increases to meet the perceived
demands of the task, so the performance is more likely to reflect the most
usual behavior (dominant habit).
Why do performances fluctuate?
Inverted U-hypothesis – suggests that (to a certain point) arousal levels are
too low for certain performances. Athlete is not ‘psyched up’ enough. But
there is a point where arousal turn to anxiety and performance starts to
deteriorate (‘psyched out’)
Catastrophe theory – multidimensional approach, suggests that performance
depends on a complex interaction between arousal and cognitive state
anxiety. Performance does not gradually get worse as arousal increases, it
rapidly and dramatically deteriorates -> catastrophically
Theoretical approaches to arousal, graphs
Drive reduction theory Inverted U-hypothesis
Theoretical approaches to arousal, graphs
Catastrophe theory
Is it a good thing or a bad
thing for a performer to be
worried for an event?
Does it depend on the type of
activity?
Arousal curvesWhat do the arousal curves tell you about the three
athletes?
Who is capable of the best performance?Who needs to be really psyched up before he performs at his best?
Whose level of arousal needs to be very carefully controlled for good performance?
1: Sam 2: Jon 3: Ted
Steffi Graf vs. Jana Novotna“choking”
Choking vs. Clutch performance
What are the emotions that influence the preparation or performance in a sport?
Participation in sport and exercise
influences a range of participant
emotions such as depression,
anxiety, and pleasure.
These are specific emotions that
have discrete effect on performance
• Positive emotions:
Excitement, relief, pride,
accomplishment
• Negative emotions:
Anger, guilt, shame, anxiety, boredom
A negative mood is more likely to
prime us to remember negative
emotions of past failures, and thus
reduce our feelings of confidence to
perform
A positive mood is more likely to
prime us to remember positive
previous outcomes and increase our
confidence to perform
Anxiety
The concept of anxiety is linked to the negative emotional feelings a person experiences such as worry, nervousness,
apprehension, or unease about something with an uncertain outcome. These feelings are particularly prevalent in sporting situations when winning or not losing are very important for
various reasons.
Anxiety
Anxiety that results from a
changing ‘mood state’
• Cognitive anxiety:
psychological anxiousness
(poor concentration,
confusion, negative images of
fear/failure)
• Somatic anxiety: physiological
effects (butterflies in the
stomach, sweating, tense
muscles, nausea)
Anxiety more related to a
person’s general
characteristics and personality
traits
• State anxiety: anxiety about an
event/situation, state anxiety can
be either cognitive or somatic and
it can even be a learned response
• Trait anxiety: anxiety as a
personal characteristic, general
acquired behavioral tendency to
become nervous
How is anxiety measured?
Self report tests,
HR monitors, brain
scan
Trait anxiety: Sport
Competition
Anxiety Test (SCAT)
State anxiety:
Competitive State
Anxiety Inventory 2
(CSAI 2R)
• Easy to administrate
• Can be used with large groups
• Can be open to bias/respondents can
reply how they think they should not
how they actually feel
• Responses are open to
misunderstanding by non-experts
• The questionnaire is not sensitive to
small changes in anxiety levels
• The questionnaire system is
inconvenient in a real sport situation/
can actually interfere with anxiety
response
• High scores on the intensity of
anxiety do not necessarily mean this
state is detrimental
Stress
Selye’s definition: “non-specific
response of the body to any demand
made on it”
Sources of stress are called stressors,
stressors come in many forms:
competition, frustration, conflict,
personal, physiological & climatic,
audience.
Stress is defined as: “a substantial
imbalance between the demand
(physical and/or psychological) and
response capability, under
conditions where failure to meet
that demands has important
consequences”
More examples of sport stressors
• Rewards, incentives, prizes
• Prestigious events
• Representative
honours/games
• Social evaluation
• Win at all costs attitude
• Pre-match pep-talks
• Parental pressure
• Inconsistent coaching/training
• Excessive time
demands
• Repetitive practices
• Excessive expectation
• Emotional blackmail
• Concerns about self-
image
Stress process
Research suggests that in analyzing
stress as sequential process it is
important to differentiate between
the performer’s perception of stress
and the actual potential
environmental stressors. (stress
can have a negative effect on
performance but also a positive
effect)
Many top class performers need to
feel under pressure to perform well.
Managing stress
• Reduce the problem
• Reduce the stress
• Control arousal
These techniques can be classified as mainly somatic or cognitive, and can
be taught through psychological skills training (PST).
PST refers to the systematic and consistent practice of
mental or psychological skills. Studies and some coaches say that PST can
attribute for 50-90% of an athlete’s performance.
However, PST
• is not just for elite athletes
• Is not just for problem athletes
• Does not give quick fix solutions
A performer is affected by a range of
psychological factors
Manipulation of these factors can
advance optimal performance
“How are psychological skills used in a
sporting context?”
PST
Psychological Skill training (PST) is
an individually designed
combination of methods selected to
attain psychological skill needs.
There is no quick fix single package,
each program must be individually
based on the psychological state of
the individual and, the sport.
PST skills: confidence, concentration
PST method is the tool that will be
utilzed to improve the skill
The PST program focusses on
optimizing performance by improving
self-efficacy and emotional control. The
athlete will complete sessions using
goal setting, imagery and relaxation.
Program consists of three main phases:
Educational phase – developing
understanding of the importance of
PST and how it can help
Acquisition phase – Athletes learn
how to use PST methods and how to
best implement them
Practice phase – complete training
in both competition and training
PST methods
Goal setting
Goals are seen as direct
motivational strategies
setting standards a
performer is psychologically
motivated to try to achieve,
usually within a specific time.
Goal setting is generally
seen as extremely powerful
technique for enhancing
performance through self-
confidence and motivation.
SMARTER
S –Specific
M – Measurable
A – Accepted
R – Realistic
T – Time bound
E – Exciting
R - Recorded
Types of goals
Outcome goalsFocuses on the
end product
Performance goalsComparing
present performance with
previous performance
Process goalsFocus on what can
be done to improve the performance
Mental imagery
Used for control or regulation of
arousal, improving
concentration, building
confidence and controlling
emotional responses (stress
management) and coping with
pain and injury.
• Imagery is a cognitive
function and is associated
with long-term changes in
performer’s behavior. By
recalling appropriate stored
information from the
memory a player is able to
generate images of
movement experiences
(almost as good and
effective as the real thing)
Mental Imagery
• Internal Imagery: picturing
what you would see if you
were actually doing the
skill yourself (kinaesthetic
feeling associated)
• External Imagery: see
yourself as others would
you, as if you are watching
yourself on a video
The mental imagery sessions will
use internal (imagination), and
external (video demonstration)
examples of performances. All
sessions will focus solely on optimal
performances and will be done in
real time and in slow motion.
Slo mo is especially good to correct
a certain technique. Athlete will
develop a competition-specific
session, this session will be
practiced intensely prior to and
competition