Psychology in sportMental preparation for sport

&

Psychological skills training

Arousal

Arousal is a physiological and

psychological state of being

awake or reactive to stimuli

A mental preparedness for action, closely

associated with the concept of motivation.

When motivation increases so does

arousal.

With arousal the body gears itself up for

action, physically and psychologically:

- Heartbeat goes faster

- Breathing goes faster

- Increase in sweat

- Better focus

- Better concentration

Mind interacts with the body

Arousal

Physiological arousal

Refers to physical readiness for action:

heart and breathing rates, sweating,

reaction times are indicators for this.

Warm-up activities are designed to

increase physiological arousal in

readiness for peak performance

Psychological arousal

Refers to the emotional and

motivational state of the sportsperson

and can range from indifference and

boredom to alertness and then high

excitement or tension.

Theoretical approaches to arousal

Drive reduction theory- proposes that arousal increases to meet the perceived

demands of the task, so the performance is more likely to reflect the most

usual behavior (dominant habit).

Why do performances fluctuate?

Inverted U-hypothesis – suggests that (to a certain point) arousal levels are

too low for certain performances. Athlete is not ‘psyched up’ enough. But

there is a point where arousal turn to anxiety and performance starts to

deteriorate (‘psyched out’)

Catastrophe theory – multidimensional approach, suggests that performance

depends on a complex interaction between arousal and cognitive state

anxiety. Performance does not gradually get worse as arousal increases, it

rapidly and dramatically deteriorates -> catastrophically

Theoretical approaches to arousal, graphs

Drive reduction theory Inverted U-hypothesis

Theoretical approaches to arousal, graphs

Catastrophe theory

Is it a good thing or a bad

thing for a performer to be

worried for an event?

Does it depend on the type of

activity?

Arousal curvesWhat do the arousal curves tell you about the three

athletes?

Who is capable of the best performance?Who needs to be really psyched up before he performs at his best?

Whose level of arousal needs to be very carefully controlled for good performance?

1: Sam 2: Jon 3: Ted

Steffi Graf vs. Jana Novotna“choking”

Choking vs. Clutch performance

What are the emotions that influence the preparation or performance in a sport?

Participation in sport and exercise

influences a range of participant

emotions such as depression,

anxiety, and pleasure.

These are specific emotions that

have discrete effect on performance

• Positive emotions:

Excitement, relief, pride,

accomplishment

• Negative emotions:

Anger, guilt, shame, anxiety, boredom

A negative mood is more likely to

prime us to remember negative

emotions of past failures, and thus

reduce our feelings of confidence to

perform

A positive mood is more likely to

prime us to remember positive

previous outcomes and increase our

confidence to perform

Anxiety

The concept of anxiety is linked to the negative emotional feelings a person experiences such as worry, nervousness,

apprehension, or unease about something with an uncertain outcome. These feelings are particularly prevalent in sporting situations when winning or not losing are very important for

various reasons.

Anxiety

Anxiety that results from a

changing ‘mood state’

• Cognitive anxiety:

psychological anxiousness

(poor concentration,

confusion, negative images of

fear/failure)

• Somatic anxiety: physiological

effects (butterflies in the

stomach, sweating, tense

muscles, nausea)

Anxiety more related to a

person’s general

characteristics and personality

traits

• State anxiety: anxiety about an

event/situation, state anxiety can

be either cognitive or somatic and

it can even be a learned response

• Trait anxiety: anxiety as a

personal characteristic, general

acquired behavioral tendency to

become nervous

How is anxiety measured?

Self report tests,

HR monitors, brain

scan

Trait anxiety: Sport

Competition

Anxiety Test (SCAT)

State anxiety:

Competitive State

Anxiety Inventory 2

(CSAI 2R)

• Easy to administrate

• Can be used with large groups

• Can be open to bias/respondents can

reply how they think they should not

how they actually feel

• Responses are open to

misunderstanding by non-experts

• The questionnaire is not sensitive to

small changes in anxiety levels

• The questionnaire system is

inconvenient in a real sport situation/

can actually interfere with anxiety

response

• High scores on the intensity of

anxiety do not necessarily mean this

state is detrimental

Stress

Selye’s definition: “non-specific

response of the body to any demand

made on it”

Sources of stress are called stressors,

stressors come in many forms:

competition, frustration, conflict,

personal, physiological & climatic,

audience.

Stress is defined as: “a substantial

imbalance between the demand

(physical and/or psychological) and

response capability, under

conditions where failure to meet

that demands has important

consequences”

More examples of sport stressors

• Rewards, incentives, prizes

• Prestigious events

• Representative

honours/games

• Social evaluation

• Win at all costs attitude

• Pre-match pep-talks

• Parental pressure

• Inconsistent coaching/training

• Excessive time

demands

• Repetitive practices

• Excessive expectation

• Emotional blackmail

• Concerns about self-

image

Stress process

Research suggests that in analyzing

stress as sequential process it is

important to differentiate between

the performer’s perception of stress

and the actual potential

environmental stressors. (stress

can have a negative effect on

performance but also a positive

effect)

Many top class performers need to

feel under pressure to perform well.

Managing stress

• Reduce the problem

• Reduce the stress

• Control arousal

These techniques can be classified as mainly somatic or cognitive, and can

be taught through psychological skills training (PST).

PST refers to the systematic and consistent practice of

mental or psychological skills. Studies and some coaches say that PST can

attribute for 50-90% of an athlete’s performance.

However, PST

• is not just for elite athletes

• Is not just for problem athletes

• Does not give quick fix solutions

A performer is affected by a range of

psychological factors

Manipulation of these factors can

advance optimal performance

“How are psychological skills used in a

sporting context?”

PST

Psychological Skill training (PST) is

an individually designed

combination of methods selected to

attain psychological skill needs.

There is no quick fix single package,

each program must be individually

based on the psychological state of

the individual and, the sport.

PST skills: confidence, concentration

PST method is the tool that will be

utilzed to improve the skill

The PST program focusses on

optimizing performance by improving

self-efficacy and emotional control. The

athlete will complete sessions using

goal setting, imagery and relaxation.

Program consists of three main phases:

Educational phase – developing

understanding of the importance of

PST and how it can help

Acquisition phase – Athletes learn

how to use PST methods and how to

best implement them

Practice phase – complete training

in both competition and training

PST methods

Goal setting

Goals are seen as direct

motivational strategies

setting standards a

performer is psychologically

motivated to try to achieve,

usually within a specific time.

Goal setting is generally

seen as extremely powerful

technique for enhancing

performance through self-

confidence and motivation.

SMARTER

S –Specific

M – Measurable

A – Accepted

R – Realistic

T – Time bound

E – Exciting

R - Recorded

Types of goals

Outcome goalsFocuses on the

end product

Performance goalsComparing

present performance with

previous performance

Process goalsFocus on what can

be done to improve the performance

Mental imagery

Used for control or regulation of

arousal, improving

concentration, building

confidence and controlling

emotional responses (stress

management) and coping with

pain and injury.

• Imagery is a cognitive

function and is associated

with long-term changes in

performer’s behavior. By

recalling appropriate stored

information from the

memory a player is able to

generate images of

movement experiences

(almost as good and

effective as the real thing)

Mental Imagery

• Internal Imagery: picturing

what you would see if you

were actually doing the

skill yourself (kinaesthetic

feeling associated)

• External Imagery: see

yourself as others would

you, as if you are watching

yourself on a video

The mental imagery sessions will

use internal (imagination), and

external (video demonstration)

examples of performances. All

sessions will focus solely on optimal

performances and will be done in

real time and in slow motion.

Slo mo is especially good to correct

a certain technique. Athlete will

develop a competition-specific

session, this session will be

practiced intensely prior to and

competition