Seminar 1 - Introduction & Peak Performance Flashcards
What is sport psychology?
The scientific study of people and their behaviours in sport and exercise activities and the practical application of that knowledge
What do sport psychologists do?
Performance enhancement:
Counselling, psychological skills training, organisational work, skill acquisition
According to a study by Gould, Dieffenbach and Moffett (2002), what were some of the psychological characteristics of 10 U.S. Olympic Champions?
(a) the ability to cope with and control anxiety; (b) confidence; (c) mental toughness/resiliency; (d) sport intelligence; (e) the ability to focus and block out distractions; (f) competitiveness; (g) a hard-work ethic; (h) the ability to set and achieve goals; (i) coachability; (j) high levels of dispositional hope; (k) optimism; and (l) adaptive perfectionism
According to a study by Burns, Weissensteiner, and Cohen (2019), what were the psychological attributes of Olympic, Paralympic and world champions?
Superior self-regulation
Intrinsic motivation
Effective visualization and imagery strategies
Reliance on faith, routines, or rituals
Strong work ethics
Self-confidence and dominance
Effective coping strategies and positive mindset
Krone & Williams (2010)
What are the characteristics of peak performance?
Loss of fear - no fear of failure
Total immersion in the activity
Narrow focus of attention on the present
Feeling in complete control
Time/space disorientation (usually slowed down)
Feeling that performance was automatic & effortless
Control over emotion, thoughts, & arousal
Highly self-confident
Physically & mentally relaxed
Highly energised
What is the Individualized Zone of Optimal Functioning (Hanin, 2000)?
It identifies emotional patterns associated with individuals’ successful performances.
Emotions are classified into 4 types. Positive & negative emotions: positive/negative performance-enhancing/impairing
What is flow?
Flow is a harmonious and intrinsically rewarding state characterized by concentration on the task at hand and absorption in a specific activity, to the exclusion of irrelevant thoughts and emotions, and a sense of everything coming together or clicking into place, even in challenging situations (Csikszentmihalyi, 1975).
“the state in which people are so involved in an activity that nothing else seems to matter” (Csikszentmihalyi, 1990, p. 4).
Most likely to occur when the athletes’ skills match the demand or challenge of the situation (Csikszentmihalyi, 1990).
What are the conditions of flow?
Challenge - skills balance
Unambiguous feedback
Clear goals
What are the characteristics of flow?
Concentration at task
Action-awareness merging
Loss of self-consciousness
Sense of control
Transformation of time
What is clutch?
“superior performance that occurs under pressure circumstances” [Otten, 2009, p. 584],
When an athlete is aware that the performance occurs during a pressure situation, has the capacity to experience stress, perceives the outcome of the competition as important, and succeeds largely through effort
What is the key determinant of flow?
Key determinant of flow is the nature of goals being pursued
Fixed goals - specify a clear outcome, and are therefore measurable and objective
Open goals - exploratory and avoid identifying a specific outcome, yet can still be challenging as athletes strive to see how well they can do
Fixed goals associated with Clutch states, open goals with Flow states
Both goals have been reported during performances
What are some things that underlie psychological skills?
Identity formation
Mental well-being
Relationships
Life-skills
Transitions
Expectations
What are the 4 quadrants of the Johari Window model?
Known self - things we know about ourselves and others know about us
Hidden self - things we know about ourselves and that others do not know
Blind self - things others know about us that we do not know
Unknown self - things neither we nor others know about us
