Performance enhancement from a
psychological perspective
Applying practice to teaching
VCE Unit 4
Identify and explain psychological factors which impact on performance (Unit
4)
• Motivation
• Arousal and Anxiety
• Confidence
• Mental Imagery
• Concentration
Ideas for Classes/Assessment Activities
Study Guide
• Assessment
• Outcome 2
• Evaluate practices and/or strategies that are used
in conjunction with each other to enhance
performance
• On completion of this unit the student should be
able to analyse and evaluate strategies designed
to enhance performance or promote recovery.
Mental Skills in Sport
Psychological Skills Training (PST)
Skills
•Like physical skills
•Can be learned and ultimately lead
to peak performance
Awareness
Performance Profiling
Motivation
Intensity and direction of effort
Intrinsic and Extrinsic
Task and Ego Orientation
Measures:
• Intrinsic and Extrinsic motivation
• (Sport Motivation Scale, SMS)
• Task and Ego Orientation Questionnaire
• www.brianmac.co.uk/
Long- and Short-term Goals
Smarter Goals
Specific
Measurable
Accepted
Realistic
Time-framed
Exciting
Recorded
Resources
Mental toolbox
• http://www.usaswimming.org/
Tennis
• http://www.britishtennisparents.com/MaximisingPotential/GoalSetting/
Arousal and Anxiety
Arousal
• General physiological and psychological activation
Anxiety
• A subjective feeling of apprehension and heightened
physiological arousal
• Somatic
• Cognitive
Theories of Arousal and Anxiety
Inverted- U Theory
Low Skilled
Putting in Golf
Weightlifting
Optimal Performance
Zone
Performance
Tackling in Football
Optimal Performance
Zone
Optimal Performance
Zone
Arousal
High Skilled
Measuring Arousal and Anxiety
• Heart Rate
Questionnaires
• SCAT – Sport Competition Anxiety Test (Martens, 1977)
• CSAI2 – Competitive State Anxiety Inventory2
• Cognitive, somatic, self-confidence
www.brianmac.co.uk/
Managing Arousal / Anxiety
Relaxation
• Progressive Muscle Relaxation
(PMR)
• Breathing
• Meditation
• (many scripts available online)
Pumping Up
•
•
•
•
Breathing
Positive talk
Music
Pre-competitive workout
Confidence
Performance
Belief about achieving success (can be a trait or a
state)
Underconfident
Just right
Overconfident
Improving Confidence
Goal-setting
Game Plans and Routines
Imagery
Self-talk
• Thought-Stopping
• Rationalisation
Affirmations
Mental Imagery
Imagery
• Using all the senses to create or re-create an experience in the mind
(Mental Practice/Visualisation)
Imagery Ability
• Vividness
• Controllability
Measures
Sport Imagery Questionnaire (SIQ)
Sport Imagery Ability Measure (SIAM)
Widely used at elite level
Large number of uses
Model of Choking in Sport
Conditions Leading to Choking
Important competition
Critical plays in a competition
Evaluation by coaches, peers, and parents
Physical Changes
Attentional Changes
Increased muscle tension
Internal focus
Increased breathing rate
Narrow focus
2007 World Championship
Increased heart rate
Reduced flexibility
Won by Tyson Gay
Performance Impairment
Timing and coordination breakdown
Asafa Powell
Leaped out of the blocks and was ahead at the 60 mark
“But then I heard Tyson’s footsteps and I froze”
Muscle tightness and fatigue
"I felt him coming on my shoulder and that's when I
panicked"
Rushing
“I just couldn’t relax. I tied up and he shot past me for the
win.”
Inability to attend to task-relevant cues
Strategies to Enhance Concentration
Grid exercise
Breathing/relaxation
Imagery
Cue words
• “follow-through”
Pre-shot routines
Pre-competition routines
• (superstitions)
Pre-Performance Routines
Jonny Wilkinson
Kicking routine crucial to Wilkinson's game
• "My stance has come from a physical and mental development where I've tried to learn
relaxation techniques"
Focus of Attention and Imagery
"Forget the posts - let's aim for
something else.
Imagine there's a woman sitting
in that seat, 20 rows behind the
goal, holding a can of Coke.."
As Wilkinson prepares to kick,
he visualises the flight of the
ball ending up in Doris's lap,
knocking the drink out of her
hands.
“Catch this Doris”
Instead of aiming at the posts aiming at something specific 30
yards back – “it made me really
kick through the ball."
Case Study