-
Psychological Skills Training (PST)
- ·
- The systematic and consistent practice of mental
- or psychological skills
- ·
- Psychological skills can be learned but
- must be practiced and integrated into your routine
- ·
- Psychological factors account for most day to
- day fluctuations in performance
-
Myths:
- ·
- Psychological skills are innate (they cannot be
- learned)
- ·
- Only for “problem athletes”
- ·
- Only effective for the “elite” athlete
- ·
- Provide for “quick fix” solutions
- ·
- Not useful – “hocus pocus”
-
Components of PST Program:
- 1. Education
- Phase: Learn the nature and basis of the skill and understand how it
- influences performance
- 2. Acquisition
- Phase: Structure training
- program to develop skills and techniques
- 3. Practice
- Phase: Integrate skill
- development into practice and competitive settings
-
PST Program: ·
Needs Assessment:
- -
- Evaluate strength and weaknesses
- -
- Oral interview and psychology inventory
-
PST Program: ·
What?:
- -
- Which skills to include?
- -
- Evaluation and follow-up
-
-
1.
Psychological
Skills (INITIAL FOCUS)
- -
- Personal qualities to be attained or developed
- (ex: target behaviours)
-
1.
Psychological
Skills (INITIAL FOCUS) a)
Performance
Skills:
- -
- Optimal Arousal (mental and physical)
-
1.
Psychological
Skills (INITIAL FOCUS)a)
Foundation
Skills:
-
1.
Psychological
Skills (INITIAL FOCUS)a)
Facilitative
Skills:
- -
- Interpersonal-Awareness
-
Pride = ________ & Process = ________
Skill ; method
-
1. Psychological Methods (SECONDARY FOCUS)
- -
- Procedures or techniques used to develop psychological
- SKILLS (vehicle used to attain skills)
- -
- Goal Setting, relaxation, imagery, thought
- processes (self-talk), attribution.
-
Others =
- -
- = Spectators or audience (observers)
- =
- Co-actors (others doing same task-opponent)
-
a)
SOCIAL FACILITATION THEORY (Zajonc, 1965)
The mere presence of others serves to increase arousal levels (more anxious) and causes a response to occur faster or more intensely
- 1.
- Increased arousal will increase the likelihood
- that an individual’s dominant response will occur
- 2.
- In simple, well learned skills, correct
- responses and improved performance occurs in the presence of others
- 3.
- In complexor newly learned skills the
- dominant responses may be incorrect (old or bad habits) and performance will be
- impaired in the presence of others.
-
Evaluation
Apprehension:
- a)
- It’s not just the presence of others that causes
- arousal. Rather, it is the expectation that those present will be judge or
- evaluate the quality of the performance that increases arousal ad
- influences performance effectiveness.
-
-
An audience can thus have either an ______
or a ________ effect and produces
resultant variations in performance or behaviour (DRIVE THEORY)
Arousing ; calming
-
Cognitive Approach (Borden, 1980)
- -
- Incorporates both of the above theories but takes
- it one step further
- -
- The performer is not simply a reactor who
- responds to an audience
- -
- The performer is a PROACTIVE participant
- who…
- o
- Interprets the social situation (through
- perceptions and exceptions)
- o
- Predicts the possible audience reaction
- o
- And alters behaviour to appeal to this reaction
- -
- Previous experience, age, gender
- and personality will all influence the individuals subject
- interpretation of the social situation
- -
- The size of the audience is not as
- important as how the individual interprets the size within the situation
- (numbers according to setting—hostile vs. supportive)
- -
- Expertise interpret whether the crowd can
- accurately assess the quality of the performance
- -
- Supportiveness quality of social support
- from those present
-
Home feild advantages (Varca, 1980)
- o
- Functional aggression (home) = more rebounds,
- blocks, steals
- o
- Dysfunctional aggression (away) = more fouls,
- turnovers
-
Home field disadvantages (Beaumeister, 1984):
- Increased self-consciousness distracts from the
- automatic execution of skills (playoffs)
-
There is very little that can be done to eliminate the
stressful effects of the presence of others at sporting or exercise events BUT…
- o
- Eliminate evaluative apprehension and control
- arousal especially when learning new skill
- o
- Knowledge is power – educate and inform
- participants about it!
- -Inform the athletes about the common physiological reactions to stress
- so they can recognize them when they occur (butterflies, muscle tension etc…)
- Inform the athletes how audiences can influence performance
- -Inform them about the effects that stress and anxiety can have on
- performance
-
Perfect Practice makes Perfect:
- a)
- Over learn skills, techniques, strategy
- b)
- Train by simulating audience effects (taped or
- real crowds at practice)
- c)
- Pair high and low anxious athletes (veteran and
- rookie – buddies)
-
Specificity
- Arrange practice sessions (both skill and stress reaction
- situations) so they will approximate game conditions (last second or
- minutes; special teams)
-
Arousal
- o
- A blend of physiological and psychological
- activation
- o
- The intensity of motivation at any particular
- time
- o
- Activation or excitation ranging on a continuum
- from sleep to hyper-intensity (different
- activities need different levels of arousal)
- o
- Caused by anticipation of an even, a threat or
- worry
-
Stress
- o
- “Fight or Flight” (Selye, 1950)
- o
- The result of a substantial influence
- between the physical and psychological demands of a task and one’s
- response capabilities under conditions where failure has important
- consequences.
-
4 Stages of stress
- -
- Perception of demand (threat)
- -
- Stress response (anxiety)
Behavioural consequences (outcome/performance)
-
Anxiety
- ·
- A negative emotional state characterized by
- nervousness, worry and apprehension
- ·
- Has a cognitive (mental) component
- (worry, apprehension etc…)
- ·
- Also has a somatic (physiological)
- component (increased heart rate or breathing rate, sweating, nausea,
- “butterflies”, faint)
-
Drive Theory (Spence, 1966)
- ·
- Performance = f(habit/drive) – f is a function
- ·
- How well learned is the skill / how motivated
- are you?
- ·
- Linear relationship between arousal and
- performance (as arousal increases so does performance)
- ·
- Impact dependant on how well the task is learned
- (social facilitator theory)
- ·
- There is no longer much support for this theory
- ·
- Arousal/Stress/Anxiety are not always bad things
-
Inverted U Hypothesis
- ·
- There are optimal levels of arousal
- ·
- Once reach optimal level, performance
- deteriorates if you continue to become more aroused or activated
- ·
- Is a zone not a point (IZOF – Individual
- Zone of Optimal Function (Hanin))
- ·
- Varies from person to person
- ·
- Different tasks have different optimal levels
- (even insane event)
-
Catastrophe Theory (Mandy, 1996)
- ·
- Somatic anxiety can have markedly different effects
- on performance depending on the cognitive anxiety (worry) being experienced
- ·
- If worry is low – inverted U relationship
- ·
- If worry is high – activation reaches an optimal
- threshold after which there is a dramatic or “catastrophic” decline in
- performance (individual literally falls apart, can’t perform as they are so
- worried)
- ·
- Difficult to recover from one experience (could
- take several games to recover as you just keep thinking about it)
-
Reversal Theory: (Apter and Kerr,
1984/1985)
- ·
- It is the cognitive interpretation of one’s
- arousal level that impacts performance
- ·
- High arousal = excitement or anxiety
- ·
- Low arousal = relaxation or boredom
- ·
- Pleasant or unpleasant?
- ·
- Individuals are subject to very rapid changes or
- reversals in their interpretation of the same event (ex: parachuting)
- ·
- The best performance then to be when
- interpretation is pleasant excitement.
-
Anxiety:
(Spielberger, 1966)
- ·
- Need for Achievement vs. Fear of Failure
- ·
- These are personality traits, independent or one
- another and stable over long periods of time
- ·
- They are basic traits that will influence how
- arousal will affect a person in a specific situation (competitive sport)
-
Trait Anxiety:
- ·
- Stable personality tendency to perceive
- situations as threatening when they are really not
-
State Anxiety:
- ·
- A changing emotional state characterized
- by tension and apprehension and by autonomic nervous system reactions
- ·
- Measure with inventories like SCAT (Sport
- Competition Anxiety Test) – Martens, 1977)
-
SCAT:
- ·
- Assess the degree of the personality trait
- of anxiety
- ·
- Assess the degree of stress before, during and
- after an event (state anxiety)
- ·
- Assess the overall effect of anxiety during a
- competition
-
Findings of SCAT:
- ·
- No difference in trait or state anxiety levels
- between:
- -
- Participants and non-participants
- -
- Most skilled vs. least skilled competition
- (rookies vs. vets)
- -
- Assess the overall effect of anxiety during a
- competition
- -
- State anxiety levels gradually decrease with age
- and experience
- ·
- High trait anxious individuals experience higher
- feelings of state anxiety prior to, during and after competition.
- ·
- Trait anxiety levels have no influence on
- ultimate ability levels of the performers
Sources of Stress – INDIVIDUALIZED!
-
Sources of Stress:
1. Situational:
- -
- Importance
- of the event or segments of it
- -
- Uncertainty
- of outcome or life events
2. Personal:
- -
- Social physique evaluation of anxiety (how do I
- look compared to them—predominant in fashion)
-
What are some factors influencing perception of stress (situational)?
- a)
- Individual/ team sports
- b)
- Expectations for success
- c)
- Winning vs. losing/ trying to do one’s best
- (outcome vs. performance) *reference to goal setting
- d)
- Attributions to outcome- learned helplessness
- (“they were just lucky,” etc.)
- ·
- “nothing I can do; no matter how hard I try I
- can’t win”
-
What is fear of success?
- ·
- Withhold effort or involvement so we don’t have
- to live up to levels attained in previous best performance
-
What are the effects of anxiety?
- 1.
- Somatic- interferes with muscle coordination
- (tense); simultaneous contraction of antagonist muscle groups
- 2.
- Psychological- distress and distraction of
- attention
- ·
- Think about physical problems (feeling nervous,
- knees shaking) and not focusing on task at hand
- ·
- Narrowing the visual field and eliminations of
- visual cues
- ·
- Thinking about nervousness rather than the task
- you need to perform (fixated)
-
Anxiety results in a negative cycle/ spiral (more anxious,
more detriment to performance, poorer performance, more anxiety)
- -
- Must learn to break the cycle and control
- arousal (stress and anxiety)
- -
- Be in control but relaxed (coping)
- -
- Players and coaches must learn various
- techniques to help them COPE with the anxiety that arises from competition
-
What is coping?
- ·
- A dynamic process of constantly changing
- cognitive and behavioral efforts to manage specific internal/ external demands
- viewed as exceeding one’s resources (Lazarus and Folkman)
- ·
- Can be problem focused (manage the problem;
- “every time I got to the plate I feel anxious- how do I manage this particular
- situation?) or emotion focused (regulating emotional responses)
-
Techniques
to cope with state anxiety
- ·
- Self- awareness- monitoring own tension levels,
- recognizing and accepting (can be facilitative or debilitative)
- ·
- Dissociation- change the focus of attention from
- stressor to a more neutral situation (don’t think about it)
-
Prevention of long- term/ chronic problems (can’t sleep,
restless and fidgety, pre- game nausea)
Physiological/ somatic techniques- used toreduce physical tension levels)
- o
- Progressive relaxation:
- §
- Contraction and relaxation of muscle groups in a
- sequential order (p.275)
- §
- Use of instrumentation to provide signals that
- indicate current and subsequent levels of physiological tension
- §
- Examples: heart rate monitor (actually hearing
- your heart rate slow, every beep of your pulse can be sensed), blood pressure,
- galvanic skin response (sweat monitor), etc.
-
Prevention of long- term/ chronic problems (can’t sleep,
restless and fidgety, pre- game nausea)·
Cognitive techniques- used to reduce worry and
negative thoughts
- o
- Meditation (relaxation response)
- §
- Quiet the mind, passive process
- §
- Exercise designed to provide feelings of warmth
- and heaviness (P.278)
- §
- Gradual progression into a trance- like state
- during which goal directed suggestions are given by the leader
- §
- Match anxiety type with style of intervention
- (cognitive and somatic)
Match the problem with the cure
-
What are MULTIMODAL REDUCTION PACKAGES?
- o
- Stress management training
- o
- An integrated cognitive and somatic intervention
- strategy
- o
- Accounts for situation, appraisal of situation,
- physiological response and actual behavior
- o
- Stress inoculation theory
- o
- Gradual exposure to and coping with increasingly
- stressful situations
-
Dealing with acute problems: ·
Immediately and prior to/ during a contest
·
Helps participants focus on the task at hand
·
Negative thought stopping (positive thinking)
- A.
- SELF TALK
- A.
- REFOCUSING- “parking”
-
- BREATH CONTROL
-
A.
SELF TALK
- ·
- Stop thinking negatively
- ·
- Substitute positive thoughts immediately
- ·
- Use CUE words, images, music, etc. (ex. Nas- I
- know I can J )
- ·
- Relatively new area of research
- ·
- DEFINITION: an internal dialogue through which
- an individual interprets feelings and perceptions, regulates evaluations and
- convictions and gives self- instructions and reinforcement
- o 6
- dimensions of self- talk:
- §
- Self- determined/ assigned
- §
- Perspective- internal (voice in head)
- §
- Direction- perception of motivating or
- demotivating
- §
- Intensity- impact on motivation
- §
- Frequency- how often it’s used
- o Performance
- can be influenced positively or negatively by some or all of the dimensions of
- self- talk
-
A.
REFOCUSING- “parking”
- ·
- Recognize the thought/problem but set it aside
- during competition
- ·
- Realize you can’t deal with the issue now but
- come back to deal with it at a more appropriate time
- o Physically
- “park” the thought
- o Ex.
- Touch something (bottom of pool, fence, home plate, etc.) and leave the problem
- there; when finished performing, return and touch the place again to collect
- the problem and deal with it
-
A.
BREATH CONTROL
- ·
- Usually automatic and spontaneous (autonomic)
- BUT you can take over control of your breathing pattern and direct your
- breathing response
- ·
- When anxiety/ fright triggers a biological alarm
- response, the normal pattern of breathing changes- sharp inhale and hold breath
- rather than rhythmical exhale
-
What are some other immediate coping techniques?
- ·
- Attention control training- task at hand
- ·
- Centering- breath and body control
- ·
- Mental rehearsal- imagery
-
What are some on- site relaxation techniques?
- a)
- Self- monitoring of somatic tension levels
- b)
- Smile- takes the edge off; release tension in
- jaw, neck, hands
- c)
- Have fun- enjoy the experience (look forward to
- activity)
- d)
- Practice stressful situations (simulate
- pressure)
- e)
- Take your time- slow down the pace, maintain
- regular routines
- f)
- Stay focused on/ in the present- leave the last
- play behind, because you can’t change it, also forget about the future (“what
- happens if…”); stay in the NOW
- g)
- Have a game plan – easier decision making,
- scouting and spotting opponents
-
Arousal Induction:
- a)
- Consciously increase breathing rate
-
Goal
=
- a
- target, standard or objective
-
Goal setting is
- ·
- A process of establishing a target or objective
- in specific behavioural terms
-
Three (3) main types
of goals:
- 1.
- Outcome goals – win or lose (your record)
- 2.
- Performance goals – how well
- play/personal best (preferred due to greater personal control)
- 3.
- Process goal – actions to execute in
- order to perform better
-
Goal setting direct effect
- 1.
- Directs attention and action (choice)
- 2.
- Mobilizes energy (effort/vigour)
- 3.
- Prolongs effort (persistence)
- 4.
- Encourages the development of a strategy to
- attain goals (action plan)
-
Goal setting indirect effect
- influences performance by working on psychological states
- (anxiety, confidence, satisfaction, attention etc…)
-
Benefits of Goal
Setting:
- 1.
- Increases productivity and improves quality of
- work
- 2.
- Clarifies expectations
- 4.
- Provides personal recognition
- 5.
- Increases personal and task enjoyment
-
Goals can be set for:
- a)
- Training sessions (logbook)
- b)
- Practice Sessions (areas to work on)
-
·
For each of these sessions or events goals can
be focused on…
-
Mata-analysis
of goal-setting literature has shown that goal setting is the strongest effect
on performance and satisfaction of any motivational technique
90% have positive outcomes, average of 16% increase
-
Principles of Goal
Setting:
- 1.
- Relatively difficult, challenging but attainable
- (realistic to achieve)
- 2.
- Specific (action-oriented) and measurable
- (quantifiable)
- 3.
- Within or geared to the ability potential
- of the participant
- 4.
- Note: The coach may need to provide a lot
- of input when inexperienced participants set goals as they may not know the
- task demands or be able to assess their own skill or potential.
- 5.
- Public and formally committed to by the
- participant – written or verbal contract (in a positive format)
- 6.
- Flexible and adjustable (up or
- down) at all times
- 7.
- Have a specific time frame/ dates
- 8.
- Sequential and prioritize but limited in number
- 9.
- Long-term goals progressively linked by
- intermediate and short term goals (8-10 week program is most effective)
- ·
- Ex: Figure skater – pass first test, do a jump,
- learn to spin, do a bigger jump, pass second test get an award
- 10.
- Supported by the coach, who is a partner and
- facilitator in the goal setting process (commitment and ownership)
- 11.
- Evaluate and reinforce goal attainment on effort
- before performance outcome
- 12.
- Don’t tie the goals to one’s self-worth (take
- personal risk/embarrassment out of goal attainment
- 13.
- Develop goal achievement strategies (action
- plans) that are unique to each individual/group
-
What is goal setting
independent of?
- ·
- Personality/disposition
-
What is the follow up to goal setting?
- 1. Identify
- appropriate evaluation procedures on a regular basis (charts, stats, etc…)
- 2. Encourage
- progress towards goals, not just towards goal attainment
- 3. Regularly
- revaluate and adjust goals/strategies of achievement to make them more
- realistic (especially short term goals)
-
What is group goal setting?
- ·
- Attainment of specific standards of group (not
- individual) proficiency within a specified time/event:
- -
- Practice – usually process oriented
- focusing effort
- -
- Game – more focused on outcomes and
- implementation of specific skills/strategies
-
As a leader in goal setting you must
- ·
- Involve all participants in the formulation of
- group goals (commitment)
- ·
- Strive for consensus (work for compromise);
- facilitate, don’t dictate
- ·
- Decide on strategies to achieve goals including
- levels of effort, commitment, behaviour and consensus
- ·
- Publicize (Publicly??) most goals and update/evaluate progress
- regularly (each week or after each game)
-
What are SMARTS goals?
S – Specific
M – Measurable
A – Action oriented
R – Realistic/Achievable
T – Timing (reasonable)
S – Self-determined
-
INCENTIVE
MOTIVATION!!!
- Definition:
- the value attached to the possible outcomes (goals) available to participants
- in sports and physical activity = REASONS WHY PARTICIPATE
- ·
- Anticipate
- satisfaction and enjoyment from participation
- ·
- Expectancies
- confirmed through actual experience which influences continued participation
-
Incentive motivation researched topic in two ways
- a.) Identify main incentives that
- influence choice, persistence, and effort of participation
- b.) Identify the reasons why
- participants drop out of an activity.
-
General Findings of research on incentive motivation
- 1. Each individual has his/her own
- unique reasons for participation
- 2.
- There are usually multiple motives
- operating at various strength at any one time
- 3.
- The most dominant motives that have been
- identified are:
- -
- Affiliation
- (make or be with friends)
- -
- Excellence
- (Skill development to the highest level)
- -
- Excitement/Stress(thrill
- seeking)
- -
- Success (winning)
- and status (recognition)
- -
- Fitness
- and energy release
- 4.
- Weaker but still present as distinct motives
- are:
- -
- Independence
- (able to do on own)
- -
- Power
- (control over others)
- -
- Aggression
- (intimidation)
- -
- Influence
- of others (parents, peers, friends)
- 5.
- There are no differences observed in incentive
- motivation when analyzed for:
- -
- Culture
- 1.
- The reasons for discontinuing in an
- activity are also multiple and complex (i.e. the failure to achieve
- satisfaction of one or more incentives is weighed against those that have been
- attained)
- 2.
- Other sports or activities start to have a
- greater interest than the one that you are currently involved in (conflict of
- interest) so you drop out (sport specific – vs.—sports general drop out)
- 3.
- The negative reasons for dropping out of an
- activity are:
- -
- Lack of ability (failure to improve)
- -
- Lack of success (winning)
- -
- Lack of support from significant others
- -
- Dislike of the coach or his/her style (win at
- all cost attitude)
- 4.
- Negative reasons have more impact and are more
- important for younger or less experienced participants
-
NOTE: Having fun is often cited as a motive but
- it is suggested that the “FUN” is really the result of other
- incentive motive fulfillment.
-
IMPLICATIONS of goal setting
- ·
- The coach or leader must deliberately increase
- the opportunities for at least the major incentives to be satisfied.
- ·
- To do so, he/she needs to engage in a process to
- attempt to discover what incentives each participant brings to the
- activity (IMI – Incentive Motivation Index)
-
IMI Incentive Motivation Index
- -
- Place value on all roles
- -
- Allow or plan social activities beyond the sport setting
- -
- Encourage mutual support and team unity
- (cohesion)
- -
- Help set realistic personal and group goals
- relative to ability levels
- -
- Provide for as much skill development as
- possible (over learning by doing do repeatedly in practice)
- -
- Provide variation and novelty in practice
- -
- Give participants many challenging opportunities
- and expectations
- -
- Don’t ever emphasize winning but don’t ignore
- its importance
- -
- Promote all roles, effort and performance
- -
- Provide all participants with the opportunity to
- be active and involved
- -
- Conditioning is a valuable part of every
- activity but don’t use as punishment
-
The Competitive
Process (Martens, 1975)
- ·
- Each individual experiments the competitive
- process differently and it may vary from one situation to another within the
- same person.
- ·
- The competitive process is primarily focused on social
- evaluation (comparison with others or standards)
- ·
- Linked stages often influenced by external
- feedback and rewards
-
The Competitive
Process Diagram:
- 1.
- The Objective Competitive Situation:
- -
- Comparison criteria is known by others who can
- evaluate performance
- 2.
- Subjective Competitive Situation:
- -
- How the person perceives the objective situation
- -
- SOQ
- (Gill, 1988) – Sport Orientation Questionnaire)
3. Response:
- -
- Behavioural – type of opponent (ex: weak, dominating
- etc…)
- -
- Physiological – arousal
- -
- Psychological – internal and external factors
- -
- Perception of consequence
- -
- Effects subsequent events
-
The Competitive
Process Diagram:
**Inner Factors from
Diagram**
- -
- Competitiveness is a learned behaviour and is
- influenced by the social environment and varies in intensity by…
- -
- Need for achievement – seek-out challenges where
- success is in doubt (competition at its highest)
- -
- Fear of failure – avoidance of competitive
- situations
- -
- The relationship between ability and the
- challenges of the task influence the competitive drive
- -
- Competitiveness is strongest when participants
- are relatively equal in ability.
- -
- If unequal in ability the activity becomes
- co-operative learning until more equal in ability
- -
- Competitiveness is strongest if the participants
- have high ability
- -
- If low ability and made to compete; effort,
- performance and interest are reduced.
- -
- Early success increases competitive drive while
- early failure decreases it and either circumstances can influence the
- participants motives for future competition
- -
- Suggest more co-operative style games (rec.
- leagues) at younger ages
- -
- Wait until early teens for highly competitive
- games and teams
- -
- Insure some initial success if possible (i.e.
- scheduling, controlled scrimmages, exhibition games)
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