Sports Psychology

• what is a skill

  a learned action that can be improved with practice
• what is an ability

  • innate traits that determine performance
  • stable through life - not influenced by learning
• what is the basic/complex skills continum?

  • the difficulty level of the skill
  • basic skill - beginner, few decisions needed, simple movements
  • complex skill - experienced, multiple decisions needed, series of movements in a sequence
• what is the open/closed skill continium?

  • to what extent does the environment affect the skill
  • open skill - affected by the environment, performed different in different environments, performer is not in control of the outcome
  • closed skill - not affected by the environment - meets the same level of success every time, performed the same every time, performer is in control of the outcome
• what is the self/externally paced continuum?

  • self paced - performer determines when the skill begins and the pace at which it is carried out
  • externally paced - the start of the skill is determined by other players
• what are goals for?

  • motivation
  • progress tracking
• what are performance goals?

  • goal relating to individual performance without comparison to others
  • beginner - winning may be unrealistic and unmotivating
• what is an outcome goal?

  • focused on the end goal ie winning
  • better for experts
• what are SMART goals?

  • Specific - say exactly what your aiming to acheive - you should have a specific goal
  • Measurable - you need to be able to see if you have improved
  • Accepted - must be accepted by both the athlete and the coach so the goal is defo acheivable
  • Realistic - the target must be achievable and the performer must have the facilities and ability to do it
  • Time - bound - set a deadline and you must complete it within that time
• what is the information processing model

  • Input - performer takes in information from their surroundings using their senses
  • Decision making - perfomer uses info from short term (recall details from the current moment ie the behaviour of your defender) or long term memory (recall learnt skills from the past) to select an appropriate response
  • Output - info is sent to muscles to bring out a contraction and response
  • Feedback - intrinsic or extrinsic, can be used in next performance
• what is verbal guidance?

  • Good for experts as they understand technical language
  • confusing for beginners
  • may need to be used with other forms of guidance
  • less useful for a complex skill
• what is visual guidance?

  • Good for beginners as they can see the skill being performed correctly
  • slow motion vids and video analysis can be used to highlight small details for elite performers
  • hard to use for complex skills - hard to copy
  • demo for beginners must be clear and consice and easy to follow
• what is manual guidance

  • coach physically moves your body through the skill
  • great for teaching beginners so they can get the feel for the skill
  • a performer may become overreliant
• who uses intrinsic feedback?

  • elite performers as they have a good idea of how it went
• who uses extrinsic feedback?

  • beginners as they have less idea of how they did
• what is knowledge of performance?

  • relates to the individual performance, regardless of result
  • good for a beginner as they can assess their performance regarless of their other players
  • good for experts as it provides them detailed knwolage of what to work towards
• what is knwolage of results?

  • data showing whether you won or not
  • may demotivate beginners but it is a good way to understand the quality of their performance
• what is arousal

  a physical and mental state of alertness and excitement
• what is the inverted U theory?

  • the relationship between arousal and performance
  • as arousal increases, so does performance until optimal performance is reached
  • under arousal = boredom, low concentration = poor level of performance , less likely to make interceptions
  • over arousal = high levels of anxiety and stress = poor level of performance,, more likely to make footwork
• how can you control arousal levels?

  • deep breathing - lowers HR and helps you calm down
  • mental rehersal - imagine yourself doing the skill with a positive outcome
  • positive self talk - motivating and reassuring
  • visualisation - picture yourself in a relaxing place which makes you feel calm
  • selective attention - ignoring things which aren't important to help you focus on the task at hand
• what is direct agression

  • deliberate physical contact to harm opponent
• what is indirect agression

  • dosent involve physical contact, but they use it to gain an advantage against the opponent by making them feel less confident
• what are introverts?

  • shy, quiet, enjoy being on their own
  • may become over aroused easily
  • individual sports
  • require concentration, precision and low arousal
• what are extroverts?

  • sociable
  • enthusiastic
  • prone to boredom if they are by themselves
  • team sports, fast paced, lower concentration, gross skills
• what is intrinsic motivation?

  • from within
  • a personal goal to achieve
  • the motivation is the feeling after the goal is achieved
• what is extrinsic motivation?

  • from another source
  • may be tangible - medals, trophys, money
  • intangible - applause, fame, praise from others
  • may be overused - participants may forget the reason they are playing as they are consumed by the need for money