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Motivated to watch TV, play video-games and use internet? Development of a scale to measure self-determined motivation in leisure time screens.

Mon, 08 Apr 2013 21:30:00 +0200

Think of your idea of a gamer. Imagine their appearance, their attitude, their level of motivation. I’m sure most of you have picked a stereotypical view of an overweight middle-aged man with acne, slouching in an oversized chair surrounded by fast food and as for motivation, that’s non-existent. Well the field of exercise psychology has also fell into the trap of believing these people are amotivated or at least that their gaming behaviour is a sign of amotivation to exercise. This may not be the case.

First we must make a few things clear. Television, internet and video-games (non-active games) can be classified as sedentary behaviours. These behaviours are done while sitting or lying down and because of this expend very little energy, less than 1.5 METS (Pate, O’Neill, & Lobelo, 2008). Spending increased time in these behaviours can increase your risk of non-communicable diseases such as type II diabetes and all cause-mortality (Proper, Singh, van Mechelen, & Chinapaw, 2011). Now, typically these behaviours have been intervened upon with exercise promotion but here’s the catch, the risk factors of sedentary behaviour are independent to time spent in exercise (Tremblay et al., 2011). This means that to be at the lowest risk possible (in terms of activity) would require a person to both exercise and have a low amount of time spent being sedentary.

So the question remains, are these behaviours an amotivation to being active or are they in their own right motivated? Studies using the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB; Ajzen, 1985)found they could predict sedentary behaviour through proposed pathways e.g. attitudes, intentions (Rhodes & Dean, 2009)). This project aimed to see if motives could be found that reflected Self-Determination Theory (SDT; Deci & Ryan, 1985, 2000). If so, interventions may need to focus on reducing motivation for screen behaviours alongside traditional approaches.

This project involved three phases. The first was exploring the possible motives from users and previous literature using a SDT perspective. The second phase was transforming the findings into questionnaire items as well as gaining content validity and the final phase was to test the initial construct validity of the scale and to test the hypothesis that motivation levels can predict screen time.

Phase 1: To find suitable experts a local internet café was contacted. The internet café was Bits and Bytes in Trikala, Greece and many thanks go to George Loules for allowing access. Nine customers hand-picked by George, based on having high levels of time spent in the café and also high levels of English. These nine experts were divided into three groups of three and completed a combined focus group/open-ended questionnaire. The questions were guided by SDT regulations and also Basic Needs Theories. Every participant produced motives relevant to each regulation of SDT e.g. “because it is fun”, “because it is a good way to spend time” etc.

The second part of phase one involved a search of the literature for items and motives relevant to SDT and the target behaviours. As expected there is a big gap with regard screen motivation but some studies exist that try to increase motivation in games (Raybourn, 1997). Items were also taken from other SDT questionnaires and relevant research.

Phase 2: Now it was time to make the actual items. Previously validated items were taken where possible. From this 91 items were created. The item pool inevitably included items that were less good than others; to ensure the most important items could be focused on “weaker” items were weeded out. This was done by asking 10 users to rate how relevant each item was. From this two experts in SDT were also asked to rank items based on relevance to theory and considering the user given scores. From a combined ranking of items from both professors the pool of items was cut down to 64 (still long, but I swear we will get it down to 32) with eight items kept for each regulation.

Phase 3: The final phase involved giving the 64 item version of the questionnaire to a large sample. They also completed a single item measure for time spent in screen behaviour. For this a secondary level school in Ireland was recruited. 248 students completed the questionnaire but only 129 questionnaires remained after eliminating missing answers, pattern results etc.

Confirmatory factor analysis was carried out on these responses and the most useful goodness-of-fit indices taken using guidelines by Kenny (2011). All of these values were above acceptable ranges when the 64 items were reduced to 32. However only two regulations were able to predict time spent in screen behaviour, Intrinsic Motivation-to Know and Introjection.

The findings as a whole shows support that leisure screen behaviours can be motivated and the people in these behaviours are not automatically amotivated to exercise. However predicting time spent in behaviour using self-determined regulations has its own complications. The target behaviours are so ubiquitous and easy to do, that time spent in behaviour is hard to recall and measure. Although content and construct validity have been found, further validation is needed for this measure but once completed a vast amount of studies can be undertaken.

Shane O’Leary is currently enrolled into Doctorate program in Psychology and Sport Sciences at Northumbria University in UK. He received his Bachelor in Sport and Exercise Sciences from the University ofLimerick, (Ireland) in 2010, a joint M.Sc. from the European Master’s in Sport and Exercise Psychology at the University of Thessaly, (Greece) and the University of Leipzig (Germany) in 2012.Currently Shane is working on perceived and objective factors in everyday environments that affect exercise, physical activity and sedentary behaviours.

Building a Solid Club or Company Foundation: Examples from Ajax FC

Tue, 26 Mar 2013 17:17:23 +0100

Building a Solid Club or Company Foundation: Examples from Ajax FC:

augmentor:

“Successful clubs really thrive because of the groundwork they put in and consistency in club values, goals, and strategies. Ajax is a hallmark example because they do exactly this. And even though they are not as “successful” as they used to be, they have survived and continue to produce world-class talent because unlike many clubs in Europe, they focus and value their youth academy.

The Ajax scouting process is thorough and time-invested. They have a model that is consistent and developmental that begins the day a player steps foot into the club up until they enter the senior team. Their specific model is called TIPS; a mix of innate and trainable traits an Ajax player will have.”

Relative Evaluation of Affective, Cognitive and Behavioural Responses to a Physical Task evident in Basketball Training: A University of Thessaly’s Master Thesis.

Tue, 26 Mar 2013 12:48:42 +0100

How athletes evaluate a physical task substantially affects their expectations, emotions and future participation (Gotwals & Wayment, 2002). Sport studies implicitly suggest that when athletes are asked to evaluate their affective, cognitive and behavioral responses to a physical task, they reveal idiosyncratic characteristics that illustrate how athletes feel about the particular activity (e.g., Jackson, Kimiecik, Ford, & Marsh, 1998). On the other hand, contemporary research (e.g., Van de Pol & Kavussanu, 2011) advocates the influence of a context on performance, raising an important question: Do individuals really evaluate a physical task solely based on the task characteristics and their bodily feedback? Or maybe athletes use some other factors to evaluate the task and the judgment is based on the reference point they use for such evaluation?

Relativistic forms of evaluation appear to be an integral part of sport performance because athletic achievements typically take place in competition with others. For example, Medvec, Madey, and Gilovich (1995) found that in the 1992 Summer Olympic, athletes who received a silver medal were less happy than those who received a bronze medal, despite their better performance. These authors hypothesized that the Olympians used category-based counterfactual comparisons where silver medalists compared their performance to the gold medalists, whereas the bronze medalists compared their performance to those without any medal. Similar relative evaluations were found by McGraw, Mellers, and Tetlock (2004), who proposed that athletes were happier with their performance when it surpassed personal expectations than when it fell below personal expectations. This was despite the fact that happier athletes performed worse than the less happy athletes.

The importance of such relative evaluations on performance was emphasized by Festinger (1954) and Mussweiler (2003), who concluded that inter-individual comparisons are the priority source of information when judging the self. Drawn on these findings, a number of studies attempted to explore what information sources athletes and exercisers use to form their perception of their ability and competence - revealing relative evaluations with social comparisons appearing as one of the most prominent source (e.g., Ebbeck, 1990, Gotwals & Wayment, 2002). Despite these important findings, impact of social comparisons and relative evaluation have been rather neglected in favor of competence or ability variables. These could be attributed to a traditional thinking that when a task involves a bodily feedback (interoceptive cues) the evaluation of responses are subjectively grounded in the feeling of the task at hand.

My study attempted to take a closer look at that traditional assumption and investigate whether athletes evaluate affective, cognitive and behavioral responses to sport performance in absolute or relative terms. For that purpose, I applied research findings and ideas from judgment and decision-making literature, in particular the evaluability hypothesis, which provides a theoretical framework that explains why individuals evaluate relatively and how they do so (Hsee, 1996). Hsee proposed that all judgments and decisions are made in one (or some combination) of two basic evaluation modes - single and joint. Single mode refers to an absolute evaluation where attributes are evaluated separately whereas the joint evaluation mode prompts a relative evaluation because simultaneous presentation of two events urges evaluators to compare one event against the other during the evaluation process (Hsee & Rottenstreich, 2004). Furthermore, Hsee suggested that individuals search for a comparison standard because they want to gain better understanding of a value of an evaluative attribute.

The purpose of my study was to examine whether experienced basketball players evaluate predicted and real experiences associated with two physical tasks (running and shooting) in absolute or relative terms. The general hypothesis was that athletes would evaluate predicted experiences and real experiences of running and shooting in relative terms. The study was a conservative test of whether individuals evaluate real experiences in relative terms. This was because it involved experienced basketball players who were knowledgeable of the demands associated with physical tasks such as running and shooting, and the information on the desirability of a task was unveiled implicitly.

The participants in the study were 141 men and 40 women basketball players involved in a basketball training for at least 2 consecutive seasons. The study took place in the practice halls of attended teams. I manipulated the type of experience (predictors and experiencers vs. experiencers only) under two evaluative conditions, single or joint mode. My dependent variables were happiness, satisfaction, motivation and perceived effort.

Results showed that athletes evaluated performance in relative terms during both predicted and real experience evaluations with particular strong evidence during the real experience. More importantly, it was shown that the comparisons hindered individuals’ evaluation of affective, cognitive and behavioral responses to a physical task. My study carries important implication for sports practitioners in that athletes are prone to evaluate physical tasks in relative terms when an alternative activity is present, even if that alternative activity may seem irrelevant for the evaluation. Coaches who strive to enhance athletes’ responses to the physical task should pay careful attention to the occurrence of possible alternatives and consider designing the practice in a way that the differences in perceived experiences are minimized.

Gosia Slawinska is currently enrolled into Doctorate program in Psychology and Sport Sciences at Northumbria University in UK. She received her Bachelor in Sport and Exercise Science (Sport Psychology path) at Edinburgh Napier University in 2009, a M.Sc. from the European Master’s in Sport and Exercise Psychology at the University of Thessaly, Greece and a M.Sc from the University of Leipzig in Diagnostics and Intervention (2012). Her area of interest is perception, judgment and motivational processes in sport and exercise settings.

So, you’re thinking about publishing a paper… tell me more about that.

Mon, 18 Mar 2013 09:25:42 +0100

Probably all of us who have been in academic environments heard the idea that “what is not published does not exist”. This overwhelming quote states the idea that in modern sciences what is not published in a scientific journal is just a myth or an idea that someone has. It simply won’t be taken into consideration due to its lack of “scientific stringency”. In plain English, it means that if you have a great idea, the solution to a given problem, the best protocol to address an issue or the latest world-changing theory, before it can be accepted as valid in the scientific community it must first be reviewed, criticized and “approved” by evaluating peers. This is usually achieved through publications in peer-reviewed journals.

Nevertheless, embarking on the journey of having a publication is a long and tedious work with lots of setbacks. The acceptance rate of most of the top-rated journals is usually very low. Additionally, as a researcher you would have to re-submit the manuscripts (at least) twice with changes made by the reviewers. Moreover, the chances that you would have to publish it in a different journal than the one you originally thought are very high. Besides all those well-known issues – known as the art of publishing – there are two new ones that are stated by Papaioannou et al., (2013), which must be taken into consideration.

According to this paper the author’s proficiency of English and the presence or absence of non-English speaking members on the editorial boards makes a huge difference in the chances of getting published. Papaioannou and colleagues looked at all the articles published in the six main Sport and Exercise psychology journals (Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, The Sport Psychologist, Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, Psychology of Sport and Exercise, International Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, and Journal of Sport Behavior) in the past 15 years. In their selection of 2034 papers, they discovered that publishing a research paper might not only be an easy task, but it is an even more daunting task for non-English speakers. According to their numbers, more than 80% of the published papers of these six well-known journals are originated in just four countries: USA, UK, Canada and Australia, in that order. Those four English-speaking countries have an over-representation of the total world publication.

These numbers can be understood as the renowned fact that those countries have some of the best academic centers in Sports and Exercise Psychology. Consequently, their development is superior to that in other regions of the world. However, one may think that there are other parts in the world, namely Europe and Asia, which should have a bigger representation in the publishing statistics. Just think for instance of salient theories like the IZOF model that comes from research centers in Finland, just to name one great contribution from a non-English speaking country. Furthermore, the authors looked more in detail at those journals and found more tendencies that are quite disturbing.

Besides looking at the country of precedence of the first author, the researchers also classified the continental representation of the members of the editorial board of each journal. They found that the percentage of a continent’s representation in the editorial board of a journal was strongly related to the publication rate of authors from this continent in that particular journal. The obtained numbers that showed an almost perfect correlation (r = 0.93, p < 0.001), signify that the higher the continents’ representation in the board, the more articles were published in those journals from that particular continent. Those findings show that authors from non-English-speaking countries might find a gateway and may have higher chances of publishing through international journals in which most of the editorial board members are from non-English-speaking countries as well.

Of course, we cannot imply causality but the numbers show that authors from non-English-speaking countries feel more comfortable and make more attempts in journals where the editorial board is made up of members from different parts of the world. Papaioannou and colleagues venture to state that: “reviewers from English-speaking countries can easily negatively judge manuscripts that do not confirm their own culture-specific beliefs, stereotypes, and theoretical perspectives, while both editors and reviewers are less likely to accept manuscripts submitted by less-known institutions in non-English-speaking countries”. Although this biased evaluation is not necessarily unfair since the editorial board members want to protect the field from unnecessary confusion or specific population issues. Nevertheless, with this biased view they are not contributing to the progress of the social sciences.

By no means is this blog post intended to discourage you in the process of publishing. On the contrary, my intention is to make people aware of the publishing world and what can be done to overcome these issues. It is through the development and attempts made by people like you or me – the new generation of sport and exercise psychologists – that positive changes could be made. As a matter of fact, out of the eight regular writers of our blog (http://allaboutperformance.wordpress.com/), just one of us comes from an English-speaking-country (South Africa). And even more interesting, we have visits in our blog from almost 100 different countries, needless to say that in most of them, the official language is not English.

In a relatively new branch of psychology there is a need for more professionals and they will probably come not only from well-established sport psychology countries, but also from other cultures interested in the advances of sport psychology. It is the duty of researchers within these contexts to keep investigating and publishing. Why not trying to publish on the “non-foreign-friendly” journals, just to start ‘shaking things up’ in this young a developing field of Sport and Exercise Psychology?

Camilo Sáenz M. is a master’s degree student of the European Masters in Sport and Exercise Psychology Program at Lunds Universitet, Sweden. He completed his bachelor degree in Psychology (2008) and a master’s degree in Clinical and Health Psychology (2010) from the Universidad de los Andes in Bogotá, Colombia. He has worked in clinical psychology practice within the Cognitive-Behavioral model and he has a special interest in the application of the ACT-Mindfulness model in sports psychology. He is also an author and editor in the All About PerformanceBlog (allaboutperformance.wordpress.com).

E-mail: camilosaenzm@gmail.com

A look at the San Antonio Spurs' success through leadership and group cohesion

Wed, 27 Feb 2013 11:41:00 +0100

Introduction

This article features the San Antonio Spurs of the NBA that has been competing under Gregg Popovich (1998 to 2013). They are one of the longest reigning dynasties to dominate the league over a decade with an astounding level of success including 4 championships, 7 conference finals appearances, 3 regular season best records, all while missing the play-offs only once (ESPN, 2012). The most noteworthy trait of this team was its persistence at the top – many franchises like Miami, Detroit or Philadelphia rose and fell but Popovich’s Spurs stood still. Even the Lakers had to go through a lengthy rebuilding phase after Shaquille O’neal’s departure, but the Spurs have been the only team that remained in the championship contention for the most part of the last fifteen years. This article takes an in-depth look at the team dynamics of the Spurs and the leadership style of the coach.

Making of the Spurs: Popovich leadership and team development

There is no question that coach Popovich did a successful job of creating the right kind of team culture when he started his job as the head coach in 1997 that set the foundation for team building for years to follow (Stewart & Zeysing, 2006). A very critical antecedent for successful leadership is knowing the people that comprise the team which strengthens trust and mutual interdependence (Weinberg & Gould, 2011), and Popovich has always been keen about building trustworthy relationships with his players as well as coaching personnel (MacRae S. , 2010).

A major debate within the leadership literature today is about Authoritative vs. Democratic leadership applications. NBA players are generally paid very highly and an unadulterated despotism would probably lead to a revolt demanding the leader’s removal, hence, it is no surprise that a successful coach like Popovich has never been accused of being an outright autocrat (Porter, 2005). Popovich apparently perfected the leadership style most suitable for this team that has influence of authoritarian, participative, as well as transformational leadership. While he does have the reputation of listening to ideas by players, and he is also famous for being a direct individual and a very intense speaker with no insecure feelings about the decisions he makes and not afraid to communicate the intended message, for example, since joining the Spurs, he has sacked and replaced many of his staff members despite much critics (Adande, 2012). His experience in the US Air force certainly gave him an edge when it comes to controlling his players because in his 15 years as a coach no famous dispute between team members were reported (Roselius, 2012).

In professional sports where financial stakes are so high, many coaches tend to be reluctant in relying on younger players. Popovich has successfully developed many young talents into all-stars through proper nurturing and motivation which remain among the focal points to the Spurs’ success. A homely atmosphere along with adequate control that he envisioned and successfully established evidently served a great deal to the development of a team that accomplished its work superbly, improved as a functioning unit over time, and whose members came away from the group experience wiser and more skilled than they were before, all of which are ideal characteristics of a cohesive group (Messick & Kramer, 2005).

Member attributes

As influential as Coach Popovich has been, to give all credit to him without acknowledging the impact made by the players would be a grave leader attribution error (Forsyth, 2010). There could be a two dimensional arguments to the kind of players he has worked with over the years. Some argue that his accomplishment is no less praiseworthy than that of Pat Riley or even Phill Jackson, both of whom have won more championships as a head coach, because Popovich never had the same level of talent in the team. The counter argument to this notion is Popovich never had to deal with the ego of Kobe Bryant, Shaquille O’Neal, or the relentless media interest drawn by Michael Jordan’s start power.

In any case, what served to the benefit of the team is how the behavioural attributes of the players fit right into Popovich’s leadership style. He was successful in creating an atmosphere where everybody had to stick to task and give 100% and whoever joined the team had to adapt to the system. High task orientation, collective sense of identity, distinctive roles, and low outcome emphasis were central to his coaching style (Roselius, 2012; Porter, 2005). Key players like Duncan, Ginobili, and Parker were drafted by the Spurs and were practically raised by Popovich (Stewart & Zeysing, 2006) and it is no surprise they grew up with the same philosophy as the coach. At the same time, Popovich has always been careful about recruiting players and mostly resorted to players whose talents were complemented by high work ethic and drive for collective success. For example, noteworthy acquisitions like Hobert Horry, Michael Finley, and Antonio McDyess all shared the reputation of being unselfish team-men with a good grasp of the concept of ‘team before individual’ (MacRae S. , 2010).

Throughout his tenure he has always tried to avoid signing talented players whose personalities were not in line with his team’s philosophies or anyone who could create role ambiguity within the team. In his fourteen years as a coach, he has never displayed any trace of impatience in signing big names. When big free agencies unveiled throughout the years, teams like Bulls, Heat, and Cavaliers were on one another’s throat in signing a superstar, Popovich stood silently and continued to keep faith on his own roster members and stick to the old formula of task orientation (LeBoutillier, 2007). Some teams like the Knicks went as far as releasing several key players to enhance signing of a big superstar. But the Spurs were never in the news for desperate persuasion of Lebron James or Carmelo Anthony (Stewart & Zeysing, 2006).

A classic example of role ambiguity was Alan Iverson’s tenure after 2008 in several teams. Even passed his prime Iverson was still capable of finding a spot in top teams that could allow him to win his first NBA championship. But the problem was he did not just want to win a championship, he wanted the leading role of a team that could win a championship and continued to refuse to accept a less significant role (Gerstner, 2012). There is no surprise that the Spurs never got in touch with Iverson’s agent.

Outcomes and conclusion

Not only that the Spurs have been very successful during the last fourteen years, they have achieved their success at high efficiency rate. The Spurs have clearly been overachievers with respect to the talent on their roster. For a team that was built around one future hall of famer, two guards of mediocre fame and lots of role players, four championships and 8 Conference finals appearances has to be considered very efficient. Not only were they efficient in terms of talent to success ratio, they were also literally cost effective. In their championship years 2003, 2005, and 2007, the Spurs stood 15^th, 18^th, and 6^th in terms of player salary expenditure (Roselius, 2012).

Among the most remarkable characteristics about the Spurs’ basketball is how they catch people completely off guard. In 2011, everyone had considered them as a team too old to be relevant during play-offs. But Tim Duncan at age 36, along with Ginobili (34) and Parker (30) led the Spurs to NBA’s season best record and reaching the conference finals with a record 20 consecutive wins (Adande, 2012). They have shaken the whole NBA community with their perseverance and resilience especially those that considered them ‘too old’ to make a post-season impact. They eventually lost to a younger and faster Oklahoma City Thunders in the conference finals, but they have certainly left their trace and proven that with proper building structure and cohesion, a real team is capable of defying all odds – even nature.

References

Adande, J. (2012). Gregg Popovich’s portable program. Retrieved July 15, 2012, from ESPN.com: http://espn.go.com/nba/playoffs/2012/story/_/page/Adande-120504/nba-______playoffs-gregg-popovich-spurs-effect

Carron, A. V., & Eys, M. A. (2012). Group dynamics in sport. Morgantown, WV : : Fitness Information Technology.

ESPN. (2012). Gregg Popovich is NBA’s top coach. Retrieved July 15, 2012, from ESPN.com news services: http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/7878380/san-antonio-______spurs-gregg-popovich-nba-coach-year

Forsyth, D. R. (2010). Group dynamics. Belmont, Calif.: Wadsworth Cengage Learning.

Gerstner, J. (2012). Inside the NBA: Detroit Pistons. Edina, MN.: ABDO Pub. Co.

Kimmerle, M., & Côté-Laurence, P. (2003). Teaching dance skills: a motor learning and development approach. Andover, N.J.: J. Michael Ryan Pub.

LeBoutillier, N. (2007). The story of the San Antonio Spurs. Mankato, Minn.: Creative Education.

MacRae, S. (2009). Meet Tony Parker : basketball’s famous point guard. New York: PowerKids Press.

MacRae, S. (2010). The San Antonio Spurs. New York: PowerKids Press.

Messick, D. M., & Kramer, R. M. (2005). The Psychology of Leadership New Perspectives and Research. Mahwah, N.J: Erlbaum Associates.

Porter, D. L. (2005). Basketball : a biographical dictionary. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press.

Roselius, J. C. (2012). San Antonio Spurs. Edina, Minn.: ABDO Pub. Co.

Smith, M. (2009). Baseballs, basketballs and Matzah balls : what sports can teach us about he Jewish holidays and vice ver. Bloomington, Ind.: AuthorHouse.

Stewart, M., & Zeysing, M. (2006). Team Spirit: The San Antonio Spurs. Norwood House Press: Chicago, Ill.

Weinberg, R. S., & Gould, D. (2011). Foundations of sport and exercise psychology. Leeds: Human Kinetics.

Ybarra, A. (2012). Phoenix Suns. Edina, MN: ABDO Publishing Company.

Adlul Kamal is a second year student in the European Masters in Sport and Exercise Psychology Program at the Lund University (Sweden). He has completed a Master degree in Sport Management from Sheffield Hallam University (UK) and a Bachelor degree in Business Administration from North South University (Bangladesh). Some of his areas of interests include imagery use in sport performance enhancement, and positive youth development. Email- ridoy2k@yahoo.com

Another cool Lund University Blog: Carpe Your Freaking Diem

Wed, 27 Feb 2013 08:19:33 +0100

Another cool Lund University Blog: Carpe Your Freaking Diem:

One of the goals of the EMSEP blog is to help give students a voice. Some other fellow Lund University students have created a blog at helping spread smiles and joy. They’ve got a pretty cool logo and motto if I do say so myself. Check out their blog in the link above and on Facebook. Enjoy and seize the day!

The effects of self-selected asynchronous pre-task music on performance in a soccer task: A University of Thessaly’s Master Thesis

Wed, 20 Feb 2013 09:29:00 +0100

Music is a part of peoples’ daily routines for different reasons. These may be mood regulation, motivation, leisure, and as a form of cultural manifestation. What we call music is the organization of five primary elements: melody, harmony, tempo, rhythm, and dynamics (Karageorghis & Terry, 2011). Athletes are often seen listening to their favorite tracks before performing as part of their pre-performance routine. The rationale behind athletes’ use of this routine is the common association between listening to music and changes in mood. Research has shown that listening to music can enhance physical performance by acting as a stimulant or sedative and thus altering athletes’ arousal levels (Bishop, 2010). That would suggest music as an appropriate component of pre-performance routines as one of its aims is to help athletes achieve an optimal level of arousal (Lidor, 2007).

According to Bishop, Karageorghis and Loizou (2007) music can be used as a strategy to emotional regulation, and can also improve visual and auditory imagery. Moreover, the choice of music and the impact of music listening are influenced by a number of factors, including extra-musical associations, inspirational lyrics, music properties, and desired emotional state (Bishop et al., 2007). Pates, Karageorghis, Fryer, and Maynard (2003) suggested that music can trigger emotions that are important antecedents of the flow experience. The participants in Pates et al. study reported that as a consequence of listening to music movements became more automatic and there was an increase in relaxation, concentration and confidence. Moreover, Karageorghis et al. (1999) proposed that asynchronous motivational music (when there is no conscious attempt to synchronise movement with beat; Karageorghis & Terry, 2009) can be used to control arousal and improve mood.

Understanding the performance emotion relationship is particularly important in applied sport psychology (Hanin, 2004). More specifically it is essential to investigate the influence of pleasant and unpleasant emotional states over sport performance. In order to evaluate this relationship Hanin suggests that instead of a generalized approach a focus on performance experiences of each individual athlete would be more appropriate. For this purpose, Hanin developed the Individual Zones of Optimal Functioning (IZOF). This model has an idiographic approach that focuses on idiosyncratic emotional experiences of individual athletes. Moreover the zone aspect of the model suggests a specific relationship between the perceived intensity of the emotional state and the quality of performance. According to Hanin (2004) optimal emotions are defined as most relevant and appropriate for a particular athlete performing a specific task. The optimal performance state results in a total task involvement and the best recruitment and use of available resources.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of self-selected asynchronous pre-task music on performance in a soccer skill test and in the achievement of participants’ individual zone of optimal functioning (IZOF; Hanin, 2000). An idiographic A-B-A-B single subject design was used. Hrycaiko and Martin (1996) suggested the single subject designs as the most appropriate methodology for applied research. Nine male collegiate soccer athletes from a university in London participated in this study. Participants were asked to describe their most and least successful performances, and the emotions related to these experiences. Based on the information provided, participants’ IZOF was established (Hanin, 2000; 2004). Participants then selected three or four music tracks from their own playlist that they considered would help them in achieving their IZOF. The motivational qualities of the selected tracks were assessed using the BRMI-3 (Karageorghis & Terry, 2011). Participants in each trial were asked to complete two circuits of a soccer skill test (Abouzekri& Karageorghis, 2010) developed to emulate the skills used in a soccer match. Performance was assessed through time to complete the soccer skill test and kick accuracy. The study was composed of four experimental trials; two with pre-task music, and two without. Before the no-music trials, athletes completed the concentration grid as filler. After each trial, participants completed their IZOF and at the end of the study participants completed the intervention evaluation questionnaire.

According to the study results the hypothesis suggesting that pre-task music would improve performance has not been supported. The graphically displayed data did not show a consistent improvement in time or kick accuracy. Moreover results on the IZOF did not present stable improvements in the pre-task music trials. Nevertheless, when asked about the effects of listening to their pre-task music, participants’ comments were positive. The participants reported improvement in concentration, confidence, motivation and arousal. In summary, according to participants’ experiences, music has a positive effect on emotions as a component of their pre-performance routine. However, due to this study’s limitations, it was not possible to establish a direct relationship between a pre-task music choice and improvement in performance or achievement of participants’ zones of optimal functioning. According to the findings of the present study and previous investigations (Bishop et al., 2007), athletes’ music choices are highly idiosyncratic and influenced by cultural background, thus future studies should maintain an individualistic approach.

Fernanda Serra de Queiroz has worked as a sport psychologist with professional soccer, surf and body boarding in Brazil. She completed a Master degree at the University of Queensland, where she investigated the effects of performance routines over performance on open skilled sports. Fernanda graduated from the European Masters of Sport Psychology Program, and her home university was Thessaly, Greece. During her program she was a visiting researcher at Brunel University, London, studying the relationship of music and performance with the supervision of Prof Costas Karageorhis (Brunel University), and Prof Nikos Digelidis (University of Thessaly).

How Music Can Help Your Performance

Tue, 12 Feb 2013 23:47:18 +0100

How Music Can Help Your Performance:

Whether it’s while we are getting ready in the morning, creating that road-trip playlist, dancing, or just enjoying music for its sheer pleasure with a glass of scotch, music is an essential part in providing a soundtrack to our lives. Even while I am writing this post, I am listening to Kendrick Lamar’s latest album—good kid, m.A.A.d city (which I recommend if you’re into quality hip-hop).

Psychology and Stats of Winning Streaks

Thu, 07 Feb 2013 21:24:35 +0100

Psychology and Stats of Winning Streaks:

Are winning streaks the result of superior talent? Or are they more random than we might suspect? Today on the blog Alex Titkov takes a look at how we as humans can often be deceived by recent runs of good form.

The Power of a Youth Coach's Words: The Power of a Youth Coach's Words

Tue, 05 Feb 2013 19:21:41 +0100

The Power of a Youth Coach's Words: The Power of a Youth Coach's Words:

pauldalglishblog:

My name is Paul Dalglish and last night I had a life changing experience; from this day forward I will approach my job as a youth coach with an added responsibility, due to the realization, of the magnitude of influence we have over the impressionable young people we work with.

Last night i…

Sport related stereotypes and their relationships with goal orientation and behavioral regulation in Ethiopian athletes

Mon, 28 Jan 2013 14:17:00 +0100

Outstanding performances and absolute domination of some sports of Blacks generated the question, “are blacks better athletes than whites athletes?”. Many were concerned about this question and tried to find an answer (Sokolove, 1988). Caucasians worldwide are searching for proof of the physical advantage of Black athletes while handing them on a platter a psychological advantage - which, until removed, will perpetuate the current state (Hamilton, 2000). Hamilton (2000) claimed that psychology plays a critical role in the dominance of East African (Ethiopian and Kenyan) runners. Psychological factors may perpetuate this dominance by ascribing differences between African and Caucasian runners to stable external factors and in this manner disempowering Caucasian runners and empowering East African runners. Consequently, it is important to study how different stereotypes relate with athletes’ mental skills and affect their participation and performance in sport. To this end, my study aimed at developing a structured scale that can distinguish between different types of stereotypic beliefs, and discover if there are any relationships between athletes’ stereotypic beliefs and their mental skills. In general, the study is intended to examine the relationships between athletes’ stereotypic beliefs regarding themselves and those stable external factors (stereotypic beliefs) to which they attribute their success (their goal achievement and behavioral regulation (Coakley, 2003, Hamilton, 2000)).

The first study was an interview with Ethiopian long distance athletes to assess their perceived reasons for their success in their sport (long distance race). I interviewed eight Ethiopian long distance athletes on the subject, and as a result, the athletes attributed their achievement to different factors. Their reasons included “Because we are Ethiopians”, “We have a better genetic makeup which makes us good in long distance races”, “my family believed that I could make a great long distance athlete and pushed me to it”, “We live on a high altitude which gives us environmental advantage”, “The society believes we are so good in the long distance race and I believe the same”, “It is like a national identity to run long distance, so I believe it is in my blood”, “We train harder than anyone else”, “We have model athletes and it motivates us quite a lot”, “The life style in the country is quite demanding and we had to run everywhere as a child, so it helped us to become great in long distance”. Based on the interview results and what the literature suggests, an initial pool of 48 possible items under four factors was generated and subsequently reduced to 29 items.

The second study tested the psychometric properties and the factor structure of the sport stereotype scale (SSS) through exploratory factor analysis in the Amharic language. The results showed the need for another construct due to one factor splitting into two different factors. As a result, five clear factors emerged for the SSS, I.e. natural factors, environmental factors, social factors, commitment factors, and Ethiopian tradition factors.

The third study had two purposes: (1) to examine the psychometric properties and the factor structure of the second version of the sport stereotype scale (SSS) through confirmatory factor analysis, and (2) to translate and adapt two scales (Behavioral Regulation Sport Questionnaire (BRSQ; Lonsdale, Hodge, & Rose, 2008) and the Achievement Goals Questionnaire (AGQ; Papaioannou et al, 2007) into the Amharic language. The results produced an acceptable psychometric properties and factorial structure of the second version of SSS - and the two questionnaires were translated and adapted to the Amharic language.

The fourth study had three purposes: (1) to further measure the psychometric property of the Amharic versions of SSS, BRSQ, and AGQ, (2) to identify the most prominent stereotypic beliefs of the Ethiopian athletes regarding their sport, and (3) to examine the relationships between athletes’ stereotypic beliefs, their goal achievement, and behavioral regulations. The results provided adequate support for the five-factor model of the SSS, and an acceptable internal consistency. The results of the study also provided supportive evidence for the construct validity of the Amharic version of the two questionnaires (AGQ and BRSQ). Although some items and constructs were removed, the remaining items and constructs produced an instrument matching better the original AGQ and BRSQ. The results showed that Ethiopian athletes scored moderately high, with the highest scores observed for the Ethiopian tradition (M=4.02) and commitment (M=3.94) stereotypes. Finally, the three individual stereotype dimensions correlated positively and significantly with social approval of AGQ.

Commitment stereotype had the highest positive correlations with athletes’ goal orientation of social approval, performance approach, and mastery. The correlation between natural stereotype and mastery goal orientation of the athletes was the only negative correlation. The Ethiopian tradition factor showed a moderate positive correlation with the three factors of AGQ. Overall, the results of the present investigation provided considerable evidence and support for the validity of the sport stereotype scale. The results also confirmed that Ethiopian athletes hold stereotypes of different stable external factors ranging from Natural ability stereotype to life style, environmental, commitment, and traditional. The most prominent stereotypes found were the Ethiopian tradition factors, commitment factors, and physical environment factors. These beliefs showed significant relationships with athletes’ behavioral regulation, and goal orientations.

Likawunt Wendwosen has finished his masters in European masters in sport and exercise psychology from the university of thessaly and university of leipzig. Likawunt has also finished a masters in Athletics coaching from Addis Ababa University. He is currently working in the area of counselling and sport psychology in Ethiopia.

The Mediating Role of Self-talk on the Relationship between Perceived Motivational Climate and Self-efficacy Beliefs in Youth Soccer Players: A University of Thessaly’s Master Thesis

Wed, 23 Jan 2013 17:00:43 +0100

I am not sure how aware all of us are of the influence of our own “talk”, but I can assure you it is there. This verbal dialogue, where we interpret our feelings and perceptions, evaluate ourselves, and give ourselves instructions and reinforcement, we call self-talk. My interest within this concept grew when I became aware how much I utilize it in everyday life. So why not investigate how much this self-talk influences and is influenced by other concepts within my own field - sport and exercise psychology? Thus, I was interested to observe the mediating role of self-talk on the relationship between perceived motivational climate and self-efficacy beliefs in youth soccer players. Within the sport psychology literature, research on what influences it, and the outcomes of self-talk is rather sparse. Among the existing evidence, the role of the coach in shaping athletes’ self-talk has been identified, and also the effect of positive self-talk on athletes’ self-efficacy has received some support. This is where I started to formulate my question and idea. In the literature we can find the wide-reaching behavioral, motivational, affectual and cognitive consequences of self-talk, but it has been suggested that a greater understanding of the factors that shape and influence athletes’ self-talk is required. Among the antecedents or the factors that shape and influence athletes’ self-talk, the role of coach was found important. This was found in terms of the social support provided by coaches, in the form of esteem support, and it has been shown that it mediated the relationship between coaches’ supportive behavior and athletes’ positive self-talk. Thus, the role of significant other has been shown to influence athletes’ cognitions and behavior.

In many sports coaches promote the use of self-talk to their athletes in order to increase confidence, to improve concentration, etc. This is shown to positively influence athletes and their thoughts. On the other hand, the coaches’ negative behaviors, including distracting athletes or acting inappropriately, are affecting athletes’ thoughts of failure and negative self-talk. Overall, coaching behaviors impact athletes’ use of and shape their self-talk. With regard to social and environmental factors, the importance of motivational climate is evident; where it seems to be an influential determinant of athletes’ self-talk. Furthermore, the importance of the outcomes or consequences of self-talk has been apparent, although most investigated relationship is self-talk- performance.

Non-performance outcomes have been receiving recently more attention, within which one of the important outcomes is considered to be self-efficacy. Self-efficacy is grounded in Bandura’s social-cognitive theory. It is defined as a “beliefs in one’s capabilities to organize and execute the courses of action required to produce given attainments” (Bandura, 1997,p.3). These beliefs influence behavior, affect and selection of environment, and are influenced by behavior, affect and environmental events. It is shown that self-talk influences two specific motivational factors, among which is self-efficacy. It is suggested that self-talk may influence self-efficacy (Hardy, 2006) by acting as a form of self-delivered verbal persuasion. That positive self-talk, for example, might increase self-efficacy and subsequent effort. When talking about the sources of self-efficacy beliefs, we focused on verbal persuasion. It is a way to increase a person’s self-efficacy through direct statements (including self-statements) or social persuasion from significant others. The verbal persuasion can come from coaches, sport psychologists, and significant others. This can be in the form of feedback (“here is how you need to do this”) or motivational (“come on, you can do it!”) statements.

The present study wanted to combine these lines of research and explore the relationships between perceptions of motivational climate, athlete’s self-talk and self-efficacy beliefs. The study involved 292 young soccer players that were asked to fill out questionnaires about self-talk, perceived motivational climate in sport and self-efficacy self-reported measure. For the purposes of the study, participants were recruited from 8 youth soccer clubs in the area of Thessaloniki (N= 291), Greece. The questionnaires were distributed to these young athletes one month after the beginning of the season. We measured self-talk to evaluate athletes’ self-talk content. The questionnaire used consisted of 40 items assessing four positive and four negative dimensions. Motivational climate was assessed with a questionnaire that assessed perceptions of a task-involving climate and ego involving climate. Lastly, participants were asked to complete a self-efficacy measure specifically designed for soccer. They reported how confident they are to perform each of the 10 independent soccer skills during competition. The items from the scale were prefaced with the generic statement: “My confidence in my ability to… is: ____ % “. Item content included the following independent skills: dribble past an opponent, pass the ball accurately, challenge an opponent for the ball, trick and opponent, protect the ball, head the ball accurately, recover the all, provide support under pressure, drive (strike) the ball, instigate a foul and take a foul.

Our study showed that the perceived task-involving climate was a significant predictor of athletes’ self-efficacy beliefs and mediated by positive self-talk. The predictive ability of perceived task-involving climate with the mediation of positive self-talk suggests that climate created by coach could have an important impact on athletes’ self-talk, which in turn impacted their self-efficacy levels. This could indicate that task-involving climate was important for increases in athletes’ use of positive self-talk, but also increases in their self-efficacy beliefs.

This research should provide more insight in how self-talk works and facilitate better understanding of the factors that shape them, so one could affect self-talks’ outcomes; in this case, non performance based outcomes, such as self-efficacy. This researched tried to provide a better understanding of these relationships; hence in the future sport psychologists would be able to manipulate the antecedents in order to influence self-talk’s outcomes.

Adisa Haznadar is currently enrolled into Doctorate program in Counseling Psychology (concentration: Athletic Counseling) at Springfield College in Massachusetts, USA. She received her Bachelor in Psychology at University of Sarajevo (Bosnia) in 2009. and a M.Sc. from the European Master’s in Sport and Exercise Psychology at the University of Thessaly, Greece and also M.Sc from the University of Leipzig in Diagnostics and Intervention (2012). Her area of interest and current research area are psychological skills and their implementation; mainly self-talk.

adisahaznadar@hotmail.com

Confidence is the key for successful performance

Tue, 15 Jan 2013 00:23:56 +0100

Confidence is crucial for successful performance, or more specifically your confidence in your ability to perform the required task(s). You probably think that this is an obvious statement, surely the more confident you are the more likely you are to perform well. However, while there may be general agreement that this is the case the question of how to make sports performers more confident more of the time has not been answered quite so well. Athletes and players refer to this as confidence but in the field of psychology we refer to this specific form of confidence as self-efficacy (Bandura, 1997). Self-efficacy theory was first introduced by Bandura (1977) to explain and adapt human behaviour. Self-efficacy was defined by Bandura (1997, p.3) as ‘beliefs in one’s capabilities to organize and execute the course of action required to produce given attainments’, reflecting the confidence the individual has in their ability to perform a specific task. Bandura suggested four specific antecedents of self-efficacy beliefs: enactive mastery experiences, vicarious experience, verbal persuasion, and physiological/affective states.

Looking at self-efficacy in the domain of sport, one of the main issues regarding this confidence is that many sports performers are confident when they are performing well or in form, but are far less confident when they are not performing well. This lack of confidence in their ability to perform is an issue because by being less confident the performer is less likely perform well. This is because when you are confident your movements are smoother, there is less tension in your body, you make better decision more of the time, and your skill execution is better. This can serve to further reduce confidence, which has a corresponding negative impact upon performance.

When you lack confidence the opposite to the above happens. You get tense, start questioning yourself, your movements become overly jerky and your decision-making and timing can become worse. So, the question really is how can you remain confident even when you are not performing well?

Knowing that you have done enough or have done your usual preparation can give you the confidence that you are ready. The Ex England cricket captain Andrew Strauss used to relieve on this source of confidence. For Straussy if he had put in all his physical preparation he felt that he was ready to perform.

Positive feedback from important people whose opinions you trust (such as coaches, captains and mentors) can also help. So the coach who’s opinion you respect telling you that you have done a good job in training and that you are ready will also give you confidence. Maybe not as much as when you are in form, but it helps.

Having a number of different places from which you get your confidence will make sure that you only suffer slight changes in your confidence, which will result in you being more confident more of the time. Being more confident more of the time will then result in better performances on a more consistent basis. Which has got to be a good thing for the performers ability to deliver when it counts. So form is important, but knowing where you get your confidence from is crucial to having consistently high confidence in your ability to perform.

So, as sport psychologists we need to be looking to develop ‘robust’ confidence in our athletes. This is the best way to ensure that they have the best possible chance of performing. Sometimes you get the call to play for a national team, or first team because other players are injured or out of form rather than when you are playing well. So, it might be that you are not playing well when you get the call, so ensuring that your confidence is not just dependent on your current form is crucial.

Dr Stewart Cotterill is a sport & exercise psychology consultant with Performance Mind and a Senior Lecturer at the University of Winchester, UK.He gained his PhD in Sport Psychology from the University of Edinburgh and has over 12 years of experience as an applied consultant. He is currently working for the England and Wales Cricket board and his research interests focus on team performance and performing under pressure.

Stewart.Cotterill@winchester.ac.uk

Twitter: @drstewc

Blog: drstewc.wordpress.com

Alternative Career Paths in Sport Psychology

Mon, 07 Jan 2013 09:54:00 +0100

Let’s make a bet. We’ve got a shiny new penny that says many of you out there have found yourselves wondering, “What in the world am I going to do with my degree?” This question can breed some anxiety, especially early on, when career tunnel vision only allows one to see professional or college athletics as a viable option. However, as most of you have probably figured out, consulting positions with professional and collegiate teams are few and far between. For instance, one startling figure purports that out of the roughly 1,000 NCAA- sanctioned schools in America, only about 30 have a full-time sport psych consultant on staff. That is a shocking statistic, but fear not colleagues, the beauty of our work lies in its adaptability - these techniques can be used to help a wide variety of populations. Specifically, we have found an alternative career avenue to consider that we found quite interesting and rewarding.

This past summer, we both worked as Behavioral Coaches (BCs) at a weight-loss facility for overweight adolescents ages 11-18. So, how does working with this population relate to the field of sport psychology? To begin, this particular company believes in an “athlete, not addict” approach to weight loss; these clients were successful because they bought into the idea that they were developing a lifestyle like an athlete training for big competition, rather than attempting to “heal” an addiction. This is why an overwhelming percentage of BCs came from a sport psychology background. Who better to teach that type of mental training than sport psych practitioners? The role of a BC is to provide constant guidance/instruction to clients as they learn and master the behaviors, thoughts, and beliefs necessary for a true lifestyle change. The foundation of our work was a combination of both Rational Emotive Behavioral Therapy (REBT) and sport psychology techniques including, but not limited to: (a) goal setting; (b) self-monitoring and journaling; (c) diaphragmatic breathing; (d) progressive muscle relaxation and autogenics; (e) imagery; and (f) positive self-talk. The subsequent paragraphs will provide information about how these techniques were specifically used.

Setting S.M.A.R.T. Goals

S.M.A.R.T. goals were the foundation of the program. Goals served this population by providing daily and weekly roadmaps, increasing confidence and ability to refocus, increasing accountability and autonomy, and, most importantly, by allowing these young people to believe they could work hard to accomplish something they never thought possible. As BCs, we did not set our clients’ goals, but rather understood how the act of creating their own goals would inevitably breed valuable autonomy and intrinsic motivation. We met them with support and encouragement, giving them room to realize that even if a goal was not met, they had the ability to re-focus and adjust accordingly.

Self-Monitoring or Journaling

Self-monitoring was imperative for the long-term success of the clients. Our clients were taught to log daily food intake and physical activity. By evaluating these logs, the clients gained an understanding of their food and exercise patterns, and ultimately developed feelings of control – they were in charge of what they ate and the physical activity they did or did not partake in. When our clients assessed their weight loss each week, having this concrete evidence provided a chance for them to reflect on what was beneficial or detrimental to their weight loss journey. Additionally, our clients were encouraged to write down feelings/behaviors they experienced during that specific day as well as possible solutions to their problems. This allowed the clients to reflect on ways to cope with difficult situations as well as reinforce the importance of their goals.

Diaphragmatic Breathing, Imagery, and Progressive Muscle Relaxation (PMR)

Becoming a long-term weight controller is not an easy process. To be successful, one must make a true lifestyle change; a process that can breed feelings of stress and anxiety. To help combat negative thoughts, we consistently employed different combinations of the following relaxation techniques with our clients. Diaphragmatic breathing, or deep belly breathing, allowed our clients to instantly feel a sense of calm and relaxation. Imagery taught our clients how to manage and cope with stress and plan for sticky situations upon their return home. PMR allowed the clients a chance to gain awareness into their bodies; specifically, where they held areas of tension and how to feel the difference between a relaxed and tense muscle. Plus, they loved the chance to relax and be still amongst all the hard work.

Positive Self-Talk

Sadly, many members of this specific population came in believing a whole host of negative, automated thoughts built up from a lifetime of unfortunate treatment. As behavioral coaches, we challenged thought patterns that lead to negative self-talk (i.e., all-or-nothing thinking, catastrophizing, etc…) and taught techniques to promote positive self-talk, such as: (a) thought-stoppage and disputing beliefs; (b) rephrasing extreme statements; and (c) positive affirmations. This type of cognitive restructuring allowed our clients to challenge their thoughts, which promoted positive emotions, and ultimately increased healthy behaviors.

Conclusion

Hopefully this article has served to increase your faith in the applicability of this profession. This is what we love about the techniques in sport psychology – they do not only apply to those who are working with athletes competing in sport. For us, this summer really drove the point home that these techniques are extremely valuable in increasing quality of life. We truly believe that the field of health psychology, specifically focusing on sustained behavior change, can provide many career opportunities for us sport psychologists.

About Adam

Adam graduated with a master’s degree from the Adler School of Professional Psychology. He currently works as a mental skills coach at North Central College in Naperville, Illinois, providing sport psychology services to both athletes and non-athletes.

About Tyler

Tyler is a second-year master’s student and Teaching Fellow at the University of North Texas. He is also a consultant at the UNT Center for Sport Psychology and Performance Excellence, where he provides sport psychology services to athletes, coaches, and teams.

Mental Health Difficulties in Sport

Mon, 17 Dec 2012 21:08:02 +0100

“Getting help, for someone like me who saw getting help as a weakness, was a big step.”

- John Kirwan, Rugby World Cup winning All Black.

Sport can be most helpful in maintaining one’s mental health. Regardless of what standard you participate at, the camaraderie of team sport and the personal achievement in individual sport are significant buffers for maintaining a positive and healthy lifestyle. On the flipside, the stress and heartache that comes with competing at a high standard are somewhat overlooked triggers for athletes’ poor mental health. Furthermore, the ‘super-athlete’ perception portrayed in modern professional sport can contribute to unwillingness for athletes to talk about and seek help for their inner struggles.

Athletes are seen as all-conquering and superhuman in their ability to deal with highly stressful situations in the public eye but the heartache that comes with not reaching one’s goals, the pressure of having to maintain incredible standards of professionalism or the realisation when you are no longer the athlete you once were, can have detrimental effects on any athlete’s mental health. When trying to understand the huge pressures athletes are faced with to succeed, images such as those of Samuel Kuffour in the Champions League Final 1999, Jon Drummond at the World Championships 2003 and, more recently, Jordyn Wieber at the 2012 Olympics, are examples of world class athletes experiencing extreme distress at major sporting events that come immediately to mind. There are also high profile cases of top European athletes who have openly spoken about their continuous struggle with depression, such as Kelly Holmes, Stan Collymore, and Frank Bruno. Then, there are the tragic cases of sportsmen dying by suicide, such as Robert Enke, Darren Sutherland and Gary Speed. These are regretful examples of how athletes can be just as fragile and in need of support as the general public when dealing with their inner demons.

Constant media scrutiny, disappointment in not achieving personal goals after a lifetime of training and commitment, or the realisation that one is no longer the centre of attention following high profile careers or sporting events (e.g. The Post Olympic Blues) are added dimensions to athletes’ lives that require additional mental strength. The competitiveness of professional sport can also force athletes into bottling up any thoughts of distress, perceiving them as signs of weakness. In not wanting to give away feelings of inadequacy to team mates or opposition, athletes can spend their time disguising their worry in order to purvey a picture of power and control. This may actually have a paradoxical effect as inner turmoil, when not dealt with appropriately, can emerge later to have a negative impact on the athlete’s performance and their personal life. Wayne Rooney and Tiger Woods are examples that come to mind, from the last couple of years, as peak performers whose mental health (be it their own undoing in these cases) had a serious negative impact on their sporting form.

All Black rugby legend, John Kirwan, has had well-documented periods of depression and his mini-documentary, All Blacks Don’t Cry, promotes how hard it can be to talk about one’s difficulties when immersed in sport at the top level and the need for professional mental health support for top athletes. In fact, the death by suicide of Robert Enke, in 2009, sparked a revolutionary concept in the German Bundesliga, of a network of mental health professionals being made available to all players to support them through whatever difficult situations they find themselves in; this could be a great solution to normalising mental health issues for athletes. While mental health support would obviously be beneficial for the health and welfare of sporting professionals, it would also make sense from a performance point of view as athletes with better mental health are more likely to perform better in their sport (Jones, 2007).

Final food for thought, is there a further link between openness about mental health in sport and openness about sexuality? It took Welsh rugby legend, Gareth Thomas, over a decade of playing professional rugby before he could be open about his homosexuality. Thankfully, Thomas has been given much support in the wake of his openness but, for English footballer Justin Fashanu who ‘came out’ about being gay in the early 90s, the support was not so forthcoming. Fashanu subsequently took his own life and, in the following decade, not one professional footballer came out as being homosexual.

Ultimately, breaking down the stigmas around mental health in the sporting world could lend itself to doing the same for the general public. Seeing sports stars being open about their mental health and having well-promoted access to mental health services in sporting organisations could help normalise the concept of talking and looking for support worldwide. Developing professional and athlete-friendly mental health services within sporting organisation, therefore, may be the way forward for instigating change.

If you have thoughts of distress or are feeling down, there are free support services available at Samaritans and Pieta House.

Cian Aherne is currently a trainee clinical psychologist, studying in the University of Limerick (Ireland). He has a paper on mindfulness and flow in sport that has been published in The Sport Psychologist and he has a keen interest in sport psychology. Cian also plays rugby for Lansdowne RFC in Dublin.

Twitter Account: @CianAherne

Inter-cultural Comparisons and Contrasts in Talent Development in Football

Tue, 11 Dec 2012 16:42:00 +0100

It has been a while since I have moved to England and I am really surprised by the facilities grassroots football has put up with but the most frightening fact was that I heard that nine year old kids were playing 11 v 11 on a full sized pitch with goal kicks from the six yard line until the start of this season (‘12/’13). How is this possible in a country that invented this beautiful game? One would think that this country already had the best available facilities in the world— perhaps on the elite level. Thankfully, England is changing the structures within youth development at the moment and they came up with a new plan: the Elite Player Profile Plan (EPPP) (FA, 2011). They want to develop better players, increase the standard of coaching and in line with this plan, they created a new national training centre— St. George’s Park.

But how is one high-quality national training facility going to develop better players? The Dutch national team trains at an amateur club in preparation for friendlies and qualification matches; I will never see that happen in England. You must first create a first-class environment (facilities and highly educated coaches) at a grassroots level in order to increase the standard of your homegrown professional football players because in this case; quantity will lead to quality. In other words, the more players are educated in the right environment at a grassroots level, the better the players will be when they enter an academy where there (normally) already is a high quality environment. And by all means, what do clubs actually mean by homegrown?

Here is The FA’s definition:

‘A home-grown player will be defined as one who, irrespective of his nationality or age, has been registered with a club affiliated to the Football Association or the Football Association of Wales for a period, continuous or not, of three entire seasons or 36 months prior to his 21st birthday (or the end of the Season during which he turns 21).’

I think The FA should increase the period to at least 5 years to see how many premier league clubs will actually educate their players. I wonder if the clubs would meet the homegrown rule guidelines then, but I am afraid that they will just select players earlier on and force them to choose one sport to focus on, which does not correlate with current research on talent development (Côté, 1999; Baker, Cote & Abernethy, 2003; Baker, 2003; Stratton, Reilly, Williams & Richardson, 2004).

Also, if English Premier League (EPL) clubs ‘steal’ talented young players from abroad and benefit from their high quality talent developmental processes (e.g. Holland), even then they are not able to guarantee first team selection (i.e. van Aanholt, Bruma, Owusu-Abeyie, Hoesen) and therefore those players cannot increase the amount of ‘homegrown’ players in the first squad. I think EPL clubs are cheating to meet the homegrown rules and they should be more aware of the social impact on a youth player moving to another country and, more importantly, a different (football) culture. The money the players’ parents receive or the massive house cannot cover that difference. I mean, look at where those players are at now: van Aanholt 22 years old (Vitesse), Bruma 20 years old (HSV), Owusu-Abeyie 26 years old (Panathinaikos), Hoesen 21 years old (Ajax). I think these players would have been better off staying at their own (or another) club in Holland, make their debut at 17/18 years of age, show a consistent performance for at least two years and then make a move to a bigger club abroad when they are 22/23.

It has been a trend for EPL clubs to shop in the Dutch national youth leagues and bring players over to England: Karim Rekik (Manchester City), Kyle Ebicilio (Arsenal), Nathan Aké (Chelsea). Which talented English youth football players have moved to a big club in Holland? I cannot name one at the moment but I could be wrong. I think the Dutch national league would be much stronger if clubs were able to keep their own youth players. Nevertheless, some clubs in Holland are doing exactly the same as English clubs. Ajax for instance, moved Eriksen and Fischer from Denmark over to Holland, while Alderweireld and Vertonghen (currently playing at Tottenham Hotspur FC) came over from Belgium. Even though Ajax is doing exactly the same as clubs in the EPL, at least Ajax is able to get these players into the first squad. How is that possible? Did those players receive a higher standard of coaching? Or were they just lucky? Or was it all about the money?

It has also been noted that there are not many UEFA licensed coaches in England (coach-player ratio: 1:182 in 2010). It seems that former professional football players want to become a manager immediately after they end their active playing career, while in Holland, these players start to work within youth academies. I am not saying that every former professional will be a good coach, nor will they be effective on every level because there are different types of coaches needed in a youth academies compared to adult football clubs (Côté, Young, North & Duffy, 2007). Former pros have at least the skills to show how it is done as well as having the experience of going through an academy. But ‘it is only via the delivery of high quality coaching that elite player development environments can be created.’ (FA, 2011, p22). Therefore, coach education is crucial!

The thing that I like about England’s youth development structure is that there are non-league matches; where winning is not at stake. You don’t see that in Holland and I think it’ll be a good thing to introduce this concept in other countries, to get away from coaches’ result based decision making. Coach performance is normally evaluated by win-loss records (Mallet & Côté, 2006; Becker, 2009; Smith, Shoda, Cumming & Smoll 2009; Barnett, Smoll & Smith, 1992; Smith & Smoll, 1997) but there is no win-loss record in non-league matches. Therefore, qualitative research on coaches’ behavior, philosophies, and motives will be important in the future.

Even though the aforementioned inter-cultural differences are reflected on the national team, (Holland has very good forwards and England has world-class defenders), both football cultures have one thing in common—they are both afraid to use the word ‘psychology’. Below you see the team photos of both Liverpool FC’s and AFC Ajax’s squad, including the staff. Look at the picture and what do you notice?

Team photo 2011-2012 AFC AJAX v Liverpool FC

Exactly, Liverpool’s picture has more staff members. Of course, they have more money but is it also because sport science is more embraced by the English football culture? I think it is. I know it is only a small difference and it does not say that Ajax thinks sport science is irrelevant but, for me, it shows the level of importance. Liverpool has 21 staff members and 19 of them are on the team photo. Ajax has 4 out of 14 staff members on the picture. After I checked all the staff members’ titles, a noticeable fact came up. Explicitly, both teams do not have a full or part-time sport psychologist on staff. This does not mean that the clubs are not working with a sport psychologist at all. Probably the importance of hiring a sport psychologist is not high enough because they might not believe that it will contribute to better performance. Ajax consults a former volleyball coach to improve mental processes but sport psychology is more than mental skills training only (Cox, 2007; Nesti, 2010) and Liverpool has hired Dr. Steve Peters, who is in fact a clinical psychologist or so called psychiatrist, to work with staff members, not the players. This means that he knows how to deal with people who are facing mental health issues but aren’t we working with healthy individuals in this elite environment? I mean, if one of the staff members had a serious mental problem, he would not be working at Liverpool FC. Besides, why is he only working with staff members and not with the first team players?

Psychology is viewed as a strange world and visiting a sport psychologist has been associated with personal instability (which could be the reason why Dr. Steve Peters is not working with the players) but that attitude is completely off-base. A sport psychologist is, i.e. able to teach you skills which will contribute positively to your performance as a player but also as a coach. Some might forget the pressure coaches are put under (Nesti, 2010), as they are expected to win, and how this influences their own behavior and personal life.

“Your title has a significance influence in how people view you.” – Martin Littlewood

Men typically don’t like to talk about emotions. Football is a very masculine world and players tend to shy away from this subject but this is very age dependent, career stage, and personality dependent. Players don’t want to open up to a coach because they decide if you will play or not; they can make or break you. Hence, you need other coaches who can go and talk with players; to understand their feelings in order to get a better pictures of what really goes on within your squad.

This is what a sport psychologist can do for a team. This previous statement might be one of the reasons why sport psychologists are called ‘performance coaches’ in the cruel world of football: Martin Littlewood (former ‘performance coach’ at Bolton Wanderers FC) and Tom Bates (‘Peak Performance Coach’ at West Bromwich Albion FC). One of the other reasons they are called performances coaches is that some people use the title ‘sport psychologist’ but are not actually trained that way and might do different things than an actual trained sport psychologist. However, it’s not only about performance related indicators. There is also much more to life like preparing players for critical moments in life (e.g. career transitions).

And I am not saying that the Dutch talent development system is THE best but I surely know that it is currently better than England’s, despite the fact that the sport science department is better developed in English football overall. Whilst I am happy to see the changes in youth developmental structures with the EPPP in the hopes of developing England’s own Leonel Messi, I think it will take at least ten years before you will see any outcome from it. By outcome I mean: creative and talented homegrown players in the Barclay’s Premier League with truly English nationality but this will only happen if there is more support at the grassroots level. To be honest, I am afraid the EPPP will only increase the gap between professional and grassroots youth football.

So while inter-cultural differences remain between the English and Dutch talent development systems, the main similarity is of sport psychology’s continued lacking presence within both. And as such, there remains a lot of work before sport psychology will be an accepted and common topic in professional football. It may need a shift in focus in establishing collaborative relationships between footballing bodies, coaches, and students through greater networking and possibly redefining/rebranding sport psychology.

‘As a sport psychologist, you need a big man behind you who supports your work’ – Mark Nesti

Guido Seerden is currently obtaining his Masters in Human and Movement Sciences at the VU University in Amsterdam. Before he went to VU University, he finished his Bachelor degree in Sports and Wellness at Fontys University of Applied Sciences, with a minor in Sport Business. Finally, he obtained his UEFA C coaching degree at the Dutch FA (KNVB). Guido is also currently doing research about the micro-structures of practice of English professional youth football coaches.

For more information on Guido check out his website.

References

Baker, J. (2003). Early Specialization in Youth Sport: a requirement for adult expertise? High Ability Studies, 14(1), 85-94.

Baker, J., Cote, J. & Abernethy, B. (2003). Sport-Specific Practice and the Development of Expert Decision-Making in Team Ball Sports. Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, 15(1), 12-25.

Barnett, N., Smoll, F. & Smith, R. (1992). Effects of enhancing coach–athlete relationships on youth sport attrition. The Sport Psychologist, 6, 111–127.

Becker, A. (2009). It’s Not What They Do, It’s How They Do It: Athlete Experiences of Great Coaching. International Journal of Sports Science & Coaching, 4(1), 93-119.

Côté, J. (1999). The Influence of the Family in the Development of Talent in Sport. The Sport Psychologist, 13, 395-417.

Côté, J. & Gilbert, W. (2009). An Integrative Definition of Coaching Effectiveness and Expertise. International Journal of Sports Science & Coaching, 4(3), 307-323.

Cox, R. (2007). Sport Psychology: Concepts and Applications. New York: McGraw-Hill.

Mallet, C. & Côté, J. (2006). Beyond Winning and Losing: Guidelines for Evaluating High Performance Coaches. The Sport Psychologist, 20, 213-221.

Nesti, M. (2010). Psychology in Football: Working with elite and professional players. London: Routledge.

Smith, R., Shoda, Y., Cumming, S. & Smoll, F. (2009). Behavioral signatures at the ballpark: Intraindividual consistency of adults’ situation–behavior patterns and their interpersonal consequences. Journal of Research in Personality, 43, 187–195.

Smith, R. & Smoll, F. (1997). Coaching the coaches: Youth sports as a scientific and applied behavioral setting. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 6, 16–21.

Stratton, G., Reilly, T., Williams, A. & Richardson, D. (2004). Youth Soccer: From science to performance. London: Routledge.

Extreme mental skills or mental skills for the extreme? – A case study of the World’s Fastest Flying Human Being

Mon, 03 Dec 2012 22:45:08 +0100

You are standing high up on the edge of a cliff somewhere in Norway. An amazing landscape unfolds beneath you. The horizon is cut by the edges of distant mountain tops with small clouds swirling around them. All the way down in the valley is a great shiny blue lake that contrasts with the green and gray slopes of the mountains. But what you are looking at is the path you are going to follow down that hilltop. At 250 km/h. You are not going to climb down. You are going to take one step further of that cliff, spread your wings and fly down…

If this mental picture inspires and terrifies you at the same time, you are having the same feeling as Espen Fadnes had while he was standing on that cliff. The difference is the fact that he has developed methods to cope with this fear. On the outside he looks pretty calm. You can only assume him mentally rehearsing his flight pattern. After that you see him counting down and… taking the leap of faith. Espen Fadnes won the title of ‘The World’s Fastest Flying Human Being’ in 2010 after an International competition for wingsuit flying. A short movie was created named “A Sense of Flying” to show the world what it is to be able to fly. I invite you to watch it and board on an amazing flight.

Sense of Flying: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ER1PGYe9UZA

In this movie we see clear examples of rigorous planning, visualization and self-talk. After watching it last year I was intrigued by the level of mental skills used by persons involved in extreme sports. Under extreme sports I understand all the competitive activities within which the participant is subjected to unnatural or unusual physical and mental challenges such as speed, height, depth or natural forces and where fast and accurate cognitive perceptual processing may be required for a successful outcome. An unsuccessful outcome is more likely to result in the injury or even fatality of the participant than in a non-extreme sport. Some of the most common known examples are mountaineering, mountain biking, skateboarding and surfing. Other extreme activities don’t have any competition (yet), but they require similar mental skills (e.g. street trial, parkour).

Recently a new video about Espen was released giving us a deeper look into his thoughts and motives. We hear Espen talking about overcoming his fears: “Fear is both positive and negative. It turns into a momentum, because mastering that fear becomes a challenge”. About being in the present: “But in that moment, when pushing off to jump, I never think about what’s coming next. The past doesn’t exist. The future doesn’t exist. There is only now”. About preparation: “In this sport you spend 99.9% of your time making preparations. The actual exercise is just split of a second”.

Split of a Second: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0nx37ccqHMk

Extreme sports are becoming more and more popular. Puchan (2004) mentions a growth in participation of 224% between 1978 and 2000 (compared to a rise of 1.8% for mainstream sports). We can also see the rising popularity of extreme sports in the media through the ‘X Games’ or the constant advertising of Redbull in almost every possible extreme sport. Felix Baumgartner’s recent extreme free fall from a height of 39 km broke a YouTube record with more than eight million live viewers. Have we discovered a niche market for sport psychologists? Should we go and proclaim how we can help the trained daredevils to be even better in what they do? Or can we convince the doubters and help them finally fulfill that crazy dream of jumping out of an airplane thanks to our little toolbox of mental skills?

I prefer to reverse the question for a second. Instead of wondering what we can teach (future) extreme sport practitioners let’s ask ourselves what we can learn from people involved in extreme sports. I am guessing that not every daredevil in the world went through extensive mental training with a sport psychologist. Somehow they develop skills that help them regulate their fear and arousal, keep their minds in the present and motivate them to defy gravity and human speed limits. Could it be that they are born with an extra edge of constantly pursued ‘mental toughness’? Recent research, however, tends to describe mental toughness as a skill to be developed not as a given predisposition (Connaughton, Hanton, & Jones, 2010).

Longing to answer the question ‘why’ people engage in extreme sports most studies have always focused on their personality. The construct of sensation seeking (Zuckerman, 1979) depicts extreme sports participants as people in high need of novel and intense experiences, constantly seeking out new thrills to cope with boredom. However, this theory driven quantitative type of research doesn’t seem to reflect the lived experiences of participants (Brymer, 2010; Willig, 2008). Another line of research therefore focused on the motivations and meanings behind extreme sport participation. Using more qualitative methods Brymer (2010) concludes that unlike common beliefs risk taking or adrenaline seeking is not the real goal. Willig (2008) mentions a ‘flow’ state and a sense of liberation as possible ultimate goals. Being in the present, the striving for mastery and the self-consciousness are a few of the ways in which extreme activities contribute to these goals.

These differences put aside most striking for me is the fact that I was not able to find one study that focused on the mental skills participants used before, during and after the events. While YouTube is full of interesting anecdotal examples like Espen’s case no real research on this matter has been done so far. Through qualitative methods we could ask extreme sports participants which techniques are important to them and how they have discovered, trained or developed them. Using more quantitative measures we could test the claim that these daredevils use techniques such as imagery and self-talk more often than competitive or recreational athletes in more traditional sports. This way we might unravel new knowledge about mental skills development. Or we can find new practical uses to teach mental skills to our (more skeptical) athletes, since extreme sports clearly show the power of these techniques.

Espen Fadnes at least seems to have followed my idea. He recently posted the following update on his facebook:

“I am proud to tell that I have started a cooperation with Rens ter Weijde in PEX (www.pextraining.com/en/home). We will combine more than 10 years of experiences in basejumping together with sports- and performance psychology to look for safer and better ways to perform in wingsuit proximity flying. Stay tuned.”

References

Brymer, E. (2010). Risk and extreme sports: A phenomenological perspective. Annals of Leisure Research, 13, 218-239.

Connaughton, D., Hanton, S., & Jones, G. (2010). The development and maintenance of mental toughness in the world’s best performers. The Sport Psychologist, 24, 168-193.

Puchan, H. (2005). Living “extreme”: Adventure sports, media and commercialization. Journal of Communication Management, 9, 171 – 178. doi: 10.1108/13632540510621588

Willig, C. (2008). A phenomenological investigation of the experience of taking part in `extreme sports’. Journal of Health Psychology, 13, 690-702. doi: 10.1177/1359105307082459

Zuckerman, M. (1979). Sensation seeking: Beyond the optimal level of Arousal. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

Note: I invite everyone to share interesting articles, videos or research concerning this topic with me. I hope to develop these ideas further into something more concrete.

Cedric Arijs is currently a first year student in the European Masters in Sport and Exercise Psychology Program at the University of Thessaly (Greece). He completed his Master degree in Clinical Psychology with great honor at the Ghent University (Belgium). Some of his topics of interest include extreme sports, music in mental preparation, associative & dissociative strategies and mindfulness. E-mail: cedric.arijs@gmail.com

Focus of Attention and Windsurfing: Let me do it and I’ll understand.

Mon, 26 Nov 2012 14:31:00 +0100

I come from an area nearby that’s known as the “Land of Sun, Sea, and Wind”. Lying on the shore one day, I said to myself— “Why not combine those three elements and learn something new?” So I decided to take a course on windsurfing.

Pretty soon I realized windsurfing was quite difficult to grasp. So many techniques in the right order to remember – up hauling, tilting, jibing, beam reach, close-hauled …just to start with – and so many variables to take into account: feet movement on the board, hand grip on the boom, and general posture. Not only that but the timing of each movement is crucial and one has to also deal with people popping out of nowhere, sudden wind blasts, and dodgy waves continually testing your balance. Windsurfing truly seemed like a hopeless endeavor. It was quite obvious I couldn’t take care of these things all at once and that I had to select just part of the big picture. Thankfully, not at the cost of running anyone over.

Being human beings, our cognitive resources are limited and thus we have something called attentional processes. Through attention, we can select the pieces of information which seem more relevant to our specific purposes in a certain moment. Whether we do it consciously or unconsciously, what we focus on has important consequences on how we execute motor actions.

I experimented with different focus strategies: using either an external or an internal one. (Internal)— During the times I was thinking whether my feet or my hands were in the right place, one of those rogue waves would sneak up on me and toss me in the water; rather frustrating I might add. (External)— But when I focused more on the direction I was heading, letting the movements feel more natural and fluid, this allowed me stand longer on the board.

That’s basically the idea of the Constrained Action Hypothesis (Wulf et al., 2001): focusing on the movement’s consequences (external focus of attention) rather than on the movements themselves (internal focus of attention); leading to better motor execution.

Having an internal focus of attention and stressing over the (presumed) proper technique while learning a new, possibly complicate skill sounds quite obvious – just remember when you began learning how to drive a car. As we practice though, automaticity kicks in allowing us to focus less and less on the specific movements, leaving us with plenty of additional attentional resources which can be used for processing other things, such as the music played on the radio. That can still be dangerous though; better to focus on the road instead. Basically, as we get better at doing something, we gradually switch from an internal attentional focus towards a more external one (Adams, 1971; Wulf, 2007a).

Yet, what would happen if we try to instil an external focus of attention from the very beginning in a novice attempting at learning something new like learning to windsurf? Well, after extensive research (Wulf, 2007b, for a review), it turned out that not only did the external focus of attention strategy improve motor performance but it also proved itself to be more functional for motor learning by speeding up the process and making it more robust against decay, interference and choking under pressure. According to Wulf and colleagues (2001), having an internal focus of attention impairs motor execution by disrupting automatic processes which would normally take care of movements in an effective and efficient way. Oppositely, an external focus of attention results in more fluid execution, more functional muscular activation, and in turn leads to better motor performance.

The Constrained Action Hypothesis has been supported by cognitive, kinesiological and physiological evidences so far. Compared to an internal one, an external focus results in a lower load on the cognitive system (Wulf et al., 2001), which results in a greater automaticity of the movements (Abernethy, 1988). Such an external focus of attention is also associated to faster frequency of movement adjustments (McNevin et al., 2003) typical of skilled expert performances (Thompson & Stewart, 1986) and to an increased economical recruitment of muscle fibers by making the same movements outcomes achievable even with inferior muscular activity and better agonist-antagonist coordination (Vance et al., 2004).

Learning to windsurf is quite hard (but a lot of fun too!). Yet, focusing on the effects of movements (e.g. where we want the board to go) can definitely help in the learning process – as Wulf herself (2007a) acknowledges in describing her own experience with windsurfing.

That’s all very interesting… But what are we going to remember from this article? That the focus of attention influences motor learning? Possibly. What’s more important though is trying to tie what we study to our own experience. Combining theory with the lived experience will make it easier to remember and apply it in the future.

“Tell me and I’ll forget. Show me and I’ll remember. Let me do and I’ll understand” (Confucius).

Germano Gallicchio is an EMSEP student at Lund University (Sweden) and Leipzig University (Germany). He also received a BSc in Psychobiology, a MSc in Cognitive Neuroscience from the University of Padova (Italy) and has been working as research assistant in Sport Psychophysiology at the University of Birmingham (UK). He recently turned out to be a rock climber and a capoerista. His main interests currently lie in motor skill learning and healthy lifestyle promotion.

germano.gallicchio@gmail.com

- References -

Abernethy, B. (1988). Dual-task methodology and motor skills research: Some applications and methodological constraints. Journal of Human Movement Studies, 14, 101-132.

Adams, J. A. (1971). A closed-loop theory of motor learning. Journal of Motor Behavior, 3, 111-150.

McNevin, N. H., Shea, C. H., Wulf, G. (2003). Increasing the distance of an external focus of attention enhances learning. Psychological Research, 67, 22-29.

Thompson, J. M. T., Stewart, H. B. (1986). Nonlinear dynamics and chaos. Wiley. New York, USA.

Vance, J., Wulf, G., Töllner, T., McNevin, N. H., Mercer, J. (2004). EMG activity as a function of the performer’s focus of attention. Journal of Motor Behavior, 36, 450-459.

Wulf, G., McNevin, N. H., Shea, C. H. (2001). The automaticity of complex motor skill learning as a function of attentional focus. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 54A, 1143 - 1154.

Wulf, G. (2007a). Advantages of Attentional Focus on the Movement Effect. In Wulf, G. Attention and Motor Skill Learning (pp 107 -135). Human Kinetics. Champaign, USA.

Wulf, G. (2007b). Attentional Focus and Motor Learning: A Review of 10 Years of Research. E-Journal Bewegun und Training, 1, 4-14.

Rule Administration vs. Game Management - A referee's daunting task

Mon, 19 Nov 2012 15:32:00 +0100

Imagine a referee in a soccer game who observes Team A’s striker falling in a duel with a defender in Team B’s penalty area. However, the referee could not observe whether it was a foul or the striker just lost his footing. Thus, she does not call the foul and does not award a penalty kick. Five minutes later she observes a foul committed against Team B’s striker in the penalty zone of Team A. Does she call the foul and thereby award a penalty kick for Team B? The answer to this question is at the heart of the discussion about whether referees’ judgments and the following decisions should be made context-free or within the context of the game (Bar-Eli & Raab, 2006; Mascarenhas, O’Hare, & Plessner, 2006).

photo credit: naso.org

These two positions can be labeled rule administration and game management (Brand & Neß, 2004; Mascarenhas, Collins, & Mortimer, 2002). If rule administration is the correct approach to refereeing, referees in the described situation must award the penalty. If referees follow this approach, they have to make their decisions in a context-free manner. They have to evaluate each individual situation in isolation, separately from the current match, score, or playing time, and then make a decision according to the rules and regulations in place (Plessner & Haar, 2006). In this position I propose that they could benefit from mindfulness training (to be in the moment) and also some techniques to promote their self- confidence (to support their call). However such methods obviously need to be experimented with more to find out how exactly referees can perform better and which techniques will be most appropriate for them.

If, however, game management is the correct approach, the referees should consider what is best for the game’s smooth flow and what might be considered fair. Because the referee did not award a penalty in an ambiguous situation for Team A, she might not award the penalty for Team B either (Unkelbach & Memmert, 2008). When we add some other factors such as the impact of travel, the influence of the crowd: either normal crowd behaviour (e.g. cheering) or antisocial behaviour (e.g. swearing, chanting obscenities), we can realize this job is a difficult one with many challenges. Despite growing literature exploring the dual concepts of home advantage and referee (official) bias in sports encounters, we can find just a few bits of research of work with referees in order to identify their problems during games and challenges that they have pre-, during and post-match.

This kind of circumstance, which I mentioned as an example, possibly puts referees in a situation that will make them confused and could lead to some conflict in their subconscious, ultimately affecting their decisions.

They won’t be able to whistle as good as they are really capable to, and an injustice to those participating in the match will be the end result. I hope to therefore see more research on other dimensions of this tough job and thereby helping referees to concentrate on the game and give them some techniques to cope with stressors and focus on their own job.

Hossein Shahrohki is student in the European Masters in Sport and Exercise Psychology Program (EMSEP) at the University of Thessaly, Greece. He completed his bachelor degree in Psychology at Ferdowsi University (Iran). His research interest is self-talk and its relationship with god-talk (prayer) that he is working on as his thesis.

Email: shossein@pe.uth.gr

Straightforward Coach Education - A Lund University Master Thesis

Mon, 12 Nov 2012 13:41:30 +0100

There is a wide flora of sport related education. During the past decade the emphasis on education for people enrolled in sport coaching has grown radically. Therefore it seems intuitive to find out what these educations lead to. Do they create high-qualified leaders and yet the role models that we want for our children? Or why do we educate coaches?

The professionalism of sport is no longer a debate, it’s a fact. Along with it comes new and challenging inquires towards the development of sports in general and athletes in particular. For a sport organization, the athletes are the prime source of finances and entertainment. Hence, the athletes’ wellbeing and talent development is crucial for a sport organizations’ survival. And who is looking after the needs and satisfaction of the athletes? Of course, the coaches are.

Evidently, the coaches are the spine of every sport club, and they should be given the opportunity to develop and increase their competence. From the organizational point of view this is best done by offering coach education, particularly, one that are explicit to the specific sport.

However, coaches are not always satisfied with the education offered. Rather, many of them develop their own coaching philosophy, and rely upon their innate nature of being a good leader. There is a common sense among coaches that their personality characteristics are perfectly suitable for the coach profession. Hence, they perceive they can still be good coaches even in the absence of formal training.

Internationally, there have been several attempts to train coaches to better cope with the demands and challenges that they face on an everyday basis. The coaching profession has been recognized as a job that requires skills in several areas.

Albeit pure technical and physical instruction, the social and ethical aspects of the job are likewise important proficiencies in building trustful relationships with young athletes.

The requirements of the coaches depend partly on the kind of sport (individual or team) they coach and the maturity level and gender of the athletes. However, generally coaches feel that their jobs involve higher levels of complexity and responsibility. Surprisingly, official coaching education, such as certification or licensure, are not formally required at any level of coaching.

Still, coaches educate themselves. One might wonder though, who controls for the quality, and the effects of these coach education programs? Why spend money and time on education if there are no measurable results?

In a Swedish study examining amateur and elite Tennis coaches, it was found that there was no statistical differences in leadership behavior between higher educated and lower educated individuals. Personality characteristics however, was found to better explain differences in leadership behaviors as well as age and years of work experience. For example, older coaches gave more training and instruction, social support, and positive feedback than younger coaches. Coaches with more years of work experience also gave more social support than less experienced coaches. The study also showed that there was a relationship between individual’s extroverted personality and his/her tendency to give social support and positive feedback.

Bearing in mind organizational and cultural differences that exist between (and within) countries and continents, it seems like a coach’s perceived leadership behavior as a cause of education is quite unpredictable. In contrast, personality appears to be a quite stable predictor of leadership behavior.

Does this mean that we should stop educating coaches? Of course not. Rather, we should try to clarify the complex structures in the professionalism of sports. By recognizing the weaknesses in the current coach education paradigm, we can develop a coaching education that will suite the needs, wants, and requirements of the future.

Elisabeth Lodin has a double Master’s in Sport and Exercise Psychology (EMSEP) at Lund University, Sweden and also has a Bachelor’s in Social Science majoring in Sport Science with a focus on ‘sport and society’ (2008). She is this year’s winner of SVEBI’s (Swedish Association for Behavioral and Social Research) annual thesis contest, and will present her research at SVEBI’s annual conference in Umeå the 16th of November. Elisabeth is also the business manager of the sport psychology consultant company Headfirst Consulting.

To contact Elisabeth: info@headfirstconsulting.se