Psychology

• Motivation


  The direction and intensity of effort. A powerful force that drives you towards a desired outcome, combined with the effort or energy you use to work towards that goal.
• Types of motivation


  • Positive
  • Negative
  • Intrinsic
  • Extrinsic
• Positive motivation


  The desire to succeed in a task that will make you feel happy, content or satisfied
• Positive motivation


  • Knowing that if you receive an A on your essay, you will receive praise from your teacher or parents
  • An athlete's dreams and goals
• Positive reinforcement


  Helps to maintain positive motivation. Examples include praise, congratulations, recognition, adoration and approval – from your coach, family, friends, fans or media.
• Negative motivation


  The desire to succeed in a task to avoid unpleasant or undesirable consequences – such as feeling sad, unworthy, or failure
• Negative motivation


  • An athlete who trains hard to avoid her coach yelling at her in front of everyone
  • A player who concentrates more during skill work because dropped balls means extra sprints as punishment
  • A player giving a greater defensive effort because he is likely to get benched if an opposition player scores over him on consecutive occasions
• Reinforcement


  When applied, a 'reinforcer' makes a behaviour more likely to occur again in the future
• Positive reinforcer


  Desirable and should occur immediately after the behaviour e.g. applause, coach approval (something added)
• Negative reinforcer


  Should be used with caution. A whip in horse racing is an example. (something taken away: whip is removed when horse runs fast – only gets whipped if it slows)
• Punishment


  Decreases a behaviour
• Punishment


  • Positive punishment – coach reprimands athletes for chatting during an explanation and the chatting stops (something added)
  • Negative punishment – coach takes player off to stop them arguing with the referee. (something taken away)
• Intrinsic motivation


  The desire that comes from within. When you are intrinsically motivated, you feel satisfied and content to continue an activity because you enjoy it.
• Intrinsic motivation


  • A person who continues playing football even though they have never scored a goal
  • Athletes who are intrinsically motivated by the satisfaction of becoming competent at a given task, such as being able to jog for 30 mins without stopping
• Extrinsic motivation


  The desire to succeed in a task to gain an external reward such as a trophy, money, praise, or avoidance of punishment
• Extrinsic motivation


  • A jockey wanting to win a Melbourne Cup to be showered in praise, fame, money and glory; and to avoid being dumped for the next up and coming jockey
• Anxiety


  An emotional state that results from perceiving a situation as threatening, uncontrollable or unavoidable. Anxiety brings feelings of nervousness, uneasiness, worry, fear or panic. It is a normal reaction to stress, but it has a negative impact on performance.
• State anxiety


  The temporary feeling of apprehension, tension or inadequacy related to a specific point in time
• State anxiety


  • A softball player experiencing high levels of state anxiety just before the game starts and just before batting, but these feelings subside somewhat while on the bench or fielding until the player eventually feels 'normal' again
  • A tennis player experiencing a form of paralysis and having difficulty executing a skill they have performed thousands of times at training, such as a tennis serve
• Trait anxiety


  A behavioural disposition to exhibit anxiety and perceive a wide range of situations as threatening. Athletes with a high level of trait anxiety will tend to be more anxious when confronted with a threatening situation.
• Trait anxiety


  • A team which loses five games in a row will continue to see things in a negative way and continue to lose or accept it will happen
• Stress


  The imbalance between what is demanded of you (physically, psychologically or emotionally), and your perceived ability to meet those demands (your competence or coping skills)
• Sources of stress in sport


  • Level of trait anxiety
  • Personal Experience
  • Support Structures
  • Injury or illness
  • Spectators
  • Media
  • Skill level
  • Fitness
  • Pressure from coaches and family
• Short-term stress management strategies


  • Breathing and relaxation techniques to reduce anger or frustration
  • Concentration skills, which allow for focus on the task, not on a perceived reaction to it
  • Focusing on positive emotions
  • Positive self talk
  • Learning to 'change channels' by developing a routine to re-route negative thoughts
• Arousal


  The physical and mental activation or intensity exhibited at a specific point in time. It refers to the individual's state of readiness or alertness.
• Arousal is important for successful performance, but different individuals and sports require different levels of arousal for optimal performance.
• Inverted U theory


  Relates performance and arousal to an upside down U shape. The athlete will be performing best if working in the zone of optimal arousal.
• If arousal is too LOW


  Performance is decreased
• If arousal is too HIGH

  Performance is decreased
• Arousal level too low


  • Task is too easy
  • Event is not important
  • Performer is bored, tired, over confident
  • Performer is not directly involved in the task
• Arousal level too high


  • Task is too difficult
  • Event is very important
  • Significant people are watching
  • Performer/athlete can be overconfident
• Psychological strategies to enhance motivation and manage anxiety

  • Concentration/attention skills (focusing)
  • Mental rehearsal/visualisation/imagery
  • Relaxation techniques
  • Goal-setting
• Concentration


  An 'attentional process' that involves the ability to focus on the task at hand while ignoring distractions
• The ability to focus is vital for success in any field of skilled performance
• Relevant cues


  The targets for attention that the athlete must focus on for success
• Strategies for focusing/refocusing


  1. Cue words: Believe, Process, Determination, Calm

  2. Set routines (Nadal serve)

  3. Distraction training (Michael Phelps)

  4. Refocusing practice
• Mental rehearsal


  Improves performance by optimising arousal and improving concentration
• Visualisation


  A mental rehearsal technique that focuses on one aspect of performance
• Imagery


  Can be used to help athletes 'switch on' or 'switch off' - to arouse them or to relax them
• The terms mental rehearsal, visualisation and imagery are sometimes used interchangeably