Sports Psychology Flashcards
Sports Physcology
The study of people and their behaviour in sport
- identify principles and guidelines which can be used to help athletes participate in and benefit from in sport
Mental skills (SCCAM)
Stress Management - a variety of techniques to reduce stress
Confidence - believing in yourself to carry out a skill well
Concentration - the ability to focus on the required task, by focusing on relevant cues and blocking out distractions
Arousal - being at the optimal readiness to carry out a skills well by not being over excited or under motivated
Motivation - the desire to learn and achieve success. The driver of an athletes direction and intensity of effort
Mental skill strategies (GRIPS)
Goal setting - process of deciding something you want, planning steps to follow it, then working towards achieving that goal (SMARTER)
Relaxation - use of techniques to minimise stress and tension eg.meditation, music and breathing techniques
Imagery - recreation of the performance in the mind of a skil, or past positive experience to prepare an individual mentally for performance
Pre performance routine - a ritual a performer follows on the preparation for or during execution of a task or skill
Self talk - talking or thinking to yourself prior to or during performance, often positive
Goal setting (SMARTER)
Specific Measurable Action oriented Realistic Timely Evaluated Reviewed
Group cohesion
Extent to which a group stays together in pursuit of common goals and objectives
Benefits of cohesion
- players enjoy each other’s success
- communication and motivation within the group is extensive
- players work together to achieve team goals over personal goals
- more successful in achieving goals
Barriers to group cohesion
- power struggles
- lack of communication
- unclear roles
- frequent changes to group
Task cohesion
- how committed to the team members are achieving predetermined goals Ways to develop this: - clear and understood expectations - set challenging but realistic goals - prioritise team goals over individual - promote high levels of motivation
Social cohesion
- degree to which team members enjoy being together Ways to develop this: - encourage social interacting - resolve conflicts quickly - open and honest communication - develop informal roles within group
Different types of sport affecting group cohesion
- co-acting - little or no communications eg. Golf, surfing
- Interacting - require high levels of communications eg. Team sports
- mixed - combo of interacting and co - acting eg. Cricket
Methods of measuring group cohesion
Socio grams - players identify who they do and don’t like within the team
Observations - a coach can use a checklist to observe how players in the group relate to each other
Questionnaires - specific to the point so trouble areas are quickly identifiable
Carron’s model of group cohesion (PELT)
- Personal Factors: individual characteristics
eg. Attitudes, goals, expectations, age and the level of commitment - Environmental factors: normative forces holding a group together
eg. Contracts, age, gender, group size, geographical limitations - Leadership factors: leadership styles, uniforms, behaviours and relationships within a team
eg. Team goals, team rules and individual roles - Team factors: team ability, success and desire of a common goal
Eg. Type of sport, team goals, prior success/failure and stability through time spent together and also code of conduct
Factors affecting group cohesion
- roles
- common values
- group size
- group identity
- goals
- leadership
Social loafing
The tendency of an individual to lessen their effort when they are part of a group or team
- The larger the group, the more likely it is to occur
Why it occurs:
- individual feels like their input won’t make a difference
- avoiding hard work and feel like no one will notice
- individual believes other athletes aren’t working hard either so why should they
Impact:
- negative impact on team cohesion and performance of the team
How to minimise:
- write a team contract
- code of conduct
- appropriate group size
- evaluate individual members performance
