C4 Sports Psychology Flashcards
self-confidence
- is the belief in oneself
- results from the comparison an athlete makes between their goal and their ability
- increases athlete’s positive thoughts, clearer focus, higher performance
self-efficacy
- a form of confidence
- the belief one can perform within a specific situation
- affected by how highly a person values the activity
high vs low self-efficacy traits
- high: choose challenging tasks, persistance, adapative, positive, growth mindset
- low: worry, anxiety, depression, avoidance, give up
overconfidence
- overconfidence is an overbelief that one will succeed, regardless
- reduces attention and focus as they have no reason to change their strategy
why is some self-doubt useful?
- provides incentive to prepare properly (focus attention, physically and mentally ready)
- motivation to learn and receive feedback
Bandura’s 4 main antecedents of self-efficacy
- Performance accomplishments: past successful achievements motivate and improve the confidence (done it before, do it again)
- Vicarious experiences: watching others succeed convinces an athlete they may be capable also (they can do it, I can too)
- Verbal persuasion: external sources such as a coach can give words of encouragment
- Physiological states: knowledge that one’s body is physiologically ready to perform
goals
- aims or targets which give our efforts direction and purpose
- increase work output and success
3 types of goals
all three types are professively linked in order (steps):
PROCESS
- focus on performance of a physical movement/strategy
- reference point for performance
- provide structure as a base for other goals
- improve self-efficacy/confidence
PERFORMANCE
- achieving a standard or objective against one’s previous performances (athlete can control this)
- PBs, improving success %
OUTCOME
- the overall result of an event
- rankings, places, times, medals, wins
- also depends on external factors (teammates, opposition, ref/judges etc)
- therefore harder to achieve
short vs long term goals
- how are they linked?
- short: manageable focus points/steppings stones for athletes
- long: aim at a larger target
- both are necessary
- stepping stone/staircase model: long term at top, w short term as steps leading up to it from the current ability
- a PROGRESSION of goals
benefits of goal setting
- enhance focus and concentration (reduce distractions)
- boost self confidence (control over performance and progress)
- create positive mentality (persistence, growth mindset, committment)
- increase intrinsic motivation to excel (provide purpose)
- enhance skill, technique and strategy (skills developed through goal process)
- improve overall success
SMARTER goal setting
- Specific: to focus attention and define the target
- Measurable: able to be quantified against a standard
- Accepted: accepted by all people involved
- Realistic: extend ability/challenging, but within reach
- Time-phased: include a date, providing direction and point of progress
- Exciting + evaluated: inspired and motivated to achieve and receive feedback
- Recorded + reviewed: written down and reminded/reassessed regularly
purpose of strategy planning
- maintain control by minimising distractions and maximising preparedness
- what does an athlete need to do to be successful?
- review, improve and maintain this plan
pre-comp strategies (2 types)
PRIOR TO ARRIVAL
- rest (sleep + wake times, hrs)
- diet (what, how much, when)
- equipment check (+ spares)
- spare time (how spent?)
- travel (arrival, departure + method)
- mental prep (when?)
AT COMP VENUE
- arrival time
- who to report to (coach, teammates, officials)
- phys prep (when, length, activity, people)
- mental prep (arousal, visualisation, relaxation)
- dressing for the contest (when)
- meetings (team, indv. diss. w coach)
- who to spend time w (best mindset, reduced stress)
- final personal prep (indv. based)
comp strategies
have a number of common elements
- athlete/team’s game plan (set plays, pacing, formation, positions)
- performance reference points/checks (specific time/point to monitor + reassess performance/adapt, eg. half time, timeout, enhances conc and focus on performance)
- task relevant factors (focus on technique/performance components, help overcome fatigue/conc loss)
- mood/cue words (key phrases enhance focus, said or thought, eg. push, switch on, heads up)
KPIs
- key performance indicators
- eg. making 70% successful tackles, 20 disposals, 80% serve rate
coping strategies
- secondary plans/behaviours in place if each preferred behaviour should fail/be innapropriate
- must know that 1. necessary changes able to be made, 2. they are ready phys. and ment. to cope)
- apply to every aspect of prep (pre, during and after)
- part of team strategy
- w/o, team/ath is placed under huge pressure
- eg. hostile crowd (taunts/boos distract from performance, refocus thru task rel. factors/game plan)
coping with pain
trying to endure accumulated lactic acid, dehyrated, lack of fuel is a psychological task
1. expect the pain (not come as a surprise)
2. accept the pain (agree that w sport comes discomfort)
3. train for the pain (train at intensity + for specific environment/physiological stressors)
4. pain as a mental signal (provides focus on the task, signal for increased conc)
debriefing
- a process of performance review, highlighting positives, negatives + influencing factors of performance
- what went right/wrong? what was useful but didn’t work? what can be changed?
- PURPOSE: boost confidence, ability to improve + adapt, review own performance
GUIDELINES
- ASAP afterwards (fresh in mind)
- identify factors of performance that were not done (eg. not enough hydration, poor diet)
- strategy (identify ineffectiveness + reason for failure, for all - pre, during, coping)
- involve the athlete (able to analyse own performance, not rely on coach)
stress
- what
- 2 types
- a state of physiological tension produced by internal or external forces
- this causes stimulation and release of hormones
- stressors can be external (physiological, eg temp, injury, illness) or internal (psychological, eg relationship issues, failing, change)
arousal
- how is it related to stress?
- the amount of readiness or activation a person experiences when faced with a task
- high stress = high arousal = anxiety
AROUSAL THEORIES
- Inverted U Hypothesis (Yerkes + Dobson)
- describe graph
- what is peak arousal affected by (indv)?
- fine/simple vs gross/complex skills?
- most universally accepted
- arousal on X, performance on Y
as arousal increases, so to will the quality of performance until arousal is beyond the optimum level, at which performance will then diminish. - creates U with a peak ‘zone of performance’
- the location of the U is dependent on the sport (eg. sports with low arousal, U is further to the left, high arousal further to right)
PEAK AFFECTED BY:
- level of experience of the athlete (beginner = lower than skilled ath)
- personality
- perception of comp
- level of distraction
- therefore indv considerations must be taken into account to find optimum for each athlete
TYPE OF SKILL
- fine/complex skills: more focus required to move in a precise, controlled way (eg. golf, darts, archery) = LOW AROUSAL
- gross/simple skills: more based on physical exertion, full body (eg. running, long jump, rowing) = HIGH AROUSAL
AROUSAL THEORIES
- Catastrophe Theory (Hardy + Frazey)
- describe graph (4 key points)
- includes 3 aspects: physiological arousal, performance, cognitive anxiety
increases in arousal will benefit performace as long as cognitive anxiety is relatively low. - A: at optimum, arousal/anxiety (somatic + cognitive) is high but balanced, enhancing perf
- B: continued arousal = sharp drop in performance. Ath will either:
- C: continued arousal = continued perf decline
- D: lowering arousal, refocus = gradual return (potentially to optimum)
anxiety
- state anxiety
- trait anxiety
- choking
- a feeling of apprehension closely associated with an athlete’s concept of fear
- physical and mental response
- state anxiety: a response to a particular situation (eg. grand final, skydiving, test)
- trait anxiety: anxiety based on the personality of an athlete, perception of situations, etc
- choking: high stress/pressure causing a decrease in performance
symptoms of anxiety
- can be physiological (somatic) or psychological (cognitive)
HIGH ANXIETY
- cognitive: indecision, confusion, negative mindset, irritable, fear, avoidance
- somatic: increased BP, RR, HR, sweating, trembling, tightness, nausea, sleeplessness
- behavioural: biting nails, introversion, fidgeting, avoiding risks
techniques to RAISE arousal levels
Athlete directed:
- loud, stimulating music
- motivational videos
- goal setting
- vigorous physical activity
Coach directed:
- put emphasis on result
- pep talk
- goal setting
techniques to LOWER arousal levels
Athlete directed:
- accepting/acknowledging anxiety
- relaxation techniques (bretahing, meditation, yoga, visualisation, massage)
- slow, calming music
- company of others who are calm
- focus on task-relevant factors
- engage in distracting activity
Coach directed:
- downplay importance of contest (it is just another game)
- schedule time for relaxation
- be outwardly calm and collected
- direct attention to the process, not result
motivation
- the direction and intensity of one’s efforts
- can be a positive or negative force
- fluccutates depending on personal situations
Rushall’s theory of motivated athletes (4 principles)
- attend practicies, puntual, encourage others, involved
- achieve desired behaviours
- their ‘character’ takes on the desired features/behaviours
- requires few rewards to be motivated
self-determination theory
- what is it
- 3 innate needs for growth
- the degree to which your behaviours are chosen and self-initiated
- motivated without external influences/rewards
- indv that are self-determined seek 3 things:
- compentence (control + master skills)
- relatedness (be connected, care for others, a team)
- autonomy (act on one’s own terms, doing well for yourself)
positive motivation (4 types)
- encouragement of an athlete’s behaviours, to improve and do their best
- social reinforcers: praise, publicity, titles (eg. player of the match)
- material reinforcers: trophies, medals, money
- activity reinforcers: games, trips, rest
- special outings: party, social event
negative motivation (+ how should it be used?)
- discourages certain behaviours by creating a sense of fear and suffering for lack of good performance
- 5 egs: intimidation (threats/executing power), criticism, sarcasm, physical punishment, guilt (sense of shame)
- its use depends on the situation, ages and personalities of the players
- in general, positive motivation should be used 10x more than negative
intrinsic motivation
- motivation that is derived interally from within oneself (fully self determined)
- healthiest type
- athletes with it are most likely to persist in a sport no matter what, not based on external rewards
flow state
- the highest form of intrinsic motivation
- an optimal state of performance
- completely absorbed in the activity
- unbreakable focus and ability to selectively respond to cues
extrinsic motivation
- introjection
- tangible vs intangible
- motivation that comes from external rewards, recognition or consequences
- more easily lost: if the reward is reached
- introjection: internal pressure to perform out of guilt or to achieve recognition
- tangible extrinsic awards: able to be held (medals, money)
- intangible extrinsic awards: (recognition, fame, attention, support from fans
amotivation
- a lack of intention to engage in a behaviour
- feelings of helplessness, incompetence + pointlessness
- giving up
describe the relationship between the types of motivation
- a continuum
- amotivation-extrinsic-intrinsic
motivational techniques (4)
- goal setting: empowers athletes to accept the challenge of achieving a high standard
- extrinsic rewards: reinforce an athlete’s sense of competence and self-worth (must be informational - a token, not based on monetary value)
- music: inspirational/loud/fast for energy, calm/slow for relaxation, focus or concentration
- positive self talk: task relevant (focus on drawing attention to task), mood related (relates to athlete’s feelings), affirmation statement (making a claim to focus mind)
attention
- the ability to be able to concentrate on the correct things during performance
- what is correct will constantly change (dep on sport/indv/situation)
concentration
- the ability to completely focus on something for a period of time
- not necessarily the ‘correct’ thing
4 parts of concentration
- environment cues (selective response to them)
- maintaining focus (for duration of activity)
- situation awareness (ability to understand enviro)
- shifting attention (between styles)
describe the 2 dimensions of attention
WIDTH
- on a continuum from broad to narrow
- how many things you are paying attention to at once
- broad = many things, narrow = specifically 1-2 things
DIRECTION
- internal or external
- internal: attention focused toward own thoughts/feelings
- external: focus on environmental events/outside source
4 types of attention
- pros and cons of each
BROAD EXTERNAL
- ASSESS
- process a lrg amount of info @ once
- scanning + awareness
Cons
- suffer from info overload
- slow decision making
BROAD INTERNAL
- ANALYSE
- wide internal thinking, able to sum up play
- big picture decision making
- good at planning strategies/solutions
Cons:
- can miss imp ext cues (caught up in their head)
- over analytical
- delayed reaction time
NARROW INTERNAL
- PREPARE
- narrow focus on thoughts
- best style when changes are slow and predictable (eg. darts)
- good body awareness
Cons
- can become overly critical of their performance
- fail to incorporate new info from enviro
NARROW EXTERNAL
- ACT
- focus on one/few enviro cues (eg. golf putt)
- best for closed environments + limited cues
- block out all distraction
Cons
- hard to cope in a changing, fast paced enviro
- missing of enviro cues due to narrow hearing/vision
how are the attention styles used by an athlete?
- ideally, athletes should be able to switch between the styles based on what is needed at the time (enviro, situation etc)
- this is hard to do.
- most athletes are naturally dominant in one type
When does an attentional mismatch occur? (5)
- domiant attention style is inappropriate for the situation
- unable to adopt or maintain an attention style
- internal or external overload (too many stimuli)
- involuntary internal narrowing (attention narrows as fatigue/arousal increases) - TUNNEL VISION
- choking (stressed downward spiral)
visualisation
- why is it useful
the ability to watch yourself in your mind’s eye
- helps accelerate learning process
- establishes connections between the brain + muscles required to move
senses involved in visualisation
- visual (seeing yourself perform)
- auditory (sounds associated w the environment)
- kinaesthetic (feel yourself moving, touch)
- the more senses used, the more effective it is
VISUALISATION
- why is it necessary (3)
Visualisation helps:
- aid concentration - exclude distractions
- reduce anxiety + physical tension - to achieve optimal arousal
- suggest possible course of action - problem solving
VISUALISATION
2. Mental rehearsal (5 techniques)
- Performance practice
- visualisation of a skill
- aids development + confidence
- useful during sickness/injury where physical actvitity is not possible - Instant preplay
- for closed skills (predictable, repeated + self paced)
- immediately prior to executing a skill
- shows a perfect scenario - During performance
- ‘acting/performing’ as someone /something else to evoke desired feelings/movements - Instant replay
- for closed skills
- replaying a moment visually
- imprints perfect action more deeply, identitfies alterations to performance - Performance review
- visual review of an entire performance
- re-experiencing through your mind
- includes intangible + subjective elements (eg. mental/emotional aspects)
VISUALISATION
- guidelines for mental rehearsal (10)
- start w relaxation (reduce tension, assist organisation of new info)
- stay alert (conc will enhance strength of visual imagery)
- use present tense (more vivid)
- set realistic goals (imagine high but achieveable level of perf)
- set specific goals (= greater effect it will have)
- use all senses (visual, auditory, kinaesthetic, taste + smell = more powerful)
- inside-out (first pers) and outside-in (third pers) (use a combination)
- visualise at correct speed (of actual perf)
- practice regularly (consistency)
- maintain positive perspective (enjoyable!)
