KNES 399 MIDTERM 2

why is good seen as the enemy of great?

if you’re accepting of doing good why would you try to be great

what is psychological skills training?

systematic and consistent practice of mental or psychological skills for the purpose of enhancing performance, increasing enjoyment, or achieving greater self satisfaction

where do PST methods and techniques arise from?

variety of sources, mostly mainstream psychology

can PST have major effects on performance?

yes

what can PST be compared to?

weight training

why do most athletes tend to be underaccomplished when discussing PST?

they are great but don’t have the tools to manage their anxieties

what does PST require?

consistent and systematic meetings that are repetitive

is meeting with a coach once a month enough for PST to be effective?

no

why is PST important?

athletes feel that psychological factors primarily account for day to day fluctuations in performance, athletes spend little time training and practicing psychological skills

what are the different aspects of PST?

physical, technical, tactical, mental skills, and emotional management

what is meant by the aspect of technical in PST?

if I can do it today I can do it tomorrow, stable

what is meant by the tactical aspect in PST?

how you think the game

what is meant by the mental skills and emotional management aspect of PST?

how stable is the feeling of confidence

what do we often observe in terms of the different aspects of PST in high level athletes?

they are often maxed out at their physical, technical, and tactical aspects but need to focus on mental skills and emotional management

can we just add mental training to athletes?

no its something that they need to add into their training and work on

what is meant by the time spent training psychological skills? What does the time spent on training psychological skills depend on?

during the season how long do you spend physically training for competition, practicing psychological skills for competition, and how important do you think mental skills are to your performance and success

what is mental toughness?

the ability to consistently perform toward the upper range of your talent and skill regardless of the competitive circumstances

What is mental toughness in simple terms?

being your best when it matters the most

what is an analogy used to understand mental tougness?

it is a big umbrella term that a bunch of researchers think about how to manage and make it better

what constructs does mental toughness deal with?

constructs of motivation, dealing with pressure, confidence, and concentration

what is important to note about the attributes of mental toughness?

they are employed before (goal setting), during (coping with pressure), and after competition (handling failure)

what are the components in the 4C model of mental toughness?

control, commitment, challenge, confidence

what is the component of control in the 4C model of mental toughness?

handling many things at once and remaining influential rather than controlled, internal or external locus of control

what is the component of commitment in the 4C model of mental toughness?

being deeply involved with pursuing goals despite difficult times

what is the challenge of control in the 4C model of mental toughness?

perceiving potential threats as opportunities for personal growth and thriving in constantly changing environments

what is the confidence of control in the 4C model of mental toughness?

maintaining self belief in spite of setbacks

what was seen as the starting point of mental toughness and how to measure it?

4C model of mental toughness

why are psychological skills neglected?

lack of knowledge and comfort with teaching mental skills, misunderstandings about psychological skills (belief they can’t be learned(, lack of time

what is meant by a misunderstanding about psychological skills?

whether you have a fixed or growth mindset matters, if you have a fixed mindset you think you know what you know and can’t get better

what are some PST myths?

PST is for problem athletes only, its for elite training only, provides quick fix solutions, its not useful

what are keys to understanding PST?

while its a proven technique users must be realistic in their expectations, its neither magical elixir nor useless bunk, psychological skills can be learned but must be practiced and integrated into a person’s daily routine

what topics were identified as most useful PST topics by athletes and coaches?

arousal regulation, imagery and mental prep, confidence building, increased motivation and commitment (goal setting), attention or concentration, self talk, mental plans, imagery

what are keys to understanding PST effectivness?

intervention must be individualized, employed systematically over time, and multimodal (combining different psychological skills), education based PST enhances performance

what is the idea of a canned approach in PST training?

giving everyone the same thing and not being careful of individual needs

what is excellence the result of?

caring more than others think wise, risking more than others think safe, dreaming more than others think is practical, and expecting more than others think possible

what are the three phases of PST?

education, acquisition, and practice phase

what is the education phase of PST?

psychological skills need to be taught and learned, participants must recognize how important it is to acquire PST and how the skills affect performance, increases awareness of mental skills

what is the model of increasing awareness of mental skills in the education phase of PST?

green light (flow, everything is going good), yellow light (caution or refocus, a little tension but controllable), red light (real trouble and need for major coping)

what as an example of the education phase?

a pilot is the first person on the plane and they go through a fly checklist making sure they’ve done everything needed and athletes need to do the same

what is the acquisition phase of PST?

focus on strategies and techniques, tailor training programs to meet individual needs, provide general info to the group/team but be specific when developing individual programs, psychological skills should be learned and practiced

what occurs in the practice phase of PST?

learning skills should progress from practices and simulations to actual comp, focus on automating skills through overlearning, integrating psychological skills, and simulating skills you want to apply to actual comps, log books help chart progress and provide feedback for improvement

what is a tool used in practice phase along with logbooks in PST?

good, better, best tool (what did you do good, what can you do better, what did you do best)

what is the purpose of the practice phase in PST?

see if athletes can hold up skills under pressure because athletes often stop monitoring and don’t use tools properly when anxious

how can we move psychological skills beyond sport?

SPC are transferring skills to different work environments like astronauts, physicians, police officers, firefighters, dancers, coaches teach athletes life skills like goal setting and coping with pressure than can be used out of sports

what is the ultimate goal of PST?

self-regulation, after PST they should be able to monitor and self regulate their own emotional state

what is self-regulation?

ability to work toward one’s short and long term goals by effectively monitoring and managing ones thoughts, feelings, and behaviours

what are Kirschenbaum’s five stages in the model of self-regulation?

problem identification, commitment, execution, environmental management, generalization

what occurs in the problem identification phase of Kirschenbaum’s five stages in the model of self-regulation?

identify what the problem is, determine change is possible and desirable, take on responsibility for solution

what occurs in the commitment phase of Kirschenbaum’s five stages in the model of self-regulation?

how much you value the self-regulation, commit to change and deal with obstacle

what occurs in the execution phase of Kirschenbaum’s five stages in the model of self-regulation?

developing awareness, monitoring in real time, and developing tools in toolbox, self-evaluate, self-monitor, self-reinforce, develop appropriate expectancies

what occurs in the environmental management phase of Kirschenbaum’s five stages in the model of self-regulation?

create an environment that supports you and what you’re trying to do, plan and develop strategies to maintain mental and physical environment

what occurs in the generalization phase of Kirschenbaum’s five stages in the model of self-regulation?

can you take those skills and move them into real life

what are the implications of technological advancements in sport psychology?

it has taken sport by storm and this includes sport psychology, major technologies include virtual reality and eye tracking to see if they can keep their eye on the ball

who should conduct PST?

coach or sport psychologist as long as they can recognize their limits, recognize potential conflicts of interests when coaches implement

what is an example of a potential conflict of interest coaches might have in implementing PST programs?

if an athlete expresses concern about being scared to play in a game a coach is unlikely to put them in a major position (conflict)

when should you implement PST?

in the off season when there is more time

how long should PST last?

training should last 10-15 mins a day, 3-5 days a week

what is the best time in one’s career to engage in mental training?

should continue throughout and athletes sport participation, if you don’t use it you lose it

How should learning psychological skills progress? From what to what?

from practices and simulations to actual competitions

what are the key components in designing a PST program?

discuss approach, assess athletes mental skills, determine which skills to include, design a PST schedule, evaluate the program

how do we discuss our approach to developing a PST program? What are the key components of this aspect?

identify services to be provided, explain the differences between educational and clinical sport psychology consultants, discuss your approach, build trust and a good relationship with the client

how do we assess mental skills of an athlete in designing a PST?

assess strengths and weakness (either objectively or subjectively), use psychological assessment techniques (performance profiling, oral interview, psychological inventories), consider unique demands of sport, observe athletes competing and practicing, obtain perspectives of other parties involved

how do we determine a schedule when designing a PST program?

hold frequent, shorter meetings rather than longer, hold informal and formal meetings, when possible begin PST before the season begins, systematically schedule PST as part of daily practices, periodization or systemic periodization

what is periodization?

planned variation in key training variables, particularly volume and intensity, over predetermined training cycles

what is systematic periodization be proposed for?

proposed as a method for training mental skills through preparatory, competitive, and peaking phases

how do we evaluate how effective a PST program is?

don’t overlook evaluation, trainers have an ethical obligation to evaluate programs effectiveness, use interview, written assessments, and objective performance measure to evaluate

How do we read a performance profile?

darkened sections indicate degree to which an athlete believes he or she has mental skills of top performers in the sport

what are the characteristics of effective sport psychology consultants?

accessible and can establish rapport, flexible and knowledgeable enough to meet needs of individual athletes, likeable and have something very concrete or practical to offer, conduct several follow up sessions with athletes throughout season, trustworthy and able to fit in with team

what are the characteristics of ineffective sport psychology consultants?

have poor interpersonal skills, lack sensitivity to the needs of individual athletes, lack psychological knowledge to apply to sport setting, demonstrate inappropriate application of consulting skills at competitions, rely on canned approach when implementing psychological skills

what are guiding principles for olympic mental trainig?

mental training can’t replace physical training, physical training and ability are not enough to succeed consistently, strong mind may not win an olympic medal but weak mind will lose, coaches frequently don’t know what their athletes are thinking, thoughts affect behaviours, consistency of thinking = consistency of behaviour, coaches have varying views of changing technical mistakes vs mental, coaches must be involved, its ok to force athletes to take time do training, skills need to be measured to max performance , coaches need to think about their own mental skills

what are common problems in implementing PST programns?

lack of conviction, time, knowledge of sport, or follow-up

why do we regulate arousal?

stress is a part of our daily lives, pressure to perform has increased in sport, athletes who don’t effectively cope with stress can have decrease in performance and mental and physical distress, needed to stay focused and in control

what is the importance of self-awareness of arousal?

have to increase awareness of psychological states before you can control your thoughts and feelings, once you’re aware of optimal arousal you can employ regulation, how individuals cope with anxiety is more important than how much they experience, people who see anxiety perform better and cope effectively

how does arousal and anxiety compare from non-elite to elite athletes?

elite athletes see their anxiety as facilitative

what is a quote in regards to self awareness of arousal and regulation?

its not a case of getting rid butterflies its a question of getting them to fly in formation

what are some anxiety reducing techniques?

somatic, cognitive, and multimodal anxiety reduction

what are the somatic anxiety reduction techniques?

progressive relaxation, breath control, biofeedback

what is progressive relaxation?

learn to feel tension in your muscles then to let go of tension

what is breath control?

when you’re under pressure and tense your breathing is shrot, shallow and irregular, when calm, confident, and in control breathing is smooth, deep, and ryhtmic

what is biofeedback?

helps you become more aware of ANS and learn to control physiological and autonomic responses by receiving physiological feedback not normally available

what are the methods of cognitive anxiety reduction?

relaxation response, autogenic training, systematic desensitization

what is the relaxation response?

teaches individuals to quiet the mind, concentrate, and reduce muscle tension by applying elements of meditation

what is autogenic training?

focuses on producing warmth and heaviness to produce relaxed state (two physical sensations)

what is systematic desensitization?

aims to reduce anxiety responses to stimuli by trying to have response antagonistic to anxiety at the same time of anxiety provoking stimuli

what is the multimodal anxiety reduction technique?

cognitive affective stress management training, stress inoculation training

what is cognitive affective stress management training?

teaches person specific integrated coping responses using relaxation and cognitive components to control emotional arousal

what is stress inoculation training?

an individual is exposed to and learns to cope with stress (through productive thoughts, mental images, and self-statements), in increasing amounts thereby enhancing his or her immunity to stress

what are the five phases of stress management training?

pretreatment phase (assess skills and deficits), treatment rationale phase, skill acquisition (training in muscular relaxation, cognitive restructuring, and self instruction), skill rehearsal, post training eval

what is pressure training?

specific strategies designed to create and expose athletes to pressure in practice so they are better able to cope with pressure in actual competition (demands of training and consequences of training)

what does hypnotic responsiveness depend on in arousal regulation?

more on efforts and abilities of individual being hypnotized than skills of therapist

what are the implications of the effectiveness of anxiety reduction techniques?

programs have shown to be effective in reducing anxiety and increasing performance but improvements are less consistent, multimodal approaches have the most effect on performance enhancement

what is the matching hypothesis of arousal regulation?

anxiety management technique should be matched to particular problem, some crossover effects occur between techniques

what are the predictions of the matching hypothesis?

cognitive anxiety should be treated with mental relaxation, somatic anxiety should be treated with physical relaxation, if you’re not sure what type of anxiety is most problematic use multimodel techniques

What is the relationship between the matching hypothesis and social support?

to produce max anxiety reduction the specific types of social support should be matched to the specific anxiety problem (competitive pressure, technical problems..)

what is coping?

a process of constantly changing cognitive and behavioural efforts to manage specific external or internal demands or conflicts appraised as taxing or exceeding one’s resources

what have researchers found in regards to coping?

athletes must learn a broad spectrum of coping strategies to use in different situations and diff sources of stress, there are two types of coping

what are the two types of coping?

problem focused and emotion focused coping

what is problem focused coping?

efforts to alter or manage problems that are causing stress (Ex: time management, problem solving), used when stressful situations can be changed

what is emotion focused coping?

regulating emotional responses to problem that causes the stress (through relaxation, meditation), use when situations are not amenable to change

what are some coping techniques used by athletes?

thought control, task focus or narrowing, rational thinking and self talk, positive focus and orientation, social support, precompetitive mental preparations and anxiety management, training hard and smart