Characteristics Of My Best And Worst Performances

Common factors that can contribute to performance anxiety include; fear of performance failure, negative social evaluation and/or physical harm, as well as disruption of a well learned routine (Cox, p.201, 2007). The effects of these factors can be further heightened in correlation with importance of an event, or the level of competition. These fears and feelings of anxiety may affect the athlete’s perception of their abilities and hinder their self-confidence, which can be detrimental to their performance. Patterns of perfectionism can also lead to sport-related anxiety, mainly involving setting exceptionally high performance standards of oneself (Cox, p.202, 2007). Setting high standards can often be beneficial to a performance, but athletes that succumb to unrealistic thoughts, that nothing but a perfect/ideal performance is good enough, are more likely to experience negative emotions and heightened levels of anxiety due to the discrepancy between ideal and current self/situation (Koivula, Hassmén, Fallby, 2001).

When an individual grows up to be an athlete, we question them on why they are so talented. There are two factors that are taken into account on this topic, and that is their genetic features or their biocultural characteristics. After long studies, philosophers finally agreed that human development is comprised of two factors: nature and nurture. People argue about this because they believe it is what determines our personality and behavior. Nature is the genetics that determines the result, and nurture is the environment that determines the result. Although these factors can be debatable, most scientists believe both of these contribute to the idea of exercise and sports science. Some believe it is the

Three theories of stress, arousal and anxiety that are all linked with a common theme are Individual Zone of Optimal Functioning, Inverted-U theory, and Catastrophe theory. These three are linked by the theme of function of behaviour equals person times situation. These theories can help to explain arousal and anxiety levels of athletes in specific situations and the outcome of their performance, whether they succeed or fail. This essay will focus on the person times situation theme and how athletes need to find the correct balance of arousal and anxiety so they can perform at their best in a given situation. Situations may include the dying seconds of a match where the outcome is in their hands, or it might be a grand final, or any moment

Sports—which involve emotion, competition, cooperation, achievement, and play—provide a rich area for psychological study. People involved in sports attempt to master very difficult skills, often subjecting themselves to intense physical stress as well as social pressure. research has expanded into numerous areas such as imagery training, hypnosis, relaxation training, motivation, socialization, conflict and competition, counseling, and coaching. Specific sports and recreational specialties studied include baseball, basketball, soccer,

The present review will analyze and critique five empirical sport psychology-related research articles. Moreover, the discussion of each article will include which statistical method was used, why it was used, and whether or not it was appropriate for the data. In addition, the article discussion will include a description and possible critique of the author’s interpretations of the results.

Psychology impact of sport injuries is a topic no one hears much about until an athlete is injured and goes through it himself/herself. High school athletes as well as professional ones both are exposed to injuries at any time, the impact of this injury might be the same. Getting injured is devastating for most athletes, what they don’t hear much is how bad it can get to them mentally. Depending on the injury, some athletes are able to return to the sport, others are not so lucky. When they are affected emotionally or mentally, it does not only affect them, but their team, the fans, and even the coaches. In most cases, these injuries and the rehabilitation process are often followed by psychological consequences which can impact the athletes’ well-being, as well as their chances of returning to their sport. The importance of sport psychology will be discussed throughout the paper to give a better understanding on how it affects athletes when dealing with a sport injury. Being aware of the psychological symptoms, as well as knowing how to avoid the effects could make a difference on someone. As well as knowing how important rehabilitation is when wanting to return to the game as soon as possible, if probable.

There are a lot of aspects that should be taken into account when determining what makes an athlete successful. One could argue that natural ability is one of the determining factors which leads to success. For example, if an athlete has dreams of playing in the NBA then height makes a difference. There aren’t many successful players in the league under six feet tall. One could argue that level of competition plays a role in the development of an athlete. This could include the skill level of the opponent or outside factors such as playing conditions or game circumstances. These types of arguments play a role in athlete success, but will not be used in this paper because they are factors that are out of the athlete’s control. This paper

Our thoughts, diet/nutrition, exercise, rest, environment and physiology have a positive or negative impact on us which affects how well we perform and feel. In the world of sports, this is very easy to demonstrate because the mind/body connection provides you with immediate feedback. When you are positive, your performance excels. When you are negative, your performance is adversely affected. With various types of distress, or

This interpretive process is loosely carried forward in relation to the previous studies of physiology, sociology and psychology. Take for example psychology when looking at key issues and research methods. The general explorative path a psychologist would investigate in a study of injury and rehabilitation covers, motivation, confidence, intensity, focus and emotions which are regarded to have the most influence on a performers well-being (Cashmore, 2002). These five psychological divisions derive from Taylors (2001) performance pyramid, are categorised in ascending order from general training influences to immediate competitive performance impact. At the pyramids base lays motivation, simply put without motivation you have no desire to train, to rehabilitate, to reach previous goals. Motivation ensures athletes have positive mind-sets allowing necessary time to refocus, re-energise and start again.

Few within the realm of competitive athletics would argue with the importance of being mentally prepared prior to an athletic competition as well as the need to maintain that particular mindset during a competitive contest. Nevertheless, recent research has shown that many athletes, coaches, and sporting administrators are still quite reluctant to seek out the services of a qualified sport psychologist, even if they believe it could help. One of the primary reasons for this hesitation appears to be a lack of understanding about the process and the mechanisms by which these mental skills affect performance. Unlike the “harder sciences” of sport physiology and biochemistry where athletes can see the tangible results in themselves or other athletes (e.g., he or she lifted weights, developed larger muscles, and is now stronger/faster as a result) (Gee, Chris J (2010): 386-402.) Using sports phycology has been found to give athletes multiple benefits, such as improvement, and that athlete being able to understand how to develop a growth and or positive mindset. Lastly another way that has been found to improve athletes is taking mental repetitions for their sport. One of the keys to Jeff’s improvement over the years, and certainly a key to him making a roster in the NFL, is his ability to take mental reps. The champion mindset recognizes

1.Farrey and Sagas argued against the mentality that early sport immersion and early specialization will lead children to successful careers as athletes. Early specialization was described as children around the age of six choosing only one sport and concentrating only on that specific sport’s performance and practice (Sagas,2013). People in society might presume that specializing children at young ages will help guide them into becoming great athletes, however, “early specialization can have significant negative consequences on the development of an athlete over time” (Sagas, 2013, p.2). Some evidence that Sagas’ (2013) mentioned in his article to dispel the myth of early specialization included multiple studies where it showed children that were early specialized had an increase of dropping out of sports, burnout, social isolation, physiological imbalances, and limited range of motor skills. Farrey also presented evidence that early involvement and early specialization in sports doesn’t lead children to greater success. One argument that Farrey made was that early specialization can cause mental exhaustion and overuse injuries which made the “AAP now formally opposes specialization before a child reaches puberty” (Farrey, 2008, p.58). This evidence proves that overtraining children at young ages will inevitably have negative effects. Farrey also discussed the data that was found from surveying the training patterns of U.S. Olympians. From this data Farrey concluded that “many [U.S. Olympians] played multiple sports as teenagers, dispelling the myth of early specialization” (Farrey, 2008, p.191). Overall, Farrey and Sagas proposed several valid reasons that early immersion and early specialization in sports has negative impacts on children rather than helping them to achieve success.

Strategies to deal with the psychological aspect of racing were imparted to me by the coaching staff, which I later taught to other young athletes. Sailing exposed me to the workings of the human mind and provided my first glimpse into the field of psychology. While in university, I delved further into this interest by pursuing studies in psychology and biology, enhancing my journey through participation in research projects at the university and hospitals. During this time I also explored teaching, tutoring students in undergraduate psychology. My inquisitive nature has driven me to continue both these endeavors (teaching and being involved in research*) while in medical

In work with injured athletes, some sport and exercise psychologists have proposed that certain attitudes might predispose athletes to injury (7). According to this

Today in sports athletes endure many mental and physical obstacles from there competitive environment. Many of today's best athletes work with sports psychologists to help them handle the pressures found in this competitive atmosphere. One question that athletes ask is, why cant they play in big games as well as they anticipate themselves doing? Sports psychologists feel that spending all their time on body conditioning and athletic skills will not ensure that athletes reach their peak performance.

Hoar cites Graham Jones (1991) as proposing the direction dimension of perceived anxiety, which relates to the translation of perceived anxiety to either debilitative or facilitative behaviour. Simply, athletes differ in the way they handle anxiety, some athletes perceive anxiety as a sign of readiness, and others perceive it as a reason to believe they are unable to perform at a high level. Jones’ proposal is highlighted in an article by Martinant and Ferrant (2007) which aims to find meaning groups of athletes based on intensity, direction, and frequency of anxiety.