Introduction
It is commonly accepted that mental preparation for athletic pursuits is essential for optimal performance, and that athletes generally perform better with knowledge and application of psychological principles and strategies. Research continues to suggest that there is significant potential to improve performance through mental training. Reasons why people perform differently in sporting activities relate mainly to physical factors, including genetic makeup, fitness level and skill.
However, better understanding of specific psychological influences, notably motivation, arousal and anxiety management is becoming increasingly important as these influences can significantly enhance or inhibit performance depending on the way they are managed.
Brainstorm: What motivates you?
List 5 factors that motvate you in your day to day routines.
List 5 factors that motivate you to succeed at school.
Choose a sport or activity in which you regularly participate. Explain the motivational forces that have driven you when you have achieved your best.
Question:
Motivation is a key factor in achieving performance potential. Identify several factors that may influence an individual's motivation?
Application:
Look at the diagrams below, write examples of motivating techniques that would most appropriately suit the level and/or age of the athlete.
(a) Young novice performer
(b) Non-competitive competition
(c) Lower level team or activity
(d) Fun is major aim
(a) Elite performer
(b) High- level performer
(c) Intense competition performer
(d) Career performer
What motivates Kobe Bryant?
Motivation
- Positive and Negative
Motivation is the athelete's driving force behind performing in an activity, game or competition, and is aroused by setting a goal to achieve. Levels of motivation influence how much attention an athlete gives to the task they are performing.
The level of motivation that an athlete can be determined by:
their own self-drive and determination
Expectations set by the athlete, and those set by external forces such as a coach, team, family or supporters
General pressures to perform
Level of competition/challenge
Support
is the desire to be successful in a pursuit that will result in happiness
positive reinforcement can assist in maintaining positive motivation
examples include: praise and recognition from family, Friends and coaches
positive motivation is often the result of previous success in a similar setting
is the desire to be successful with the aim of avoiding unpleasant consequences
the motivation is to avoid something "bad" from happening as opposed to a positive outcome
example: training hard to avoid being dropped from the team
has limited benefits and should not be a continuous form of motivation
it may also result in athlete not taking risks die to the fear of the consequences
Positive motivation is a response which includes enjoyment and optimism about the task or activity. It requires continual self reinforcement and also by others e.g. coach, family and peers. It can be further enhanced by recognising achievement, handling mistakes in a constructive manner and developing respect for the athlete. Positive motivation is an extremely beneficial source of motivation as it relates to positive approaches to success.
Negative motivation is the performance of a specific skill under threat of negative consequences or failure if success or competency is not reached. Some players respond to negative motivation on an irregular basis, the long term effects of negative motivation is highly destructive to an athlete’s psychological well being, it can destroy self confidence, diminish any self initiatives and belief in oneself. Negative motivation causes the athlete to perform out of fear, and hence always opt for safe strategies during a game play situations, by lacking the initiative to take risks they are unable to develop and acquire greater skills.
Positive motivation is more effective than negative motivation. The simplest way to develop positive motivation is to establish gradual and attainable goals for the athlete, challenges are positive and motivating whereas threats are negative and distract the athlete from the task as they are confronted with the fear of failure. This negates main principles of many sporting activities where an athlete is encouraged to succeed on the basis of enjoyment for the task. Furthermore, positive motivation is more sustainable; giving many long term benefits e.g. increased confidence, decision making skills and strategic thinking. While negative motivation is effective on rare occasions, positive motivation is better for an ongoing basis.
Motivation
- Intrinsic and Extrinsic
refers to the motivation that originates from within the athlete
arises from self-expectations and goals the athlete has set out to achieve
eg breaking a record will indicate an athletes success and achievement and the athlete may feel intrinsic satisfaction
is sourced from forces outside the athelete
eg coaches, team members, friends, supporters, crowds or even rewards or consequences such as sponsorship, trophies or losing a position in a competition
Anxiety and Arousal
- Trait and state anxiety
Very Well Mind Website - How to Handle Performance Anxiety as an Athlete
Anxiety is an emotional response associated with fear and can bring about mental and physical unease. As a result, uncontrolled anxiety can cause an unsuccessful performance.
Anxiety is a negative emotional state. It is the result of perceiving situations as threatening.
Trait Anxiety:
is dependent on the individual and refers to one person's level of stress regardless of the sitiuation. Each person has a different level of trait anxiety, and this can be managed using psychological strategies.
State Anxiety:
is an increased level of stress in response to a specific situation Eg: an athlete prior to the start of a 100m race feeling nervous and anxious.
This type of anxiety can bring about fear, nervousness, "stage fright" and sweating. In some cases, it can significantly hinder an athlete's performance. This type of anxiety can also be managed using psychological strategies.
Activity:
Watch the attached clip and answer the following questions
Clickview - Sports Psychology: Motivation, Anxiety and Arousal
Questions:
a) Give three examples that the athletes in this program use to keep them motivated.
b) Explain the difference between ‘intrinsic’ and ‘extrinsic’ motivation. Provide examples for each.
c) Most athletes experience nerves at some point in their career. What is important for them to learn from the experience?
d) Define the various types of pressure.
e) Explain Under Arousal.
f) Discuss why golf and rugby union would require varying degrees of optimal arousal, with reference to the Inverted U Hypothesis?
Anxiety and Arousal
- Sources of stress
Crowds
Injury concerns
Contract concerns
Selection concerns
Stress is a non-specific response that the body has to the demands placed upon it. Stress can be both good and bad, but both can cause increased blood supply, breathing (ie higher oxygen levels) and sweating. Stress can be dependent on the athlete's previous and personal experiences, and each individual responds to stress differently.
Things that cause stress are called "stressors" - these include:
Level of competition
Pressure (eg: from the athlete, coach, family, etc)
Expectations
The environment in which the athletes need to perform (eg climate and audience)
Axiety and Arousal
- optimum arousal
Define: Arousal
All sports require athletes to be in a certain mental state and condition prior to competing. Reserach has found that different tasks require different levels of arousal for optimal performance.
Additionally, different sports and activities require different levels of arousal. Eg: Sports using small group of muscles, such as golf, require low levels of arousal. By contrast, sports that require large muscle groups, such as weightlifting, require high levels of arousal.
Optimum Arousal
Optimum arousal refers to the ideal level of arousal that will result in optimal (ie the best possible) performance.
This can be shown using the "Inverted-U hypothesis
Application:
Where would the following points appear on the graph??
Point A: is the point of under arousal, characterised by disinterest and low levels of concentration, causing poor performance
Point B: is the point of optimum arousal where the athlete is interested but not overly stressed or anxious. This is where the best performances occur
Point C: is the point of over arousal where high levels of stress and anxiety result in poor performance
Application: Complete the following 2014 HSC Examination Question
Question 26 (marking criteria can be found online - 2014)
How do anxiety and arousal differ in terms of their effect on athletic performance? (4 marks)
Psychological strategies to enhance motivation and manage anxiety
Application:
Think of times when you have been anxious and nervous when facing a challenge. What strategies did you employ to overcome these nerves? Do you think athletes utilise similar strategies? Why/why not?
Different strategies may be used by athletes in order to enhance motivation and manage anxiety, and therefore help them perform at optimal levels.
Mediation
Music
Concentration
Mental rehearsal
"Lauren Williamson"
(Women's health)
Psychological strategies to enhance motivation and manage anxiety
- Concentration and attention skills
This skill refers to the athlete's abilty to remain focused on the task that they are meant to perform. Through this, the athlete focuses on the process, rather than the outcome of the performance. Athletes can also "block" out any distracting forces (eg screaming crowds).
Different sports and activities require different levels of concentration.
- mental rehearsal and visualisation
This psychological strategy involves the athlete imagining and going through their performance in their head. Visualisation helps an athlete become more familiar with their performance, and allows for increased concentration. It is important that the athlete is not distracted during mental rehearsal.
Often when an athlete "sees" a successful performance, they are more likely to execute it. The opposite is also true; if they imagine failure, they will likely execute a poor performance.
Mental rehearsal is particularly useful when the athlete is unable to physically train due to poor weather, illness or injury.
How do elite athletes use mental rehearsal and visualisation? Watch the short clips below.
Psychological strategies to enhance motivation and manage anxiety
- Relaxation techniques
Relaxation techniques are usually used when the athelete needs t ocontrol or lower their levels of stress, anxiety or injury.
Examples of relaxation techniques include:
progressive muscular relaxation (muscle groups are relieved of tension)
mental relaxation or rehearsal
Self-hypnosis
Mediation that narrows the athlets thoughts, allowing them to relax
Controlled breathing to lower heart rate and release tension
Find a quiet space and choose one of the attached Progressive Muscular Relaxation sessions.
Questions:
Were you able to relax? What would be some benefits of participating in this type of relaxation technique?
Psychological strategies to enhance motivation and manage anxiety
- Goal Setting
Goals give athletes something to work towards and is useful in empowering athletes, giving them an opportunity to realise their aspirations, and enhance their focus, direction and performance. The goals of an athlete can be about the outcome of their performance (eg winning gold at the Olympics) (or the process (eg swimming a personal best at the Olympics).
Short-term goals should contribute to achieving the long-term goal.
Goal setting can incoportae the SMARTER framework:
S = specfic
M= measureable
A= achievable
R= realistic
T= timeframe
E= evaluated
R= rewarded
Activity:
Extension Activities
1. Imagine you are the coach of an up and coming young sportsperson (in the sport of your choice).
a) Prepare a speech aimed at this sportsperson, outlining the benefits of speaking regularly to a sport psychologist. Make sure your speech is specific to the sport, for example if you choose to be ‘coach’ of a footballer your points may be different from the ‘coach’ of a diver. Include an (invented) example from the sportsperson’s past where they choked and explain to them how they might have dealt with the situation differently if they’d had the benefit of advice from a sports psychologist. Make sure your arguments are convincing.
b) Present your speech to the class. As a class, evaluate the successfulness of the speech in persuading the sportsperson to start seeing a sport psychologist. What were the most convincing points made by the ‘coach’? Be prepared to discuss the reasons behind why you focused on particular points within your speech.
2. In pairs, create a role play of a session with a sports psychologist and a sportsperson. Start with a scenario where the sportsperson has recently experienced ‘choking’ and is coming to the psychologist to discuss the experience.
3. Research the profession of sport psychologist. What sort of education and training do they go through to get into the industry? What types of sports or athletes are they most likely to be associated with?
4. Use the Internet to find a recent study on the area of sport psychology or mental preparation for athletes. (Google Scholar is one place to start looking. Use the words from the title of this program or keywords used within the program as your search terms.) Write a one page report summarising this research. Include the following in your report: where the research was conducted and by whom, which area(s) of sport it focussed on, the main conclusions reached, anything interesting/surprising that you learnt from the research, anything that you didn’t understand or found confusing about the study. Discuss your report with a classmate.