Psychological Skills Training
What exactly is Psychological Skills Training and for a coach or instructor, what advantage is gained by its implementation? In other words, why bother?
Psychological Skills Training (PST) is typically more comprehensive than a few short sessions with a few simple interventions that a coach or instructor might suggest. PST usually integrates cognitive and relaxation techniques in a more encompassing approach to mental training and as a complement to physical training. Individualism is a hallmark of most PST programs. (Gill, 2000)
The Importance of Mental Skills
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.
PST - The Initial Learning Phase
The four commonly used PST techniques are: arou...
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...file becomes increasingly significant in terms of achieving desired performance levels.
The margins for success and failure as a world-class athlete can be miniscule. Skiers go wide on the third gate of a downhill race to find they have not only lost the gold medal, but any medal. Members of the PGA, after playing 72 holes, find themselves losing the tournament by one stroke, as a result of the missed three-foot putt on the second day of competition.
Works Cited
Gill, D. L., (2000), Psychological Dynamics of Sport and Exercise, Champaign, IL, 2nd Ed., p197, Human Kinetics.
Hacker, C., (February 2000), Introduction to Psychological Skills, Eteamz, http://www.eteamz.com/baseball/instruction/psych/index.cfm?m=1,2,3,4,5
Rushall, B. S., (1995). Mental Skills Training for Sports, Sports Science Associates, Spring Valley, CA., 8.1- 8.3,
White, S. A., Psychological Skills: Differences between Volleyball Players on the Youth National Team and Those Involved in the 14’s High-Performance Camp, Unpublished Thesis, Illinois State University, Normal, IL.
Weinberg, R.S. & Gould, D. {1995} Foundations of sport and exercise psychology. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics. Ch.15
The book begins by explaining how important exercise and being active is to our health and well-being. The author then transitions into a story about Naperville Central High School. This high school was in the forefront of a revolutionary new concept that involved vigorous exercise of its students instead of a traditional gym class. This new approach stimulated new research on the brain, and the effects of exercise on the well being of our body and minds. After the introduction of the new fitness programs, the school’s students showed drastic increases in standardized tests, and on normal tests as well.
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.
Sports psychology can be defined as the study and application of the attitudes and behaviors of athletes (including team athletes) that impact (either positively or negatively) performance in sports or competitive settings. The goal of sports psychology is to help athletes and teams identify unhealthy attitudes and beliefs, apply mental toughness skills and peak performance strategies to perform at optimal levels (Cohn). Sports psychology is not recognized as a traditional field of practice offered by graduate programs; although, it is a recognized field of specific study under Kinesiology and Physical Education Programs. Sports psychology was first founded in 1920 by Carl Diem in Berlin, Germany. Later on, in 1925, sport psychology was brought to the U.S by Cloman Griffith. These early psychologists aimed to observe the effects of mental state on different factors of performance such as reaction time, tension, relaxation, and awareness (Haney). In the 1960’s Griffith’s research interest in sports psychology reemerged after having faded away for a while; however, the field had a...
The purpose of Motor Learning is to establish the fundamentals of movement so motor skill and motor control can be sufficiently achieved. This subdiscipline also looks at individual differences of behavior to investigate how it affects motor skill and motor control. Relating to individual differences, Sociology examines age, race, ethnicity, gender, among others to see if these factors have any influence on physical activity. Ultimately, the subdiscipline of Psychology explores emotions, behaviors, and cognitions that individuals experience during physical activity. The purpose of Psychology is to determine how emotions can impact performance of physical activity. With an overview of each subdiscipline given, the specific subdiscipline I will be analyzing throughout this essay is Exercise Physiology. I chose this subdiscipline to explain my current topic because I want to know if following a vegetarian diet enhances physical performance. To research this idea, I need to know what physiological responses are occurring in the human body while exercising on a vegetarian diet, if following this lifestyle will prevent cancers and diseases, and if it will improve health and
Jeffers, N. (n.d.). Training youths for a sound future in athletics. Intensity Magazine. Retrieved March 17, 2004, from http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/inmag51.htm
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
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.
Wiese-Bjornstal, D. M., Smith, A. M., Shaffer, S. M., & Morrey, M. A. (1998). An intergrated model of resonse to athletic injury and rehabilitation. Journal of Applied Sports Psychology, 10, 46-69.
Negative, irrelevant thoughts cause the individual to doubt him or herself. The chain reaction of these events cause anxiety, and either affect or halt the action that was meant to take place (Lenac). Psychological skill training is used to enhance performance by a systematic practice of skills, and in this case, can be used to help the choking response (Weinberg, 248.) A sport psychologist will have the client recognize what happened when the choking first ensued. The client can now receive help with managing thoughts, emotions, and awareness so that she will not choke again. It is important for the client to only think about now, while managing breathing, so the negative thoughts can be released.
Siedentop, D. Introduction to physical education, fitness, and sport. 7. McGraw-Hill Humanities/Social Sciences/Languages, 2009. Print.
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).
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.
Millions of children worldwide participate in a multitude of sports, either in school or outside of school. As they grow older, they get better, but some of them stop playing. We have discussed that the best and sometimes oldest of the kids (in their age groups) are given more chances and more opportunities, as well as better coaching. This results in them gaining more experience and practice. Ultimately, some of them end up being national or world-class athletes competing and representing their country. In order for that to happen, they have to be recognized as talented and be presented with a chance to become great.
Sport and exercise psychology is a mandatory aspect of the sport science discipline. This discipline contributes to the various professional practices associated with physical activities such as - teaching of physical education, recreation and health promotion, and kinesiology related professions - because it plays a mental role for the participants. Sport and exercise psychologists view physical activity in several different ways: physical activity as a tool for health, physical activity as a tool for human potential, and physical activity as a tool for social change. This aspect of psychology may be the most important aspect of physical activity, because of the contributions of exercise and sport psychology to health, human potential, and social change.
Rosewater, Ann. “Learning to Play and Playing to Learn: Organized Sports and Educational Outcome.” Education Digest 75.1 (2009): 50-57. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 27 Oct. 2011.