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Psychological Skills Training. What is it?. Consistent practice of mental skills to enhance performance. How is it used?. Takes ideas from mainstream psychology and applies them to performance Creates an edge for those that practice them. Consider.
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What is it? Consistent practice of mental skills to enhance performance.
How is it used? Takes ideas from mainstream psychology and applies them to performance Creates an edge for those that practice them.
Consider • How much time do you spend physically training for competition? • How much time do you spend mentally training for competition?
Psychological factors account primarily for day-to-day fluctuations in performance.
Elite Athletes have: Higher confidence Greater self-regulation of arousal Better communication More positive thoughts and images More determination or commitment
Mental Toughness Mental resilience Ability to focus, cope with pressure, rebound from failure, and persist in the face of adversity
4 C’s of Mental Toughness Control- feel like you exert an influence on the situation Commitment-take an active role Challenge- change as an opportunity to grow, not a threat Confidence- sense of self-belief
Confidence Building • Creating a strong sense of belief in self
Attention or Concentration • Focusing on the most important things
Goal-Setting (Commitment) • Working toward what you really want
Imagery and Positive Self-Talk • Think good thoughts, do good things
Arousal Regulation • Not being overly excited or unexcited
Definition of Self-Confidence Belief that you can successfully perform a desired behavior
Confidence is mainly the result of • Expectations • Of self • From others • Remember the self-fulfilling prophecy? • Efficacy- the perceived ability to perform a task • Comes mostly through achievements
Tips for Building Self-Confidence Act confidently (Fake it until you make it) Think confidently (Positive self-talk) Use imagery Set realistic goals Train for physical conditions of sport Mentally prepare Ensure performance accomplishments using simulation training
Simulation Training A way to practice coping with stressful situations in sport
Steps to Simulation Training • Determine a specific weakness for your sport • Psychological, not physical • Example: In dance, losing confidence and falling out of turns. • Example: In tennis, losing focus after “giving up” the first point. • Come up with a way to practice being in that situation • Practice
Definition • Where you place your attention
Differences Novices Make slower decisions Do not anticipate future events Cannot choose what to pay attention to Unable to search systematically for cues Experts • Usually absorbed in the present • High degree of control • Being aware of internal environment (what you are doing) and external environment (what is happening)
Self-Talk • What you say to yourself • Can be positive, negative, or instructional • Event Positive Self-Talk Positive Response • Event Negative Self-Talk Negative Response
Rules for using Self-Talk Keep phrases short and specific Use first person and present tense Construct positive phrases Say your phrases with meaning and attention Speak kindly to self Repeat phrases often
External-narrow • A person directs attention outward to a specific object in the environment • Ex: golfers focusing on lining up a putt
External-Broad • A person is attending to several things in the environment simultaneously • Ex: football or hockey
Internal-narrow • Person is focused on thoughts or feelings at a specific moment • Ex: baseball player at bat thinking “I can’t miss” while not focusing on the environment
Internal-broad • A person creates plans, strategies, or conceptualizes games • Multiple feelings at once • Ex: any sport, but takes practice
Attention Blindness • Not recognizing something that is right in front of you
Flow • A mental state of operation in which a person performing an activity is fully immerse in a feeling of energized focused • Developed by MihalyCsikszentmihalyi (positive psychologist) • Other terms include: • In the moment • In the zone • On a roll • Wired in • In the groove • On fire • In tune • Centered • Singularly focused
Components of Flow • Intense and focused concentration (on the present moment) • Merging of action and awareness • A loss of reflective self-consciousness • A sense of personal control or agency over the situation • A distortion of temporal experience • Subjective experience of time is altered • Activity is intrinsically rewarding • All together these comprise flow
Mechanism • People can focus on about 126 bits of information per second • Most taken up by simple daily tasks • Conversation takes 40 bits (1/3 capacity) • People generally decide what to focus on • In flow, people lose awareness of everything but the task • All the bits of information are used up
Conditions • One must be involved in an activity with a clear set of goals and progress. • Adds direction and structure to the task • The task at hand must have clear and immediate feedback. • Allows person to adjust from moment to moment to stay in the flow state • One must have a good balance between the perceived challenges of the task at hand and his or her perceived skills.
Need to have a definite end • Non-example: Be a better at basketball • Example: Have 75% accuracy when shooting free-throws S- Specific
Need to have a way to tell if progress has been made • Non-example: I want to be a better student • Example: I want to improve my GPA by .2 points M- Measurable
Need to use action words to describe • Non-example: I want to be happier. • Example: I want to think about five more positive things a day. A- Action-based
Need to be able to be reached • Non-example: I want to earn $1 million by Christmas • Example: I want to earn $500 working a seasonal job by Christmas R- Realistic
Goals should be achievable in a reasonable amount of time • Non-example: I want to be a millionaire some day. • Example: I want to save up enough money for my first year of college by the end of the school year. T- Timely
A goal based on the end result • Example: I want to beat the other team • Example: I want to run the race the fastest Outcome
A goal based on personal achievement • Example: I want to run a personal best time. • Example: I want to score a goal. Performance