Credit value: 10 Unit 17 Psychology for sports performance

Psychology
17 for sports
performance
Sport psychology is the study of people and their behaviours in a sporting
arena. Recently, interest in sport psychology has increased. Athletes and
coaches talk regularly in the media about how sporting success can be
attributed to how focused and motivated a player is, or how well a team has
been able to work together.
As a result, there is now a growing appreciation of the huge impact that the mind can have
on the performance of an athlete. Sport psychologists work with coaches, athletes and
teams to try to help them to reach the highest levels of health and performance using a
wide application of knowledge and a range of different techniques.
Throughout this unit, you will examine a range of individual factors, including personality,
motivation, stress, anxiety and arousal, that can influence an individual in their sports.
After this, you will study the environment that athletes find themselves in and how the
dynamics of a group or team can play a role in the outcome that an individual and teams
can produce. Finally, you will apply your learning in a practical setting by assessing the
psychological characteristics of individuals and deciding on methods to help them improve
their performance.

Learning outcomes
After completing this unit you should:
1. know the effect of personality and motivation on sports performance
2. know the relationship between stress, anxiety, arousal and sports performance
3. know the role of group dynamics in team sports
4. be able to plan a psychological skills training programme to enhance sports
performance. 1
 BTEC’s own resources

Assessment and grading criteria

This table shows you what you must do in order to achieve a pass, merit or distinction grade,
and where you can find activities in this book to help you.

To achieve a pass grade the To achieve a merit grade the To achieve a distinction grade
evidence must show that you are evidence must show that, in the evidence must show that, in
able to: addition to the pass criteria, you addition to the pass and merit
are able to: criteria, you are able to:

P1 define personality and how it M1 explain the effects of personality D1 evaluate the effects of
P1 affects sports performance M1and motivation on sports D1personality and motivation on
See Assessment activity 17.1, performance sports performance
page 8 See Assessment activities 17.1, See Assessment activities 17.1,
page 8 and 17.2, page 12. page 8 and 17.2, page 12.

P2 describe motivation and how it

affects sports performance
See Assessment activity 17.2,
page 12.

P3 describe stress and anxiety, their

P2 causes, symptoms and effect on M2 D2
sports performance
See Assessment activity 17.3,
page 19

P4 describe three theories of M2 explain three theories of

arousal and the effect on sports arousal and the effect on sports
performance performance
See Assessment activity 17.3, See Assessment activity 17.3,
P3 page 19 page 19

P5 identify four factors which M3 explain four factors which D2 analyse four factors which
influence group dynamics and influence group dynamics and influence group dynamics and
performance in team sports performance in team sports performance in team sports
See Assessment activity 17.4, See Assessment activity 17.4, See Assessment activity 17.4,
page 25 page 25 page 25
P4
P6 assess the current psychological
skills of a selected sports
performer, identifying strengths
and areas for improvement
See Assessment activity 17.5,
page 40

P7 plan a six-week psychological M4 explain the design of the six- D3 justify the design of the six-week
skills training programme to week psychological skills training psychological skills training
enhance performance for a programme for a selected sports programme for a selected sports
selected sports performer performer performer, making suggestions
See Assessment activity 17.5, See Assessment activity 17.5, for improvement
page 40 page 40 See Assessment activity 17.5,
page 40

2
 Unit 17Unit
Psychology
17 Psychology
for sports
for performance
sports performance

How you will be assessed

This unit will be assessed by internal assignments that will be designed and marked by
the tutors at your centre. Your assessments could be in the form of:
• written reports
• posters
• presentations
• practical observations of performance.

Danny, a 17-year old

footballer
This unit has helped me to understand that there is
more to getting ready for games than just training
all the time. I enjoyed looking at different aspects of
psychology that can be used to benefit sport performance
and how I could use these to improve my own performance,
both in training and in my matches.
There were lots of practical learning activities throughout this unit like
learning how to do imagery and progressive muscular relaxation with
athletes. These activities have helped me to understand the different
techniques and know when to use them. Assessing my own psychological
skills helped me to see the areas that needed improving, and practising the
different techniques that I could use to improve these areas, like imagery,
were the bits that I enjoyed doing the most.

Over to you
• Which areas of this unit are you looking forward to?
• Which bits do you think you might find difficult?
• What do you think you will need to do to get yourself ready for
this unit?

3
 BTEC’s own resources

1. Know the effect of personality and motivation

on sports performance

The role of psychology in sport

Warm up Think about when you have played sport. Has there been a time when you have not
played as well as you could have done, even though you had trained really hard?
Has there been a time when you have got something wrong in a game even though
you know how to perform the skill well? Why do you think this could be?

Personality The psychological core is what people often call

‘the real you’ and is the part of you that contains your
Personality and the potential effects it can have on
beliefs, values, attitudes and interests; these aspects
sports participation and sports performance have
are seen as being relatively constant or stable. Typical
been of interest to sport psychologists and researchers
responses are the usual ways that you respond to the
since the late 1800s. However, evidence on whether
world around you or different situations you may find
personality affects sports performance is still fairly
yourself in. For example, you may always get angry
limited and inconclusive.
and shout after being intentionally fouled in football
because you feel that deliberate fouls are un-sporting
behaviour, but you may be quiet and shy when you
Key term meet people for the first time because you don’t want
Personality – the sum of the characteristics that make a to overawe them. These are your typical responses to
person unique.
these situations and are often seen as good indicators
of your psychological core.

Theories Social environment Social environment

There are a number of theories and approaches that
have been suggested to try to explain personality and
how it can influence sports performance. The main External Role – Dynamic
related
theories you will look at are: behaviour
• Marten’s Schematic View
• the Psychodynamic Theory
• Trait Theory Typical responses
• Situational Approach
• Interactional Approach.

Marten’s schematic view Internal Constant

In this view, personality is seen as having three different Psychological core
levels that are related to each other:
• psychological core
• typical responses
Figure 17.1: Marten’s Schematic View of Personality (adapted
• role-related behaviour (see Figure 17.1). from Weinberg and Gould, 2007)

4
 Unit 17 Psychology for sports performance

Your role-related behaviour is often determined by thinking about them, for example, a sprinter on the
the circumstances you find yourself in and this is the start line in the Olympic final may feel so threatened
most changeable aspect of personality. Put simply, by the expectations upon them that they respond with
your personality changes as your perception of your large levels of anxiety and their muscles automatically
environment changes. For example, in the same day freeze. The second part of your personality, your ego
you might be captaining your college sports team is the conscious part. The final part is your super ego,
where you show a lot of leadership behaviours, then which is your moral conscience. The effect of the ego
working as an employee at your part-time job where and super ego can be seen in sport when a football
you will have to follow a lot of instructions. player refuses to take a penalty in a penalty shoot out
because they are worried about missing and letting
their team down.
Key terms Rather than just looking at different parts of personality,
Psychological core – the part of you that contains your the psychodynamic approach tries to understand the
beliefs, values, attitudes and interests. individual as a whole. This approach is not often used
Role-related behaviour – behaviour determined by the in sport as it focuses on the reasons for behaviour that
circumstances you find yourself in. come from within the individual and tends to ignore
the athlete’s environment. However, this theory is useful
when sport psychologists try to explain behaviour as it
Psychodynamic theory helps us to understand that not all behaviour is under
The psychodynamic approach to personality says that the conscious control of athletes.
personality is made up of conscious and unconscious
parts. The first part is called the ‘id’ which stands for Trait-centred views
instinctive drive. It is the part of your personality that is Trait theories suggest that individuals have certain
unconscious and makes you do certain things without characteristics that will partly determine how they behave.

What do you think will be going through

the sprinter’s mind as he prepares for this
competition final?

5
 BTEC’s own resources

There is some support for the situational approach in

sporting behaviour, as individuals may be introverted
Key term – displaying characteristics such as tolerance
Trait – a relatively stable and enduring characteristic that is
and shyness – but may participate in a sport that
part of your personality.
requires them to be more extroverted and display
characteristics like aggression in a sporting situation.

Traits are relatively stable aspects of personality and

early trait theorists like Eysenck and Cattell argued Remember
that traits were mainly inherited. There are two main A situation can influence a person’s behaviour but it
dimensions to personality: cannot predict sporting behaviour. To be able to do
• an introversion–extroversion dimension this, you need to consider the individual’s personality
traits as well.
• a stable–neurotic dimension.
Introverts are individuals who don’t actively seek
excitement and would rather be in calm environments. Social learning theory
They tend to prefer tasks that require concentration Social learning theory suggests that personality is
and dislike the unexpected. not a stable characteristic, but constantly changing
Extroverts tend to become bored quickly, are poor at and a result of our experiences of different social
tasks that require a lot of concentration and constantly situations. It is unlikely that an individual will behave
seek change and excitement. Extroverts are less in the same way in different situations. The theory is
responsive to pain than introverts. Extroverts are said to that individuals learn in sporting situations through two
be more successful in sporting situations because they processes: modelling and reinforcement. Modelling
can cope with competitive and distractive situations states that individuals are likely to model themselves
better than introverts. on people they can relate to, like individuals in the
same sport or of the same gender, and that as they
Stable individuals are people who tend to be
observe their behaviour, they attempt to copy it.
more easy-going and even tempered. Neurotic
Reinforcement is important because if an individual’s
(unstable) people tend to be more restless, excitable,
behaviour is reinforced or rewarded in some way it is
have a tendency to become anxious and are more
likely that the behaviour will be repeated. Bandura, a
highly aroused.
leading psychologist, identified four main stages of
The conclusions are that trait views are too simplistic
observational learning that demonstrate how modelling
and that personality alone cannot predict success in a
influences personality and behaviour.
sporting environment. It can, however, be used to help
1. Attention: to learn through observation, the
explain why individuals choose certain sports.
athlete must have a certain level of respect and
admiration for the model they are observing.
Remember The amount of respect the athlete has for the
Although personality traits can be used with model will depend on their status. If the model is
physiological and situational factors to try to predict successful, attractive and powerful they will hold
who will do well in sport, there is no such thing as the athlete’s attention.
the right personality for all sports that will guarantee
2. Retention: for modelling to be effective, the
sporting success.
athlete must be able to retain the observed
skill or behaviour in their memory and recall it
Situational-centred views when needed.
The situational approach is different from the 3. Motor reproduction: the athlete must be able to
trait theories approach as it says that behaviour is physically perform the task he or she is observing.
dependent on your situation or environment. It argues The athlete needs time to practise the skill in order
that this is far more important than traits. to learn how it should be performed.

6
 Unit 17 Psychology for sports performance

4. Motivational response: unless the athlete is Remember

motivated, he or she will not go through the
first three stages of modelling. Motivation is Introverts tend to be drawn to individual sports like
dependent on the amount of reinforcement (e.g. long-distance running, extroverts prefer team- and
action-orientated sports like football. Psychologists
praise, feedback, sense of pride or achievement),
think that extroverts are drawn to these types of
the perceived status of the model and importance sport because they offer high levels of excitement
of the task. and stimulation, and the ever-changing, and
unexpected environments required to keep them
Interactional view interested in the activity. Athletes that are towards
To predict behaviour in a sporting situation, you need the unstable or neurotic end of the scale experience
high levels of over-arousal during the early stages
to consider how the situation and personality traits link
of performance, which can lead to lower levels of
and work together. This is known as the interactional performance.
approach to personality and sport behaviour.
The interactional approach is the view widely
accepted by sport psychologists when explaining Athletes versus non-athletes and individual
behaviour. This theory suggests that when situational
factors are particularly strong, for example, during
versus team sports
competitive sporting situations like penalty shoot- Research implies that there is no such thing as a
outs in football, they are more likely to predict universal athletic personality. However, there are
behaviour than personality traits. The athlete who some differences between athletes and non-athletes;
tends to be quiet and shy in an everyday situation is as well as between athletes in different types of
likely to run towards an ecstatic crowd screaming if sport. Compared with non-athletes, athletes who
he scored the winning penalty. take part in team sports are more extroverted. When
compared to non-athletes, athletes in individual
Personality types sports tend to be more introverted. This suggests
Another approach in sport psychology suggests that that in order to study the differences between
personality traits can be grouped under two headings: athletes and non-athletes, you need to consider
type A and type B. the sports the athletes play before reaching
meaningful conclusions.
People with a type A personality tend to lack
patience, have a strong urge for competition, a high Elite versus non-elite athletes
desire to achieve goals, always rush to complete
Psychologists thought that successful athletes
activities, will happily multi-task when placed under
display lower levels of depression, fatigue, confusion
time constraints, lack tolerance towards others and
and anger, but higher levels of vigour. However,
experience higher levels of anxiety.
evidence which was used to draw these conclusions
Type B personalities tend to be more tolerant was insufficient because it was based on small
towards others, more relaxed and reflective than numbers of athletes. More recent research shows that
their type A counterparts, experience lower levels personality accounts for less than 1 per cent of the
of anxiety and display higher levels of imagination performance variation.
and creativity.
Type A versus type B
Effects on sports performance In sport, type A personalities are more likely than type
There is no direct link between personality type and B personalities to continue participating in a sport
successful sporting performance. Some research has when the situation becomes unfavourable or when they
suggested that certain personality types may be more are not motivated to take part.
attracted to certain sports, but little says that your
personality will make you a better athlete.

7
 BTEC’s own resources

Assessment activity 17.1 P1 M1 D1

You are working with a youth sports team. The coach

complains to you about some of his youth athletes, Grading tips
saying that they don’t have the right personality to • Make sure that you first describe what
make it as athletes in his team.
personality is and then give a brief overview of
Educate the coach about the role of personality in whether personality alone should determine
sport by preparing a short written report that looks whether or not people should be picked for
at all of the different factors surrounding personality sports teams.
and environmental factors and their role in sports
participation and performance. • Use different theories and examples to
explain how personality can influence sports
1. Define personality and describe how it influences
performance.
sport participation and performance. P1
• Make sure that you use a range of theories
2. Explain the different theories that try to explain the
and supporting materials that give
link between personality and sports participation
contrasting arguments so that you give as
and performance. M1
full a picture as possible to allow the coach
3. Explain how these theories try to explain that link. M1 to make an informed decision about
4. Evaluate contrasting arguments that relate to their players.
the link between personality and sports
performance. D1

Functional skills Key terms

By writing your report on personality and its effects Motivation – the direction and the intensity of your effort;
on sports performance, you could provide evidence it is critical to sporting success.
towards your English skills in writing. Intrinsic – internal factors, such as enjoyment.
Extrinsic – external factors, such as rewards.

PLTS
By exploring each of the different theories and Intrinsic
judging their value when making your arguments,
Intrinsic motivation is when someone is participating
you can develop your skills as an independent
enquirer.
in an activity without an external reward and/or
without the primary motivation being the achievement
of some form of external reward. Intrinsic motivation

Motivation in its purest form is when an athlete participates in a

sport for enjoyment. When people are asked why they
Most definitions of motivation refer to having a drive play sport, if they reply with ‘for fun’, or ‘because it
to take part and to persist in an activity. A sport-specific makes me feel good’ (or similar responses), they can
definition is the tendency of an individual or team to be said to be intrinsically motivated.
begin and then carry on with the activities relating to
There are three parts of intrinsic motivation:
their sport. There are two main types of motivation:
intrinsic and extrinsic. • motivated by accomplishments – this occurs when
athletes wish to increase their level of skill to get a
sense of accomplishment

8
 Unit 17 Psychology for sports performance

• motivated by stimulation – this refers to seeking an

‘adrenaline rush’ or extreme excitement
Take it further
• motivated by knowledge – this means being The interaction of intrinsic and
curious about your own performance, wanting to extrinsic motivation
know more about it and having a desire to develop A group of children are playing football, to
new techniques or skills to benefit performance. the annoyance of an old man whose house
they are playing outside. He asks them to stop
Extrinsic playing but they carry on because they enjoy
it so much. After a while, the old man offers
Extrinsic motivation is when someone behaves the way
them £5 each to play for him. As the children
they do because of some form of external mechanism. like playing anyway, they happily accept his
The most common forms of extrinsic motivation come offer. The next day, the children come back and
through the use of tangible and intangible rewards. play outside his house again. Just as before,
Tangible rewards are things that can physically be he comes out and offers them money to play
given to you, like money, medals and trophies, again but this time can only afford to pay them
£4 The children agree to continue playing even
intangible rewards are non-physical things such as
though the amount is less than before. This
praise or encouragement. pattern continues for the next few days until
For extrinsic motivation to be effective, rewards one day the old man comes out and says he
need to be used effectively. If the reward is given too can’t afford to pay them anymore. Disgruntled,
frequently, it will be of little value to the athlete after the children refuse to play if the old man isn’t
going to pay them.
a period of time, invalidating its potential impact on
performance. A coach needs to have an in-depth 1. What motivates the children to play
knowledge of the athletes he is working with to initially? Is this intrinsic or extrinsic
maximise the effect of extrinsic rewards. motivation?
Extrinsic motivation can potentially decrease intrinsic 2. At the end of the case study, what is the
motivation. If the extrinsic motivator is used as a motivating factor for the children? Is this
method of controlling the athlete, generally intrinsic intrinsic or extrinsic motivation?
motivation will decrease. If the extrinsic motivator 3. What effect has extrinsic motivation had
is used to provide information or feedback to the on intrinsic motivation?
athlete, this can benefit intrinsic motivation. The way
in which the athlete perceives and understands the
original extrinsic motivator determines whether it will
Attribution theory
benefit or hinder intrinsic motivation.
In sport, attribution theory looks at how people
Achievement motivation theory explain success or failure. It helps you understand an
athlete’s actions and motivations.
Achievement motivation was proposed by Atkinson
in 1964, who argued that achievement motivation
comes from the individual’s personality and is their
motivation to strive for success. It is this drive that Key term
makes athletes carry on trying even when there Attribution – the reason you give to explain the outcome
are obstacles or when they fail. Atkinson grouped of an event.
athletes into two categories: need to achieve
(Nach) and need to avoid failure (Naf). Everyone has
aspects of both Nach and Naf, but it is the difference
between the two motives that makes up somebody’s
achievement motivation.

9
 BTEC’s own resources

Case study: Southern City U14 rugby team

Southern City is an U14 Rugby team who have just were all bigger than them. The next player said
been beaten 66–0 in their opening game of the that they lost because the other team cheated.
season. When they got back to the changing rooms After a little silence, a player said that they had lost
after the game, the coach asked the players why because after they conceded the first try, the team
they thought they had lost so badly. The first player stopped putting effort in and didn’t believe that they
to speak said that the referee was rubbish and could win. What does this case study tell you about
he gave tries that shouldn’t have counted. A few the feelings and motivations of some of the players
players said that they lost because the other team in the Southern City team?

In the case study, players explained the outcome using managers and support staff to make sure the athlete is
attribution. Attributions provide explanations for your at optimal levels of motivation, without experiencing
successes or failures and fall into one of the following any negative side effects.
categories:
• stability – is the reason permanent or unstable?
Negative
Being over motivated can be a big problem for
• causality – is it something that comes from an
athletes. Athletes are often under pressure to
external or an internal factor?
perform at a high level, so feel the need to train
• control – is it under your control or not? more and more. However, over-motivation and
A table of attribution theory with examples that are a gruelling schedule can lead to overtraining,
often given after winning and losing is shown in staleness and burnout. Staleness can be a response
Table 17.1 below. to over-training. The key sign is that the athlete is
unable to maintain a previous performance level or
Effects of motivation on sports that performance levels may decrease significantly.
performance Other signs and symptoms of staleness are that
Motivation is an essential component of successful the athlete may suffer from mood swings and can
sports performance. However, if someone is so become clinically depressed. Burnout happens when
motivated that they won’t stop, this can cause problems. the athlete is trying to meet training and competition
demands, and has often been unsuccessful so tries
Positive harder. When burnout occurs, the athlete finds they
Someone who is motivated to play, perform and no longer want to take part in activities they used
train at an optimal level will experience increases to enjoy. Burnout should not be confused with just
in performance. It is the role of athletes, coaches, dropping out because of being tired or unhappy.

Type of Winning example Losing example

attribution
Stability ‘I was more able than my opponent’ (stable) ‘I was less able than my opponent’ (stable)
‘I was lucky’ (unstable) ‘We didn’t have that bit of luck we needed today’
(unstable)
Causality ‘I tried really hard’ (internal) ‘I didn’t try hard enough’ (internal)
‘My opponent was easy to beat’ (external) ‘My opponent was impossible to beat’ (external)
Control ‘I trained really hard for this fight’ (under your ‘I didn’t train hard enough for this fight’ (under your
control) control)
‘He wasn’t as fit as I was’ (not under your control) ‘He was fitter than I was’ (not under your control)

Table 17.1: Types of attribution with examples

10
 Unit 17 Psychology for sports performance

These negative effects of motivation affect not only techniques. When an athlete is in an environment
players; they can also affect managers, coaches, where there is a lot of focus on the outcome (where
match officials and team support staff. they feel they will be punished if they make mistakes,
competition is strongly encouraged and only those
with the highest ability will receive attention) this will
Key terms lead to less effort and persistence from athletes and
Overtraining – the athlete trains under an excessive failure often attributed to lack of ability.
training load, which they cannot cope with.
To develop an effective motivational climate, Epstein
Staleness – inability to maintain a previous performance
(1989) suggested the TARGET technique:
level.
Burnout – when an athlete strives to meet training and • Tasks – having a range of tasks that require the
competition demands despite repeated unsuccessful athlete to actively participate in learning and
attempts, and so tries harder. Can lead to the athlete decision making.
no longer wishing to participate in activities they used
to enjoy. • Authority – giving athletes authority over
monitoring and evaluating their own learning and
decisions making.
Future expectations of success and failure • Reward – using rewards that are focused on
Expectations of future success or failure are linked individual improvement rather than comparing
to attribution theory. If you attribute to stable causes levels to other athletes.
(such as skill), you are more likely to have expectations • Grouping – giving athletes the opportunity to work
of future success whereas if you attribute to more in groups so that they develop skills in a group-
unstable causes (like luck), you are more likely to have based environment.
expectations of future failure.
• Evaluation – focusing on an individual’s effort and
improvement.
Take it further • Timing – timing activities effectively so that all of
the above conditions can interact effectively.
Attributions
How you attribute success or failure can affect
your future expectations of sports performance.
Functional skills
Why do you think this is? Using ICT to independently select and use a range of
theories of motivation for Assessment activity 17.2 on
page 12, could provide evidence towards your skills
Developing a motivational climate in ICT.

The motivational climate is the environment in which

an athlete finds themselves and how this affects their
motivation positively and negatively. PLTS
A motivational climate that is focused on mastery By asking lots of different questions to explore all of
of tasks - where athletes receive positive reinforcement the possibilities within the case study for Assessment
and there is greater emphasis on teamwork and co- activity 17.2 on page 12, you could develop your skills
operation – will help develop motivation through as a creative thinker.
improving the athlete’s attitudes, effort and learning

11
 BTEC’s own resources

Assessment activity 17.2 P2 M1 D1

The coach of a local handball team has asked you to

come to speak to Matt, a player he is struggling with. Grading tips
Matt is completely focused on winning trophies for • Make sure that you define motivation and the
their team and gets annoyed and frustrated when the different types of motivation. Look at how both
team doesn’t win. When the team loses, Matt says intrinsic and extrinsic motivation and influence
that it was the fault of the other players and bad luck.
sport performance. Describe each of the different
However, when the team wins he makes a point of
theories of motivation and how people have tried
telling everyone how well he has played.
to use them to understand motivation in sport.
Matt always seems to want to play when he is playing
against teams that he knows he can beat, but he really • Use the attribution theory to explain how Matt’s
doesn’t like to play against teams when the players perception of success or failure can affect
are just as good as him. future expectations of sport performance.
Explain how having a high need to achieve
1. Describe the different types of motivation, and
(Nach) or a high need to avoid failure (Naf)
how they can influence sports participation and
can affect sports performance and motivation
performance. P2
to perform against certain individuals. Explain
2. Explain the different theories that can be used to some methods the coach could use to increase
explain motivation. M1 motivational climate.
3. Explain some methods that could be used to • Evaluate how intrinsic motivation can be affected
increase motivational climate. M1 by extrinsic motivation. Highlight strengths and
4. Evaluate the relationship between motivation and limitations of each of the different theories of
sports participation and performance. D1 motivation. Discuss how and why the different
suggestions to improve motivational climate can
influence Matt both positively and negatively.

2. Know the relationship between stress, anxiety,

arousal and sports performance
Stress
Lazarus and Folkman (1984) defined stress as: ‘a pattern Distress is a bad form of stress and is normally
of negative physiological states and psychological what you mean when you discuss stress. It is an
responses occurring in situations where people extreme form of anxiety, nervousness, apprehension
perceive threats to their well-being, which they may be or worry as a result of a perceived inability to
unable to meet’. Two terms have been introduced in meet demands.
sport to explain stress: eustress and distress.
Eustress is a good form of stress that can give you a
feeling of fulfilment. Some athletes actively seek out Key terms
stressful situations as they like the challenge of pushing Eustress – ‘beneficial’ stress that helps and athlete to
perform.
themselves to the limit. This can help them increase
Distress – extreme anxiety related to performance.
their skill levels and focus their attention on aspects
of their chosen sport. The benefit is that increases in
intrinsic motivation follow.

12
 Unit 17 Psychology for sports performance

The effects of stress on performance

The effects of stress on performance are shown in the E.g. last
Stage 1: Demand penalty in
stress process flow diagram, Figure 17.2.
shoot-out
• At stage 1 of the stress process, some form of
demand is placed on the athlete in a particular
situation.
Positive Negative
• At stage 2 the athlete perceives this demand either Stage 2: Perception of
perception perception
positively or negatively. It is at this stage that we demand by athlete (threat)
(challenge)
start to understand how the negative perception of
the demand can cause a negative mental state, a
lack of self-confidence and a lack of concentration.
If the demand is perceived as being too great, Eustress Distress
Stage 3: Increased (increased (increased
the athlete will feel unable to meet the demand
arousal levels energy and worry)
(negative mental state and loss of self-confidence)
motivation)
and will then find it difficult to concentrate on what
they will need to do to meet the demand.
• It is this perception that increases the arousal levels
of the performer (stage 3). During this stage the Increased Reduced
Stage 4: Outcome
athlete will experience heightened arousal, higher performance performance
levels of cognitive and somatic anxiety and changes
in their attention and concentration levels.
• Ultimately this determines the outcome of Figure 17.2: The stress process helps explain the relationship
performance (stage 4). between stress, arousal, anxiety and performance

How can stress influence a snooker player

even when they’re trying to pot the black?

13
 BTEC’s own resources

People who are significant in our lives – such as

Activity: The influence of friends, family and partners – can be a source of stress.
Lifestyle factors like health and finance can also be
stress on performance sources of stress.

For the following scenario, produce an applied Occupational causes of stress are related to your
stress process diagram that illustrates how stress job, e.g. lack of job satisfaction or unemployment.
can influence performance, both positively and In a sporting situation, having a disagreement with
negatively. a coach or a manager and subsequently being
Amir is playing snooker in a local tournament dropped from the team could cause you to suffer
and has reached a break of 140 so far. He has from stress.
never got this far before on a break and he
is only one shot away from his first ever Sports environments
147 break. How could stress influence his
performance? There are two key aspects of sport performance that
cause stress: the importance of the event you are
taking part in and the amount of uncertainty that
surrounds it. The more important the event, the more
Causes of stress stressful it is. This doesn’t mean that you have to
There are a number of individualised causes of stress. be playing in a World Cup Final or sprinting in the
It is common to have a number of athletes in similar 100m final in the Olympics; the importance of the
situations yet for them to have entirely different stress event is specific to you. For example, someone who
responses to those situations. Some of the main causes is playing their first mid-season game after a serious
are discussed below. injury could show the same symptoms of stress as
Internal causes of stress include: someone who is about to go in to bat in the last
innings of a baseball game when the scores are tied
• illnesses like infections
and their team already have two outs. On the face of
• psychological factors, i.e. worrying about something
it, the mid-season game against a team you should
• not having enough sleep beat would not be as important as the game-saving
• being overly self-critical or being a perfectionist, situation the baseball player finds himself in, but it
e.g. type A personality. is the importance that the individual attaches to the
External causes of stress include: event that is key.
• the environment in which you find yourself, e.g. too
Symptoms of stress
noisy, too quiet
When you are in a situation you find threatening, your
• negative social interactions with other people, e.g.
stress response is activated. The way you respond
somebody being rude to you
depends on how seriously you view the threat, and the
• major life events, e.g. a death in the family response is controlled by two parts of your nervous
• day-to-day hassles, e.g. travel to and from games, system: the sympathetic nervous system and the
training schedules. parasympathetic nervous system.

Remember Key terms

The key difference between internal and external Sympathetic nervous system – part of the system
sources of stress is that internal causes of stress are responsible for the ‘fight or flight’ response.
things that we think about whereas external sources Parasympathetic nervous system – part of the system
come from the environment. that helps you to relax.

14
 Unit 17 Psychology for sports performance

The sympathetic nervous system is responsible for Trait anxiety is an aspect of personality and part of an
the fight or flight response. It gives you the energy individual’s pattern of behaviour. Someone with a high level
you need to confront the threat or run away from it. of trait anxiety is likely to become worried in a variety of
situations; even non-threatening situations.
In order to do this, the sympathetic nervous system
produces these physiological responses: State anxiety is a temporary, ever-changing mood state
that is an emotional response to any situation considered
• blood diverted to working muscles to provide more threatening. For example, at the start of a show-jumping
oxygen event, the rider may have higher levels of state anxiety
• increased heart rate that settle down once the event begins. State anxiety
levels may increase again when coming up to particularly
• increased breathing rate
high jumps and then be at their highest level when coming
• increased heat production towards the final jump which, if they were to clear quickly
• increased adrenaline production and cleanly, would result in a win. There are two types of
state anxiety:
• increased muscle tension
• cognitive state anxiety is the amount you worry
• hairs stand on end
• somatic state anxiety relates to your perception of
• dilated pupils the physiological changes that happen in a particular
• slowed digestion situation.
• increased metabolism
• a dry mouth.
Once the stress has passed, the parasympathetic
Key terms
Trait anxiety – a behavioural tendency to feel threatened
nervous system begins to work. The parasympathetic
even in situations that are not really threatening, and then
system helps you to relax. It achieves this by producing to respond to this with high levels of state anxiety.
the following responses:
State anxiety – a temporary, ever-changing mood state
• makes muscles relax that is an emotional response to any situation considered to
• slows metabolism be threatening.

• increases digestion rate

• decreases body temperature
• decreases heart rate Symptoms of anxiety
• constricts the pupils Cognitive state anxiety refers to negative thoughts,
nervousness and worry experienced in certain
• increases saliva production
situations. Symptoms of cognitive state anxiety
• decreases breathing rate.
include concentration problems, fear and bad
decision-making.
Remember When a performer’s concentration levels drop, their
A lot of people see the symptoms of stress as performance decreases because of the number of
negative aspects when they play their sport, but mistakes they have made. As the performance levels
without some of these responses your body would not decrease, the levels of anxiety increase further, as do
be able to meet the demands of your sport. arousal levels. These increased levels of arousal can
then lead to increased levels of cognitive state anxiety,
which can further increase the number of mistakes
Anxiety made in performance. The performer is now caught in
Anxiety is a negative emotional state that is either a negative cycle that can harm performance.
characterised by, or associated with, feelings of Somatic state anxiety relates to the perception or
nervousness, apprehension or worry. There are a interpretation of physiological changes (such as
number of causes of anxiety. These are largely the same increases in heart rate, sweating and increased body
as those covered earlier under the sources of stress. heat) when you start to play sport. For example, an
There are two main types of anxiety: trait anxiety and athlete could be concerned because they sense an
state anxiety. increased heart rate if they have gone into a game

15
 BTEC’s own resources

less prepared than normal. This increase in heart rate of failure could result in negative physiological
is actually beneficial to performance, but the athlete responses like hyper-elevated muscle tension and
can perceive it as negative. The symptoms of increased lack of movement coordination, which will also
somatic state anxiety range from increases in heart negatively affect performance.
rate, respiratory rate and sweating to complete muscle
tension that prevents the athlete from moving (known Arousal
as ‘freezing’).
Arousal is referred to as a physiological state of
alertness and anticipation that prepares the body
Effects of anxiety on sports performance
for action. It is considered to be neutral because
Anxiety can adversely affect sports performance. It is
it is neither positive nor negative. It involves both
seen as a negative mental state that is the negative
physiological activation (increased heart rate, sweating
aspect of stress. In skills that require a great deal of
rate or respiratory rate) and psychological activity
concentration such as golf putting and potting a ball
(increased attention). Arousal is typically viewed along
in snooker, anxiety can lead to lower performance
a continuum, with deep sleep at one extreme, and
levels due to reduced concentration, attention levels,
excitement at the other. Individuals who are optimally
and co-ordination faults. In gross motor skills, anxiety
aroused are those who are mentally and physically
can have a negative effect on performance due to
activated to perform.
factors like freezing and coordination faults. These
negative effects of stress can lead to lower levels of
performance, and as performance levels decrease
further this can lead to a significant decrease in
Key term
Arousal – the psychological state of alertness that prepares
self-confidence.
the body for action.
Some symptoms of anxiety can be beneficial for sports
performance, like increased blood flow, breathing
rate and respiratory rate. These are physiologically
beneficial, but if the athlete believes they are Theories of arousal
happening because of their inability to meet a The relationship between arousal and performance is
demand, it is this perception that makes the demonstrated through the following theories:
symptoms negative. • drive theory

Negative mental state • the inverted U hypothesis

The definition of anxiety suggests that it is a negative • the catastrophe theory

mental state characterised by worry and apprehension. • the individual zones of optimal functioning
It is suggested that if this negative mental state (IZOF) theory.
becomes too great (i.e. you worry too much), your
performance will suffer. Drive theory
Constantly worrying about an event can make you The drive theory view of the relationship between
think that you are not good enough to succeed arousal and performance is linear. This means that as
(decreased self-confidence). This can make you feel arousal increases, so does performance (see Figure
like you are less likely to win (decreased expectations 17.3 on page 17). The more ‘learned’ a skill is, the
of success). more likely it is that a high level of arousal will result in
a better performance. Therefore, drive theory is often
Heightened cognitive anxiety means there is an
summarised through the following equation:
increase in nervousness, apprehension or worry.
One of the things athletes worry about is failing. Performance = arousal x skill
The problem with this is that once you start to worry However, there is evidence to suggest that athletic
about it, you are focusing on it. This increases the performance is benefited by arousal only up to a
likelihood of it happening, i.e. if you worry about certain point, after which the athlete becomes too
losing, you are more likely to lose. Heightened fear aroused and their performance decreases.

16
 Unit 17 Psychology for sports performance

High Maximum performance

High

Moderate
Performance

Performance
Low

Low Moderate High Low

Arousal Low High
Figure 17.3: How does the drive theory explain the Physiological arousal
relationship between arousal and performance?
Figure 17.4: How does the inverted U theory explain the
relationship between arousal and performance?
Inverted U hypothesis
The inverted U hypothesis differs from the drive theory.
The inverted U hypothesis states that at optimal arousal Catastrophe theory
levels, performance levels will be at their highest, but Catastrophe theory suggests that performance is
when arousal is either too low or too high, performance affected by arousal in an inverted U fashion only
levels will be lower. It argues that at lower levels of when the individual has low levels of cognitive
arousal, performance will not be as high as it should anxiety (see graph a) of Figure 17.5 on page 18). If
be because the athlete is neither physiologically nor the athlete is experiencing higher levels of cognitive
psychologically ready (e.g. heart rate and concentration anxiety, and arousal levels increase up to the
levels may be too low). As arousal levels increase, so athlete’s threshold, the player experiences a dramatic
does performance, but only up to an optimal point. (or catastrophic) drop in performance levels (see
At this optimal point of arousal (normally moderate graph b) of Figure 17.5 on page 18).
levels of arousal), the athlete’s performance will be at its
The key difference between catastrophe theory
highest. After this optimal point performance levels will
and the inverted U hypothesis is that the drop in
start to decrease gradually (see Figure 17.4).
performance does not have to be a steady decline
when arousal levels become too high. Catastrophe
Remember theory does not argue that cognitive anxiety is
completely negative. The theory suggests you will
The inverted U hypothesis states that arousal will only
affect performance positively up to an optimal point;
perform at a higher level if you have a certain degree
after this you will get a steady decrease in performance. of cognitive anxiety because your attention and
concentration levels increase; it is only when levels
of cognitive anxiety are combined with hyper-
The inverted U hypothesis is more widely accepted than elevated levels of arousal that performance levels
drive theory because most athletes and coaches can decrease dramatically.
report personal experience of under-arousal (boredom),
over-arousal (excitement to the point of lack of
concentration) and optimum arousal (focus on nothing Key term
but sport performance). However, there has been some Cognitive anxiety – the thought component of anxiety
question over the type of curve demonstrated: does it that most people refer to as ‘worrying about something’.
give an optimal point, or do some athletes experience
optimal arousal for a longer period of time?

17
 BTEC’s own resources

(a) (b) • Where the inverted U hypothesis sees every athlete’s

High High optimal point at a mid-point on the curve, IZOF says
the optimal point varies from person to person.
• IZOF and the inverted U hypothesis are similar in
Performance

Performance
that they both propose that, after the optimal point
of arousal, performance decreases gradually.

Activity: Arousal in sport

Low Low
Low High Low High
Physiological arousal Physiological arousal
In pairs, produce a poster presentation
(b)
explaining the four theories of arousal. Make sure
High you include the following information:
• a diagram and explanation of each theory
Performance

•  ractical, sport-based examples of each

p
theory to develop your points
• the key differences between each theory
• a note about which theory you think is
the most likely to explain the relationship
Low between arousal and performance and why.
High Low High
gical arousal Physiological arousal

Figure 17.5: How does the Catastrophe differ from the Inverted
U theory?
Effects of arousal on sports
performance
Individual zones of optimal functioning
Individual zones of optimal functioning (IZOF) theory Improvements and decrements in
states that at low levels of arousal, performance will be performance level
lower; at optimal levels of arousal, performance will be Arousal doesn’t necessarily have a negative effect on
at its highest, and when arousal levels increase further, sports performance – it can be positive depending on
performance will decrease again. The main differences the perception of the athlete. If the changes due to
between the inverted U hypothesis and IZOF are as arousal are interpreted by the performer as positive,
follows and are shown in Figure 17.6. this can have a positive effect on performance or
• Where the inverted U hypothesis sees arousal at an prepare the athlete for their event (psyching up the
optimal point, IZOF sees optimal arousal as bandwidth. performer). But, if the changes are viewed as negative,

Athlete C In zone (best

Out of zone
(high IZOF) performance)

Athlete B In zone (best

Out of zone Out of zone
(moderate IZOF) performance)

Athlete A In zone (best

Out of zone
(low IZOF) performance)
30 40 50 60

Low High
State anxiety level

Figure 17.6: How does the IZOF explain the relationship between arousal and performance?

18
 Unit 17 Psychology for sports performance

this can negatively affect performance or preparation increases in both somatic and cognitive state anxiety.
for performance (psyching out the performer). Research Whether this becomes a positive or negative influence
carried out by Jones, Swain and Hardy in the 1990s is dependent on how the individual reacts.
suggests that if a coach can get the athlete to view the Choking occurs in high-pressure situations, such as
symptoms of anxiety and arousal as excitement rather important events like waiting to putt in the Open. It is
than fear, performance will generally be facilitated. an extreme form of nervousness that negatively affects
performance. It can be more apparent in the presence of
Changes in attention focus significant others (e.g. parents, peers) or large audiences.
During heightened states of arousal, the attentional field,
which focuses attention and concentration, becomes
narrowed. This means that the more aroused you Key term
become, the lower the number of relevant cues you can Choking – the whole process that leads to decreased
concentrate on. For example, in a game of netball, when performance, not just the decreased performance itself.
at optimal states of arousal, the Centre will be able to
focus on the opposing player in possession of the ball as
well as her position on the court and the position of other
players. During heightened states of arousal, the centre
Functional skills
may be able to focus only on the opposition player who Selecting, comparing, reading and understanding texts
has the ball and may disregard other important cues. and using them to gather information, ideas, arguments
Just as a heightened a state of arousal can narrow the and opinions for Assessment activity 17.3 could provide
evidence towards your English skills in reading.
player’s attention, it can also broaden it to the point where
performance is decreased. In this scenario, the netball
player would be concentrating on irrelevant information,
like crowd noise, as well as the relevant game cues. PLTS
Organising your time and resources and prioritising the
Increases in anxiety levels work that you need to do for Assessment activity 17.3,
Increases in arousal levels can lead to an increased will help you to develop skills as a self-manager.

awareness of symptoms of state anxiety, which leads to

Assessment activity 17.3 P3 P4 M2

You are working as an assistant to a sport psychologist

and you have been asked to produce an educational Grading tips
poster that will help sports performers and coaches • Prepare some coach and athlete friendly notes
understand the relationships between stress, arousal,
that describe stress and anxiety, their causes,
anxiety and sports performance.
symptoms and effects on performance; using
1. Describe stress and anxiety. P3 sport based examples wherever possible.
2. Describe the causes, symptoms and effects of • Describe three theories of arousal that you
stress and anxiety. P3 think provide the best explanations for the
3. Describe three different theories of arousal and relationship between arousal and performance.
Follow this up by describing the positive and
the effect on sports performance. P4
negative effects of arousal on performance.
4. Explain three different theories of arousal and the
• Use sport based examples and advice for
effect on sports performance. M2
coaches and athletes to explain the different
theories of arousal and the positive and
negative effects of arousal on performance.

19
 BTEC’s own resources

3. Know the role of group dynamics in team sports

Group processes For a group to be classed as a team, the members
need to depend on each other and offer support
Groups or teams to each other in order to try to achieve team goals,
There must be interaction between individuals in and the members will interact with each other to
order for them to be classified as a group. This is accomplish these goals and objectives.
characterised by communication over a period of
time. The individuals need to get on (interpersonal Stages of group development
attraction) and there needs to be some form of For a group of people to become a team, they must go
collective identity – the members of the group must through four developmental stages (Tuckman, 1965):
perceive themselves to be a distinct unit that is • forming
different to other groups. The group must have shared
• storming
goals, targets, norms and values, and be prepared
to achieve these goals collectively. All of these • norming
characteristics are common in teams, but there are • performing.
some key differences between a group and a team. All groups go through all stages, but the time they
The main difference relates to the pursuit of shared goals spend at each stage and the order in which they go
and objectives, both within teams and for the individual. through the stages may vary.
Once a team has progressed through the four stages,
it does not mean that they will not revert back to an
earlier stage. If key members leave, the team may
revert back to the storming stage as others begin to
vie for position within the team.

Forming
During the forming stage, group members familiarise
themselves with other group members, get to know
each other and try to decide if they belong in that
group. During this stage, group members start
to assess the strengths and weaknesses of other
members, and start to test their relationships with
others in the group. Individuals will get to know their
roles within the group and will make decisions about
whether or not they feel they can fulfil (or want to
fulfil) their role within the group. Formal leaders in the
group tend to be directive during the forming stage.

Storming
During the storming stage, conflict begins to develop
between individuals in the group. It is common for
individuals or cliques to start to question the position
and authority of the leader, and they will start to resist
the control of the group. Often, conflicts develop
Michael Jordan once said ‘Talent wins
games; teamwork and intelligence wins because demands start to be placed on the group
championships’. What do you think his opinion members and because some individuals start to try
is on the importance of team cohesion? to acquire more important roles. During the storming
stage, the formal leader in the group tends to take

20
 Unit 17 Psychology for sports performance

on more of a guidance role with decision-making and

helps the team to move towards what is expected in Activity: Motivational
terms of professional behaviour. and coordination losses
Norming in volleyball
During the norming stage, the instability, hostility
In a volleyball team, two players seem to be putting
and conflict that occurred in the storming stage is in little effort. When they are setting, they don’t
replaced by cooperation and solidarity. Members appear to be on the same wavelength as the other
of the group start to work towards common goals players on the team, and when they are blocking
rather than focusing on individual agendas, and they don’t seem to be putting a great deal of effort
group cohesion begins to be developed. As group into their jumps. The other players on the team
appear to be working harder to try to make up for
cohesion develops, group satisfaction increases (due
this. However, despite their efforts, there is little
to satisfaction from achieving tasks) and levels of interaction between spikers and setters.
respect for others in the group start to increase. In
1. Where are the coordination losses in this
the norming stage, the formal leader will expect the
scenario?
group members to become more involved in
the decision-making process, and will expect the 2. Where are the motivational losses in this
scenario?
players to take more responsibility for their own
professional behaviour. 3. What do you think would be your role as
the coach to improve these faults?
Performing
The performing stage involves the team progressing
and functioning effectively as a unit. The group
works without conflict towards the achievement Key terms
of shared goals and objectives, and there is little Motivational faults/losses – occur when some members
need for external supervision as the group is more of the team do not give 100 per cent effort.
motivated. The group is now more knowledgeable, Coordination faults/losses: – occur when players do
and able to make its own decisions and take not connect with their play, the team interacts poorly or
responsibility for them. ineffective strategies are used. Generally, sports that require
more interaction or cooperation between players are more

Steiner’s model of group susceptible to coordination faults or losses.

effectiveness
Steiner’s model was put forward to explain group Ringelmann effect
effectiveness. It is described as: The Ringelmann effect is a phenomenon whereby as
Actual productivity = p
 otential productivity the group size increases, the individual productivity
– losses due to faulty group of the people in the group decreases, often by up to
process 50 per cent. It has been assumed that the Ringelmann
Actual productivity refers to how the team performs effect is caused not by coordination losses but by
(the results they get and the level of performance they motivational faults or losses. The Ringelmann effect
put in). Potential productivity refers to the perfect 9. can occur when people are not as accountable for their
performance the team could produce based on the own performance – as the group gets larger, athletes
individual skill and ability of each athlete in the team can ‘hide’ behind other athletes and not get noticed.
and the resources available. Losses due to faulty
group processes relate to the issues that can get in Social loafing 8
the way of team performance, preventing the team Social loafing refers to when group members do not
from reaching its potential performance. Losses are put in 100 per cent effort when they are in a group- or
normally due to two main areas: motivational faults/ team-based situation. This is generally due to losses in
losses and coordination faults/losses. motivation. Losses in motivation that cause social loafing

21
 BTEC’s own resources

are most evident when the individual contributions of • set both group and individual goals
group members are not identified or are dispensable. • get to know their athletes.
It can occur when some players seem to be working
Team members can also help to build an effective
harder than others. Individuals who display social loafing
team climate by:
often lack confidence, are afraid of failure and tend to
• being responsible for their own activities
be highly anxious. It is often the case that players who
display social loafing do not feel they can make a useful • resolving conflict quickly
contribution to overall team performance, which can be • trying as hard as possible
why they don’t want to participate. • getting to know each other
• helping each other.
Interactive and coactive groups
Interactive teams require team members to work with
each other in order to achieve a successful performance. Factors affecting cohesion
Their successful performance is dependent on Carron’s (1982) conceptual model of cohesion explains
interaction and coordination between members. factors effecting cohesion (see Figure 17.7 on page 23).
Coactive teams require individuals to achieve success in It says four factors can affect team cohesion:
their individual games, events or performances to achieve 1. environmental
overall team success. There is no direct interaction 2. personal
between team members during the performance. 3. leadership
4. team.
Cohesion
Cohesion is a dynamic process that is reflected in the
Environmental factors
tendency for a group to stick together and remain Groups that are closer to each other (in terms of
united in the pursuit of its goals and objectives: location) and smaller tend to be more cohesive as the
members have greater opportunities to interact and
• Social cohesion relates to how well the team 10
form relationships.
members enjoy each other’s company. In
recreational sport, all of the players may get on
Personal factors
well with one another and enjoy playing the game
regardless of whether they win or lose. The individual characteristics of group members
are important in group cohesion. If players
• Task cohesion relates to how well group or team
are motivated to achieve the group’s aims and
members work together to achieve common goals
objectives, are from similar backgrounds, have
and objectives.
similar attitudes and opinions and similar levels
Although both types of cohesion influence of commitment, there will be more satisfaction
performance to a certain degree, task cohesion is more among group members and the group is more
closely related to successful sporting performance. likely to be cohesive.

Creating an effective team climate Leadership factors

Team climate is a term that is used to describe how Leadership style, behaviours, communication styles and
well the different players in the team get on. Creating compatibility of the coach’s and athlete’s personalities
the team climate is the responsibility of both the coach are key leadership factors that affect cohesion.
and the team.
To help build an effective team climate, the coach should: Team factors
• communicate effectively If the team can stay together for a long period of
• ensure everybody knows their role time, experiences a range of successes and failures
together and be involved in the decision-making
• keep changes to a minimum
process, the group is more likely to be productive
• encourage a group identity and cohesive.

22
 Unit 17 Psychology for sports performance

3.
• Intelligence – a good leader is expected to come
Environmental factors up with ideas and formulate plans, e.g. new tactics,
to improve team performance. 4.
• Optimism – the leader needs to remain positive and
Personal factors Leadership factors enthusiastic at all times, even when everything is
negative, to motivate team members
• Confidence – to build confidence in the players
and other colleagues, the leader needs to display
Team factors
confidence in themself. A good leader needs to
give the people they work with the responsibility
and capabilities to make decisions, and support
them in the decisions they make.
Cohesion
Prescribed versus emergent leaders
Leaders are either prescribed or emergent.
Group Outcomes Individual Outcomes • Prescribed leaders are those who are appointed
by some form of higher authority. For example,
Fabio Capello was appointed England manager by
Figure 17.7: Carron’s Conceptual Model of Cohesion (adapted
from Carron, 1982) How can the different factors influence
the FA. 5.
cohesion, according to this theory? • Emergent leaders are those who achieve
leadership status by gaining the respect and
Relationship between cohesion and support of the group. These leaders generally
achieve their status through showing specific
performance leadership skills or being particularly skilful at their
It is easy to say that the greater the level of cohesion, sport. For example, John Terry emerged within the
the higher the level of performance. Interactive sports Chelsea team and became the leader of the team
like football and volleyball require direct interaction before he was appointed captain. He emerged
and coordination between players so cohesion because of his impressive performances, gaining the
(especially task cohesion) is important. Coactive sports, respect of others.
alternatively require little, if any, direct interaction
or coordination. Cohesion has a greater influence
on performance in interactive sports than it does on
Theories of leadership
coactive sports, such as archery or golf. The four main theories of leadership are trait,
behavioural, interactional and multi-dimensional. They

Leadership are outlined below.

Trait theory
Qualities and behaviour
Trait theory (often referred to as the great man
The best leaders can match their styles, behaviours
theory) suggests that there are certain personality
and qualities to different situations. The following
characteristics that predispose an individual to being
qualities will contribute to making a good leader:
a good leader. It suggests that leaders are born, not
• Patience – a good leader gives athletes time to made. This theory says that leadership is innate and a
develop their skills. good leader would be good in any situation, not just
• Self-discipline – the leader should lead by his or her current domain. This approach has not had a
example. If the leader expects players to always great deal of support since the late 1940s and it is now
display professional standards, the players expect generally accepted that there is no definitive set of
the same of the leader. traits that characterise a good leader.

23
 BTEC’s own resources

Behavioural theory Different athletes will have a preference for task-

Behavioural theories of leadership argue that a good orientated or relationship-orientated leaders. In
leader is made, not born, and that anyone can be taught principle, a leader who gets the right balance between
to be a good leader. The behavioural theory has its roots providing a supportive environment and focusing on
in social learning theory, and says people can learn to be getting the job done is the most effective leader. It is
good leaders by observing the behaviours of other good a leader’s role to get to know their performers so they
leaders in a variety of situations, reproducing those know where to concentrate their efforts.
behaviours in similar situations and then continuing
them if they are reinforced.
Multi-dimensional model
The multi-dimensional model says the team’s
Interactional theory performance and satisfaction with the leader will
Trait and behavioural theories to leadership place be highest if the leader’s required behaviours,
emphasis on the personal qualities of a coach. The preferred behaviours and actual behaviours all
interactional theory considers other factors that could agree. This means that if the leader is required
affect the effectiveness of leadership, mainly the to act in a certain way in a certain situation and
interaction between the individual and their situation. does so, and the group like the way the leader has
Two main types of leader are identified through the acted, the group or team are more likely to be
interactional theory: happy with their leader and higher levels of
6 • Relationship-orientated leaders are focused on performance are likely to occur. This is shown in
Figure 17.8 below.
developing relationships with individuals in the group.
They work hard to maintain communication with • The behaviour required by the leader at the
members; always help to maintain levels of social time is generally determined by the situation the
interaction between members and themselves; and leader is in and should conform to the norms of
develop respect and trust with others. Relationship- the group.
orientated leaders are more effective with • The preferred behaviour is mainly determined
experienced, highly skilled athletes. by the people within the group or team. Their
7• Task-orientated leaders are more concerned with preferences are generally determined by factors
meeting goals and objectives. They create plans; decide such as personality of the athletes, experience of
on priorities; assign members to task; and ensure the athletes, skill/ability of athletes and non-sport
members stay on task, with the focus of increasing related aspects like age and gender.
group productivity. Task-orientated leaders are more • The actual behaviour is determined by the
effective with less experienced, less skilled performers characteristics of the leader, the situational factors
who need constant instruction and feedback. and the preferences of the group.

Antedecents Leader behaviour Consequences

1 Situational 4 Required
characteristics behaviour

2 Leader 5 Actual 7 Performance

characteristics behaviour and satisfaction

3 Member 6 Preferred
characteristics behaviour

Figure 17.8: The multi-dimensional model of leadership (Chelladurai, 1990). How do the different leadership factors interact to
influence performance?

24
 Unit 17 Psychology for sports performance

Styles of leadership Democratic/consultative/group

This type of leader makes decisions only after they
Autocratic have been through a process of consultation with
Autocratic leaders have firm views about how and group members. They encourage the involvement
when things should be done. They tend to be of the group, adopt a more informal and relaxed
inflexible with their approach to the group. This approach to leadership and listen to ideas relating
type of leader dictates to the group who does what to the prioritisation and completion of goals and
tasks and when to do them, and often dictate how objectives. They are likely to use questions such as
the task should be done. They use phrases like ‘do ‘How do you think we can do this?’, and ‘Do you think
this’, or ‘do it how I said’.2.The leader does not this could work?’.
seek the views and comments of people within 1. Democratic leaders maintain their status as leader by
the group, and rarely gets involved on a personal making the final decision based on the information
level with members of the group. This means collected from group members and their own thoughts
members tend to be passive. When working with and ideas. Generally, when the leader is not present,
this type of leader, group members can stop working group members tend to continue working towards
or work more slowly when the leader is not there, agreed goals and do not become aggressive towards
and have a tendency to become aggressive towards each other when things start to go wrong.
each other.

Assessment activity 17.4 P5 M3 D2

Imagine you are an assistant coach at a sports

team. You have been watching one of your team’s Grading tips
games trying to look at the different factors that • You need to identify four factors which
can influence group dynamics and performance.
influence group dynamics and performance in
You have been asked to prepare a presentation for
team sports, these could be aspects of group
the manager and coaches about your observations
of the match, commenting specifically on the key processes, cohesion and leadership.
factors you have identified that influence group • You then need to follow this by explaining
dynamics and sports performance. each of the different factors that you have
1. Identify four factors that influence group dynamics identified.
and performance in team sports. P5 • You must then say how and why the different
2. Explain four factors that influence group dynamics group dynamics affected performance in
and performance in team sports. M3 that way.
3. Analyse four factors that influence group dynamics
and performance in team sports. D2

Functional skills PLTS

By presenting the different factors that can affect If you communicate the results of your observations
group dynamics and team performance, you could effectively, you could develop your skills as a
develop your speaking and listening skills in English. reflective learner.

25
 BTEC’s own resources

4. Be able to plan a psychological skills training

programme to enhance sports performance
Although it is important for developing sports
Remember
performance, some people don’t practise their
psychological skills as much as their physical skills. Many coaches and sport psychologists use psychological
Have you ever walked off the field of play in disgust, skills training (PST) programmes to help sports performance.
having lost a game you thought you should have won?
Have you ever turned up to a game and thought, ‘I
can’t be bothered today’? Have you ever got to a
Assessment for PST
crucial point in a game and your performance has Before deciding on the aims and objectives of the PST
sunk without you being able to explain why? These are programme, you should perform an initial assessment of
situations where effective psychological skills training the psychological strengths and areas for improvement
(PST) programmes might have helped you. in your athlete. This can be achieved through:
PST is the acquisition and development of a range • interviews – semi-structured interviews are often best
of psychological skills that are designed to improve • questionnaires – to assess levels of different
performance over a period of time. PST programmes psychological factors in sport and the athlete’s
involve three main phases: current psychological skills
• education – teaching the athlete why PST • performance profiling – to help you to understand
is beneficial the athlete’s and the coach’s perception of
• acquisition – learning different psychological skills performance and skills.

• practice – providing opportunities to use techniques A good way of assessing your client’s current
in competition. psychological strengths and areas for improvement
is to use a combination of methods. The use of self-
PST programmes require you to conduct baseline
assessment questionnaires is useful because motivation
assessments, plan the programme, take part in the
and adherence problems can occur if the athlete doesn’t
programme, conduct reassessments and review the
have an input into the PST programme at all stages.
programme.
Psychological strengths and weaknesses
of the individual
Key term As part of your PST programme, you should carry out an
Psychological skills – qualities that the athlete needs to initial assessment to identify the current strengths and
obtain through the PST programme.
areas for improvement for the athlete you will be working
with. There are a number of methods that you can use,
but some common questionnaires can be found below.

Activity: Athletic coping skills inventory

Below is a copy of the ACSI–28 (Smith et al., 1995). • Work out your score for each subscale using the
Complete the questionnaire and analysis as follows: scoring system. Each scale has a range from 0 to 12,
• Read each statement and tick the response you with 0 indicating a low level of skill in that are and
most agree with (honestly!). Remember, there 12 indicating a high level of skill in that area.
are no right or wrong answers and you shouldn’t • Add up each subscale score to get a total score for
spend too much time on any statement. psychological skills. Your total score will range from
0 to 84, with 0 indicating low levels of psychological
skills and 84 signifying high levels of skill.

26
 Unit 17 Psychology for sports performance

Question Almost Sometimes Often Almost

never always
1. On a daily or weekly basis, I set goals for myself that guide what
I do.
2. I get the most out of my talent and skill.
3. When a coach or manager tells me how to correct a mistake I’ve
made, I can take it personally and can get upset.*
4. When I’m playing sports, I can focus my attention and block out my
distractions.
5. I remain positive and enthusiastic during competition.
6. I tend to play better under pressure because I can think
more clearly.
7. I worry quite a bit about what others think of my performance.*
8. I tend to do lots of planning about how I can reach my goals.
9. I feel confident I will win when I play.
10. When a coach or manager criticises me, I become more upset
rather than feel helped.*
11. It is easy for me to keep distracting thoughts from interfering with
something that I am watching or listening to.
12. I put a lot of pressure on myself by worrying about how I
will perform.*
13. I set my own performance goals for each practice or
training session.
14. I don’t have to be pushed to practice or play hard; I give 100%.
15. If a coach criticises me, I correct the mistake without getting upset
about it.
16. I handle unexpected situations in my sport very well.
17. When things are going badly, I tell myself to keep calm and it works
for me.
18. The more pressure there is during a game, the more I enjoy it.
19. Whilst competing, I worry about making mistakes or failing to come
through it.*
20. I have my game plan worked out in my head long before the
event begins.
21. When I feel myself getting too tense, I can quickly relax my body
and calm myself.
22. To me, pressure situations are challenges that I welcome.
23. I think about and imagine what will happen if I make a mistake.*
24. I maintain emotional control regardless of how things are going
for me.
25. It is easy for me to direct my attention and focus on a single object
or person.
26. When I fail to reach my goals it makes me try even harder.
27. I improve my skills by listening carefully to advice and instruction
from coaches and managers.
28. I make fewer mistakes when the pressure is on because I
concentrate better.

27
 BTEC’s own resources

Use the following scale to calculate your skills: by different things. You are also likely to focus on
For statements that do not have an asterisk (*) next important aspects of your sport performance.
to them: Confidence and achievement motivation…… (sum
• almost never = 0 your scores for statements 2, 9, 14, 26). The higher your
score on this scale, the more likely you are to give 100%
• sometimes = 1
in both competitive and training situations. You are also
• often = 2
more likely to be confident in your skills and abilities, as
• almost always = 3. well as being motivated by challenges.
For statements that have an asterisk (*) next to them: Goal setting and mental preparation score …… (sum
• almost never = 3 statements 1, 8, 13, 20). The higher the score on this
• sometimes = 2 scale, the more likely you are to set yourself effective
• often = 1 goals and produce appropriate plans to achieve
• almost always = 0. your goals. You are more likely to plan out your sport
performance effectively.
Coping score …… (sum your scores for statements
5, 17, 21 and 24). The higher your score on this scale, Peaking under pressure score …… (sum scores for
the more likely you are to remain calm, positive and statements 6, 18, 22, 28). The higher your score for
enthusiastic when things go badly. You are more likely this scale, the more likely you are to find high-pressure
to be able to overcome setbacks in a performance situations challenging. It is likely that you will use them
situation. to help performance, as opposed to viewing them as
threatening and allowing them to hinder performance.
Coachability score …… (sum your scores for
statements 3*, 10*, 15, 27). The higher your score on Freedom from worry score …… (sum scores for
this scale, the more likely you are to be receptive to statements 7*, 12*, 19* and 23*). The higher your score
guidance from your coaches or managers, and to on this scale, the less likely you are to put pressure
concentrate on using their instructions to benefit your on yourself by worrying about performance, making
performance, rather than getting upset and taking the mistakes and what others think about your performance
comments too personally. (particularly if you perform badly).
Concentration score…… (sum your scores for Total psychological skills score …… (sum all of your
statements 4, 11, 16, 25). The higher your score on subscale scores). The higher your score on this scale,
this scale, the less likely you are to become distracted the higher the level of psychological skills you have.

Activity: Competitive state anxiety inventory 2 (CSAI-2)

The CSAI-2 (Martens, Vealey and Burton, 1990) • Complete the questionnaire during sport or think
looks at anxiety in a competitive situation. Each about a sporting situation you have been in.
of the scales (cognitive anxiety, somatic anxiety
and self-confidence) range from a score of 9 • Read each statement and tick the appropriate
to 36, with 9 indicating low levels of anxiety or number to the right of the statement (1 = not at all,
confidence and 36 indicating high levels of anxiety 4 = very often).
or confidence. • Indicate how you feel/felt at this moment in time.
Using the questionnaire below, assess your levels of There are no right or wrong answers.
cognitive state anxiety, somatic state anxiety and self- • Do not spend too much time on any one statement.
confidence:
• Calculate levels of cognitive anxiety, somatic anxiety
and self-confidence using the scoring system.

28
 Unit 17 Psychology for sports performance

Statement 1 2 3 4
1 I am concerned about this competition.

2 I feel nervous.

3 I feel at ease.

4 I have self-doubts.

5 I feel jittery.

6 I feel comfortable.

7 I am concerned I may not do as well as I should.

8 My body feels tense.

9 I feel self-confident.

10 I am concerned about losing.

11 I feel tense in my stomach.

12 I feel secure.

13 I am concerned about losing.

14 My body feels relaxed.

15 I am confident I can meet the challenge.

16 I am concerned about performing poorly.

17 My heart is racing.

18 I’m confident about performing well.

19 I’m worried about reaching my goals.

20 I feel my stomach sinking.

21 I feel mentally relaxed.

22 I’m concerned that others will be disappointed with my performance.

23 My hands are clammy.

24 I’m confident because I mentally picture myself reaching my goal.

25 I’m concerned I won’t be able to concentrate.

26 My body feels tight.

27 I’m confident of coming through under pressure.

To score the CSAI-2, add up all of the numbers you Cognitive state anxiety score ……. (sum 1, 4, 7, 10,
circled for the scores as outlined below to get a 13, 16, 19, 22, 25)
score for each of the different levels. Statement 14 is Somatic state anxiety score…… (sum 2, 5, 8, 11, 14,
reverse scored (e.g. 4 = 1, 3 = 2, 2 = 3 and 1 = 4). 17, 20, 23, 26)
Self-confidence …… (3, 6, 9, 12, 17, 18, 21, 24, 27)

29
 BTEC’s own resources

Activity: Sport competition anxiety test

The Sport Competition Anxiety Test (Martens, 1977) • Tick the letter corresponding to your choice.
was designed to assess levels of competitive trait
• Remember that there are no right or wrong
anxiety. Although SCAT is a useful measure, it is a
answers. Try not to spend too much time on each
personality measure that shouldn’t be used without
taking into account an individual’s situation. question.

Use the questionnaire below to assess your levels of If you score high on the SCAT, this is an indicator
competitive trait anxiety. that you are less likely to control anxiety and more
likely to be nervous in competitive situations. If you
• Read each statement and choose the letter that score low on the SCAT, you are less likely to become
describes how you usually feel when competing: nervous in competitive situations and more likely to
A = hardly ever cope with anxiety.

B = sometimes
C = often feel this way.

A B C

1 Competing against others is socially enjoyable.

2 Before I compete, I feel uneasy.

3 Before I compete, I worry about not performing well.

4 I am a good sports person when I compete.

5 When I compete, I worry about making mistakes.

6 Before I compete, I am calm.

7 Setting a goal is important when competing.

8 Before I compete, I get a queasy feeling in my stomach.

9 Just before competing, I notice that my heart beats faster than usual.

10 I like to compete in games that demand considerable physical energy.

11 Before I compete, I feel relaxed.

12 Before I compete, I am nervous.

13 Team sports are more exciting than individual sports.

14 I get nervous waiting to start the game.

15 Before I compete, I usually get uptight.

Work out your SCAT score using the following scale: For statements 6 and 11, C = 1 point, B = 2 points,
Disregard statements 1, 4, 7, 10 and 13 A = 3 points.
For statements 2, 3, 5, 8, 9, 12, 14, 15, A = 1 point, B =
2 points, C = 3 points.

30
 Unit 17 Psychology for sports performance

Activity: Sport anxiety scale

Smith, Smoll and Shutz (1990) used the multi- 1 = never

dimensional model of anxiety to design the Sport 2 = somewhat
Anxiety Scale (SAS) so that they could measure 3 = moderately
levels of trait anxiety. The SAS measures worry and 4 = very often.
concentration disruption (cognitive anxiety) and • Remember that there are no right or wrong
somatic anxiety to give a total trait anxiety score. answers. Try not to spend too much time on each
Using the questionnaire below, assess your levels of question.
trait anxiety as follows: • It’s really important that you share your true
• Read each statement and circle the number that reactions to the sport setting, don’t be ashamed
best describes how you usually feel prior to or of admitting it if you feel nervous or worried!
during competition:

1 2 3 4
1 I feel nervous.
2 I find myself thinking about unrelated thoughts.
3 I have self-doubts.
4 My body feels tense.
5 I am concerned that I may not do as well in competition as I could do.
6 My mind wanders during sport competition.
7 While performing, I often do not pay attention to what’s going on.
8 I feel tense in my stomach.
9 Thoughts of doing poorly interfere with my concentration during competition.
10 I am concerned about choking under pressure.
11 My heart races.
12 I feel my stomach sinking.
13 I’m concerned about performing poorly.
14 I have lapses in concentration because of nervousness.
15 I sometimes find myself trembling before or during a competitive event.
16 I’m worried about reaching my goal.
17 My body feels tight.
18 I’m concerned that others will be disappointed with my performances.
19 My stomach gets upset before or during performance.
20 I’m concerned I won’t be able to concentrate.
21 My heart pounds before competition.

Calculate your different values using the scales below: • The somatic anxiety scale ranges from a score of
Somatic trait anxiety score …… (sum statements 1, 4, 9 to 36, with 9 being low somatic anxiety and 36
8, 11, 12, 15, 17, 19, 21) being high somatic anxiety.
Worry score …… (sum statements 3, 5, 9, 10, 13, 16, 18) • The worry scale ranges from a low level of 7 to a
Concentration disruption score …… (sum statements high level of 28.
2, 6, 7, 14, 20) • The concentration disruption scale ranges from a
Trait anxiety score …… (sum scores from three scales low of 5 to a high of 20.
above) • The overall trait anxiety levels range from a low of
21 to a high of 84.

31
 BTEC’s own resources

These questionnaires are good objective measures of an outlines their main strengths and areas for improvement;
individual’s psychological state and can be used in real how you can help them improve; and some initial
situations. Don’t forget that one of the best ways to help suggestions of what they can do to improve. The needs
the athlete you’re working with is to get to know them; analysis allows you to make your PST programme more
talking to your athlete is a good way to discover their effective by personalising it to your athlete. From this
psychological strengths and areas for improvement. needs analysis, you can put together the aims and
After your initial assessments with the athlete, you should objectives of the PST programme in conjunction with
complete a needs analysis. This is a document that the athlete, managers and coaches.

Needs analysis
Client’s name

Sports psychologist’s name

they
ssment methods and state what
were undertaken (name the asse
The following initial assessment
were used for)

Results from assessment 1

Results from assessment 2

Results from assessment 3

Your main strengths are

are
Your main areas for improvement

ce by using the following techniques

You could improve your performan

Figure 17.9: Example of a needs analysis form. [AUTHOR TO FILL IN WITH DETAILS TO MAKE IT INTO AN EXAMPLE]

32
 Unit 17 Psychology for sports performance

understanding of what the terms mean. To avoid

Activity: Producing a needs misunderstanding the practioner must make sure the
analysis definitions used are devised by the client. They should
aim for 20 key qualities. Tell them that there are no
Using the initial assessments you completed for right or wrong answers.
the activities on the previous pages, produce a • Stage 2: Profile the practitioner’s perceptions
needs analysis for your partner using Figure 17.9
of the client’s levels and profile the client’s
on page 32 to help you. Remember to report the
results of your initial assessments to highlight the perceptions of their levels. This is an assessment
athlete’s strengths and areas for improvements. by you and the client of the current level of
performance. You and the client write the 20 key
qualities in each of the blank spaces around the
outside of the circular grid. Each quality is given a
Identifying psychological demands rating from 0 to 10 (See Figure 17.10 on page 34).
of sports • Stage 3: Discuss the practitioner’s and the client’s
Before starting to plan your PST programme, you profiles. In this stage, you are using the results,
need to identify the demands of the particular sport interpreting the results of the performance profiles
you are examining. Performance profiling is one way of by identifying perceived areas of strength and areas
doing this. for improvement. When looking at the two profiles
(shown in Figure 17.10 on page 34), if there are large
Performance profiling differences between levels (a large difference is
Performance profiling has five main stages. classed as two points or more), this should lead to
• Stage 1: Identify and define key qualities for a discussion between you and the client about why
performance. Introduce the idea by asking the the different levels have been given.
client what attributes they think are important • Stage 4: Agree on goals and how they will be
for top performance. When using performance achieved. You and the client need to agree on what
profiling in a sports setting, the athlete could be you would like the client to achieve (i.e. set the
asked to think of an elite performer and write down benchmarks for each of the qualities). The results
the athlete’s qualities. Table 17.2 highlights some are used to set the goals to be achieved through
prompts that can be used with different clients. the PST programme. Normally, each of these
It will be useful for the client to record and define the desired benchmarks will be at level 10 – any target
qualities necessary for performance in a table format. level below this on the client’s behalf would suggest
This helps the client and practitioner to develop an that there is some form of resistance to achieving
the ultimate level of performance.

Psychological Physical Attitudinal/character Technical*

Confidence Strength Weight control
Concentration Stamina Discipline
Relaxation Endurance Determination
Visualisation Flexibility Will to win
Emotional Power Positive outlook
Control Speed
Motivation Balance
Reaction time

Table 17.2 Examples of athlete qualities

*Technical skills are sport specific

33
 BTEC’s own resources

g Concentra
Passin tion
Firs
ork t tou
amw ch
Te
l Se
na lf-
b
io ol
tr

co ot

el
ie
Em
n

f
on
ati

Fo
nic

cus
mu
Com

Antic
]
[Imagery

ipation Situational
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

awarenes
setting
Goal

s
ess

kn acti
o
ven

T
w led al
etiti

c
ge
mp
Co

M
ot
g
in

iv
p at
io
Co n
ce Di
ran sci
tole ain plin
Key
P e
[Relaxe
Speed d]
Coach’s perception
Athlete’s perception

Figure 17.10: How can performance profiling benefit both the coach and the athlete?

need to discuss why progress is not being made.

Activity: Identifying Usually this is because the training programme
differences of opinion didn’t take into account a quality (errors in design
of programme), you have different views on the
Using the profiles in Figure 17.10, identify importance of a quality (errors in communication
which qualities have a mismatch in terms and understanding) or the client has not put in the
of the athlete’s and the coach’s opinions of effort to achieve the improvements in performance.
performance levels.
Plan
The planning stage of a PST programme comes after
• Stage 5: Repeat the profiling to monitor conducting your needs analysis with the athlete. The
progress. Performance profiling can be repeated strengths and areas for improvement you have identified
on a number of occasions to assess the client’s will help you decide on the aims and objectives of the
progress. The aim is that the client will gradually PST programme. During the planning stage you should
progress further towards the outside of the scale consider the aims and objectives, targets, content,
(closer to the rating of 10). If the client does not resources required and any other considerations relating
make the desired progress, you and the client to the athlete’s personal circumstances.

34
 Unit 17 Psychology for sports performance

Current situation Psychological skills

The current situation of the athlete can be assessed Think about all of the times that you have heard an
in a number of ways including inventories and athlete being interviewed after they have lost a game
questionnaires (such as ACSI-28, CSAI-2, SCAT and and they have talked about losing focus or cracking
SAS), performance profiling and interviews. These under pressure. At some point during their career, all
help you get a picture of the athlete’s current situation, athletes will suffer from some form of lack of mental
which can be summarised in the needs analysis form. preparation or make an unlikely mistake. This is where
Psychological Skills Training becomes important.
Aims and objectives
The aims and objectives of the PST programme are Motivation
what you and the athlete want to achieve through
Helping the athlete to increase their motivation to
the programme.
optimal levels is one of the most important aspects of
the consultancy role of a sports psychologist.
Action plan to address aims and objectives
When you have decided on the aims and objectives of Goal setting
the PST programme, you should work with the athlete Using the acronym SMARTS will help to set the right
to prioritise them. The biggest areas for improvement type of goals. SMARTS stands for:
or the skills that are most important to the athlete’s
• Specific. Goals should show exactly what needs to
performance are given the highest priority. After you
be done
have prioritised the aims and objectives, you need to
produce SMART targets. • Measurable. Goals should be quantifiable

When producing a plan for any PST programme • Action orientated. You should have to do
think about how much time should be spent on something to achieve the goal
different aspects of the programme. If you are • Realistic. Goals should be within your reach
introducing new skills to the PST programme, then • Timescale. There should be a reasonable timeframe
15–30 minute sessions, in addition to physical • Self-determined. There should be input from the
practice sessions, 3–5 times a week are beneficial. person for whom the goal is intended.
Gradually, the aim is to move away from needing
There are three types of goals:
distinct sessions to allow the psychological skills to
be integrated with normal practice, however this • Outcome goals
only becomes possible when athletes become more • Performance goals
proficient in their new skills. • Process goals.

Daily and weekly content of the plan Outcome goals

The daily and weekly content should be decided Outcome goals focus on the result of the event,
by the consultant, coach and athlete together. like winning a table tennis match. This type of
This means the daily and weekly content has been goal is often the least effective when it comes to
decided on objectively and takes into account their motivation as your goal achievement is dependent
different perspectives. Including the athlete in the on your opposition as well as the athlete themself.
decision of the daily and weekly content increases For example, an athlete could run a personal best in
their motivation to adhere to the programme, as they a 400m event but still finish last and if the outcome
will have invested time and effort in its design. The goal is always to win, then this could negatively
athlete will feel like they are in control which benefits influence their motivation, even though performance
motivation. Another important reason behind the is improving. Spending too much time thinking about
inclusion of both the athlete and the coach is to this type of goal just before or during competition can
ensure the daily and weekly content is manageable. increase anxiety and decrease concentration, which
You can also show how the PST programme fits with can reduce motivation. However, this type of goal can
the normal training routine. improve short-term motivation. Think about when

35
 BTEC’s own resources

you have lost to somebody that you really wanted to

beat. It probably spurred you on to train harder so you
Arousal control
could beat them next time. Progressive muscular relaxation
Muscle tension is one of the most uncomfortable
Performance goals
and devastating symptoms of an over-aroused state
Performance goals focus on the athlete’s performance and can severely hinder performance due to losses in
and involves comparing their current performance to coordination. It can lead to an increased risk of injury
previous performances, so they are independent of due to vastly decreased flexibility.
other athletes and can give the performer a greater
Progressive muscular relaxation (PMR) is an easy-
sense of control over the goal. Having greater control
to-use technique that helps reduce muscle tension.
over goal achievement can be very beneficial for the
It increases an individual’s awareness of their levels
athlete’s motivation. An example of a performance goal
of muscle tension and, through the relaxation
would be improving pass completion percentage in
phase, helps distinguish between a state of tension
football from 78% to 85%.
and relaxation.
Process goals The technique involves tensing and relaxing groups
Process goals are based around what the athlete has of muscles in turn over the whole body. The process
to do to be able to improve their performance. An involves tensing a muscle group for five seconds,
example of this type of goal would be a basketball releasing the tension for five seconds, taking a deep
player wanting to improve their jump shot accuracy breath and repeating. It is called progressive muscular
by making sure they release the ball at the height of relaxation because the athlete progresses from one
the jump. This type of goal is useful for improving muscle group to the next until all muscles have been
motivation as it gives a specific element of tensed and relaxed.
performance to focus on, which facilitates learning
and development.
Mind to muscle relaxation
The aim of mind to muscle relaxation is to train the
The key to using outcome, performance and process
muscles to recognise tension so they can be released
goals successfully is knowing which to use and when.
and a relaxed state can occur. Common examples of
It is hard for an athlete to focus on achieving process
mind to muscle relaxation techniques include imagery,
and performance goals without having a long-term
PMR and autogenic training.
outcome to aim for. Some studies have shown that
using a combination of all three types of goal is better
Autogenic techniques
than using any single type of goal alone when wanting
Autogenic training is a type of self-hypnosis that help
to improve motivation. There should also be a logical
to develop feelings of warmth and heaviness. This
progression from short-term goals through to long-
programme of self-hypnosis, uses a series of sentences,
term goals.
statements or phrases to focus attention on the
different feelings the athlete is trying to produce.
Remember
A normal autogenic programme has six stages:
The main reason athletes give for using goals is to • Heaviness in the arms and legs, e.g. my left leg
help to provide direction and focus towards a task.
feels heavy.
• Warmth in the arms and legs, e.g. my right leg
Performance profiling feels warm.
• Regulation of cardiac activity, e.g. my heart rate
Consider the use of performance profiling within any
is normal.
psychological skills training programme you design as
it is one of the most common and effective techniques • Regulation of breathing, e.g. my breathing rate
in sport psychology. As the athlete has a lot of control is normal.
over the performance profiling process, this technique • Abdominal warmth, e.g. my abdomen feels warm.
can be useful when wanting to increase motivation. • Cooling of the forehead, e.g. my forehead is cool.

36
 Unit 17 Psychology for sports performance

Autogenic training is not used as widely as other 4. Imagery

techniques of arousal regulation simply because it This requires the athlete to think about an elite
takes several months to learn effectively and each performer in their sport and remember how
session can last a long time. they have performed a particular skill. Visualising
themself performing that skill in their sport before
Breathing control trying to copy what they did will help the athlete to
When you start to experience increased pressure perform the skill. This is one example of imagery
in sports situations, an automatic tendency is to and how it is used by athletes to help them improve
hold your breath. Unfortunately this increases factors their technique.
that are detrimental to performance, for example, Imagery can be used in other ways by athletes. Imagery
muscle tension. The best time to use breathing is a polysensorial and emotional creation or recreation
control is in a sporting situation that lets you take of an experience that takes place in the mind. It
a break. should involve as many senses as possible, as well as
recreating emotions experienced through the activity
Psyching up techniques
you take part in. The most effective imagery uses the
Psyching up techniques are frequently used to following senses:
increase arousal levels for competition. Some of the
• Polysensorial – involving as many of your senses in
more common techniques are discussed below.
the imagery process.
1. Acting energised • Kinaesthetic – concentrating on the feel of the
How many times have you seen an American movement.
football player butt helmets with a team mate? • Visual – concentrating on the different things that
What about when a tennis player wins a key point you can see during the movement.
in tennis and screams at the crowd? These are • Tactile – concentrating on the sense of touch
examples of a technique known as acting throughout the movement.
energised. These actions have different common
• Auditory – concentrating on the different sounds
characteristics and involve the combination of
that you associate with a sporting movement, e.g.
quick and forceful movements, positive thinking
hitting the sweet spot on a cricket bat.
and strong emotional releases.
• Olfactory – concentrating on the different smells
2. Energising imagery that you associate with a sporting action, e.g. the
In the same way that imagery can be used to reduce smell of freshly cut grass on the first game of the
arousal and anxiety, it can also be used to increase season for your football team.
arousal. This can be achieved through the use of high- There are two main types of imagery in sport
energy images of competition (e.g. a hard tackle in and exercise: internal imagery and external imagery.
rugby), playing well (e.g. crossing the finish line first in
a race) and high levels of effort (e.g. being able to lift a
new weight in the gym). Key terms
3. Using music Internal imagery – imagining yourself doing
something and concentrating on how the activity feels.
The use of music increases arousal. Music can
External imagery – imagining yourself doing something
narrow a performer’s attention and divert it from as though you are watching it on a film
tiredness. Exciting music can increase body so that you can develop an awareness of how the
temperature, heart rate and breathing rate, all of activity looks.
which improves sport performance.

37
 BTEC’s own resources

Take it further missing penalties, being bowled out, experiencing poor

officiating). Then you can imagine yourself coping with
Imagery these negative influences in a number of ways and being
Research the following theories behind imagery able to perform the task successfully.
use and then try to justify why you would use
imagery with athletes. Be sure to use coach- 7. Concentration
friendly terminology. You might find it useful to A golfer is waiting to putt to win the Masters at Augusta.
try to give some examples of how to apply the He concentrates on the feel of the putter in his hand, the
theory to different athletics events. distance between the ball and the hole, the changes in
• Psychoneuromuscular Theory the ground, the feel of the movement when he goes to
• Symbolic Learning Theory stroke the ball and smell the green. He closes out any
noises from the crowd so that he can listen to the contact
• Bioinformational Theory
of the club on the ball. A key aspect to concentration is
• Attention–Arousal Set Theory
being able to focus on relevant cues in your environment
(e.g. things that directly affect your sports performance)
and being able to close out factors that don’t directly
5. Mental rehearsal
affect your sport performance (e.g. crowd noise and
Mental rehearsal is one aspect of imagery. It is a strategy banners). By imagining what you want to achieve and
for practising something in your mind before performing what you need to be able to do to achieve it, you can
the task. The difference between mental rehearsal and prevent your attention from focusing on irrelevant
imagery is that mental rehearsal does not take into aspects, and focus instead on relevant aspects.
account how the skill is rehearsed, or what senses and
emotions are used throughout the skill. It is the cognitive 8. Relaxation
rehearsal of a skill without any physical movement. A sprinter is in the start position in the final of the
Using mental rehearsal in the lead up to, during, and women’s 100m at the Olympic Games. In this example,
after competition, as well as in practice settings, benefits the athlete would imagine emotions associated with
skill practice and development. It gives the athlete the relaxation and, together with other techniques such
opportunity to practice ‘what if’ scenarios to assess whether as breathing exercises, could more effectively control
something different would work in the same scenario. This anxiety, arousal and stress levels.
is often combined with replaying the performance in their
mind. The athlete goes through previous performances to
detect errors using mental rehearsal. Activity: Relaxation
Although not as effective as physically practising a skill, imagery
mental rehearsal is more beneficial than not practising
the skill at all. It helps to develop neuromuscular patterns Ask a friend to measure your heart rate and write
it down before you read the following relaxation
associated with different movements. It is important to
imagery script.
rehearse both good and bad movement patterns so that
Imagine yourself on a beautiful sandy beach.
you can get to know the difference between the two to
You are alone and everything is peaceful. Notice
develop the appropriate neuromuscular responses. how the sand meets the clear blue water. Above,
you can see only clear blue sky. You are walking
6. Controlling emotions towards the water and can feel the sand under
A cricket player is preparing to go out and bat in the Ashes your feet and between your toes. You can hear
Test series. He starts to visualise situations in the past the waves as they reach the shore and you step
where he has been bowled out against Australia and then into the sea. You can feel the cooling sensation
on your feet and around your ankles and calves as
starts to breathe deeply and change the image from being you enter the water. Everything feels perfect. You
bowled out to successfully striking the ball and scoring can feel the warmth of the sun on your back and
combinations of quick singles, 4s and 6s. One of the shoulders. You are completely relaxed and calm.
benefits of using imagery is that you can imagine things Record your heart rate again. Have you relaxed?
that have gone wrong in previous performances (such as

38
 Unit 17 Psychology for sports performance

9. Pre-performance routines were to start saying to himself ‘Think back to when

These are routines that performers go through you scored 100 against Australia. You concentrated
before a competition to help them focus attention, on the flight of the ball, you watched the spin, you
increase arousal or decrease arousal. Think about took into account the position of the fielders and
when you have seen a tennis player at Wimbledon you struck the ball well most times.’ This would help
before an important game serve. You will see them his performance greatly, as he is concentrating on
close their eyes, take a deep breath, bounce the ball successful performances rather than negative ones.
and then start the serve. This is an example of a pre-
performance routine. Positive thinking
This is often used with other techniques such as
Confidence building imagery and PMR in order to increase the confidence
of athletes during PST sessions. It is used regularly by
Sports psychologists work with athletes to build up
athletes in different sports during the event to improve
their confidence. For example, if a football player
performance.
has been taking penalties for her team on a regular
A golfer has a problem missing putts during
basis but keeps missing them, this could knock her
important events and this has greatly knocked his
confidence. A sport psychologist could work with
confidence. He seems to miss most putts that are
the player, asking her to remember having a strong
more than about six inches. When he approaches the
support foot placement, striking the ball hard,
shot the next time in competition, he automatically
thinking about where exactly the ball should go,
thinks ‘Oh no, I hope I don’t miss this one as well.’
seeing the ball hit the back of the net and thinking
Positive thinking would be good here because
about the joy experienced when scoring a goal. The
the athlete would change the negative thought
sport psychologist would do this because when an
into a positive one. He could do this by thinking
athlete can picture themselves performing well in
more about times when he has been successful in
their mind, it helps to promote a sense of mastery,
performance. Using phrases such as ‘I can do this,
and increases their belief in their own ability to
I’ve done it a million times before. Relax.’ After the
perform a task.
event, the golfer could use imagery techniques
Self-talk to imagine putting from distances while using the
positive thoughts to further enhance confidence.
The main focus of self-talk is to convince yourself
that you are good enough to play or perform well.
Changing self-image through imagery
Self-talk helps the athlete to build self-confidence.
Imagery can be used to change self-image through
This should be done quite frequently. Everyone
increasing confidence. Through imagery, the athlete
has, at some point, said to themselves ‘Come on!’ or
will be able to experience the feelings of success and
‘You can do this!’ when performing. It can be
will be able to come up with strategies as to how they
very effective.
can be successful in performance. As the performer
For example, if a cricket player is having a very
sees that they can complete the performance
unsuccessful innings, and every ball he goes for
successfully (if only in their minds), their levels of self-
he hits incorrectly or misses, he could find himself
confidence will increase.
leaving balls he would normally attempt. If the player

39
 BTEC’s own resources

Assessment activity 17.5 P6 P7 M4 D3

W
1. Based on the initial assessments and needs 2. Explain the programme to your client. M4
analyses you have conducted for the earlier 3. Justify why you have selected the different PST
activities P6 , produce a six-week plan for a PST activities. D3
programme. P7

Grading tips
• Show evidence of assessing the current • Provide an explanation of the design of the
psychological skills of your performer by programme and of each of the activities
keeping all of your methods of assessing skills that will be completed by the athlete as
and the needs analysis form. part of their skills training programme.
• Identify your performer’s key areas for • Justify the design of the programme
improvement and decide on six weeks’ of and the activities by saying how they
psychological skills training that will help the will benefit the athlete and providing
performers develop these areas. Remember supporting evidence.
that the areas to develop may not always be the
areas that have the lowest values on results.

Functional skills PLTS

By working out all of the scores for each of the By designing a psychological skills training
subscales on the different questionnaires and then programme and providing suggestions for your
comparing these to norm data for the different tests, athlete to progress with their psychological skills
you could develop your maths skills. training programme, you could develop your skills as
a reflective thinker.

40
 pace Mark Johnson
Unit 17 Psychology for sports performance

WorkS Sports Psychologist

Mark works as a sport psychologist for an athletics

club. One of Mark’s key job roles is working with young
athletes to help them develop their psychological skills.
‘Sport presents lots of opportunities for young athletes to learn
psychological skills alongside the physical skills that are required
for their sport. Like most skills, some people manage to learn
psychological skills more quickly than others do, but if you are
prepared to spend the time to learn how to use the skill then it
will be really beneficial for you.’

‘One of the big advantages of teaching psychological

skills alongside physical skills is that it can help athletes and their
support teams (e.g. coaches and sport psychologists) to develop even
better relationships because they will spend more time with each other. This can
benefit the athlete’s performance as the coach and the sport psychologist will develop
more trust in each other’s opinions and values which means that they can offer a better
level of service to the athlete. One of the good things about working in this way is that I
get to spend more time with the athletes and I can observe them more in competition and
training. If I can do that, I get to see which athletes are developing well and which athletes
are still struggling with things like stress, arousal and motivation.’
‘One of the common problems that I face is when young athletes have low levels of
motivation during their winter training. Often it is cold and dark, so some of the
athletes don’t really like to go to training and sometimes don’t try very hard.’

Think about it!

• What techniques could you use to increase the
motivation of the young athletes during winter
training?
• How do you think these techniques would help to
increase motivation?

41
 BTEC’s own resources

Just checking
1. What is personality and how does it affect sports participation and performance?
2. What are the main theories that have tried to explain the relationship between personality and
sports participation and performance?
3. What are the main arguments of each of these different theories and which is the most widely
supported?
4. What is motivation and what are the different types of motivation?
5. What is the attribution theory and what are the different types of attributes we give?
6. What is stress and what are the different sources of stress?
7. What is the stress process?
8. What is arousal and what are the different theories that try to explain how arousal affects
performance?
9. What is anxiety and what are the different types of anxiety?
10. What are Tuckman’s stages of group development?
11. What is cohesion? Explain the key factors that can affect team cohesion.
12. What are the two main ways that team cohesion can be assessed?
13. What are some of the tools that you can use to plan and review a PST programme?
14. What are some of the different skills that you can incorporate in a PST programme and which
areas of psychology will they benefit?

Assignment tips
• Research tips - try to use as much supporting information as you can for this unit, this will be helpful in
achieving higher grades in some cases. The Internet is full of websites based on sport psychology, you
might want to try these:
Athletic Insight (www.athleticinsight.com)
Mind tools (www.mindtools.com)
Zone of Excellence (www.zoneofexcellence.ca).
• Practice using the techniques. The key to being a good sport psychologist is knowing how to suggest
and use different techniques with people based on the needs analysis. Try using some techniques in
your own sport so that you become familiar with them.

42