Motivation
Name and describe the two types of motivation.
Intrinsic: Internal motivations that result from participating in sports. E.g. Enjoyment
Extrinsic: External motivations that result in participation in sport. E.g. Fame/Money
How can playing conditions impact an athlete's self-efficacy?
Playing surface: An athlete may prefer playing on certain surfaces, such as a hockey player being confident on grass vs synthetic surfaces.
Playing Position: A netballer may be more confident playing goal shooter than goal defence.
Define Arousal and what is meant by the inverted U hypothesis.
The degree of stimulation or alertness present in an individual about to perform a given task.
Define anxiety
A negative emotion due to an individual's interpretation of a situation. It's a fear of what might happen or things out of your control.
As a volleyball player serves, they first assess the receiving team's positions and formation before moving their focus to the ball toss and swing. What is the term given to this process?
Shifting Attentional Focus
Which kind of motivation is more powerful?
Intrinsic Motivation
If you were to graph confidence levels and an athlete's associated performance, what would it look like?
Linear increase initially.
Optimal point = 'The Zone'
Past optimal point there is a steeper drop off due to over-confidence worsening performance.
Identify four characteristics each for an over and under aroused athlete.
Over: Tense, jerky movements, decreased concentration, increased mistakes, decreased success rate, anxious
Under: Lethargic, decreased concentration, decreased enthusiasm, increased apathy, easily distracted
How can anxiety actually lead to improved performance/success? Provide 2 explanations.
1) May increase arousal to optimal levels
2) Increase athlete's motivation through fear of failure, judgement or letting others down
Explain the difference between eustress and distress. How does this impact performance?
Eustress: When an athlete's ability meets the task demands and the athlete looks forward to the challenge. This enhances performance.
Distress: When an athlete finds the levels of stress excessive and feels threatened by the demands of the task. This negatively affects performance.
Patty Mills is an Australian basketball player in the NBA. He's 35 years old and has already achieved so much in his career. which kind of motivation is he most likely to possess to still be playing at the elite level?
Intrinsic Motivation: As athletes get older, intrinsic motivation becomes more prevalent as they near the age of retirement. The often aren't earning as much money, however, their love/enjoyment of the sport keeps them in it.
Define the self-fulling prophecy and explain its impact on an athlete's self-confidence.
If an athlete has high expectations, this leads to better performance, which boosts confidence.
Conversely, lower expectations are met with lower performance levels and thus self-confidence decreases.
Explain the influence of skill level on an athlete's goal of reaching the zone of optimal arousal.
As skill level increases, so too does the level of arousal needed to reach the zone of optimal performance. This means that a novice's zone of optimal arousal is lower than that of an intermediate athlete, who in turn is lower than a professional.
What are the two types of anxiety?
Trait anxiety: Relates to the performer's personality and perception of the situation (challenge vs threat). High-trait personality = more anxiety, Low-trait personality = less anxiety
Outline the four stages of the stress process. Link each stage to either personal or situational sources of stress that could impact an athlete.
1) Demands of the situation
2) Athlete's perception
3) Athlete's response
4) Impact on performance
Personal: Personality
Situational: Importance of game, Result uncertainty
Outline the impact of age, skill level and activity type on an athlete's motivation.
Age: Age has little influence on motivation levels. Kids possess both intrinsic (enjoyment) and extrinsic (pressure from parents) factors along with adults (intrinsic - love of the game, extrinsic - fame/recognition)
Skill Level: Amateur athletes are more likely to be intrinsically motivation than professional athletes. Professionals still possess both but may also be driven by money or success.
Activity Type: If an activity is perceived as challenging, a novelty or enjoyable then it's more likely to be intrinsically motivated.
In what order should an athlete progress their training to maximise their self-confidence?
1) Mastery of skills
2) Gameplan/tactics
3) Psychological skills
Identify and explain the correlation between optimum arousal levels and the age of an athlete.
Age has no direct relationship with optimum arousal; however, it is linked to skill level. As a result, we see:
1) Young children are typically less skilled and therefore require lower arousal
2) Adults are typically more skilled and thus require higher arousal
3) Elderly are typically less skilled and require lower arousal
List and describe 4 strategies to decrease arousal.
Meditation, Progressive muscle relaxation, Breathing control, Biofeedback, Stress inoculation training, Autogenic training
Correctly draw and label Nidiffer's model of attention. Provide an example for each classification.
Narrow-Internal: Imagining performing a layup
Narrow-External: Putting in golf
Broad-Internal: Mentally rehearse a gymnastics routine
Broad-External: Running down field, looking for a teammate to kick to
List and describe the 3 components of the self-determination theory.
Autonomy: Self-initiation and self-regulation of one's behaviour. It refers to the degree of choice you have.
Competence: Ability to interact proficiently or effectively with the environment. In other words, are you able to perform the skill at the required level.
Relatedness: People need to feel a sense of belonging by being a part of a group or community. Refers to if you feel like you fit in or belong.
Outline 5 strategies an athlete can use to improve their self-confidence.
1) Performance success
2) Acting Confidently
3) Physically prepared
4) Game trained
5) Positive self-talk
6) Imagery
7) Performance Routines
Explain the difference between optimal arousal in an easy task vs a hard one. Additionally, provide a series of scenarios requiring increasing arousal levels for optimal performance.
Easy = Graph peak is lower arousal, hard = graph peak requires higher arousal.
Example progression: Putting in golf, Volleyball serve, Rugby tackle, Bench press
List and describe 5 strategies to increase arousal.
How is concentration influenced by age, skill level and activity type? Provide examples.
Age: Young children are less able to pay attention over time (lose focus). E.g. Toddlers can only focus on short, quick instructions.
Skill Level: As experience increases, athletes can focus on more cues/stimuli at one time. Inexperienced athletes are more likely to become distracted by external factors. E.g. Basketball dribbler watching defenders
Activity Type: Concentration requirements vary according to the demands of the task and role in a team (E.g. Midfielder vs goalkeeper). Concentration varies according to whether we find the activity enjoyable or intrinsically motivating.