Factors Affecting Performance free essay sample

Review the selected sport-related scene. Describe and ascertain which psychological factors are impacting on the athlete’s performance. The major aspects of psychology that affect performance are motivation and anxiety. Athletes need to be able to prepare for major competitions, reduce tension and stress that may cause a decline in performance, and maintain high-level performances over a long period of time. The ability of the mind to generate thought patterns, influence emotions, stimulate or diminish arousal and create images of a desired action is now better understood and has changed the way that many athletes approach their events. Motivation is the driving force of an athlete to reach an optimal level of performance for their individual inner gain of wants, needs and desires. Motivation consists of four main categories, positive, negative, intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. Positive motivation is an individual’s performance driven by previous reinforcing behaviours and this is evident in the film as the athlete feels support from the crowd and his team mates, however this may lead the player to anxiety and stress as he would be anxious of letting the audience down, which causes negative motivation. We will write a custom essay sample on Factors Affecting Performance or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Negative motivation is characterised by an improved performance out of fear of the consequences of not performing to expectations. This is a performance out of fear, penalties or substandard performance. As the player feels support from the crowd and his team mates he feels negatively motivated as he fears of letting them down. This is shown in the film as the coach says to the athlete before the penalty shot. â€Å"It’s up to you, I don’t want to see any goats around here after the game†. This leads the player into being over aroused, having lack of creativity and high anxiety. This affects the athlete as his body would naturally respond with tightened muscles to prepare for the shot and this would negatively affect his performance. Intrinsic motivation comes from within an athlete. This can be due to personal enjoyment and satisfaction. Intrinsic motivation is much more powerful than extrinsic motivation as personal reward and self- satisfaction is stronger than anything from outside, though this is not evident in the film. Extrinsic motivation refers to external driving forces such as recognition, trophies, satisfying expectations and financial benefits. Extrinsic motivation can be manipulated by others e. g. bribery. Therefore this will weaken their intrinsic motivation. An athlete who relies on their internal motivation tends to be motivated longer than from external factors. In this video the external driving forces such as recognition and satisfying expectations is manipulated by the coach and the crowd cheering. Anxiety is a state of being uneasy, apprehensive, or worried about what may happen during a performance. It is important to distinguish between trait and state anxiety, identify sources of stress, and recognise the link between optimum arousal levels and performance. Trait anxiety is the tendency to perceive a situation as threatening or non-threatening. Those who have high levels of trait anxiety will perceive more situations as threatening than those who have low levels of trait anxiety. Though, this is not evident in the video clip. State anxiety is the emotional response or level of distress of the athlete to a particular situation and this is presented in the film as the coach says to him before the penalty shot â€Å"Now, you miss this shot, you’re not just letting me down, you’re letting the whole team down too†. The athlete is afraid of missing the penalty shot which therefore creates psychological responses such as worry, nervousness, tension, sweating and shaking which makes the athlete’s body respond with tightened muscles and that would negatively affect his performance. Sources of stress are part of everyday life but if left uncontrolled, it contributes to anxiety and reduced performance. Stress is the bodys reaction to a change that requires a physical, mental or emotional adjustment or response. Sources of stress include hyperstress, hypostress, eustress and distress. Stress is very closely linked to state anxiety. In this case, the athlete is affected by hyperstress and distress. Hyperstress is when the athlete is experiencing too much stress and distress is when the athlete is suffered by bad pressure. Arousal is the level or degree of preparedness, alertness and excitement present in a performer who is about to take part in a skilful activity. Arousal includes three main categories which are under arousal, over arousal and optimum arousal. Under arousal may result in lack of rhythm, slow reaction time and short attention span, this is depicted in the video where the coach gives the athlete negative motivation therefore gives lack of motivation to the athlete. Over arousal may result in irregular rhythm, fast reaction time and varying attention span. This is portrayed in the clip as the athlete is unable to perform movement because the athlete is excessively tense and therefore cannot concentrate and aim for the goal. To conclude, psychological influences can enhance performance depending on the way they are managed though motivation, anxiety and arousal. Athletes may perform differently in sporting activities, as the ability of the mind generates thought patterns, influences emotions, stimulates or reduces arousal and create vivid images of desired action. Part 2: Using your understanding of the psychological aspect that is hindering the athlete’s performance, discuss the psychological strategies which can be used to enhance their performance. A range of psychological strategies can be used to manage anxiety such as concentration/attention skills, mental rehearsal/visualisation, relaxation and goal setting in an athlete. To ensure that anxiety does not have a negative impact on performance, an athlete needs to learn to manage their personal anxiety levels. Concentration is the ability to link movement and awareness to the extent that the individual can focus on doing, rather than on thinking about doing. In relation to the video, the athlete is required relaxation technique, listening to music which allows the athlete to be relaxed and calm before the game. Concentration can be improved by coaching. Cues, self-talk and routines can be developed in conjunction with the athlete to focus attention and maintain it. Such cues could be clicking of fingers from coach to athlete. The ability to focus on relevant cues and to filter out all external noise is critical to execution. Attention describes the process whereby individuals use their senses to perceive what is going on around them. Attention involves taking control of the mind and with clarity, focusing on what is important. This is evident in the video whereby the athlete should maintain focus when performing under pressure. Mental rehearsal is the technique of building of motor skills as well as learning new ones and rehearsing old ones. Mental rehearsal involves the mental repetition of a movement or sequence to increase the mind’s familiarity with the desired motion. It also prepares the body for physical execution as it relies on imagery recalling and mentally performing the skill. It helps the athlete to concentrate and manage and reduce anxiety during performance and if done well enough can replace physical training. It can be used regardless of weather, illness or injury. However it’s difficult for coaches to know what the athlete is thinking, also some players who daydream and lack the drive won’t benefit from mental rehearsal. To help the athlete, and fix the problem there are simple guidelines to follow such as the athlete should be performed in actual environment, should be of total performance or of difficult sessions, should be successful in the mind, actions in imagination should occur at the same rate as actual performance and should also imagine feelings in muscles to provide body with correct pattern for functioning. If the athlete had performed beforehand before the performance his performance would have been a lot better. Visualisation and imagery is different to mental rehearsal as it’s a picture of one aspect of performance in their mind instead of the whole performance. It might be an â€Å"internal† picture from athlete’s point of view or â€Å"external† from the crowd’s perspective. To improve on this, the coach should be positive and say positive things to the athlete to make the athlete think and act positive for a better performance and a better chance of the goal on concentration. Relaxation techniques can help control arousal levels and decrease anxiety, without it athletes may not be able to replicate the training with actual performance due to interfering factors. In relation to the video relaxation can be done before, during or after an event and usually precedes mental imagery, it needs to be practised so it becomes more natural. When athletes become relaxed they’re less worried about results but will focus on performance, this makes the athlete less anxious and more motivated. To improve on a better relaxation technique, sessions should tend to focus on breathing, heaviness and warmth, mental imagery, tension and relaxation of muscles. The factors affecting which affects relaxation are quiet environment, positive attitude, decreased muscle tension and proper procedure. Goal setting can provide motivation, commitment, and direction. It improves both individual and team preparation. In alliance to the video, by having goals, athlete is more motivated and aroused to succeed. Goals with clear aims will provide higher commitment and direction not only can goals redirect an athlete who is unable to see the end result of training, but they can also provide the essential formula for success. As the athlete begins to achieve the goals, the level of motivation will improve. Therefore makes the athlete train harder, which will lead to further achievement. This will lead to improved performance, also anxiety levels will decrease. If the athlete in the film would make goal settings, there would be a better outcome and improve on the performance. Short term goals are goals that can be achieved in a short amount of time, these can be linked to long term goals as checkpoints. In relation to the video the goals should be realistic and provide feedback, discussions should be made to avoid disappointment and feelings of failure. Long term goals are to be achieved over extended period of time. In this case, the video in such goals focus in terms of months and years. It should reflect the end point of training. Behavioural goals affects the athletes behaviour of being punctual to training, control temper, refrain from abusing others. The goals should be specific, observable and modifiable. Guidelines for goal settings includes making it specific, set deadlines, provide feedbacks, make them flexible, challenging but achievable and use short term goals to achieve long term ones. To conclude, Focusing skills, mental rehearsal, visualisation, relaxation and goal setting are ways for athletes to control their anxiety to make strategies to ensure their mental and physical energy is led in the right pathway. An athlete may have uncontrolled anxiety and that can have a negative impact on performance. Caroline Van PDHPE Ms Catton