Performance psychology
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Performance psychology aims to enhance athletic performance through understanding personality, motivation, and managing arousal. It involves counseling to create a positive experience and applying mental training techniques. Key areas of focus include understanding the participant and their traits/motivation, understanding the performance environment and group dynamics, enhancing performance through goal-setting and managing anxiety, and fostering personal development including maintaining balance.
Performance psychology
- 1. Mindwalk: Mental Skills for High Performance Dan G. Tripps, Ph.D. High Performance Director POTENTR x Health & Performance Services
- 2. PERFORMANCE PSYCHOLOGY Purpose The purpose of performance psychology is to counsel coaches and performers toward a positive experience, and to apply mental training techniques to enhance performance. Performance psychology includes five major areas: 1. Understanding the participant 2. Understanding the performance environment 3. Understanding group dynamics 4. Enhancing performance 5. Fostering personal development
- 3. UNDERSTANDING THE PARTICIPANT Personality Psychologists distinguish personality trait – a typical style of behaving – from personality state – a situational style of behaving. An individual may posses a predisposition to being highly anxious (trait anxiety) but one may not actually display anxiety in a specific circumstance (state anxiety). Inventories enable psychologists to identify personality traits and states which allows coaches to understand performers and develop appropriate expectations.
- 4. UNDERSTANDING THE PARTICIPANT Personality Traits of High Performers The highest-scoring personality traits of high performers 1. Risk-taking – low safety; high excitement and challenge 2. Stimulus-seeking – chronic activation rewarded by risks 3. Competitive – focus on achieving, succeeding 4. Confident – belief in ability to be successful in activity 5. Attentional – attend to cues in an effective manner 6. Expectant – environment is not threatening 7. Mentally tough – sustain high performance under pressure 8. Self-controlled – calm in tense and stressful situations
- 5. UNDERSTANDING THE PARTICIPANT Motivation Motivation is the direction and intensity of effort. 1. Direction is whether an individual seeks out, approaches, or is attracted to certain situations. 2. Intensity refers to how much effort the individual puts forth in a given situation. In performance, termed achievement motivation, it is defined as a person’s effort to master a task, achieve excellence, overcome obstacles, perform better than others, or take pride in displaying a given talent.
- 6. UNDERSTANDING THE PARTICIPANT Achievement Motivation Achievement motivation is dependent on 1. Personality – traits for achieving success and avoiding failure (confidence, pride, emotional stability) 2. Situation – probability for success in the given context and the incentive value of that success 3. Orientation – comparing self with and defeating others (outcome orientation) or improving self relative to past performance (task orientation) 4. Efficacy – feeling of being worthy or competent and possessing sense of control over ability to learn and perform
- 7. UNDERSTANDING THE PARTICIPANT Motivational Profile Factor High Achiever Low Achiever Orientation Achieve success Avoid failure Goals Process & Performance Outcome Perceptions Hi competence/control Low competence/control Tasks Challenging Easy or impossible Scrutiny Good under evaluation Poor under evaluation Focus Perseverance and pride Immediacy and shame
- 8. UNDERSTANDING THE PARTICIPANT Feedback Feedback is the strategy of presenting information regarding the correctness (or incorrectness) of a performer’s actions and, when given contingent on a specific behavior as opposed to general or vague remarks, enhances motivation.
- 9. UNDERSTANDING THE PARTICIPANT Reinforcement Reinforcement is the use of rewards and punishments that increase or decrease the likelihood of a similar response to a given situation. Reinforcements should include mental, intrapersonal, and training behaviors, and should be repeated and positive during initial stages of training; intermittent positive and negative during later stages of training.
- 10. UNDERSTANDING THE PARTICIPANT Extrinsic and Intrinsic Motivation Rewards performers receive from others are extrinsic . Rewards arising from the inside self are intrinsic. Effective extrinsic rewards occur in four categories 1. Social – praise, publicity 2. Tangible – trophies, medals, 3. Competitive – travel with team, day of rest 4. Special – party, meet celebrity Intrinsic rewards arise though 1. Knowledge (pleasure/satisfaction of exploring/learning) 2. Improvement (pleasure/satisfaction of mastery) 3. Stimulation (pleasure/satisfaction of the experience itself)
- 11. UNDERSTANDING THE PARTICIPANT Correlates of Intrinsic Motivation Increased or prolonged extrinsic rewards tend to reduce intrinsic motivation. Success tends to increase intrinsic motivation while failure tends to decrease intrinsic motivation. Positive feedback tends to increase intrinsic motivation while negative feedback tends to decrease intrinsic motivation.
- 12. UNDERSTANDING THE PARTICIPANT Increasing Intrinsic Motivation Intrinsic motivation increases through the following actions 1. Successful experiences 2. Realistic performance goals 3. Rewards issued contingent on performance 4. Varied training content and sequence 5. Participant decision-making 6. Positive reinforcement
- 13. UNDERSTANDING THE PARTICIPANT Coaching Correctly Effective coaching focuses on rewarding desirable behavior rather than focusing on punishing undesirable behavior. Performers that work under effective coaches like themselves better and enjoy their experience more.
- 14. UNDERSTANDING THE SPORT ENVIRONMENT Competition Competition is a process that occurs when rewards are given to people based on how their performances compare with performances of those doing the same task. Competitiveness is an enjoyment of competition and desire to strive for success in competitive settings.
- 15. UNDERSTANDING THE SPORT ENVIRONMENT Competitive Orientation Outcome orientation – a focus on interpersonal comparison and winning in competition such that it is more important to beat opponents than to improve on personal excellence Task orientation – a focus on personal performance standards such that it is more important to improve one’s own performance than to win a competition Elite performers are highly competitive and tend to be goal oriented rather than win oriented.
- 16. ENHANCING PERFORMANCE Setting Goals A goal articulates what one wishes to obtain. Goals serve as a cognitive dimension of motivation by 1. Focusing attention on the task 2. Mobilizing effort 3. Increasing long-term persistence 4. Promoting new learning strategies Characteristics of a good goal include 1. Specificity – specific goals better than general ones 2. Measurability – recorded, monitored, measurable terms 3. Attainability – difficult goals better than easy or vague 4. Adoption – goals must be accepted by performer
- 17. ENHANCING PERFORMANCE Types of Goals There are three types of goals 1. Outcome – focus on a result 2. Performance – focus on a standard needed for outcome 3. Process – focus on prerequisites of standard Process goals are particularly effective in positively influencing cognitive anxiety, confidence and efficacy. Using a combination of all three goals facilitates high performance.
- 18. ENHANCING PERFORMANCE Attentionality Attentionality is the ability to ignore irrelevant information and pay selective attention to relevant information. Attentionality functions in four ways 1. narrowing – select relevant cues from among many 2. broadening – expand number of relevant cues 3. internal – use proprioceptive information 4. external – use exteroceptive information Attentionality is also used to combat negative thoughts and doubt through process called centering.
- 19. ENHANCING PERFORMANCE Using Mental Pictures The brain cannot distinguish real from imaginary so images can be used to provide practice, elaboration, intensification of skills. Imagery benefits elite performers more than beginners and is most effective for activities with cognitive component. Imagery is classified as 1. Internal (within own body, feel performances) 2. External (outside own body, watch performance) Internal is superior to external because it creates greater muscle electrical stimulation but is more difficult to engage.
- 20. ENHANCING PERFORMANCE Arousal and Anxiety Arousal is a blend of physiological and psychological activity and refers to the intensity dimension of motivation at a particular moment varying from no arousal (comatose) to entirely aroused (frenzied). Anxiety is a form of arousal in the form of a negative emotional state characterized by nervousness, worry, and apprehension (cognitive anxiety) associated with physiological activation of the body (somatic anxiety).
- 21. ENHANCING PERFORMANCE Sources of Anxiety The main competitive sources of anxiety are 1. Worry about performing up to capability or making team 2. Doubt about talent, low confidence or self-esteem 3. Importance of event or event situation 4. Uncertainty of outcome 5. Fear of injury or recovery from injury 6. Discomfort with coaching communication 7. Time and social demands of training
- 22. ENHANCING PERFORMANCE Trait and State Anxiety Trait anxiety is part of personality, an acquired behavioral tendency that predisposes an individual to perceive as threatening a circumstance that is not actually dangerous physically or psychologically. State anxiety refers to the ever changing mood component during the course of a particular competition or during different competitive environments. A direct relationship exists between a person’s level of trait anxiety and state anxiety but the relationship can be altered by learning coping skills to reduce the state anxiety
- 23. ENHANCING PERFORMANCE Relationship of Arousal and Performance Drive model – As an individual’s arousal or state anxiety increases so does level of performance. Inverted-U model – At low arousal levels, performance will be below par but as arousal increases, so does performance up to an optimal point where best performance results and further increase in arousal cause performance to decline.
- 24. ENHANCING PERFORMANCE Managing Arousal Inappropriate level of state anxiety reduces performance 1. Increased muscle tension that interferes with coordination 2. Decreased frequency of environmental scanning and focus on inappropriate cues To address these problems, athletes must 1. Recognize some level of arousal and anxiety is needed for peak performance 2. Find the optimal level of somatic and cognitive state anxiety for sport and ability 3. Manage shifts in state anxiety through confidence, perception of control, self-talk, and visualization
- 25. ENHANCING PERFORMANCE Reducing Arousal Techniques to lower arousal level include four components 1. Mental device such as deep breathing 2. Passive attitude 3. Decreased muscle tonus 4. Quiet environment Positive self talk to mitigate doubt occurs in three forms 1. Task – “drive into opponent” 2. Mood – “push, I can do it” 3. Affirmation – “I feel strong today”
- 26. ENHANCING PERFORMANCE Increasing Arousal Psyching-up to increase arousal level is essential for gross motor activities involving strength, endurance, and speed. Psyching-up occurs most readily through 1. Pep talks 2. Personal support 3. Signs and messages 4. Music
- 27. ENHANCING PERFORMANCE Confidence and Efficacy Confidence is a realistic expectation about success as result of previous experience. Efficacy the knowledge one has the power to produce the intended results. The degree of efficacy determines whether one approaches or avoids an achievement situation. Performers who possess high degree of efficacy enter competitive situations with confidence and lower state anxiety and thus achieve high performance.
- 28. ENHANCING PERFORMANCE The Role of the Coach in Developing Confidence Building efficacy and confidence as a coach requires 1. Articulating high, positive expectations 2. Ensuring early athlete success 3. Offering positive feedback 4. Maintaining positive pre-competitive environment 5. Teaching skills and strategies 6. Behaving as a good role model 7. Making accurate causal attributions
- 29. ENHANCING PERFORMANCE The Role of the Performer in Developing Confidence Building efficacy and confidence as the athlete requires 1. Emulating positive role models 2. Using cognitive strategies (self-talk, imagery, etc.) 3. Reflecting on previous successes 4. Interpreting anxiety as invested readiness not fear 5. Being competitively ready at the right moment 6. Having fun 7. Knowing an opponent’s strengths and weaknesses
- 30. ENHANCING PERFORMANCE Ego and Arrogance Ego is the desire to be seen in the process of doing something important and/or remarkable, the desire to call attention to one’s self and one’s accomplishment. There are two levels of ego 1. Public ego is nourished by acclaim and allows individuals to perceive themselves as superior to others and derive pleasure in the praise and in the perceived distinction. 2. Private ego is nourished by personal victory and pushes individuals to constantly better themselves and overcome the obstacles in their path toward achievement.
- 31. FOSTERING PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT Balance High performers are busy achieving because they are not happy with life the way it is, they are not content. Pursuing their passions defines what it means to be alive. The self-centered nature of achievement can make one completely obsessed with self and the achievement. Part of achievement is learning how to understand what is really important which requires perspective, placing the achiever and the achievement in context.