Psychology

• Self-paced becomes externally paced – environment decides when player shoots.
• Closed becomes open – affected by the environment, need to make decisions due to opponents or team mates or environmental factors.
• Skills are learnt and developed from ability after a period of practice.
• To produce a skilled performance, the player must practise so that the required abilities are enhanced.
• Skills are consistent, meaning a skilled performer is able to perform the task to the same level of high quality time after time.
• Skills are goal-directed, meaning a player practices skills with an aim in mind.
• Skills are controlled, with the skilled performer in charge, controlling the rate and timing of the skill.
• Skills are efficient and smooth, performed without wasted energy and seem to flow.
• A skilful performance has two elements: a cognitive part that requires thought before action and a motor part that requires control and efficient movement.
• Two skills such as swimming and judo are so different that there is no learning effect from one to the other.
• As the performer develops, feedback could be used to refine the task.
• Bilateral Transfer: In bilateral transfer a learned skill is transferred from limb to limb across the body.
• Skills are usually classified on a sliding scale called a continuum.
• Zero Transfer: Zero transfer there is no similarity at all.
• Negative Transfer: Negative transfer occurs in the initial stages of learning, but in this case the learning and performance of one skill is hindered by the learning and performance of another.
• Positive Transfer: This occurs when learning in one task is enhanced by learning in another task.
• Ensure practices replicate the performance environment, for example, add in defenders.
• Both tasks involve a similar action and require a similar skill set.
• A fine skill has small, delicate muscle movements.
• A highly organised skill is hard to break down since it is fast in its execution.
• A closed skill is one where the outcome is certain and the performer has no freedom to choose from a variety of options.
• The rate of execution is decided before execution in an externally paced skill.
• A serial skill has several discrete elements which are put together.
• The open/closed continuum represents the degree with which a skill is open or closed.
• Simple skills have a limited amount of information to process and the skill has a smaller cognitive element.
• A complex skill involves a high level of decision making and has a large cognitive or thinking element to it.
• A discrete skill has a short time span and a clear beginning and end.
• A continuous skill has no clear beginning or end.
• A gross skill uses large muscle group movements.
• A self-paced skill is at the control of the performer.
• A low organised skill can be broken down into parts, or subroutines.
• An open skill is one that is affected by the sporting environment, requiring the performer to make decisions in response to their surroundings.
• A closed skill involves less decision making because it has a predictable environment, allowing the performer to take their time to execute the skill.
• Cognitive stress management techniques include popular methods such as deep breathing, visualisation, and progressive muscle relaxation.
• Somatic stress management techniques involve physical activities such as yoga, meditation, and progressive muscle relaxation.
• Not all stress is bad for performance, as stress can help with alertness, motivation to practice, and gaining a competitive edge.
• Eustress, or positive stress, is a positive aspect of stress that can be found in extreme sports.
• Too much stress or bad stress can cause performance anxiety, which does not allow the individual to play relaxed, confident, and focused in competition.
• A more accurate definition for stress is 'the perceived imbalance between demands of a task and the individual's ability'.
• Stress can be triggered by certain stimuli from the environment, known as stressors.