HSC Core 2: Factors Affecting Performance
Q2
Students learn about:
 motivation
 positive and negative
 intrinsic and extrinsic
 anxiety
 trait and state anxiety
 sources of stress
 optimum arousal
 psychological strategies to enhance motivation and manage anxiety
 concentration/attention skills (focusing)
 mental rehearsal/visualisation/imagery
 relaxation techniques
 goal-setting.
Students learn to:
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 evaluate performance scenarios to determine the appropriate forms of motivation, eg golf versus boxing explain the difference between anxiety and arousal in terms of the effects on performance
 research case studies of athletes from different sports and ascertain the nature of their motivation and the psychological strategies they employ.
“Athletic Insight – online journal of sports psychology”
Key words (Teacher note: explore existing knowledge then gradually complete following throughout this booklet)
Motivation a stimulating influence that encourages a certain behavior or response
Psychological
Arousal
Intrinsic
Extrinsic
Trait
State
Anxiety
Strategies that pertaining to the mind a state of heightened awareness internal, coming from within external, coming from outside, other sources other than yourself. characteristic of the individual temporary occurrence, at time of stress state of arousal that is extreme or negative, nervousness methods to achieve a certain goal perfect level, not too much and not too little maintaining or exerting control over…
Stress
Optimum
Manage
Sports psychology is the study of human behavior in the context of sporting endeavour. The sports psychologist aims to improve the performance of athletes by helping them to understand and manage psychological processes which affect their performance.
Discuss sporting successes and especially failures which could be attributed to sports psychology. E.g.
Greg Norman was famous for choking, Federer for his steel nerve, McEnroe for his fiery on court antics etc. Explore personal stories of nerves etc of grandfinals….
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Motivation is an internal state that activates, directs and sustains behavior towards achieving a particular goal. While training makes the individual capable of an elite performance it is motivation which drives the individual further and harder to reach their potential.
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Our motivation is affected by our … o self esteem – confident of taking on challenges etc o self-determination or self-drive - want to be our best o expectations – personal goals, self drive, o standard of competition – aim higher to beat the best. o Environment – scenery, cool, hot, o Spectators – clapping, ‘egging’ on, support o state of event – close pointscore, close to losing. o coach’s ability to motivate.
Opt: Administer the motivation checklist
 positive and negative motivation
Positive motivation is when an athlete is driven by past/ future successes and rewards. It relies on reinforcement from coach, family, friends, spectators and media i.e.– incentives, progress charts, recognition. This form of motivation is more effective and sustainable in the long term. e.g. incentives, personal progress charts, increasing challenges
Negative motivation reinforces behavior that will help the athlete to avoid unwanted outcomes i.e. - fear of failure, relegation, benched, losing, coach’s putdowns.
Useful in some particular situations but in the long term its use can be detrimental to performance – loss of confidence, self-belief, indecision.
 intrinsic and extrinsic motivation
Intrinsic motivation comes from within the individual. Athletes are encouraged to train and compete because they are interested in the task, enjoy learning and performing or desire the challenge of competition. It is self-sustaining and self-reinforcing. Athletes motivated internally are more likely to continue their interest and effort in that activity often due to desire to improve and master the skill, next level.
Extrinsic (external) motivation focuses on outcomes that modify and encourage a person’s internal drive to participate and succeed including money, trophies, praise, and being selected in the starting 5 and even failure.
Keeping motivated is more likely if the athlete is intrinsically motivated and not largely driven because of external rewards.
Recount a personal example of positive and extrinsic motivation.
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 evaluate performance scenarios to determine the appropriate forms of motivation, eg golf versus boxing
Tiger Woods “ Tiger Woods on Improvement ” Aug 8, 2008 google video, you tube. He is a champion many times over and worth billions. Why does he keep practicing? What is his motivation?
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Lance Armstrong “Pain is temporary, it may last a minute, or an hour, or a day, or a year, but eventually it will subside and something else will take its place. If I quit however, it lasts forever.”
What do you think motivates him?
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 anxiety and arousal
Anxiety is an emotional (psychological) state of agitation which is the result of fear or apprehension of a potentially threatening situation. In the case of sport it is usually one’s perceived level of ability not measuring up to the demands of the task or expectations.
Arousal is a specific level of anxiety and can be experienced prior to and during performance.
 trait and state anxiety
Trait anxiety is a general level of stress characteristic of the individual in response to daily life and can be positively influenced by the coach and others.
State anxiety is distress when facing a specific situation. E.g. free throw to win game, final playoff hole. Bungee.
Its level needs to be managed to become beneficial for the nature of the sport. What sports might benefit from high levels of anxiety? Contact sports, explosive sports. Discuss its effect in light of new athletics disqualification rules.
 sources of stress
Stress is the non-specific response of the body to a demand placed on it. It readies the body for physical action – for fight or flight, (even if the demand is psychological such as an exam or interview).
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Increased blood supply to skeletal muscles Increased sweat production
More O2 to lungs
Tightened muscles to prepare for action
Increased glucose production
Why do we often feel nauseous as well?
This is a ‘trivia’ fact!
Blood is also removed from abdomen because it is a vulnerable point where attackers (sabre tooth tigers, etc) can cause serious damage and the victim can quickly bleed to death. So the body has developed a response removing a lot of blood from the area, leading to nausea. Of course your body doesn’t know that it is only an exam or gold medal game! i.e. butterflies!
Factors that produce stress are called stressors. In sporting performance they can develop from – o personal pressure – desire to win, fear of failure o competition pressure – opponents, close score o social pressure – coach, parents, peers, spectators, TV cameras o physical pressure – perform under competition situation, injury.
What sports might benefit from a “fight” response?
Aggressive, explosive sports such as football, those with full contact.
What sports might require an athlete to be ready to take to “flight”?
Sprinting, running games, those requiring quick reaction time.
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Athletes can learn to cope with stress especially in competitive situations by using strategies of relaxation techniques, concentrational skills, developing confidence and planning regarding the specific competition / training stressor.
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 optimum arousal (no it’s not what you think!!)
Inverted ‘U’ hypothesis
Arousal is the level of anxiety before or during a performance. It is a physiological process which can help (at optimal levels) or hinder (too much or not enough) sports performance
The level of arousal varies according to the nature of the task. Optimal arousal is the level of anxiety that is perfect for the demands of the task.
Too high a level of arousal (overarousal) causes over narrowing (exclusion of vital information in team sports) and increased muscle tension which leads to poor performance.
A too low level of arousal (under arousal) will mean an athlete is not ready to perform and may react slowly, maybe because of distraction, disinterest or lack of motivation or warmup. Many a soccer or softball game has been lost in the first few minutes.
Tasks requiring fine motor skills, patience and a relaxed manner need a low level of arousal – golf, snooker, darts, pistol shooting.
Powerful, gross motor skills require a high level of arousal – football, boxing, sprinting, weight lifting.
On the diagram place where you think these phases of sports go: balance beam, putting, free throw, serve,
Which ‘U’ is appropriate level of arousal for:
Beginner vs experienced – beginner needs to be slightly underaroused, calmer and more relaxed as they need to focus on skill basics, too easy to make mistakes. The skilled are able to manage a higher level of arousal and may need it to drive them onto higher achievements, since skill is automatic. Their signs of arousal should be noticeable.
Easy task v difficult task (to learn) – athletes can be excited, and non-focused when learning an easy task but to avoid injury etc they must be calmer and more in the zone when attempting a difficult skill such as a salto on the balance beam.
Optimal arousal levels also differ between individuals depending on their self expectation, expectations of others, experience, financial pressures, level of competition, degree of difficulty and skills finesse (response of athlete to the skill difficulty / danger.)
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 explain the difference between anxiety and arousal in terms of the effects on performance……
Research “choking” (aka Greg Norman), “stage fright”, Bannister v Landy 4 minute mile, disqualifications in athletics, Ian Thorpe’s ‘fall’ into the pool.
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 psychological strategies to enhance motivation and manage anxiety
The level of anxiety athletes experience is related to how well they think they can perform.
Uncontrolled anxiety can have a negative effect on performance and it increases when the demand of competition is greater than the athlete’s perceived ability. Or when there is a perceived risk of failure.
Athletes can draw on a number of strategies to reduce anxiety to desired, optimal levels.
 concentration/attention skills (focusing)
“Keep your eyes on the ball!”, “Watch the bat hit the ball.”, “Spot the floor” – all are comments designed to make the player focus or concentrate on the task at hand - to focus on relevant cues and to ignore irrelevant ones. It is often described as being in the ‘zone’.
Relevant cues: pitch and flight of ball, target, slope of the green, set plays---- i.e. the process or the why, not the outcome.
Irrelevant cues; sledging, crowd noise, lactic acid pain, heat, rain, score.
It is developed by focusing on the process rather than the outcome. Play a simple game such as school desk handball and have others sledge one player more than the other, or have one player listening to a song on a headphone, or answer questions.
Attention describes the process whereby individuals use their senses to perceive what is going on around them, focusing on what is important. Words to describe include – alertness, focus, and concentration. It can be selective, shiftable (change from one cue to another. e.g. from just the basket in a free throw to the rest of the team in a field shot, to narrow or widen the attention) and divisable
(more than one cue). Coaches can develop their athletes’ concentration through verbal cues or having athletes develop lists of thoughts at stages of the game.
Read “The Zone” p212. Old Outcomes 2. Or ‘In the Zone’ p204 New Outcomes 2.
What are the characteristics of ‘The Zone’?
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Choose a sport. How would you attempt to develop ‘zone mindedness’ in a player under your care?
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Group
1
 mental rehearsal / visualisaton / imagery
Mental rehearsal or imagery is a technique of mentally picturing the successful performance of a skill, often used just before performance. It helps to provide a clear idea of the task, increase concentration and narrow focus not only while competing but also in skill acquisition.
It involves a mental repetition of a movement or sequence to increase familiarity, provide practice (especially when unable to practice such as waiting to perform, poor weather, injury). It aims to elevate arousal, provide clear idea of task, heightens concentration.
To be effective it needs to be realistic and vivid, a sense of ‘experiencing’ the colours, smells, distractions, only involve successful whole performances and occur in the actual environment with at least one rehearsal.
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Mental Rehearsal Laboratory.
Setup: 4 groups of mixed ability You may choose the skills – these are suggestions only.
Task: Speed stacker (there is a video) / juggling / basketball free throws: demonstrate to all groups.
Equipment: study desk, calculator, speed stacker set, juggling sticks or balls, 10 basketballs.
There is a table in their books to record their attempts.
Each participant is not to watch other attempts. NB Use the study desk to hide the stacker, juggling in the storeroom, shooting outside SCG
Students are to record time / successful attempts and work out average over 10 attempts.
Group Practice method
Methodology You will only record your own result below.
Task:…………………………………………
Average time / score per
10 attempts for all groups / tasks
1 No practice or rehearsal
Physical practice only. 10 attempts at skill, record all attempts at full speed.
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Practice only Watch group 1 then practice at moderate to fast speed 10 times. Repeat and record 10 attempts.
Mental rehearsal only
Mentally rehearse skill with eyes shut for 5 minutes, do not look at other groups then complete and record 10 attempts.
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2
3
Mental rehearsal + practice
Practice method
Mentally rehearse skills with eyes shut, do not look at other groups then practice 10 times. Repeat and record 10 attempts.
Methodology
No practice or rehearsal
Physical practice only. 10 attempts at skill, record all attempts at full speed.
Practice only Watch group 1 then practice at moderate to fast speed 10 times. Repeat and record 10 attempts.
Mental rehearsal only
Mentally rehearse skill with eyes shut for 5 minutes, do not look at other groups then complete and record 10 attempts.
Average time / score per
10 attempts
4 Mental rehearsal + practice
Mentally rehearse skills with eyes shut, do not look at other groups then practice 10 times. Repeat and record 10 attempts.
Examine your results. Hopefully group 3 + 4 are close + better than the others! Students have space to answer..
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It can also involve creating a picture (as opposed to actually ‘performing’ the skill in your mind) regarding an element of the performance – like watching a movie. e.g. sitting in the crowd and watching yourself perform, moment of victory. It can be used to calm the overaroused or ‘rev up’ the underaroused, also to practice skills, motivate, familiarize with a new environment, and refocus.
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Relaxation techniques
This strategy is to reduce anxiety and control arousal. With practice an athlete can relax in stressful situations before, during and after an event and often precedes mental imagery. Techniques include:- o Progressive muscular relaxation – relaxing muscle groups in sequence. o o
Mental relaxation – deep breathing, clearing mind.
Self-hypnosis – using power of suggestion to accept level of anxiety. o Mental rehearsal – concentration of performance rather than emotions.
Discuss the use of these techniques in the
HSC exam! o Meditation – narrowing thoughts through simple, repetitive images and sounds. o Centred breathing – controlling breathing to release tension.
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 goal-setting.
Goal setting for performance can provide motivation, commitment and direction. They can be short or long term; process-orientated or outcomes-orientated; behavioural or performance based; technical, tactical, psychological or physiological. To be effective they must be specific, realistic and appropriate and be readjusted frequently. Especially the athlete must be empowered to set their own goals.
What are some specific, realistic and appropriate goals for sporting success in the class?
Ask the ‘professional’ athletes in the class why they train and play, what motivates them and what their goals are, get Drew to talk to the class.
 research case studies of athletes from different sports and ascertain the nature of their motivation and the psychological strategies they employ.
Good video: Psychology of Winning.
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