The Psychology Of Teaching Team Sports Essay

For many years, the mental aspect of sports performance has received considerable attention in sports psychology. The cognitive processes in elite and less skilled athletes have been studied extensively, in an attempt to shed light on the variables arbitrating task execution during performances (Beilock, Carr, Machon & Starkes, 2002). This essay investigates how cognition differs in elite and less skilled athletes. Firstly, it considers elite-novice- differences in attentional focus; which suggests that where athletes direct their attention while performing differs across skills. Moreover, the essay closely examines the difference in elite and novice athletes ' ability to make effective decisions during performances (Milazzo, Farrow, Ruffault & Fournier, 2016).

Both coaches and athletes can use different strategies to stay motivated. One is goal setting. Athletes should be encouraged to set a few

Some people believe that dedication, persistence, and time people can accomplish any goal. Everyone should have goals when striving to achieve a specific task. Goal setting is used by top level athletes, successful business man, and achievers in all fields. A wise athlete once said, “Without time and effort put towards ones goal for the sport, you are nearly wasting your time and your teams time and you will never achieve ones goal for that

In order for research to be reliable, other researchers must be able to perform the same experiment and achieve the same results (Shuttleworth, 2008). The reliability of this study is unknown at this point. In the past, researchers have used quantitative methods to try to find out the feelings that athletes have had about goal-setting. This survey method has increased reliability because it has limited the answer options for the survey respondents. However, the researchers were concerned that the results be generalizable, so they adopted an open-ended survey. "Athletes completed an open-ended questionnaire about the specific types of goals they set. The questionnaire was structured around issues of interest in the present research (e.g., goal setting in training versus competition) and previous findings (e.g., athletes set goals for skill improvement, confidence enhancement, and for outcomes such as winning)" (Munroe-Chandler et al., 2004).

•Concentration on the range of FUNdamental sports skills, such as throwing, catching, jumping and running

The male swimmers in the GST program had higher levels of satisfaction, confidence, and perceived ability; however, there was not a statistically significant difference between their performance and the performance of the non-GST group. Although Burton was not able to confirm a causal relationship between goal setting and performance from the data he collected, he did find that the GST program was an effective approach to modifying athletes’ goal setting patterns. In turn, this helped enhance perceived ability and confidence, which improved performance (Burton

Sports and exercise psychologists argue over task goal orientation and outcome goal orientation. They state that task goal orientation leads to a stronger work ethic, in which this can protect a person from disappointment, frustration, and the lack of motivation (Duda and Hall). By focusing on personal performance provides greater control and individuals become more

It has been identified that through sports psychology one can improve their physical ability and performance. Sports psychology is the study of how the mind, mental states and behaviour effect sporting performance. There are several sport psychology techniques, which have helped me become a better volleyball player. These techniques include planning for performance, controlling arousal levels, mental rehearsal and concentration.

Goal setting involves the athlete creating process and performance goals with an action plan implemented to reach an outcome goals such as winning a championship bike race.  During the rehabilitation and recovery phase, an athlete needs help in sustaining motivation and adherence to the process of physically and mentally recovering from the injury.  Goal-setting and keeping a positive mental attitude is at the foundation of this phase of recovery and is especially important during any setbacks (Weinberg & Gould, 2011, page 457).

My big takeaway from this class is the concepts and applications surrounding task versus social orientation. Extreme task orientation might be an athlete who is exclusively focused on athletic objectives. This kind of athlete might only find value in achievement (individual and team), personal statistics, and attaining personal and team goals (Anshel, 2012). An athlete like this may benefit from goal-setting interventions because of the clarity and satisfaction of realizing the objectives. The social component of athletics might be irrelevant or even burdensome to this kind of athlete. The lack of interest in social connections associated with sport may be a drawback to coaches and other team members whom are more socially orientated.

As a coach I think it is very important for my athletes to reflect on their performance after each training session and competition so they can work out what they individually need to work on and what we need to work on as a team. One way that I will allow reflection to occur in my team is through the use of reflective journals. I would ask that the athletes record the feelings and emotions as well as records of team and individual success and failures and also what they would suggest needs improvement. I think that the athletes should use these journals to set themselves goals for the tournament. The reflective journals can be reviewed as a whole team or in a one-on-one situation between the players and myself as the coach.

Goal setting is an intricate part of our own lives; not just in the sports realm. Goals such as talking, walking, running come early in our lives set by our parents, evolving to running fast and hard, set by ourselves later in our lives. As we explore this technique, we also get a view of a collegiate swimming team’s success and methodology.

Our organization recognizes that athletes need effective leadership, consistent parameters, direction, structure, organization and discipline (quote book 1). This is why we want to establish the use of self-talk and self-imagery interventions when we teach our athletes because as an organization we want to increase their mental state intellectually and psychologically. We see ourselves as wanting to keep it simple and consistent and by incorporating cognitive strategies of self-talk and mental imagery we will develop strong internal cognitive and emotional states that can keep our athletes from losing touch with their external environment.

In earlier days sports psychology was mostly concerned with developing assessment methods that would identify those people with the potential to become serious superior athletes. Today the focus is on psychological training, exercises that strengthen the mental skills that will help athletic performances on the path to excellence. These skills include mental imagery and focus training. If an athlete is serious about becoming the best he or she can possibly be, the most essential ingredient is commitment to practice the right things. It takes incredible commitment to reach the top: a commitment to rest and train the body so it can perform under the most demanding conditions and a commitment to train the mind to

What makes champions in sport? At the end of the day, it is the moment when one stands at the top of the podium, holding up their well-deserved medals and trophies that all elite athletes strive for. Thus, experts have studied this question extensively to see which programs, or by what means, are elite athletes developed to achieve this goal. One of the many aspects to athlete development is the controversial topic of deliberate practice versus deliberate play. Deliberate practice can be defined as “any training activity (a) undertaken with the specific purpose of increasing performance, (b) requiring cognitive and/or physical effort, and (c) relevant to promoting positive skill development” (Cote et al., 2007, p. 185) On the