psychological skills and strategies to enhance performance Flashcards
psychological skills
- confidence
- motivation
- optimal arousal
- concentration
confidence
- showing a degree of certainty and assuredness
- being willing to try new activities
- showing resilience after a setback eg. injury or losing a game
motivation
intrinsic
- motivation to participate in an activity for its own sake
extrinsic
- participating in an activity for an external reason such as a reward and not for the activity itself eg. prize money, trophies
optimal arousal
- lower for more complex tasks, higher for simple tasks
- changes for different sports
- calming down allows you to focus eg. aiming in archery, shooting a netball goal
- getting ‘hyped up’ for more intense activities eg. contact sports such as rugby and afl are more aggressive
concentration
- focusing attention
- means you are:
- ready to respond (alert)
- attending only to the
instructions of the coach
and not being distracted
(limited capacity) - selecting relevant clues
from the environment to
react to
psychological strategies
- mental practice and imagery
- goal-setting
- arousal regulation techniques
- self-talk
- cue words
- mindfulness
- meditation
mental practice and imagery
- effective for: developing sport specific motor skills, enhancing performance, manage levels of anxiety motivation + confidence
- imagery can: improve technique, practice even when you cant train, increase confidence + activation levels, calm you down and help with sleep
goal-setting
- outcome goals are goals related to a result
- performance goals are related to an individuals performance
- process goals are related to the actions an individual must engage in to perform well
- goals give you something to aim for when learning a new skill
arousal regulation techniques
- progressive muscle relaxation (PMR)
- breath control
- music
progressive muscle relaxation (PMR)
when an individual progressively contracts and relaxes their muscles which can relieve anxiety and decrease arousal levels + improve sleep
breath control
deep breathing - slows heart rate + lowers blood pressure
elevated breathing - increases arousal, activates the CNS
music
can calm down athletes or can be used to psych them up
self-talk
using emotive words can increase arousal and encourage athletes
- you got this girl ❤️
- pull your head in
cue words
- helps athletes focus
- can be motivational and aid resilience
eg. believe
mindfulness
- improve concentration and focus
- decrease anxiety
- help with emotional regulation
- increase state of ‘flow’
meditation
- calms the nervous system
- lowers blood pressure, heart rate, breathing rate and relaxes muscles
