SPORT PSYCHOLOGY

Sport psychology

Study of how the human mind influences sports, athletic performance, exercise and physical activity

MENTAL SKILLS

SCAMS - mental skills

• Self confidence

• Concentration

• Arousal

• Motivation

• Stress management

Stress management

Stress occurs when there is an imbalance between the demands of the task and the ability level of the performer to respond in a situation where failure has consequences.

Concentration

The ability to focus on a task at hand while ignoring irrelevant cues or distractions

Arousal

Degree of stimulation or alertness present in a performer about to perform a skilled task

Motivation

Direction and intensity of effort by a performer towards a given task

Self-confidence

Belief that a performer has in their own ability to successfully perform a desired skill or behaviour

MENTAL SKILL STRATEGIES

GRIPS - mental skill strategies

• Goal setting

• Relaxation

• Imagery

• Performance routines

• Self talk

Goal setting

Process of deciding on something you want to achieve, planning the steps to follow that will help reach the goal, and then working towards achieving the goal.

Improves performance by;

• Focusing attention on important elements of skills

• Boost self—confidence through achievement of realistic targets

• Positive mental attitude

• Improve intrinsic motivation

Types

• outcome goals → end results/times, difficult to achieve

• Performance goals → compare past/present, realistic

• Process goals → actions during comp, improve performance

  • Short-term → help achieve long-term goals

  • Long-term → achieved by attaining short-term goals

Mental Skills

• Increase and maintain arousal

• Decrease motivation (unrealistic goal) increase motivation (realistic goal)

• Increase concentration → focus on goal

• Reduce stress

• Increase or decrease self-confidence

SMARTER principle

Relaxation

An activity undertaken to reduce tension and the effects of physical and mental stress. It involves employing a relaxation activity to achieve the physical or mental benefits.

• physically → coordination

• Mentally → decision making/cue recognition

METHODS

• progressive muscle relaxation

• Breathing techniques/controlled breathing/centred breathing

• Music

• Autogenic training

• Thought stopping/self-talk

• Massage

• Flotation tanks

• Meditation

• Matching hypothesis → physical stress = physical relaxation and mental stress = mental relaxation

MENTAL SKILLS

• Reduce stress

• High motivation = decline in performance and over-motivated athletes use relaxation to control thoughts and focus.

• High performers shift concentration quickly from broad to narrow but over-aroused have narrow focus → relaxation focus on relevant cues.

• Reduce arousal

• Improve self confidence

Imagery

The mental recreation, using as many senses as possible, of a successful past performance or skill

Kinaesthetic senses → feel body as it moves through different actions: nerves in muscles, joints, tendons provide feedback.

Auditory senses → monitor the way your playing environment sounds.

Tactile senses → take in how your equipment feels.

Internal imagery → imagine what you would see if you were performing the skill.

External imagery → where you watch your performance from the view of an external observer.

• Reduce stress stress

• Increase/maintain motivation

• Focus and concentrate on particular skill

• Increase or decrease arousal

• Increase self-confidence

Performance routines

A ritual a performer follows to prepare for the execution of a task or skill

→ decrease chances of performer being affected by internal or external distractions.

Mental Skills

• Increase/decrease arousal

• Decrease stress

• Increase motivation

• Increase concentration

• Increase self-confidence

Self-talk

Talking to/thinking to yourself positively before, during or after performance

Positive cue words and positive emotions

• reinforce skill learning

• Changing bad habits

• Motivating performer

• Focusing attention

• Building self-confidence

Mental skills

• Reduces stress

• Increase motivation

• Change concentration - key phrases

• Increase or decrease arousal

GROUP COHESION

Group Cohesion

A term used to describe the extent to which a group stays together and unified in the pursuit of common goals and objectives

• task cohesion

• Social cohesion

Independent of each other

→ highly skilled and task motivated team can win even if they are not close friends

→ social competition = little task cohesion but high social cohesion

Task cohesion

How committed are the team members to achieving their predetermined common performance goal.

Social cohesion

The degree to which team members like each other and enjoy being together. Reflects friendship within a group.

Strategies to improve group cohesion

• Use of leadership

• communication

Use of leadership

Leadership groups are commonly used to give the playing group a greater sense of power whilst Leo entrusting the players with setting standards (both on and off the field)

Communication

Communicating clearly and regularly so all members understand their roles and responsibilities → clear and understood expectations/norms.

Goal setting (individual and team)

Set challenging but realistic goals for the team as a whole and for individual players - players are involved in this process

• within subunits - mid, attack, defence

DEVELOPS task cohesion

Team building

Helps to develop social cohesion by encouraging social interaction away from the sport

DEVELOPS social cohesion

Roles and expectations

Every team has their own group roles and group norms, which influence the behaviour of its members as individuals and collectively.

• group roles → shared expectations of how an individual should behave in a certain positions. Groups have formal and informal roles:

  • Formal → leadership group, coach, medical staff, fitness coordinator (task cohesion)

  • Informal → social organiser, end-of-season tour organiser (social cohesion)

• Group norms → shared expectations of how group members should behave. Norms can be both formal and informal.

  • Formal → improve task cohesion - warm up together, arrive in uniform

  • Informal → improve social cohesion - not official rules or policies but set of expectations developed by a leadership group introducing new players into team and culture (e.g. mistake = penalty)

Benefits of cohesion

• communication and motivation within group are extensive

• Increased feeling of the group rather than as individuals

• Players work together to achieve team goals ahead of personal goals.

• Players enjoy each other’s success

• High cohesiveness = high success rate in achieving goals

• More satisfied and willing to stay in group longer

Barriers to cohesion

• personality clashes

• Conflicting roles among group members

• Frequent changes to the group

• Disagreement on group objectives

• Lack of communication

• Power struggle between players

FACTORS AFFECTING GROUP COHESION

Social loafing

Tendency of individuals to lessen their effort when they are part of a group.

• other athletes working at lower intensity = excuse to put in less effort

• Belief that effort wont make a difference to the team

• Individual effort cannot be determined

• Task is perceived as meaningless

• Individual is competing against a perceived weaker opponent

TRAITS

• decreased effort at training

• Arrives late/leaves early to/from training

• Misses training

• Decreased form

• Expect team mates to cover their mistakes

Social loafing has a negative impact on individual and team performance - decreasing team cohesion

MINIMISED BY:

1. Team contract - group expectations, individual responsibilities, consequences of breaching rules

2. Develop rules of conduct

3. Create appropriate group sizes

4. Evaluate all members of group individually

5. Rotate responsibility and positions where possible to maximise individual contributions

6. Provide regular feedback to each individual player

7. Make a roster to ensure all players assist with setting up and putting away equipment

8. Set challenging individual and team goals for each training session

9. Make individuals accountable for effort by publishing results/stats for the team

Leadership

Refers to the leadership style the coach and the captain used and how this affects the group cohesion.

• authoritarian, democratic, lazed-faire (casual)

• Good leaders are key to developing socially cohesive team

  • Team goals

  • Individual roles

  • Team rules

  • Standards of behaviour

Team dynamics

The collective identity/goals/aims/norms/standards of the team OR the characteristics of the team including team stability, prior successes and failures.

• team stability → maintaining same playing group over time increases cohesion

• Stable group becomes cohesive and cohesive group becomes stable

• Prior successes and failures increase cohesion

• Common goals within team increases cohesion

• Shared understanding of strategies and tactics being used increases cohesion

Demands of the task also impact interaction and cohesiveness - three levels of communication/interaction;

1. Co-acting activities → team members work independently of each other to achieve the result

2. Mixed activities → combination of co-acting and interacting activities

3. Interacting activities → high level of interaction between team members (task cohesiveness very important)