Sport Psychology is the study of the psychological and mental aspects that affect or get affected by participation and performance in exercise, sport and physical activity (American Psychological Association). There are various concepts of sport psychology that can be applied to different situations in sports as well as in recreational exercise; for example, techniques of goal setting, stress and anxiety management, self-confidence, sport imagery training, etc. (Williams & Krane,2015). In this paper, we will discuss the concept of goal setting in sport psychology and how it can be used, particularly in an exercise setting. A goal is defined as the intent or objective that needs to be achieved at the end of a certain activity (Locke & Latham, …show more content…
53): 1. Goals raise focus and absorption 2. Goals supercharge self-confidence 3. Goals help avoid and cope with stress 4. Goals help create and nurture a positive mental attitude 4. Goals increase connate motivation 5. Goals improve overall performance. There are three types of goals: process goals, performance goals and outcome goals. Process goals focus on improving proficiency and scheme. Performance goals deal with improving the overall task that needs betterment Athletes tend to gear to the caliber of the performance; the actual result is secondary to them (Cashmore, 2002, p. 125). Outcome goals on the other hand only concentrate on winning competitions and surpass opponents (Burton, 2008, p. 53). The athlete is willing to perform badly as long as he or she wins; the final result of the game is all that matters in outcome goals (Cashmore, 2002, p. 125). It is very primal to focus on process and performance goals rather than outcomes in the field of sport psychology. This is because these two types of goals increase intrinsic motivation to learn the technique (Burton, 1989; Kingston & Hardy, …show more content…
Achieving short-term goals not only builds one 's confidence, but also builds enthusiasm to achieve the next goal. It is very important to list specific goals, as discussed in the theory section of this paper. Once the goals are listed, the next step is to narrow down and prioritize to one goal from each section of fitness. For example, if your goals in the section of muscular strength are: 1. Doing 50 pushups without stopping, 2. Bench-pressing 150 lbs. 3. Squatting 200 lbs. The next step would be selecting which goal is more important and narrowing down to that single goal. Focusing on working towards few goals makes the process fluid and there are less chances of a person losing track of what they need to
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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
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...
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
Anxiety is undoubtedly an issue that affects almost all athletes. This research will provide insight into why athletes perform best at varying levels of anxiety, and also intends to contribute valuable information about which of these levels translates into the best performance. Knowledge of this study will no doubt aid in the progression of anxiety research, and also will provide valuable information to athletes about the effects of anxiety, more specifically that anxiety does not always have to translate to poor performance.
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Behavior modification in athletics requires the development of goals. It needs one overall goal as well as small step goals. Goal setting is one of the strongest motivational tools. Studies have shown that goals should be broken down into short-term or intermediate goals to help attain the ultimate goals; goals must be accepted by the individual; challenging goals are better than easy ones; tracking progress is useful to remain committed to goals; and a plan of action facilitates goal attainment (Annesi, 2004). With the addition of a written contract binding the athlete to their goals it acts as another enforcer to accomplish their desired behavior.
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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.
Goals should always. Be Specific, Measurable, Accurate, Realistic and Time limited. As in the example above one must consider is 5k run achievable. It is specific distance and activity, and it is measurable. If the task if too difficult the participant May lose interest. Although it is important to review goals and observe how far one has come, how much one has achieved. However as one achieves more they may become more complacent, efforts can reduce for this reason it is essential to remain goal focused. Remaining motivated and persisting with goals over a sustained period can be difficult. There are techniques which can assist an individual to remain motivated. Imagery in sport is useful techniques that can assist one remain motivated. Imagery has been described as “an experience that mimics real experience, and involves using a combination of different sensory modalities in the absence of actual perception”. For example a national football team preparing for the World Cup might use imagery in visualising themselves in the final, lifting the World Cup, scoring goals, penalties etc., not only visualising but imaging how it will feel. This technique motivates them but also can assist in reducing stress at the time of the event. Research has shown that imagery can prevent one "choking", where an athlete can imagine a pressure situation they can perform on automatic pilot rather than the pressure affecting
According to Damon and his colleague, teams and individuals can attain greater consistent levels of confidence if it is based on performance as opposed to outcome. Scholars argue that performance goals are flexible and in apposition to enable athletes to be in control. Progressive achievement in performance will propel athletes to goals achievement and improve motivation. Eventually, their success will be manifested in their tremendous performance which will also attract higher levels of self-confidence. Contrary, the sports people with outcome confidence often believe that higher performance could allow them to improve their social image. All this confirms that the success in sports is integrated with the levels of self-confidence, performance, and outcome. However, it is advisable for athletes and other sports people to focus on their performance but not their outcomes if there is need to improve their skills for the sake of goals
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.