SPORT PSYCHOLOGY:Some Research Findings, Arousal level

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Introduction to Psychology PSY101

Lesson 44

SPORT PSYCHOLOGY

Have You Ever Thought About These Issues?

Why don't cricketers show a consistent performance?

Why do they come back to the pavilion when we expected them to make a century?

Why do sportsmen end up with a sprain or a pulled muscle when they had to play a crucial

match?

Why do spectators cheer up their favorite teem and hoot the other one? Why do some players

become aggressive, agitated. Irritable, and even refuse to play when hooted or teased by the

crowd?

The answers to these questions may be found in sport psychology.

Sport Psychology

· Exercise and sport psychology is Division 47 of APA.

· The branch of psychology that studies, understands, describes, and predicts the impact of

psychological variables on athletic and sport performance.

Sport psychology is the application of the principles, knowledge, training, and understanding of psychology for the understanding

of factors affecting sport performance, with an aim to improve it, and to make the sportspersons feel stronger and more confident.

"The application of psychological principles to sport and physical activity at all levels of skill

development" (Brown an Mahoney, 1984).

History of Sport Psychology

Although man was always interested in sports, in improving sport performance, in sport

training, and in negatively affecting the performance of the opponent's team, the history of

scientific research is not very old.

Research in psychological aspects of sport originated in Europe and then flourished in the U.S.

The earliest proper sport research was reported by Norman Triplett in 1897.

He analyzed the performance of cyclists under conditions of social facilitations.

For this purpose he used field observation and secondary data.

He reported from his research that the presence of other competitors could facilitate better

cycling performance.

Coleman Roberts Griffith

· Known as the father of Sport psychology in North America.

· He established the first sport psychology laboratory at the University of Illinois in 1925.

· He studied the nature of psychomotor skills, motor learning, and the relationship between

personality variables and physical performance.

The formative years of Sport psychology

The period from 1950 to 1980 is considered as the formative years of sport psychology.

Sport psychology emerged as a separate discipline distinct from exercise physiology and motor

learning.

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The Subject Matter of Sport Psychology

Education

Training

Research

Sport performance

Psychological Characteristics of Athletes

One of the areas of special interest to the sport psychologists is the study of personality

characteristics of athletes and sportspersons.

One could predict sport performance and choose good athletes if one knew the psychological

indicators of sport performance

One has to be clear about the different connotations of the words `athletes' and `sportsmen'.

Although the two terms are used differently in everyday life vocabulary, to a sport psychologist

these two do not mean much different.

Some Research Findings

· Although not very strong empirical evidence is available on this issue, some interesting facts

are available in research literature.

As compared to the non athletes, the athletes usually score higher on tests of: assertion

Dominance

Aggression, and

Need for achievement

Athletes score lower on

Anxiety level

Depression, and

Fatigue.

These findings stand truer when the athletes are at a high skill level.

Athletes in some sports e.g. hockey and football are more tolerant of pain as compared to

athletes in other sports e.g. bowling or golf.

But there is some evidence suggesting that the pain tolerance may be an outcome of an

athlete's success rather than a cause.

Enhancing and Maximizing Sport Performance

One of the major tasks of a sport psychologist is to assist the trainers, the coaches, and the

team managers as well as the sportspersons themselves in raising the level of performance.

In this regard, a major portion of research evidence pertains to the arousal level of the

sportsperson.

Sport psychologists have also worked in the following areas:

Enhancing motivation

Learning relaxation techniques

Stress management

Pain control and management

Overcoming anxiety

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· Enhancing stamina

· Improving performance

Arousal level

· Sport psychology suggests that sport performance can be improved by manipulating arousal

level of the

one playing in the field.

Arousal level has been found to be related with motivation of the sportsperson.

A certain level of arousal is good, in fact essential, for sport performance and competition.

However, too much or too little arousal has negative effects.

What is Arousal?

Arousal is a neutral physiological phenomenon or state accompanied by:

Increased heart rate

Elevated Blood pressure

Rapid respiration

Increased metabolism

More than usual hormone secretion

The state of arousal is an active sympathetic nervous system (SNS) state.

It is like a fight or flight response.

How much Arousal is Good for Sport Performance?

· Although no standard can be fixed for it, research shows that different levels of arousal may be

involved in optimal performance on different tasks.

According to Cox (1990):

· Making a long putt in golf requires a low level of arousal,

· Blocking a shot in volley ball requires a slightly higher level,

· Making a tackle in football an even higher level, and

· A bench press in weight lifting requires a very high level of arousal.

Arousal Level and the Role of a Sport psychologist

A sport psychologist makes the sportspersons aware of, and sensitive to, their arousal level.

They are trained to maintain arousal at a certain appropriate level in a manner that the task

being performed remains concentrated upon.

The knowledge of biofeedback is applied here.

They are trained in being sensitive to arousal related indicators e.g. blood pressure, respiration

rate, heart and pulse rate, muscle tension etc.

There is abundant evidence available that suggests, and that has proved, that human beings

can gain control over even their involuntary functions.

Mental Practice: Helping sportspersons give "Peak Performance"

Sport psychologists have devised strategies for helping athletes and others in reaching and

maintaining peak performance.

Research suggests that mental practice involving "imagery "accompanied by actual physical

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practice is helpful in learning skills, improving and maintaining performance.

Mental Practice and Sport Performance

Rehearsing the task mentally, imagining one's self in the actual field.

Functions of Mental Practice

The task at hand is rehearsed mentally. This provides a vivid image of the scenario to occur

later.

Negative thoughts that may interfere with performance are reduced.

The sportsperson can rehearse his/her part in a team sport.

It helps in setting realistic goals.

The Phenomenon of Home Field Advantage

· It is a common observation that athletes and sportspersons perform better and are more

relaxed when playing in home ground.

Psychological research does not provide a 100% solid support to this observation.

Mixed findings are available in this regard.

Research has shown that frenzied, yelling, screaming hometown fans may raise arousal levels

of the home team beyond the point of maximum efficiency.

This reveals the negative effects of playing on the home ground.

One possible fallout may be that the athletes feel more under pressure as they feel they are

expected to perform at their best, and no one is going to forgive a mistake.

According to Mahoney, while commenting on Olympic athletes:

"At this level of competition the different between two athletes is 20 percent physical and 80

percent mental".

Mental practice can help overcome this problem.

Other strategies used by sport psychologists

Overcoming self consciousness

The same tactics as those used for assertiveness training are used.

Principles of learning and sport performance

· Operant conditioning approach involving positive reinforcement is effective in raising

motivation to performance at peak level.

In learning a sport observational learning is most beneficial.

Vicarious learning can take place through direct, live observation, or through video recordings.

Stress management and overcoming anxiety

Relaxation techniques

Good nutrition

Developing optimism through cognitive interventions

Self Talk

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