Psychological Skills Training Programme

psychological Skills Training ProgrammePsychology is the scientific study of cognitive thoughts, feelings and behaviours. The mother of childs plays psychology is to run into the contri hardlyion that psychological ingredients pack on exercise effect, nevertheless in like manner the effects that departmenticipation in physiological exercise has on mental development. Sports psychologists a great deal talk abtaboo the import of being in the zone and of creating an intimidating presence for your opponent on the field of play, simply waiting until you argon in competition to confine the principles of sports psychology, without foregoing readiness pass on not al starting time for an deepen consummation. So, onwards this you wish to gain a fetching attitude and the ability to apply it to your pedagogy, which is one of the nevertheless about vital and difficult argonas to apply it. Psychological skills grooming (PST) refers to the systematic and consistent ha bituate of cordial or psychological skills for rised performance. It military services chasteness in an edge the athletic attendanters performance, especially between jockstraps that ar closely matched in physiologic and technical ability this usually results in the overall superior being the suspensor with the better prepargond cordial skills. PST hindquarters often be neglected by jockstraps or cultivatees beca economic consumption they require a lack of k outrightledge in the subject area or mis chthonicstandings of how to call it. It fuck alike be ignored because of a lack of allocated time end-to-end the knowledge process this is to a greater extent than(prenominal) than often than not a progeny of luxuriouslyer priorities during didactics. PST must be tailored to each individual supporter and varies for every sport, so must be conducted by the private instructor or a sports psychologist. It should be practiced over a period of time, withal to the carnal or technical nature of close sports, and should use a combination of different techniques.Sport psychology wait ons provide coaches with the information they deprivation to supporter their athletes build rational strength and achieve compound performance in sport, as s salubrious as in life. As a coach, to gain a complete noetic perspective of an athlete, you give birth to go bad how the athlete acts and feels when competing in spite of appearance a sport. through and through the use of psychological reproduction course of studys and affable tools, which leave be discussed later in more period, athletes weed build and develop their mental strength for competitive situations. For coaches, the application of this grammatical sequel of training programme is beneficial for optimising the complete performance of an athlete. These understructure be beneficial for building aggroup cohesion, effective communication, teaching sports skills, as sound as motiva ting and preparing athletes for competition. Although, there are a number of reasons wherefore athletes or sports coaches do not include PST in training for their sport. It whitethorn stem from lack of sport knowledge, where either coach or athlete has an insufficient grasp on the mental skills needed to perform at the highest level in that sport, or it whitethorn simply be that their instruct methods have be jazz outdated and are in need of advertise qualified education. Other common problems that fuck in implementing a PST programme are that of time, conviction and follow up. m all athletes simply do not have the time to spend on the required techniques apply to take a crap better the psychological skills. This is usually because of their hard blend ining and time consuming physical training programme. Funding also plays a part in most athletes missing out on psychological assistance, as it rear be relatively expensive for individual athletes to hire a sport psycholo gist, especially when compared to that of a professional football player, as many elite clubs now employ their own sports psychologists.Psychological SkillsIn this training programme the support work which will be described is for use involving a petty(prenominal) golf player named throng. It is primarily to help deal with his low assumption and anxieties finishedout the plump for. James is 14 years old, a promising county level golfer with a handicap of 5, and plays for South Ayrshire Junior Golf Club. I have got to know James by playing recreationally at the identical club, and he happened to mention certain aspects of his halt he was struggling with, so I offered my support. James told me his reason for asking for help was that he mat up he was not as confident as he should be on the field and he desireed to start enjoying his game again. Secondly, he explained that he has had trouble with feeling very anxious in the lead each stroking in a competition environment, opposed to practice where he felt more comfort able-bodied. This study represents my work with James over a half a dozen week period in which we covered most of the psychological aspects of the game of golf, concentrating on overcoming the main problems James was having. In the game of golf, tightness, fear, confidence and need are key variables in effective golfing performance (Finn, 2008). jibe to Arther (2006) Jack Nickulaus once said that The game of golf is 90% mental and 10% swing. This implies that the psychological skills involved in golf are more important to playing the game than the physiological demands. The physical demands of golf play of aerobic endurance, topical anesthetic muscular endurance, power and motor skills. These days just about all of the top professionals in golf use psychological tools to enhance their performance. For workout Tiger Woods, one of the worlds elite golfers, started development sport psychology techniques at a very young age and co ntinues to use them to this day. He used a number of psychological techniques for heartsease, visualization and concentration (Sietz, 2000). egotism confidenceIn sport, ego-confidence is a easy- cognize factor that may enhance or improve an athletes skills performance. It has been found that a psychological component like self-importance-confidence is one that athletes and coaches consider as relevant for optimal performance. As golfers are constantly measuring their own performance, it becomes very informal for them to lose confidence in their ability to perform specific golf skills such as putting or hitting fair focal point irons onto the unfledged. An individuals perspicaciousness on their ability to successfully perform specific skills is termed self- susceptibility (Bandura, 1986). ego efficacy is our trust in our ability to make it within specific situations. Your thought of self efficacy open fire play a key power in how you approach challenges, childbeds and goals. Motivational mastery self-talk do-nothing help with think and dominance. Golf-specific examples of motifal mastery self-talk might be come on concentrate, there are just now three holes to play with help for chargeing, or you earth-closet do this, you have made this shot before for self-confidence. Thoughts precede moods so if you think unhappy thoughts you will feel unhappy. Self talk is the thoughts you have in response to a certain situation. If you tell yourself you can succeed then you have a much modify chance of succeeding. tally to psychologist Bandura (1977), an athletes confidence, or self efficacy, is based on four primary sources of information, proven in (Appendix 1). These primary sources include past performance accomplishments, vicarious performance, verbal cerebration and emotional stimulation. Past performance accomplishments give the athlete confidence by dint of acts made in competitions or goals reached during training, they can also create chance for the athlete in a good or bad way. vicarious performance accommodates the athlete to match the actions that they should be performing through a model performer this is usually taken from an athlete in the same field/competition or of a previously successful athlete. literal persuasion can be given to the athlete via the coach, parents or supporters it gives the athlete a sense of encouragement to perform. Emotional arousal is when the athlete is in the right mood to perform, it is also known as when they are up for it and at their peak. If this level is too high or too low then the performance of the athlete can suffer, as shown in (Appendix 2). ontogeny self confidence will be discussed in more detail further in the programme.Anxiety and arousalAnxiety is a natural reaction within the dust that responds to threats in the environment it is part of the training for the fight or flight response. Lazarus (2000a) defines perplexity as facing an uncertain, existential threat. act anxiety develops when there is too much perceived stress, specifically this state of mind is created and moulded by your thoughts and feelings. The way you think about an offspring or competition is the source of the stress, not the actual event itself. ane way to begin to tackle performance anxiety is to try to understand what your fears about the competition are, in Jamess case it was the fear of not performing to his expected level. When the demands of competition or training exceed an athletes apparent capability, anxiety is the unavoidable outcome (Valiante and Stachura, 2005). As well as providing incentive and challenge, sport also provides substantial uncertainty. While this variant of stress might cause approximately athletes, it can encourage anxiety in others. There are discrete factors that can amplify athletes anxiety levels. For example, important competitions can give an athlete greater stress, therefore they are likely to be attached to anxiety. S pectators can also play a huge part in how an athlete feels. Participants in individual sports, such as golf, have been known in general to suffer more from anxiety before, during and aft(prenominal) games than participants in team sports because they dont receive the same support throughout the game from team mates. Another factor that can cause anxiety is the expectation of success, in Jamess case, his supporters expect him to be winning most tournaments in his category, so he is exposed to a deal out more pressure than most players at his young age. Another notion to acknowledge is that the level of mental arousal can warp an athletes performance. When arousal levels are too high it can lead to an increase in muscle tension, also poor finis making, reduced concentration levels and a disruption in co ordination. Identifying and absolute arousal level is important to maximize athletic accomplishment. Some of the skills utilizable to control arousal levels up or polish up are visualization, centring, progressive tense muscular easiness, and overbearing self talk. In addition to using these skills for ordinance arousal, these skills have a number of other benefits for confidence and concentration. Preparing athletes for competition involves more than firing them up, it involves take a chanceing the optimum level of arousal for each athlete (Cox, 2002).MotivationReduced confidence will in the end impact on a performers motivation levels, their willingness to take risks and their ability to develop. There are devil kinds of motivation that allows athletes to achieve a particular goal or projection. The beginning(a) type is extrinsic motivation, which in sport comes from external bewitchs or people. throng are extrinsically motivated to earn rewards, social recognition, or benefits. The second kind is intrinsic motivation, and it is someones inner drive to accomplish a goal or fair game. Intrinsically motivated people revolve aboutsing on a ta sk for their own sake. They have a sense of self-determination, and look at themselves as being able to meet the demands of a particular task. Research shows in Vallerand and Losier (1999) that athletes who participate in sport for intrinsic reasons receive a more positive and less disconfirming outcome they have greater determination, and show higher levels of sportsmanship. As golf is mostly an individual sport, motivating yourself to practice and to keep red ink when your confidence is low can be difficult. backc chewh goals in practice and competition is an effective way to enhance motivation. When using goal peg downting, you should make them specific and measurable. Identify the areas you will need to work on in order to achieve your compensate goals as well as making them realistic. You should record the progress you are making towards goals and set a time limit on specific goals to valuate progress. Golfers can set wide term and short term goals. Long-term goals bro adly speaking way on the ultimate outcome such as winning a tournament or reducing your handicap. Short-term goals act as the stepping stones to achieving your long-term goals. Setting short-term goals also allows reflection on authoritative performance and can help in assessing the viability of long-term goals. This area is also covered later in the programme with reference to self confidence. soaking upFocus is crucial in order to concentrate, by learning to focus on the right things at the right time. Concentration is the ability to hold focus for a required time, and use the appropriate mental grounds so not to focus on any distractions. By concentrating your thoughts on the competition, it can help you to plan how you will play the course and allow you to contemplate the possible situations that may arise. In a study by McCaffrey and Orlick (1989), they used a series of open questions to discover psychological and situational factors united to excellence in golf. They found considerable conflicts between touring golf professionals and local club professionals. The highly skilled tour players were built-inly dedicated to golf, oddly during periods of optimum performance. They set clear goals, and they were more organized in prep practice sessions and tournament strategies, as well as in self valuation after each game. Both groups developed plans for focusing attention during a round, but the touring professionals were more successful in keeping focus over an extended period of time resulting in greater concentration levels. Both groups acknowledged the effect of distractions on the course, but the touring professionals were better able to cope with these distractions and regain a task focus. On the golf course, distractions come in varying forms and can divert your focus. External focus can be thrown by the tar desexualise, your equipment, the wind, an opponents shot or score. Internal focus can be side tracked by things like how you feel, where you wishing the ball to go, how hard you want to hit the ball, how the club feels in your hold and your practice swings. These are just some of the distractions involved in the game of golf. McCaffrey and Orlick (1989) concluded that maintaining commitment, focusing, and refocusing were the skills most needed for achieving excellence in golf. As a coach you need to get athletes to think during activity, not just use their behaviours and actions, as there is constant problem solving within the sport. If you know whats going to happen you can plan and control it. afterwards learning all these psychological skills, the challenge is to implement them into your game. A pre-competition mental part, developed between the coach and athlete, helps the athletes get their mind in the becoming place to perform well. Concentration, anxiety, confidence and motivation are key variables in effective golfing performance (Finn, 2008).Psychological Skills TrainingThe psychological priorities of go lf incorporate a lot of self confidence and the need to control anxiety and arousal throughout the whole game. In a gasconade written by Fields (1995), he talks of a run into between Dr Rob Rotella and Nick Price whose form had been lagging after some recent wins and was looking for some answers. Price went to see sports psychologist Rotella to see if he could help him with his game, after two days, Rotella explained to Price how to simplify and set his thinking toward a specific target, by consciously playing sole(prenominal) one shot at a time. With this narrow internal way of thinking Price was able to concentrate solely on the task in front of him without any distractions. This is how I intend to develop my athletes focus and confidence, as well as decreasing his anxiety during game play.Self Confidence TrainingDeveloping self confidence through self talk is an effective technique to control thoughts and to influence feelings. Thoughts and feelings can influence self confide nce as well as performance. The coach or athlete must carefully select the actual run-in or phrase used during self talk so that they provide supreme effectiveness. Self talk can be in the form of words actually spoken out loud, or in the form of thoughts that come into the athletes mind these thoughts can be either negative or positive. As a psychological method for enhancing and improving self confidence in athletes, self talk must be positive and lead to positive feelings about an athletes ability. Self talk is a strategy used by athletes at all levels and in nigh all sports. According to Rotella (2004), a top psychologist, the true meaning of confidence in sport is achieved by playing with your eyes. Confident athletes can focus completely on the objective allowing the clay and brain to react instinctively. In other words, the athlete should arise his focus to what is in front of him and not what he already knows. For example, a golf swing for a professional golfer is alre ady graduate into his mind, so worrying about his swing on the course only serves to distract him from the ultimate goal of making the shot, the swing should be robotlike so he can concentrate solely on the shot. closing backdrop is a powerful motivational strategy. Research has shown that goal setting enhances performance across a variety of situations. Goal setting gives the coach a sense of control over what the athlete does in training and allows us to move beyond beliefs or fears that may be preventing us from realizing our peak performance. The process of setting goals helps the athlete and the coach choose what you want to aim for. By knowing exactly what you want to accomplish, you know where to focus your political campaigns. You will also be able to quickly spot distractions that could other tempt you from your course. On top of this, properly set goals can be extremely motivating, and as you get into a habit of setting and achieving your goals, you find that self con fidence builds faster. By setting sharp, clearly defined goals, you can measure and take pride in these goals. You can see preliminary progress in what might previously have seemed a long pointless grind. By setting goals, you will raise your self confidence, as you recognise your ability and competence in achieving the goals that you have set. There distinct advantages to setting goals, some of these benefits for sport include clarified expectations, improved performance, enhanced quality of practice, pride, higher intrinsic motivation, satisfaction, decreased anxiety, increased self confidence, improved concentration and time management. It has been established that successful athletes display higher self-confidence than unsuccessful athletes (Treasure et al. 1996). This study noted that athletes who have higher self confidence during competitions are more likely to be successful.With tomography, you replace actual experience with scenes from your within your imagination. The bo dy reacts to these images almost as if they were real, so as to relive the experience. This is a technique used very commonly used by elite athletes, they learn good performance habits by repetitively rehearsing performances in their imagination. You can use mental imaginativeness to visualise success, motivate yourself, inform yourself or accurate skills. many another(prenominal) golfers see themselves achieving their goals their goals on a steady basis, seeing desired performance outcomes and performing skills at a high level. It can remind you objective and increase focus during practice and rounds. Many of the best golfers in the world see and feel themselves performing perfect shots, skills and routines before they actually do so. A good explanation of how imagery works is given by Grezes and Decety (2001) showing that when we make a movement, such as hitting a golf ball, specific areas of our brain are activated. Research evidence suggests that when we imagine making a mov ement, very convertible areas of our brain are also activated as when we actually make a movement.Retired professional golfer, Jack Nicklaus, one of the first sportsman to hike mental imagery once wrote that, I never hit a shot, not even in practice, without having a very sharp, in-focus picture of it in my head. First I see the ball where I want it to finish, pure and white and sitting up high on the bright green grass. Then the scene quickly changes, and I see the ball going there its path, trajectory, and shape, even its behaviour on landing. Then there is a sort of fade-out, and the next scene shows me making the kind of swing that will turn the previous images into reality. (Frontera, 2007).Some studies found that many people and athletes use imagery to increase exercise and physical fitness as the imagery helps the success of their exercise (Hall 2001). An athletes enactment of performance imagery is the normal performance in training programs. This method is used more hea vily by elite athletes with higher self-confidence than non-athletes. Studies suggest that imagery may help athletes to build more self-confidence in relation to performance. Kendall et al (1990) show that imagery, in combination with relaxation and self talk, increases the utilization of specific defensive skills. Mahoney (1979) reported the effect of mental imagery practice based on high jumper Dick Fosbury and skier Jean-Claude, who have twain used mental practice in competition and went on to receive gold medals in those competitions. This study provides evidence that imagery practice can successfully influence athletic performance. Motivational videos help inspire, motivate, and pump you up. Athletes use them to focus their motivation in a particular direction or toward a set goal of achievement. As well as videos, athletes can also use mental pictures for motivation, such as them lift a cup or receiving a medal.Anxiety and Arousal TrainingWorrying about how you are going to perform leads to anxiety about performance. Anxiety manifests in both physical and mental ship canal. According to Vanthuyne (1999) we dont worry just in our heads, our entire body worries resulting in a body reaction as well as a mental reaction, this fact is critical regarding athletic performance. delinquent to its objective nature, golf can often be a thwart and stressful sport. Golfers may therefore experience increased levels of anxiety, which can ultimately lead to a disapprove in golfing performance (Hardy, 1996). In order to combat increased anxiety levels, golfers can practice mental skills and strategies to help them relax on and off the field. Using relaxation strategies can help control anxiety and is important in enhancing golfing performance. Centring is a relaxation technique used by rugby player Jonny Wilkinson in his kicking routine (Wilkinson, 2006), he also admits to listening to a mental rehearsal CD before each game he plays to help him relax and focus. Simi larly, you can use relaxation techniques in your pre shot routine to help you relax in golf. Centring is a skill which allows the athlete to dethaw unwanted muscular tension, control anxiety and become more body aware. To practice the process of centring, athletes focus on slowing down their breathing, and pep up air in through the nose. Use the diaphragm and not the authority to expand your lungs. As you breathe out through the mouth, let your body relax. Repeat this technique several times until the required state of relaxation is achieved. Imagery and self-talk can also be used to facilitate relaxation on the golf course. By using self-talk such as make relaxed and relax you can imagine tension in the neck and berm muscles disappearing. Centring is one example in an abundance of relaxation techniques which can be employed by golfers. When choosing how to deal with increased levels of anxiety, it is important to match anxiety symptoms with an appropriate relaxation technique. Motivational arousal self-talk can be used to control arousal levels. To reduce arousal levels, golfers may use self-talk such as it is ok, just breath nice and easily and relax your shoulders. An example of self-talk to increase arousal levels might be come on, you need to get yourself up for this.Visualization is a technique used where the athlete imagines themselves performing a task. It deals not only with how the athlete sees the task but also how they feel when performing it. For example, a sprinter might experience and imagine an efficient, savourless stride while running round a track. A golfer might rehearse a sequence of steps, in his mind, that are required for a good long drive. The imagery experience should be viewed by the athlete in first person perspective, not what they would see observation from a spectator standpoint. Positive self talk is the practice of eliminating negative thoughts and promoting constructive thoughts. Instead of focusing on the negatives of a bad situation, the athlete focuses on positives. For example, I cant play well against them, is replaced by, I have trained hard and I am realized. I can do this. Progressive muscular relaxation is a technique that involves alternatively relaxing and contracting various muscle groups. It is best performed lying down, and going through the muscles groups in a sequence of agonist and antagonist, quads and hamstrings for example. By doing this, the mind is pore on each specific body part and the athlete comes into a relaxation state with increased feeling of the body.Needs compendiumThe involve analysis is a crucial part of developing a psychological training programme as it allows the athlete and coach to work in concert and discover the needs of that particular athlete. The needs analysis should consist of an evaluation of the individual, the sport, and the movements within that sport. The evaluation of the sport is used to determine the physiological components most needed to perform in that sport. An evaluation of the movements within that sport is need to recognise the physiological and psychological processes used during the sport. As individual psychological needs for each sport and athlete differ, the coach must evaluate the athletes strengths and weaknesses to provide a suitable program, as well as allowing the athlete to set short term goals. The individuals needs then dictate which psychological skills are needed and which to prioritize in the training program. In this case for James, a young golfer, we discovered that through the use of a come off of athletic experiences (Appendix 3), he was severely lacking in self confidence. I also discovered, through the use of an anxiety questionnaire (Appendix 4), that Jamess performance suffered dramatically when under increasing pressure, for example when in a tournament situation.It has been suggested that there are three key physical bodys to implementing an effective mental skills programme (Weinber g and Gould, 2007). First, an education phase in which the athlete should be informed about the nature of mental skills and how these skills can enhance their performance. Second, an acquisition phase should focus on assisting the athlete to learn the appropriate mental techniques. Third, a practice phase with the aim of applying mental skills into competitive situations.I used an athletic experience questionnaire (Appendix 3) to help discover which parts of Jamess game was lacking psychologically, it enabled us to identify and analysis specific psychological skills and also which ones we could work on. It showed that James was low in self confidence because he was playing with so much expectation. It also told me that without the use of short term goals, his aims and targets were not clearly lined out for him. This may be due to a coaching error but could also be a reason for his low self confidence, as meeting short term goals gives the athlete a sense of achievement and shows gra dual improvement.I used an anxiety questionnaire (Appendix 4) to determine some of the stresses James was under and when he was experiencing them. This allowed me to see that his anxiety levels were greatest during competition, and that it was mostly down to the weight of expectation on him, although there were other contributing factors. This include what others thought of his performances and when playing against more experienced players, also when using modern equipment and various distractions from the crowds. To combat some of these stresses, I recommended that James learn some relaxation techniques that he could use on the training field but also during stressful competitions. Some of these relaxation techniques have been previously discussed in detail. For James, a wider knowledge of relaxation techniques and specifically set out goals will ultimately aid him in producing his optimum performances on the field, as well as helping him to positively enjoy the game even more.Psy chological skills are best developed in an athletes training environment and when corporal with the technical and physical aspects of the game, this ensures that the athlete sees the program as an essential part of their development. These psychological skills should also be trained, just as you would for any physical aspects, over an extended period of time with sufficient tests to show improvement. Some specific mental skills training can take place almost anywhere, from the playing field to sitting at home, as long as you completely involve yourself within the training. In most sports there is a specific season of play, so this might dictate when the psychological skills training may be applied and what specific skills are trained. As mentioned before mental skills training should be an integral part of the training process.Performance profiling was also used to addresses the gap between current performance levels and the requirements necessary for where the athlete wants to be. It identifies the athletes strengths and weaknesses during play and in training. A performance write was taken at the start of the program and at the end allowing the coach and athlete to see a steady improvement or decline in performance. Within the performance profiles, you should also obtain a broad history of injury for the golfer. This will include all major previous injuries along with any current injury concerns it can often be found that the golfer is currently playing with some kind of quizzical injury problem which can have an effect on any physiological or psychological training programme.EvaluationOverall, this psychological skills training programme went extremely for James and myself. We both learned a lot of new psychological skills and the techniques needed to dramatically improve our thought processes. I especially enjoyed identifying the specific skills effecting James performances with the use of various psychological tests. Through the use of performance prof iles, I was able to see the progression in Jamess play from the start of the programme to the end this showed the program does work if it is implement properly with correct knowledge and understanding. My program did make a difference to James game, and this has been shown in his current performances, he is now a lot more confident in his ability to perform on a bigger stage as well as being more capable of controlling his anxieties on the field. You can now see how positive thinking has changed his game he is making a conscious effort to think in a way that benefits his performance. It is not one ascorbic acid percent accurate to say that Jamess performances have been better solely because of this program, they may be in fact some other contributing factors, but to the best of my knowledge he has undertaken any severe changes in training or supplementation. I am sure that there are ways in which this programme could have been changed to make it run more expeditiously and with mor e effectiveness, but from the feedback received from James it was sufficient to meet his needs. From this I can take great confidence in my ability to prepare and enforce a good psychological training pro