Exam 2 Flashcards
Psychological skills training
A systematic and consistent practice of mental or psychological skills for the purpose of enhancing performance, increasing enjoyment or achieving greater sport and physical activity self-satisfaction
First evidence of athletes using PSTs is from
Soviet Union in the 1950s for the Olympic games
Psychological skills include
goal setting, imagery, arousal regulation, concentration, and mental preparation
Mental toughness consists of an athlete’s ability to
focus, rebound from failure, to cope with pressure, determination to persist in the face of adversity, and mental resilience.
Why are PSTs neglected?
Lack of knowledge
Misunderstanding -> Preconceived notion that people are born with mental skills
Lack of time -> Most common cited reason to why coaches do not incorporate them
Myths about PST
Only for problem athletes
Only for elite athletes
Provides quick fix for problems
Ultimately, not useful
How do we know PST works?
Research says that more successful athletes differ from less successful athletes in how developed their psychological skills are
Expert opinions from coaches and players rate PST as very important topics to focus on
Phases of PST programs
Education phase -> Teaching the importance of PST and how they work
Acquisition phase -> using strategies and techniques for learning skills
Practice phase -> Has 3 objectives. Automating skills through overlearning, ingratiating skills into performance situations and stimulating skills people want to apply in actual competition
Ultimate Goal of PST
Athletes can function on their own without needing intervention from coaches or psychologists.
Self-regulation
The ability to work towards one short- and long-term goals by effectively monitoring and managing one’s thoughts, feelings and behaviors
5 stages of self-regulation
Problem identification
Commitment
Execution
Environmental management
Generalization
Who should conduct PST programs?
Qualified sports psychology consultants
CMPC certification
Coaches may sometimes administer training
Online resources/mobile apps
it is best to implement PST programs
during the off or preseason. Learning skills should progress from practice and stimulations to actual competitions
Educational sport psychologists
involve PST programs that train and educate the use of psychological skills. Refer clients to clinical psychologists who express needs outside of sport
Clinical sport psychologists
Involved in PST in addition to treating clinical psychiatric disorders. They can handle things such as eating disorders, substance abuse, personality disorders, depression, anxiety, ad psychopathology
Developing a PST program
Discuss how to approach the athlete
Assess the athlete’s use of mental skills
Determine which psychological skills to include for the athlete
Common problems in PST programs include
Lack of conviction
Lack of time
Lack of sport knowledge
Lack of follow up
Sport psychology consultants can transfer their skills towards a variety of work environments such as…
Astronauts
Physicians
Police officers
Firefighters
Dancers
Coaches teach athletes life skills such as
goal setting and coping with pressure that can transfer to non-sport environments.
Athletes who do not effectively cope with stress may have
decreases in performance as well as mental and physical distress.
Somatic anxiety reduction
Physical anxiety reduction
Progressive relaxation
Feel the tension and then ease up. Tense, Breath, Relax
Breathing control
Getting control of your breathing to a calm and rhythmic level
Biofeedback
Becoming more aware of your autonomic nervous system and learning to control your physiological and autonomic responses by receiving physiological feedback from technology
Cognitive anxiety reduction
How
Relaxation response
Teaches individuals to quiet the mind, concentrate, and reduce muscle tension by applying the elements of meditation
Autogenic training
Focuses on producing two physical sensations, warmth, and heaviness, to produce a relaxed state
Multimodal anxiety reduction packages
Combines both physical and cognitive anxiety reduction techniques. Best used when you don’t know what anxiety the athlete is experiencing
Cognitive-affective stress management training (SMT)
Reaches a combination of relaxation and cognitive components to control emotional arousal.
Stress inoculation theory
An individual is exposed to and learns to cope with stress in increasing amounts, thereby enhancing his or her immunity to stress
4 phases of stress management training
Pretreatment phase
Treatment rationale phase
Skill acquisition
Skill rehearsal
R3 Thinking Random
lose focus, leave thinking to chance
R3 thinking Reactive
Fail to control negative thoughts
R3 thinking restrictive
Limiting self
R3 thinking restrictive
Limiting self
P3 thinking purposeful
intentional in performance
P3 thinking productive
Rational and facilitative thoughts
P3 thinking possibility
optimistic
The matching hypothesis
An anxiety management technique should be matched to a particular anxiety problem. Cognitive anxiety should be treated with mental relaxation. Somatic anxiety should be treated with physical relaxation
Coping is a process of
constantly changing cognitive and behavioral efforts to manage specific external or internal demands or conflicts appraised as taxing or exceeding one’s resources.
2 types of coping..
Problem focused coping: Efforts to alter or manage the problems that are causing stress (Use these on what can be changed such as time management or workload)
Emotion focused coping: Regulating the emotional response to the problem that causes the stress (Use these when the situation cannot be changed like requirements)
Relaxation tips
Smile when you feel a tension coming on
Have fun- enjoy the situation
Set up stressful situations in practice
Slow down; take your time
Stay focused on the present
Compared with a good game plan
Signs of under arousal include..
Moving slowly, not getting set
Mind wandering, being easily distracted
Lack of concern about how one will perform
Lack of anticipation or enthusiasm
Heavy feeling in legs, no bounce
Arousal-inducing techniques
Increase breathing rate
Act energized
Use mood words and positive statements
Yell or shout
Listen to music
Using energizing imagery
Complete a pre-competition workout
Imagery involves
creating or recreating an experience in your mind. Imagery involves all the 6 senses. Equilavent terms of imagery include visualization, mental, rehearsal, symbolic rehearsal etc
Imagery is a form of situation that involves
recalling from memory pieces of information stored from experience and shape those pieces into meaningful images. The kinesthetic sense of imagery is particularly important for athletes.
