postive feedback 5

28 May postive feedback 5

Part 1

It is important for athletes to have multiple coping strategies so they can perform at their best. There are a lot of different strategies but I will be looking into 5 of the coping strategies. Goal setting, increased effort, relaxation, asking for help with strategies and Meditation.

Goal Setting : Goal setting is a type of problem focused coping where the athletes focus is on altering or managing the cause of stress. Goal setting is a great way of coping because of the confidence is can bring an athlete as they start to achieve and grow closer to their goals.

Increased effort :  Increased effort is a type of problem focused coping where the athletes focus is on altering or managing the cause of stress. Focusing on effort is essential for athletes success. When an athlete focuses on the outcome of an event or situation they can get caught up in the negative emotions that come when things that are out of there control don’t go their way (referee making bad call, weather, etc.). But the athlete can always control the effort that they give and this can help them with a feeling of accomplishment if they choose to always give 100 percent effort.

Relaxation : Relaxation is a type of emotion focusing coping strategy where the athlete regulates emotional responses to the problem causing stress. When an athlete finds the perfect balance of relaxation and focus, that is when they perform at their best.

Asking for help with strategies : Asking for help with strategies is a form of social support coping where athletes look for help from others (coaches, teammates, etc.) for emotional and or strategic help. I think realizing that you can not accomplish things on your own is the first step to striving towards a goal. Other people can always help you see situations from a different light or simply help you learn something you didn’t know.

Meditation : Meditation is a type of emotion focusing coping strategy where the athlete regulates emotional responses to the problem causing stress. Meditation can be a great practice to slow down heart rate and get the athlete into a relaxing state of mind.

My favorite one is Asking for help with strategies because of the relationships this can build. It is so important to build relationships in this life and striving towards athletic goals is a great way to do this. I love seeing two or more people sharing information and helping one another improve on their skills and techniques.

Part 2

Class,

For this week, I want to discuss maintaining a positive attitude, goal setting, positive self-talk, managing anxiety and managing emotions.

Our attitudes are one of the few things we can always control. When we choose to have a positive attitude, we learn something from every type of situation, are more lenient with ourselves when we make mistakes, and keep in mind that progress comes before perfection. It also makes working with others much easier, and in turn, makes people want to work with you.

Goal setting is super important because it keeps us motivated, it’s a type of reward that we set for ourselves as payment for all out hard work. For athletes (everyone really), it’s important to have goals that will challenge you but at the same time, aren’t impossible to accomplish. Goals also allows athletes to see where they are, and how far they’ve come in the progression of their sport.

Having positive self talk is very important, and the easiest way to describe it is: talk to yourself like you would talk to someone you love. Upset about missing a goal in your last soccer game? Imagine your best friend venting to you about their mistake, how would you respond to them? That’s how you should be talking to yourself.

Anxiety management is a tool everyone can use.  The model I liked best for managing anxiety is the cognitive model, relaxing the mind, then relaxing the body. In stressful situations, you would be surprised at how much stopping to take a few deep breaths can help you relax. It will help clear your mind and lower your heart rate. Like we learned in the lesson, most sports are at lest 50% mental…so if you have a calm mind, your body will follow. There’s a balance between having a little anxiety that helps and athlete start on their toes, and having too much, which can cause an athlete to not perform as well as they would like.

Managing emotions can be difficult. Athletes will experience a melee of emotions in their careers, good and bad. Not only is that part of playing sports, it’s part of being human. Helping manage anxiety and using positive self-talk could help with managing emotions. It’s important to remember that emotions are temporary, and learning how an athlete responds when they feel a specific emotion could help them harness their emotions in a positive way.

I believe that in my environment, trying to keep a positive attitude is super important. To try and help my attitude, I use positive self talk,”it’s going to be a good day today” “At least I’m not on a boat anymore” “its almost the weekend”, things like that. I work with only 7 other people closely, so if we have bad attitudes, it rubs off on the whole group and makes every situation harder. Sometimes there are days that are just harder than others, but *usually* keeping a positive attitude isn’t too hard, and if nothing else, it helps me stress less throughout the day.

Part 3

Coping strategies used are self-talk, imagery, muscular relaxation, goal-setting, planning.

Imagery is a form of cognitive restructuring. The idea is that athletes “re-interpret previous negative experiences by seeing the ‘silver lining’ in the cloud.”  (Shaw, 2005, p. 378). Research has found that imagery can build confidence, motivation and decrease state anxiety levels before and during a game (Shaw, 2005).   It is important the psychologist ensures the athlete sees competition in a positive light, by thinking of something difficult as a challenge rather than a threat to performance.

Self-talk is often used to motivate and enhance confidence levels in athletes prior to or during a sporting situation (Hall, 2009). Much research has focused on the comparisons between positive and negative self-talk. A series of studies have found that positive self-talk “enhances performance through increases in confidence and anxiety control.” (Hamilton, 2007, p. 227). Whereas negative self-talk is viewed as being inappropriate and counterproductive (Shaw, 2005).

Progressive muscle relaxation techniques are used to help lower cognitive and state anxiety levels in athletes (Navaneethan, 2010). Research has concluded that this training method can be implemented to decrease competitive anxiety; thus increasing athletic performance (Shaw, 2005). Navaneethan suggests practitioners should target a muscle group that is primarily linked to a specific sport. For example: the arms in golf, the legs in cycling.

Goal setting is important for elite athletes because it measures one performance level and gives a strategic plan for better performance. The goals are used for accomplishments and motivation for an athlete. Without goals the athlete would just be playing the sport for the heck of it which as an professional elite athlete you want to leave a legacy and accomplish or set your own records.

Planning is important for an elite athlete because it involves game prep and establishment of a agenda to follow for competitive nature. Every elite athlete has a game plan or strategic plan in place for every event. Without one it will be very hard to compete against other and you would have to feel your way around during play to get settled.

The most important coping strategies for me would be  planning ahead of time so I can always have something constructed to follow whether its watching film or exploiting others weaknesses during play to an advantage standpoint. The other would be Imagery visualizing a form,pose, or positioning in a sport so i can move how i want at any given moment. For example: shooting a free throw with your eyes closed.

References

Hamilton, R., Scott. D., &. Macdougall, M., 2007. Assessing the effectiveness of Self-Talk interventions on endurance performance. Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, Issue 19, pp. 226-239.

Navaneethan, B. &. Soundara, R., 2010. Effect of progressive muscle relaxation training on competitive anxiety of male inter-collegiate volleyball players. Research Journal of Physical Education & Sports Science, pp. 45-57.

Shaw, D. Gorely, T. &. Corban, R., 2005. Sport and exercise psychology. s.l.:s.n.

Hall, C., Munroe-Chandler. K.,. Cumming, J. &. Law. B., 2009. Imagery use and observational learning use and their relationship to sport confidence. Journal of sport sciences, 4(27), pp. 327-337.