R044 – Sports psychology Learning Outcomes

R044 – Sports psychology Learning Outcomes
LO1 - Understand the relationship between personality and sports performance LO2 - Know how motivation can affect sports performance LO3 - Know how aggression can affect sports performance LO4 - Understand the impact of arousal and anxiety on sports performance LO5 - Be able to apply sport psychology strategies to enhance sports performance

Sports psychology The coach of the local basketball team which you represent has asked you to assist them in using sport psychology techniques to improve other players performances. The basketball squad is a gifted group of individuals who are struggling to get results which reflect their ability.

Personality and sports performance
Photo by: © istock Photo Watch me How many different theories or approaches are there to personality?

Personality is a unique characteristics of an individual. Knowledge about personality is important to ensure optimum sporting performance. Personality is defined as: ‘The stable and enduring aspects of an individual that causes them to behave in a certain way. i.e. calm, nervous, shy, outgoing.

Your personality can affect the type of sports you like and excel in. These are just general rules however, you may be an exception to the rule! Personalities are often described by how introverted or extroverted the individual is. Introverted people tend to be quiet, shy, thoughtful and enjoy own company. Extroverted people are more loud, sociable, talkative and excitable.

Whether you are more of an introvert or extrovert can affect the type of sport you like to play. Introverts are usually shy. They perform better at lower arousal levels. Too much stimulation will cause them to be over-aroused and they will not perform well. Introverts tend to like sports which require: Concentration Precision Self-motivation Intricate closed skills Low arousal levels Individual performances/routines For example, archery, golf and snooker.

Extroverts are socially outgoing. They need high arousal levels to perform. Coaches and team mates need to keep them 'excited' about performing. They prefer team games with open skills and lots of unpredictability. Extroverts prefer sports which are: Exciting Team sports Fast paced High arousal levels Large, simple motor skills Low concentration For example, rugby and boxing.

Proposed that personality traits can be grouped together in two ways or dimensions. Think. Pair. Share – What type of personality are you and what type of sports do you enjoy?

A coach should be aware of the players in a team and the types of personalities in it. Some situations may suit certain personalities. i.e. willingness to take a penalty.

There are a few theories of personality: Trait Theory – Attributes are within us and underlying Observed/Social Learning Theory – Behaviours learnt by observation and copying

Trait Theory This theory proposed that personalities are: General (covering all situations) Underlying (inside of and part of the person) Enduring (long lasting) Predisposition (formed at an early age) This theory suggests that you are born with a certain personality type which remains the same throughout life.

Observed or social learning theory: This theory suggests that behaviour is learned through interaction with the environment and those around us. Therefore, the response made by an individual cannot be predicted by innate characteristics. i.e. This approach may explain why a young football player may criticise the referee for a decision as they see it happening regularly by professionals.

Task 1: Personality and sports performance
Learning Outcome 1 is assessed in this task You are to give a presentation to the basketball squad to help them to understand the links between personality and sports performance. Your should prepare a document to go alongside your talk which should include information about types of personality and factors that are important for the team to understand.

Motivation and sports performance
Think. Pair. Share – What type of motivation exist?

Motivation is thought to be a combination of the drive within us to achieve our aims and the outside factors which affect it. With this in mind, motivation has the following two forms, intrinsic motivation and extrinsic motivation. Players who are motivated will persist with the task, even when the odds are against them.

Intrinsic motivation comes from within the performer and is characterised by feelings of pride, self satisfaction and accomplishment from completing or succeeding in a task.

Intrinsic motivation include the thrill of scoring a goal, the satisfaction of winning a major competition. The feeling of well-being derived from such motivation ensures that the performer maintains the desire to continue with the activity.

Extrinsic motivation is more temporary and comes from a source outside of the performer. These are things which can encourage the athlete to perform and fall into two groups; tangible and intangible. Tangible rewards: Physical rewards such as medals, certificates and money. These should be used sparingly with young athletes to avoid a situation where winning a prize is more important than competing well.

Intangible rewards: Praise, recognition and applause. These should be used on a regular basis to encourage the athlete to repeat the behaviour which earned the praise.

A coach should consider the personality of the performer before deciding on the best way to offer motivation. Extrovert individuals enjoy the limelight and can be praised openly. Others prefer to be praised quietly, away from others. Intangible rewards are seen as more effective than extrinsic ones. Overuse of extrinsic motivation can undermine the strength of intrinsic motivation as the performer become reliant on external elements.

Achievement motivation is defined with the following criteria: Desire to fulfil a need. Drive to achieve a goal. Something that directs behaviour. Enables a person to focus or concentrate on a particular task. The theory of achievement motivation attempts to link personality with competitiveness. The main issue centres on the extent to which an individual is motivated to attain success.

Some people are more willing to place themselves regularly in situations where achievement is compared or evaluated against others. A person who has high levels of achievement motivation would have a tendency to strive for success, persist in the face of failure and experience pride in accomplishments. Achievement motivation is the balance between the desire to succeed and the fear of failure.

This theory based achievement motivation on an aspect of personality – based on two different motives. Need to Achieve (NACH) Characteristics: Look for challenges Concerned about standards of excellence and show high levels of performance Persist for longer Value feedback from others Enjoy performing in evaluating situations Are not afraid of failure Attribute their performance to internal factors; success due to effort, failure to poor concentration

Need to avoid failure (NAF) Characteristics: Preoccupied by failure Avoid challenging tasks Dislike situations in which there is a chance of success and in which others can evaluate them, as this situation is most likely to bring shame Perform worse when they are being evaluated by others Attribute their performance to external factors: success to luck, failure to tough opposition

In every challenging situation, everyone will have both a need to achieve (Nach) and a need to avoid failure (Naf). Whichever feeling is stronger will determine whether a task is accepted or declined. Motivation and the environment will affect: Which sports/activities you choose to participate in. How hard you try. Level of persistence with a task/activity. Think. Pair. Share – Reflect on whether you have a need to achieve or need to avoid failure motivation and in what situation these have occurred.

Task 2: Motivation and sports performance
Learning Outcome 2 is assessed in this task You must find out how motivation affects individual squad members and provide information to the coach which gives an overview of the links between motivation and performance and analyses the squad’s motivation levels.

Aggression and sports performance
Think. Pair. Share – Does sport offer an outlet for aggression or create more aggression?

Aggression between players, towards officials and by supporters is a constant source of concern in sport. In sports such as boxing or rugby there are behaviours which would not be tolerated in a non-sport setting, yet coaches may use aggression to ‘psych up’ their players. Clearly aggression has an unclear role in sport. Think. Pair. Share – Can you attempt to define aggression?

Definition: “Any form of behaviour directed towards the goal of harming or injuring another living being who is motivated to avoid such treatment” Baron (1977) Aggression has a number of features: Is a behaviour – wanting to hit someone is not aggression, but hitting them is. Involves harm or injury to another person – this can be either physical harm (cracked shin) or psychological Involves intent – harm which is done accidentally is not aggression.

Assertive behaviour: This is within the rules and spirit of the game and there is no attempt to harm. Some argue this is not technically a form of aggression as it does not involve feelings / actions towards another human. Legitimate force used.

Many sporting situations there can be a fine line between assertion and aggression. It depends on intent. It is sometimes difficult for officials to determine this. Assertion Aggression Grey area of ambiguity

Aggression can be direct or indirect in its nature. Direct – This is directed at an opponent or official. i.e. shouting at a referee. Indirect – This is aggression at an object i.e. throwing a racket in tennis out of frustration.

Aggression may present itself in many different sporting situations. This includes: Rivalry between teams/players based on past experience. Frustration caused by poor form, opposition and referees decisions. Scoreline or pressure to win Behaviour of opposition (foul play/taunting/sledging) Nature of the game (contact or non-contact)

There are two main theories to explain aggression in sport: 1. Trait/instinct theory - This theory suggests that aggression is genetically inherited and that violence lies within everyone due to a basic instinct to dominate. It highlights that aggression is present in all and competition brings this out in people.

2. Social learning theory - Aggression is nurtured through environmental forces. It is learned by watching and copying role models and becomes an accepted mode of behaviour if it is reinforced. Behaviour is learned through observation, imitation and reinforcement.

Aggression is not innate it is learned like any other behaviour. Sport can play a major part in aggression because we observe people being aggressive such as judo, boxing and rugby. Role models have a high influence over us and makes us more likely to imitate their behaviour.

Task 3: Aggression and sports performance
Learning Outcome 3 is assessed in this task You are required to highlight information about aggression in sport. This should include information about types of and reasons for aggression and use a variety of different sports to illustrate the main theories of aggression.

Arousal and anxiety in sports performance
The effects of arousal can be positive or negative and affects performers differently. It affects the body both physiologically and psychologically. Definition: “An energised state of readiness before performing a task” Think. Pair. Share – What situations can be affected by arousal?

Drive theory: This theory suggests a proportional linear relationship between arousal and performance. The more an individual is aroused the better the performance. With increased arousal the dominant habit / most usual behaviour will be reproduced. A poorly-learned skill will give a performance full of mistakes whereas a well-learned skill will give a skilled performance.

Problems with Drive theory: 1. Even highly skilled players ‘choke’ in highly charged situations i.e. Penalty shot. 2. By increasing drive (arousal) performers often resort to previously learned skills because they are dominant but may be incorrect. (novices, intermediates)

Watch me What is the inverted U theory all about?

The inverted U theory suggests there is an optimum arousal level and if aroused more than this performance will decline. When drawn on a graph this appears as an upside down U shape. At low levels of arousal, performance will be below par, the athlete is not psyched up.

As arousal increases so does performance, up to an optimal point. At this level of arousal performance is at its best (optimum)

After this optimal point, further increases in arousal will lead to a decline in performance. At this level of arousal performance declines.

The Individual Zone of Optimal Functioning (IZOF) is the area which the performer feels like movements are effortless and they make the right decisions quickly. ‘The Zone’ To maximise the chances of achieving IZOF athletes should: Be relaxed Feel confident Completely focus Be in control Have fun

Sports coaches and psychologists can measure anxiety through two main test. Sport Competition Anxiety Test (SCAT) questionnaire - This is a series of questions about typical response in certain situations. This is a valid way of predicting or measuring an individual’s response to stressful environments and is closely linked to personality.

State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) – This is a commonly used measure of trait and state anxiety.

Task 4: Arousal and anxiety in sports performance
Learning Outcome 4 is assessed in this task You are to carry out anxiety tests on individual squad members and analyse the findings for the coach. You will then produce a resource for the squad on how arousal and anxiety levels can affect sports performance for use after the testing has been completed.

Psychological strategies to enhance performance
There are many ways to deal with setbacks in sport and maintain high motivation. The following are popular methods used by athletes. Photo: © London 2012

Photo by: © ndanger on Flickr. This image is reproduced under the terms of the Creative Commons License Watch me How might setting goals help an athlete improve?

Goal setting is an effective method of progressing, managing demanded of sport and as part of injury rehabilitation. Timescales for goals: Goals set should be set and followed up with timely reviews. Individuals and teams will use short, medium and long term goals to allow for incremental success. Think. Pair. Share – What sort of goals might an injured athlete set?

Specific – targets must to the point. Measureable – can it be measured and compared. Achievable – the target must be challenging but yet reachable. Realistic – matched to the performers skill level. Time bound – Set for a particular time to be completed. When setting goals athletes should apply the SMART principle.

Bobby is a 100m sprinter and has set the following targets below using the SMART principle in order to optimise his performance on the track. Specific – “To take a 0.5 second off my time personal best time” Measureable – “I will time my runs every training session for the next five weeks of training” Achievable – “My coach and I devised the training programme around improving leg strength and power, and reactions for my start” Realistic – “We agreed that a 0.5 seconds off my personal best is realistic for my current ability and status“ Time bound – “We agreed to do the training programme four times per week for the next five weeks”

Watch me What goes through the mind of an elite athlete moments before an event?

Arousal control techniques can either increase or decrease activation before a sporting event. Think. Pair. Share – What techniques are you already familiar with?

Imagery: This is the formation of mental pictures related to the actual sporting action to reduce the feeling of anxiety. During imagery the performer will: Create a vision of calm/tranquil surroundings. Recreate a feeling of a successful movement. Create the sounds and emotional feelings experienced with success.

Mental rehearsal: This involves the athlete imagining themselves in an environment performing a specific activity using all of their senses (visual, auditory and kinaesthetic). The images should have the athlete performing successfully and feeling satisfied with their performance. Mental Rehearsal is used to: Relax Increase self-confidence Imagine goals Embed in pre-performance routines

Common energising techniques involve the use of audio and visual stimuli. Pep talks Listening to music Use of energising imagery Positive statements Positive language can be as simply as always saying ‘I can’ and avoiding the use of ‘no’, ‘I think’ or ‘don’t’.

The ability to focus on one stimulus and block out irrelevant cues such as noise from a crowd or opposition is called selection attention. i.e. a basketball free throw At other times, divided attention is necessary to complete more than one task and any one time. i.e. a footballer dribbling through defenders. Photo: ©

Refocusing: Being able to shift attentional focus is an important quality for elite athletes. Rapid decision making is the difference between success and failure. Example: A cricket batsmen will need to constantly refocus on different bowlers and fielders using the ball as a trigger.

Breathing Control/Regulation: This is the simplest way for a performer to reduce anxiety. The chest and shoulder muscles should be relaxed while taking deep slow breathes. A ratio of 1:2 breathes in to out is common. This enables enough oxygen into the body and can redirect attention and focus.

Releasing tension in muscles: This relaxation technique focuses on slowly tensing and relaxing each muscle group. This can become more effective with practice. Example: One method of progressive muscle relaxation is to start by tensing and relaxing the muscles in your toes and progressively working your way up to your neck and head. Tense your muscles for at least five seconds and then relax for 30 seconds, and repeat.

Any athlete can use a range of psychological strategies during a performance. There are many ways to judge impact. Assessment - Before you can determine which psychological skills an athlete may benefit from using in their PST programme you should conduct an initial assessment discovering strengths and area for improvement.

Psychological skills training programme (PST)
Pre and post testing – Undertaking a series of tests before and after the use of any psychological strategies will provide evidence of impact.

Basic measures of an improved performance may come from: Performance statistics i.e. goals scores, passes/tackles made Interviews Questionnaires Observations Think. Pair. Share – What information can you gain from each of the methods?

Methods of evaluating effectiveness: Feedback from athlete Looks at progress made Future recommendations This evaluation can be done through interviews, data collection and questionnaires.

Task 5: Using sport psychology strategies
Learning Outcome 5 is assessed in this task The coach has asked you to produce some guidance for the squad on the effective use of sport psychology strategies in order to enhance performance. You have been asked to work with an individual squad members to recommend and implement appropriate strategies to assist them in their performance. You should demonstrate your ability to draw upon relevant skills/knowledge/understanding from other units you have studied in this task.

R044 – Sports psychology Learning Outcomes

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