sport psychology essays chapters 5-7-13

Felipe is the field goal kicker for his college football team. In an important bowl game that will decide the national championship, Felipe is called on to hit a 46-yard field goal that will decide the outcome of the game (i.e. he makes the kick his team wins the national championship, if he misses, they lose). Using the 4-stage stress process proposed by McGrath, give as many details as you can to explain how stress might impact Felipe’s performance. Make sure your answer demonstrates an understanding of each of McGrath’s proposed stages. 

Stage 1- environmental demand, demand is placed on the individual, physical or psychological demand. His whole team, coaches, fans watching are counting on him to make the goal. He is being asked to do a lot and there is quite a bit of psychological demand because it is a win or lose everything moment. 

Stage 2- perception of demand, stress process is the individual perception of the demand. His stress will be based on how he is perceiving the situation. If he feels the immense pressure from everyone around him then he will perceive the situation as very stressful.

Stage 3- stress response, response to the perception of the situation, state anxiety, somatic state anxiety, muscle tension, change in concentration. He is most likely perceiving the situation as very stressful and is having high anxiety about it. This could cause him to tense up, waver his concentration, and feel the effects of state anxiety and somatic state anxiety. 

Stage 4- behavior consequences, behavior under stress, capability, demands, thoughts of capability. Because it is a highly stressful situation his behavior might change. He might get angry easier, tense up, want to be left alone, overthinking his abilities and how high the demands are.  

Refer to the situation in the first question regarding Felipe and his kick under pressure. pick your three favorite theories presented in the textbook regarding the relationship between arousal and performance (i.e. Social Facilitation, Inverted U Hypothesis, IZOF, Catastrophe, Multidimensional Anxiety Theory, Reversal) and explain what these three theories have to say about how Felipe might perform under pressure. For each theory, explain the theory in general terms and then apply it to Felipe’s specific situation.

Individual zones of optimal functioning- where best performance occurs, outside of zone is where poor performance occurs, on a continuum and different for every athlete. If Felipe is in the prime zone then he will perform his best. If he is outside of the zone he will perform poorly. 

Multidimensional Anxiety Theory- predicts that cognitive state anxiety is negatively related to performance, anxiety is high which causes performance to decline or performance is at an optimal level. If Felipe has low cognitive anxiety then his arousal will be at an optimal level. If his cognitive anxiety is high then his arousal will impact his performance. 

Reversal theory- arousal affects performance based on the individual perception of their arousal level, can be negative or positive arousal (based on interpretation and amount of anxiety and arousal felt) If Felipe's perception of how he is feeling and how much arousal he is feeling then that will be reflected in his performance. His perception of the situation is very important here. His arousal can help him or negatively impact his performance in the game. 

Again using the example above, explain how arousal might impact Felipe’s attentional field

Field of vision narrows when high arousal occurs during a game and expands during low arousal. Since Felipe’s arousal is so high during this stressful game, his vision will narrow. However, if his arousal is too high, then his vision will narrow too much and will no longer be optimal. If he is not stressed, low arousal then his vision will become too broad and will not be specific and be able to focus on his task

As a tennis instructor, you have been tasked with teaching children how to serve the ball. Describe how you might set up an effective reinforcement schedule to help them learn this task. Make sure you include specifics about both timing and nature of the reinforcements you would use 

• I would avoid any kind of negative reinforcement, like punishments to motivate the kids. I would focus on positive reinforcement such as praise. 

• Social praise- smiling, compliments. Activity- playing a game instead of drilling. 

• I would continue the social praise throughout the week and have a fun activity planned at the end of the week to reward the kids' hard work. Each day I would have them focus on a specific part of the serve. Practicing good form, throwing the ball at an appropriate height, stepping forward and not into the court, reaching up with their rackets, and hitting the ball hard enough to get it over the next and into the correct box. By the end of the week if they have mastered the serve they will earn a fun activity

Using cognitive evaluation theory, what advice would you give a new coach to increase intrinsic motivation in her players? Give THREE pieces of advice and explain how each piece of advice would be helpful in increasing intrinsic motivation. Make sure your answer clearly demonstrates the underlying components of cognitive evaluation theory. 

• People are more likely to feel motivated if they have competence, autonomy, relatedness and control 

• This increases intrinsic motivation- freedoms aligned with goals and values- Controlling aspect and informational aspects 

• Athletes have to feel like they can do the task and are able to succeed. They have to feel like they have a choice in what they are doing and are able to have a say in what is happening. They have to feel connected to the activity and what they are doing. They have to feel aligned with their goals and values in what they are doing. 

• I would encourage a new coach to get their athletes input on practices, strategies, games, ect on how it should run, what they feel they can accomplish and achieve, and how they can be best supported. Giving praise and rewards can help. 

• I would encourage a new coach to not hold so much power over their athletes and give them choice in what they are doing. Athletes can say no, as long as they are respectful. No excessive control or intimidation behaviors. Controlling feedback by not blaming or getting angry. 

• I would plan activities, drills that relate to skills and things the athletes feel they want to work on and will help them be successful in games. 

Your textbook covers many essential elements of a flow state. Loni is a distance runner who is experiencing a flow state. Describe what Loni may be experiencing by describing at least 4 of the essential elements. Then describe three pieces of advice Loni’s coach could give to other team members who are also striving to achieve a flow state 

• Loni may be experiencing a balance of challenge and skill, merging of action and awareness, total concentration of task, and loss of self-consciousness 

• She is totally focused on running and the run is challenging but also not too challenging to frustrate her, but enough so that she is not bored. She is totally focused on running and not anything else. Her worries are gone. 

• Coaches need to give motivation, and encourage optimal arousal and focus before their athletes perform

• Athletes should work on positive self talk, self motivating, having a let it happen attitude, going with the flow   

Melanie is a collegiate distance runner who has problems competing at her best as she is often over aroused before races. Because of her high arousal level, she experiences both physical and cognitive states and impair her performance. With as much specificity as you can, explain two techniques that Melanie can use to control somatic anxiety and two techniques that Melanie can use to control cognitive anxiety

Somatic anxiety- physical anxiety, stress or fear, nausea, rapid HR, muscle tension, sweating, breathing problems, dizziness. Progressive relaxation- relaxing major muscles until they are all relaxed- muscles cannot be tense and relaxed at the same time. Decreased muscle tension  equals decreased mental tension. Breathing is important for good control.  Biofeedback- physically oriented technique that teaches people to control physiological or autonomic responses to increase awareness and regulate your emotions, ect.  

Cognitive anxiety- mental uneasiness, negative thoughts, worries, overwhelming, impaired decision making difficulty concentrating. Neurofeedback- via brainwaves- helps athletes understand their thought process and increase athletes self-awareness and ability to self regulate. Autonomic nervous system controls reactions. Multimodal anxiety reduction- alleviates both cognitive and somatic anxiety and provides systematic strategies for coping skills in stressful situations. 

In competitive environments, we know that things don’t always go our way. Assume that you are coaching a player in a team sport (you can pick the sport for this example) and the player ‘screws up’ in such a way that it changes the trajectory of your team from winning to losing. Using your example, explain what advice you would give to your player to cope with the adverse outcome. Make sure you include for both problem-focused and emotion-focused coping 

Problem-focused coping- involves efforts to alter to manage the problem that is causing the stress for the individual. Pre competition vs competition plans, goal settings, increasing effort, positive self talk. I would make a plan with the athletes to get goals to be achieved by the game and goals to set for the game. I would encourage them to have a positive mindset and increase their positive self talk. 

Emotion focused coping- regulating the emotional responses to the problem that causes stress for the individual- mediation, relaxation, wishful thinking, self-blame, mental and behavioral withdrawal, cognitive efforts of the situation. I would encourage all of these behaviors. 

Assume Melanie's teammate on the collegiate track team. Aleeshia, is also a distance runner. She is struggling with getting psyched up for practices and often feels lethargic and flat during training sessions. What kinds of techniques would you use as her coach to ensure that she is putting more energy and effort into training sessions? 

Stress inoculation training (SIT)- coping with stress in increasing amounts to increase performance. This can help with stress and injuries. There are four steps- preparing for the stressor, controlling and handling the stressor, coping with feelings of being overwhelmed, evaluating coping efforts. Uses 30 minute cognitive behavioral work. Evaluate the demands of training- task stressors, performer stressors, environmental stressors.