Final Exam Flashcards
Stressful Situations
Can generate such anxiety that performance often deteriorates
- too tense (lowers coordination)
- I knew i’d blow it (lowers self-efficacy)
- Cant focus (narrows attention)
Introduction to Arousal
- Critical factor prior to and during performance
- The body needs to be at an optimal level to perform at its best
- Ideal level of arousal should match the requirements of specific tasks and individuals
- arousal regulation is a major concern for athletes
Defining Arousal
- General Psychological and physiological activation, varying on a continuum from deep sleep to intense excitement
- viewed as a energizing function that is responsible for harnessing the bodies resources during vigorous and intense exercise
- natural or non-directional state (either positive or negative)
- synonymous with intensity and activation
Defining Anxiety
- a negative emotional state or reaction is characterized by unpleasant feelings of intensity, preoccupation, worry and apprehension
- cognitive state anxiety vs somatic anxiety
- trait anxiety vs. state anxiety
Cognitive Anxiety
- Thought component
- Negative concern about competing
- caused by fear of negative social evaluation, fear of failure and lower confidence
- inability to concentrate
Somatic Anxiety
- physiological in nature (butterflies in stomach, fast heart beat)
- How athletes interpret physiological reactions
–> butterflies, sweating, shakiness, increased HR and muscular tension
Trait Anxiety
- more stable in nature
- part of personality
- predisposition to perceive certain situations as threatening and respond with higher levels of anxiety
- a highly anxious person finds situations anxiety provoking
State Anxiety
- measured with specific situations
- characterized by apprehension, fear, tension, and an increase in physiological arousal
- athletes high in trait anxiety tend to be high in state anxiety
Drive Theory - Linear relationship
- high arousal equates for better performance
- low arousal equates for lower performance
- high levels of arousal should benefit a skilled performer
- low levels of arousal should increase beginners chances to have successful performance
Drive Theory Findings
- More likely for gross motor activities (strength)
- no support for accuracy tasks
- little support in sport setting
Inverted U theory
- Predicts that as arousal increases from drowsiness to alertness there is a progressive increase in performance
- once arousal continues to increase beyond alertness - to a state of high excitement there is a progressive decrease in task performance
Inverted U criticism
Implies that there is ones ideal level of arousal for all individuals
- optimal arousal varies from individual to individual
- Hanins Individualized Zone of Option Functioning Theory, which is a variation of inverted U theory, addresses this limitation
IZOF
- Extends inverted U theory by incorporating individual differences into the framework
- IZOF is the level of arousal that enables an athlete to perform at their best
- Determined individually because IZOF varies from athlete to athlete
- Key is knowing where the IZOF is for each athlete in a given situation and then helping the athlete reproduce this arousal state more consistently
- If athletes are outside their IZOFS the outcome of their performance is typically more poor
Multidimensional Theory
Mind and body are intertwined but not completly - this theory distinguishes between somatic and cognitive anxiety
Hypotheses From Multidimensional Theory
- Somatic Anxiety has a curvilinear relationship to performance and cognitive anxiety has a negative linear relationship
- Cognitive Anxiety remains essentially stable prior to competition and somatic anxiety progressively increases
- somatic anxiety dissipates once the performance begins but cognitive anxiety can vary because the subjective probability of success can change throughout the game
How to determine optimal arousal
- compare arousal demands of sport task to athletes typical competitive arousal state
- loom for consistent performance shift from practice to competition
Identify arousal level during peak performance
Examine arousal before many competitions and compare each performance outcome (help find IZOF)
Signs of UNDER - Activation
BODY
- heavy muscles
- slow reactions
- slow HR
- low energy
MIND
- bored
- inattentive
- Not Up
- over confident
Signs of OVER Activation
BODY
- muscle tightness
- sweating
- pounding
- frequent urination
- butterflies in stomach
- hyperactivity
- dilated pupils
MIND
- anxiety
- frustration
- self-doubt and worry
- focus on wrong things
Strategies to Use
- Need to Relax
- Increase activation
Need to Relax
- too much activation is detrimental to performance
- most often this is the problem rather then using a profanity laced motivational speech to psych up a team
- breathing
- muscle relaxation
Breathing
- Breathing properly is relaxing and facilitates performance by getting oxygen in to the blood
- Breathing is affected by one or two ways in high pressure situations
1. breathing rapidly and shallowly
2. hold breath
Complete Breath
- Proper breathing comes from the diaphragm
- During inhalation the diaphragm moves down and the abdomen pushes out
- Athletes should complete 30-40 deep breaths each day
3 breathing exercises
- Complete breath
- Sighing with exhalation
- Rhythmic Breathing
Sighing with Exhalation
- Inhale slowly
- Hold breath for 10 seconds
- exhale through mouth with sigh
Rhythmic Breathing
Inhale to a count of 4
hold for a count of 4
exhale to a count of 4
- you can alter the rhythm by changing ratio count (1:2)
Muscle Relaxation: Active PR
- contracting a specific muscle group, holding it for 5-7 seconds and then relaxing for 20-30 seconds
- Exercises progresses from one muscle group to another
- The contraction phase teaches awareness and sensitivity to what tension feels like
Muscle Relaxation: Passive PR
- relax muscle without tensing first
- some find passive PR more effective then active PR
- athletes focus merely on the muscles and let go of whatever tension is in it
Quick Body Scan
Momentary relaxation technique that is an abbreviated version of the Passive PR
- isolate a specific area that feels tense
- this exercise is particularity helpful during performance
MIND: Meditation
Helps achieve a state of deep relaxation by calming and controlling the mind
4 basic components of meditation
- Quiet environment
- Comfortable position
- Mental device
- Passive attitude
Relaxation Visualization
Imagine being in a place conducive to relaxation
- use image that provides calmness and relaxation
When need to increase activation and energy
- Coaches usually attribute poor performance to not trying hard enough but its usually due to low arousal
- must learn how to recognize signs and symptoms of low energy
- develop skills to speed up the physiological systems to be ready for action
- use during practice or competition when need a burst of energy, when not psyched up or fatigued
Skills and Strategies for increasing activation/energy
- Energizing Breathing
- Formulating energizing verbal cues
- Using the environment
- Listening to music
- Energizing Breathing
- Using the environment
Draw energy from the spectators
Can even draw energy from opponents, particularity when it appears that the opponent is losing momentum
- Formulating energizing verbal cues
Think of word cues associated with energy build up
Select cues that are appropriate to athletes and t task that athlete performs during competition
- Listening to music
music is a good energy provider, depending on the music selected
Communication
Ability to express ones thoughts, feelings, and needs effectively, and reciprocally to be
able to understand the thoughts, feelings, and needs of others in central to good communication
- It’s about making connections with people in a meaningful way
communication Defined
The act of transmitting or exchanging information, knowledge, thoughts, and/or feelings
by mean of written or (non) verbal messages
Process of Communication
Source →(message)→ encoding (receiving) → channel (text, email, oral) → decoding (interpreting) → receiver → FEEDBACK BACK TO SOURCE
Messages can occur through multiple sensory modalities:
Verbal - written or spoken
● Nonverbal - facial expressions, body language body positioning, symbolic gesture and signals
How Do We Communicate?
Can be expressed in many different ways:
- Interpersonal → one on one or in a group context
- Intrapersonal → within one’s self (self talk)
- Written → books, diagrams, playbooks, social media, others
- Visual → modeling, observational learning, pictures, video analysis
Factors Influencing Communication
Person Variables
- Personality
- Values
- Beliefs
Situation Variables
- Practice
- Competition
- Public or private
Contextual Factors
- Trust
- Power
- Control issues
Cultural Context
- Learned rules and behaviour - Norms
Miscommunication
- The power of verbal/nonverbal cues and body language
● Tone of voice, facial expressions, body posture/spatial distance, eye contact
Communication Principles for Coaches
Impart… relevant information regarding team rules, expectations, operating procedures,
and group goals
2. Inspire.. Athletes to reach for their best
3. Monitor progress … give people feedback on how they are doing with individual/team
goals, challenge everyone involved to become better
4. Clarify… requirements to achieve goals, personal responsibilities (ie roles)
5. Reinforce… behaviours that you want repeated
What is peak performance?
- exceptional performance
- putting it all together - both physically and mentally
- precondition: certain level of mastery and physical conditioning
- is relative - varies from person to person
- most likely yo occur when skill level matches demands of the task
What Role do Psychological Factors Play?
- an ideal psychological climate underlies peak performance
- 40-90% = mental factors
–> increase with skill level - Can train the body and mind stats that underlie peak performance
Goal for ASP training is due to more performance and greater consistency
Summary of Peak Performance
Automatic/effortless
Determined and committed
Feeling in control
Goof perfectionism
Present task focus
Positive attitudes
Higher Self confidence
Self regulation of anxiety
Total concentration
Views difficult tasks as exciting
Flow defined
the state in which a person is so involved in their activity that nothing else seems to matter
- 9 dimension
- mental skills training increases the likelihood of flow
9 dimensions of Flow
Challenge Faced (matches the skill)
Clear goals
Complete control without consciously doing so
Effortless (merging action and self)
Enjoyable (participation is its own reward)
Feedback indicating correctness
No consciousness or evaluation
Total concentration
Time transformation
Factors that Affect Flow (Enhance)
- Confidence/positive attitude
- feeling good
- Following pre comp plans
- Optimal levels of arousal
- Optimal levels of Physical preparation
- Positive team interactions
- Positive self talk
Factors that affect flow (interfere)
- Interpretation of mistakes
- Cant focus
- Negative mental attitude
How others Facilitate Peak performance
- Clear coach performance plans
- committed coaching
- high team cohesion
- positive strong team leadership
- social support
How others Hinder Peak performance
- Coach can’t deal with crises
- lacking trust/confidence in teammates
- poor coach-athlete communication
- over coaching
- negative attitude towards coach
- unrealistic expectations from coach
Self talk defined
- a dialogue through which individuals interprets feelings and perceptions, regulates and changes evaluations and convictions and gives themselves instructions and reinforcement
Characteristics of self-talk
- verbalizations and statements addressed to self
- multidimensional in nature
- dynamic
- serves 2 functions (instrumental/cognitive and motivational)
3 categories of self talk
- Valence
- Overtness
- Functions
Valence everything
positive = form of praise, assisting to focus on the present
negative = form of critism, gets in the way and anxiety provoking
Negative ST is associated with losing
Van Raalte
dart throwing task
higher score = better
+ ST = better performance
- ST = negative performance
C = moderate
Positive vs Negative
positive, optimistic = negative pessimistic
logical, rational and production = illogical, irrational, unproductive
boosts confidence = lowers confidence
heightens focus/concentration on task = reduces focus and increases distractions
Focus on present = focus on past and future
Stimulates optimal arousal where energy is high = Stimulates under or over arousal
Motivates you to push yourself = motivates you to give up early
Attributes success to replicable internal factors = attributes success to external factors that are not replicable
Overtness
Overt = out loud
Covert = internal
both overt and covert ST results is better performance than no self talk
Functions
Types of ST:
Cognitive (instructional)
Motivational
Cognitive branches to and then branches to
Specific and general
Specific = self evaluation and self development
General = performance improvements and strategies
Motivational branches to what and then branches to what
Drive Mastery and Arousal
Drive = Maintain drive, Reach potential, Increase drive, effort control, encouragement, goals
Mastery = Coping, focus, mental readiness, self-confidence
Arousal - Control, Psych up, relaxation
