Performance Appreciation Revision

1. Performance Appreciation Revision Key Concept 3 – Mental Factors Influencing Performance

2. Higher Paper 2007 Question 2(a): • Discuss the positive and negative influence of mental factors on performance. (4 marks) • What would you discuss? • List areas you would cover

3. Key Feature 1 - The importance of managing emotions and mental state – before/during/after performance • Control of aggression/emotions, • Anxiety control + state of arousal • Maintaining Motivation – intrinsic/extrinsic, • Confidence • Concentration throughout performance • Coping with stress. • Codes of conduct (rules/etiquette)

4. Level of Arousal • Definition (1): Arousal is the level of activity of the central nervous system that is influenced by various factors including physical activity, excitement, and anxiety. • Definition (2): A state of mind and 'readiness' to perform well. • In sport and physical activities a performers goal is to reach an ‘optimum’ (Peak) level of arousal for their activity. • This optimal level of arousal depends on demands of the activity • Anxiety is a negative emotional state that leads to mental doubts about how well you are going to do and will often result in poor performance.

5. Level of Arousal - Badminton In relation to DEMANDS

6. Level of Arousal - Badminton • There is a need to manage your level of arousal so that you stay in control of your emotions. • For some activities level of arousal needs to be high (low accuracy and all power) e.g. Shot Putt • For badminton, there is a need to manage your level of arousal to be a ‘happy medium’ – trade off between power and accuracy. • Level of arousal can be too low, where performers are not ready, confident or prepared for their performance. • Level of arousal can be too high, where emotions, adrenaline and excitement are too much and can cause nervousness and errors.

7. Positive impacts on performance by mental factors By increasing state of arousal, performance can be improved in the following ways: • Perform at maximum potential level • Handle pressure of competition • Consistent application of skill throughout performance • Higher levels of confidence – ‘attack performance’ • Perform with more determination – ‘sustain the performance for longer’ • Heighten concentration – focus more on task

8. Negative impacts on performance by mental factors With a feeling of anxiety before and during performance, it can negatively impact performance in the following ways • Feeling of defeat before participating • Overconfidence (Cockiness Jak!) resulting in a loss of focus • Lack of control causing erratic results • Poor decision making due to apprehension • Lack of commitment to effective preparation • Aggression / rule breaking in performance

9. Mental Factors important in Badminton: Motivation • Motivation is vital to perform at your best in all physical activity. If you are not motivated to do well, the chances are you will not perform to your best. • Intrinsic Motivation: • Intrinsic motivation is the individual desire and willto succeed, to improve and to perform at a higher standard. • Extrinsic Motivation: • Extrinsic motivation is motivation from money, trophies or praise.

10. Mental Factors important in Badminton: Concentration • Definition: Concentration is the ability to focus on the task at hand. • A lack of concentration would be detrimental to performance. • If you lose concentration you will miss cue’s from your opponent about where they are going to play the shuttle • During a competitive match you must concentrate on your opponents' actions and movements to try and identify areas of weakness. • Concentration is especially important at the start of the match (to not fall far behind) and later in the match when the points become more important to decide who will win each game.

11. Mental Factors important in Badminton: Confidence • Definition: being certain and believing that you will perform to the best of your ability by making effective decisions at the right time. • High confidence levels are vital to keep up accuracy and consistency. • Needed for an ‘attack’ mentality to go and win the game, not wait for opponent mistakes. • To use wide repertoire of skills, Flair, creativity, disguise… • If a performer's confidence drops or they become anxious it can lead to mistakes, negativity and poor decision-making.

12. Codes of Conduct • Definition: a set of expectations on how its members should act in particular situations within the activity. • Code of Conduct in Badminton: • Start of game? • Fluke a shot? • Behaviour during a game? • Clothes I wear? • End of game?

13. Key Feature 2 • The importance of examining different methods available to improve managing emotions, mental state, for example: • Imagery/visualisation • Deep breathing/ relaxation techniques • Self-Talk • Rehearsal.

14. Imagery/Visualisation • http://youtu.be/tDsVqhYX5xY • Description: • Imagine a time you performed to your best, how did you prepare for this performance? How did you feel? • Imagining the shuttle hitting the lines of the court and see yourself playing good shots in your head. • Feel/ run through the shots using small motions in your arms (like the ice hockey player!) • Imagining you successfully performing a smash/ overhead clear/ dropshot. • Benefits: • Increases confidence and focus on your performance. • Reduces nerves and anxiety before performance. • Practise the action of the skill in your head without getting tired/fatigue.

15. Deep Breathing • Deep breathing helps to reduce anxiety • Slows down heart rate and breathing rate to calm yourself down • Reduces wasting energy on nervous traits such as pacing/shaking • Can reduce shaking of body parts which could lead to poor control of delicate shots e.g. net shots/ drop shot/ short serve. • Used either prior to stressful occasion e.g. final in badminton tournament or in a close game before serving for a winning point.

16. Self-Talk • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0xy3WRe88Wk importance of positive self-talk • Self-talk in practise: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8_RfK2rp2To • Positive word/phrase to help you focus on technical point of skill and manage emotions. • Negative self-talk is common and can lead to you giving up mentally before match/event. • What words could you use in badminton to perform different skills well and increase focus? • Smash – “down”, OH Clear – “snap”, net shot “lunge”

17. Pre-Performance Routines • Pre-performance routines are common amongst top athletes: • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=scn8kOG19x4 rugby kickers • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mttHlV1WjMk Basketball free throw • Used to calm nervous and associated closely with success to increase confidence, consistency and concentration (get in the zone!) • Focus on the success of the shot rather than technical points as too much thought on technical factors can put you off performance. • Often used before closed-skills where you have maximum control (e.g. Serve in badminton, free throws in basketball, penalty kick in football) • Can use a combination of self-talk/imagery/visualisation for this.

18. Task (15 minutes) • For both questions bullet point how you would answer each. • Think about breaking down the question into different parts and consider how much detail you would need for each section. • Higher Exam 2007 • Question 1 (B): • Mental factors can influence your performance. Explain how you were able to manage your emotions and mental state for a performance in your selected activity (4 marks) • Higher Exam 2008 Question 2(B): • Select a mental factor that had a negative effect on your performance. What method(s) did you use to overcome this difficulty? Why was the method(s) appropriate? (6 marks)