Review of Journal Article: Using Psychological Skills Training to Develop Soccer Performance Richard C. Thelwell , Iain A. Greenlees & Neil J. V. Weston (2006) Using Psychological Skills Training to Develop Soccer Performance, Journal of Applied Sport Psychology,18:3, 254-270 Improving the performances of athletes has always been of utmost importance to many stakeholders of the sporting industry, such as the athletes’ coaches, sport psychologists, sports scientists. Many factors during a competition can affect athletes physically and mentally and these can negatively affect their performance abilities. Among these factors involved in affecting athletic performances, psychological factors have long been of interest. Many studies have since …show more content…
In the article, it elaborated on three studies which utilised multiple-baseline-across-individuals designs. The first study by Swain and Jones (1995) employed goal-setting interventions on basketball subcomponents like offensive rebounds, defensive rebounds, steals and turnovers. Positive results were observed for targeted subcomponents whereas no changes were seen in others. The second study illustrated was a study by Johnson et al. (2004) which employed self-talk strategies to help improve soccer low-drive shooting of elite female youth soccer players. Two out of the three players assessed showed improvements in their shooting performances. The third study by Rogerson and Hrycaiko (2002) examined the utilisation of two psychological interventions (centering and self-talk) on the subcomponent performances of junior ice hockey goaltenders. Results showed an improvement in the save percentages and social validation data reflected players’ satisfaction with the strategies. Thus, these three studies demonstrated the potential in looking into performance subcomponents instead of just outcomes …show more content…
Evaluation of athlete’s strengths and weaknesses can enhance the understanding of the players and facilitate the planning process. Profiling of players could be conducted before grouping similar characteristic of players together. Identification of suitable interventions could then be carried out. As in performance profiling process, the athletes are self-determining and their perspectives become a central rather than peripheral focus. This will aid in the maximising of athletes’ motivation to partake and adhere to the interventions during that specific period. Thus effectiveness of the interventions could then be more accurately assessed. In addition, for future studies, if three variables were selected, baseline data could be established for all three dependent variables. The researcher could implement one intervention first while maintaining baseline conditions for the other two. Once stabilised and criterion is gathered for the first intervention, analysis can be done before progressing to the second intervention. This could be repeated till all three interventions are completed. This would then allow for a more effective test of the
Conroy, D. E., Elliot, A. J., & Hofer, S. M. (2003). A 2 x 2 Achievement Goals Questionnaire for Sport: Evidence for Factorial Invariance, Temporal Stability, and External Validity. Journal of Sport & Exercise Psychology, 37(1), 42-56.
Sport and exercise science is a multidisciplinary field that draws on knowledge from the broader parent disciplines, the subareas that make up sport and exercise science also draw on measures, constructs and concepts from each other. In fact, it is suggested that sport psychology should include knowledge from other sub-disciplines within sport and exercise science in order to gain better understanding of situations specific to
The goal of every coach is to create an environment in which his athletes can flourish. Performance anxiety is a coach’s worst enemy simply because it can have a negative impact both mentally and physically on athletes. The mastery approach to coaching is a cognitive-behavioral intervention designed to promote a mastery-involving motivational climate (Smith, Smoll, Cumming, 2007). How a coach handles his athletes is essential for their confidence and ability to overcome any level of performance anxiety. Critical or punitive feedback from coaches can evoke high levels of negative affect in children who fear failure and disapproval, thereby contributing to a threatening athletic environment (Smith, Smoll, Cumming, 2007).
Creative new training methods, developed by coaches, athletes and sport scientists, are aimed to help improve the quality and quantity of athletic training ( Kellmann, 2010, p.1). However, these methods have encountered a consistent set of barriers including overtraining ( Kellmann, 2010, p.1). Due to these barriers, the need for physical and mental recovery in athletics brought an increasing attention in practice and in research ( Kellmann, 2010, p.1).
Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology 12.3 (Sept 1990): 217-222. Edwards, Tara and Hardy, Lew. “The Interactive Effects of Intensity and Direction of Cognitive and Somatic Anxiety and Self- Confidence Upon Performance.” Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology18.4 (Sept 1996): 296-312. Ferraro, Tom.
Sports Psychology Today. Mental Edge Athletics, 4 Sept. 2012. Web. 28 Oct. 2013. Forde, Pat.
I am a young ambitious student who strives to excel in everything I do. I want to study Sport Psychology as I know I possess the right skills to further and develop myself in the career of sports. I have the ability to understand others in sports as I also play sports myself. I have been in high pressured sporting situations which I have used my psychological skills to help increase my performance. What interests me in Sport Psychology is that I can make a big difference to not just my life but the lives of people in sport such as rehabilitating athletes or boosting athlete performance. I am fascinated by how different athletes perform in the same environment and getting practical with the mind, body and brain. Improving performance, consistency and stability in an athlete’s
Why are mental skills so important to performance and why are they often neglected by coaches and athletes? Yogi Berra has been quoted as saying, "sport is 90% mental and 50% physical." You can question his mathematical savvy, but if you're an athlete, coach or fan, you can't question his wisdom. (Hacker, 2000) Many athletes understand that while developing oneself to their physical potential is a critical element in performance potential, it is often a deficit in our psychological game rather than errors in our physical performance that keep us from performing at optimum levels in practice, games or matches. Spud McKenzie, the Budweiser poster puppy, suggested that it is important to say when, but also emphasized the critical element of knowing “when to say when”. It is often the successful athlete has recognized what needed to be done and the unsuccessful athlete was unable to do so. As a consequence, it is not the physical talents or abilities that separate athletes and teams, or successful versus less successful performance, rather, the psychological dimension that most frequently explains a given sport outcome or individual performance. For this reason games are played. Prior to each contest, judgment could be made with regard to which team or individual is the “more highly skilled”. If games were decided on who is the most physically gifted and/or talented individuals or teams, it would prove to be an exercise in futility to compete. As a result, whether you are an athlete or a coach, mastering the mental game of sport will allow you to achieve a level of success as a competitor than you could otherwise not achieve by focusing exclusively on the physical side of sport.
Athletes who react good to pressure can be described as psychologically sound, whereas athletes, who exhibit not common responses to pressure, may experience choking under pressure. (Mesango & Marchant, 2008) When we think of personal performance, what are we actually saying? Although personal performance can’t be specifically defined, it’s believed to be measured by an athlete’s outcome of the game he or she has played. How did the athlete prepare himself for the game? What goals has he or she set prior to kickoff, or tipoff? It’s amazing how an athletes mind and thinking, plays such a big part in how they
Children who participate in sports are developing rapidly in sports skills, sportsmanship, and psychologically, but does this come from organized sports are just nature’s process. Children develop emotional and social benefits from participating in sports. Children experience character and leadership development through peer relations leading to an increase in self-esteem and a decrease in anxiety levels. Children will get opportunities to experience positive and negative emotions throughout their practice and games trials. It is important for the coach to understand the “psychology of youth sports and physical activity participation” (Weinberg & Gould, 2011 p.516).
Firstly, it is vital to note that anxiety, motivation, and concentration tremendously influence people's self-confidence and their performance at the long-run (Damon & Raedeke, P 188). Higher self-confidence reduces anxiety. The vice versa is also true. This is based on the fact that optimally confident sports people experience fewer doubts on self. Their worries reduce and give room for concentration in their activities. Additionally, motivated athletes are in a better position to strive towards achieving their goal. Motivation enables sports people to combat negativity and low self-esteem as they focus more on their goals other than obstacles. Therefore, it is fundamental to note that coaches and sports people must collaborate in finding any mechanisms that could stimulate and uphold self-esteem since it is, directly and indirectly, impactful to their
A lot of times, sports seem like a contest of physical skill― a test to see who is the fastest or strongest, who has the best eye or the most endurance, who can jump the highest or can handle the ball the best. What a lot of people don’t know is that there is so much more to a sport than just the muscle and coordination. In order to excel in a sport, an athlete requires a lot of self-discipline, concentration, and self-confidence. It’s the mental factor that makes a difference. Former Olympic gold medal-winning decathlon runner Bruce Jenner once said, “You have to train your mind like you train your body” (Gregoire 1). Success or failure depends on the mental factors just as much as the physical ones. The training of the mind of an athlete is called sports psychology. The use of sports psychology has a huge impact upon an athlete’s performance. The mental skills of a sport are just as important as the physical skills. All professional athletes use sports psychology. “If they aren’t currently using it, it’s almost guaranteed they’ve used it in the past, even if they are unaware they have” (Davis, Stephens, The Exploratorium 129). It’s hard to find an experienced athlete who hasn’t used sports psychology, because without it, they probably wouldn’t be where they are. The use of sports psychology is a crucial step to becoming a successful athlete.
Sports psychology continues to evolve in order to ensure that comprehensive and evidence-based psychological services are available for athletes and teams. Giving athletes an understanding of their psychological functioning, and building the ability to implement a range of psychological strategies in competition enables athletes to both execute their skills and thrive under pressure as they strive to reach their performance potential.
Sports and performance anxiety often go hand-in-hand. When a competitor ‘freezes’ in the big moment or commits an inexplicable error, anxiety, in one of its many guises, is very often the root cause. Anxiety is a natural reaction to threats in the environment and part of the preparation
In sports, feedback given by coaches to their players when correcting or advising them on their performance is largely ignored. Feedback is the evaluation process used by coaches to inform their players of their performance on the field. Many people believe that a coach has the right to give negative and hostile feedback to the players. However, they do not realize that while a favorable response can provide many positive changes on the players, an unfavorable remark can have negative motivational changes as well. This paper discusses the various types of feedback and such assessments that are appropriate for coaches to use when addressing athletes. Coaches give feedback with the aim of improving performance and enhance positive motivational