Using a framework to inform practice
Mental skills training has developed from the necessity of the athlete to learn more about their individual mental life to allow a degree of control in co-ordinating effective movement through various psychological states of performance (Martens, 1987; Rushall, 1992). Most mental skills training can be placed into one of two categories, somatic and cognitive methods. Somatic methods include biofeedback, progressive muscle relaxation and meditation. Cognitive methods include metal rehearsal, visualisation and imagery and cognitive behaviour therapy (Behncke, 2004). Research has shown that psychological skills training can be highly effective in enhancing athletes’ performance and positively influencing cognitive and affective states (Williams & Krane, 2001).
A sport psychologist will use an applied framework when working with a professional athlete in order to aid the development of a mental skills training programme and to take the appropriate steps in assessment of an athlete. The use of a framework gives the user a step by step method for a psychological assessment for their athletes given discipline and can help to provide an accurate psychological skill assessment and subsequent evaluation. It can help a sport phycologist to educate an athlete in the appropriate training methods so that future regulation can be self-managed. As mental skills training can be very thorough, it is important to operate within a comprehensive framework.
Throughout this project, the psychological framework used by the sport psychologist will be an adapted version of the model found in Weinberg and Williams (2010), ‘Integrating and implementing a psychological skills training programme’. Within this, seven distinct phases can be identified. The framework begins with three stages of identification, this involves speaking with the athlete, basic identification of their needs and current state in terms of level played, desired performance goals and an analysis of their sporting needs both on an individual level and also that on a general sporting basis. Next, stage four, is the needs assessment, this generally consists of a more detailed interview, conducting an assessment of their current psychological state by carrying out different written tests or by observing the athlete in both training and game situations to assess how they react to specific stressful situations. Within stages five and six, the psychologist will then begin to develop and implement a psychological skills training package for the athlete based on the information gathered over the needs assessment phase. Finally, the psychologist will
Assessment of an athlete
Initial Review:
My client was an athlete performing just below the top level within the University Rugby Union Club. I had known him for several years before coming to University as we played together as children beforehand so there was already a high level of trust between the client and myself. He was 20 years old when he approached me asking for help, he knew that I was studying in the sport department at the University and had recently started working within applied sport psychology. In our initial conversation, it was clear to me that the client wanted to push through the teams and become a pivotal member of the 1st XV, however, he is currently nowhere near fit enough or disciplined enough in order to complete the level of training necessary in order to compete at this desired level. He did not know how to begin this desired change and so was seeking for help on the matter. The client chose to go with an individual who he trusts and who is knowledgeable in sport psychology, so I was the obvious choice.
First Meeting:
The first meeting with the client went well for a number of reasons. First, the client and myself have known each other for several years and so I knew him very well, we were both male, of a close age and share similar beliefs on sporting and cultural matters. At the meeting, the client began to explain how long he had been aiming to play for the first team and to become a key player within the squad, being at the top level of his game is something that he has always tried to do across all aspect of his life, however has struggled to do this within sport at University. The client had explained that he had arranged several 1 to 1 meetings with club coaches to see what areas of his technical game he needs to improve on and that it had been highlighted there was an upcoming break in the season for the Christmas period so this was an opportunity for the client to improve physically, in order to be ready for the season starting again in January. It was clear that if he was to come back into the season operating at a high physical level then he would have to prepare himself mentally for the next 5 weeks of intense training. The coaches had underlined that the return to the season would involve several tests measuring upper and lower body strength as well as cardiovascular endurance. The client has had experience of these testing procedures in the past although notably, he has never reached a high level within them. He is familiar with gym equipment and has a good understanding of training methods as this is something he has been involved in for several years, however, he will not be used to the intensity of training or the mental demands that are required of him carrying out a programme of this intensity. After this meeting, my assessment of the client at this stage was that he was at a fair level of physical fitness and had a strong understanding of what he needed to do although he was not ready for the intensity and the mental demands of such a training schedule. He is overweight and reported that he regularly enjoys fatty ‘junk foods’ and often drinks beer. Despite this, he has expressed a real desire to get fit by undergoing a lifestyle change with his diet as well as taking part in an intense training programme.
Needs Analysis:
Rugby Union is an invasion sport played over 80 minutes, in which the ball is only in play for an average of 30 minutes (McLean, 1992). This is due to the number of breaks for penalties, injury time or when the ball is out of play for a lineout or a scrum (Morton, 1978). Following work conducted by Deutsch et al (1998), typically, during a rugby match, the loose forwards (flankers and No.8) can cover as much ground as 4798m. Docherty (1998) stated that the average player would spend up to 37.7% of the time the ball is in play standing still, 31% walking, 16.4% jogging, 3.8% running, 2% sprinting and 9.1% performing exerting activity, such as tackling, scrummaging or competing for the ball. Exerting activity would be considered as a strength based task. Physiologically, this provided an indication of where the athlete needs to be at the end of this training period.
Performance Profile:
I explained the idea of the performance profile to the athlete and that it would be a good idea to look at where he feels that he should be in relation to the elite data provided to him and where he sits currently. This would allow us to see the decrements between the two states and would help me to better inform the programme (Butler and Hardy, 1992). Before completing the performance profile, I informed the athlete that there are no right or wrong answers and that the answers given should be as honest as possible regarding the sport and the specific position he plays. The athlete came up with several elements to include in his profile which he provided in good detail. Performance profiling has been shown to be very effective with individuals participating in a variety of sports such as rugby, swimming, judo, cycling and field hockey (Butler et., 1993). Along with the performance profile, I asked the athlete to complete a Test of Performance Strategies Questionnaire (TOPS) to gain an understanding of his current psychological state and also to provide a background of any current psychological skills training that he already uses to some extent. The TOPS questionnaire was designed to measure a comprehensive range of psychological skills and techniques, and their strategic use by athletes both in competition and at practice. Subscales were developed targeting eight of the most important psychological skills and processes thought to underlie successful athletic performance.
Development of a mental skills training package
Self-Talk
The TOPS questionnaire (Figure 2 in Appendix) revealed my athlete was not within the average norms for someone of his playing standard in a number of psychological categories.
The first discrepancy is self-talk, which sits outside of the standard error bands in both a competitive environment and is also notably below the average in training environments Following these results, the primary component of my mental skills training programme will aim to develop my athlete’s self-talk as this research by Hatzigeorgiadis et al. (2011) suggests self-talk is a very effective tool in improving performance. I have chosen to use self-talk alongside goal setting because it has been suggested that it has a much greater effect when used alongside another mental skill (Hatzigeorgiadis et al., 2011): goal setting in particular because it acts as a form of feedback.
Self-talk is multidimensional in nature as it can be used for motivational or instructional reasons (Hardy et al., 2009). Hardy et al. (2009) also noted how these can be refined even further, with the use of instructional self-talk being composed of cognitive-specific self-talk or cognitive general self-talk. These two cognitive affects have been directly attributed to a positive successful performance (Hardy et al., 2009). As well as this, motivational self-talk can be divided into the following; motivational mastery function (which is associated with focus, confidence and mental toughness), motivational-arousal function (which helps athletes to control their anxiety levels by psyching themselves up or relaxing) and motivational-drive function (which continually reminds the athlete of their pre-set goals) (Hardy et al., 2009).
Cognitively, Hatzigeorgiadis et al. (2004) reported a large reduction in the number of task-irrelevant thoughts following the use of both motivational and instructional self-talk. However, the thought that the athlete is trying to control, has to be replaced with an active interest to prevent the athlete becoming too distracted with the thought that the self-talk is trying to prevent. Self-talk also has the potential to improve the athlete’s self-efficacy. Bandura (1994) proposed that self-efficacy was determined by mastery experience, vicarious experience, emotional arousal and verbal persuasion. Hardy (2006) suggested that self-talk acts as a form of verbal persuasion and subsequently increases self-efficacy, effort, persistence and performance.
The effectiveness of self-talk is determined by four factors: the tasks it is used for, the characteristics of the participant, the specifics of self-talk and the characteristics of the intervention (Hatzigeorgiadis et al., 2011). The personality profile which my athlete completed identified her greatest physical weakness as agility and therefore I have prescribed motivational self-talk as Hatzigeorgiadis et al. (2011) propose it is more effective than instructional self-talk for gross motor movements. Conversely, for the aerial pass, which is a finer motor skill, instructional self-talk has been administered
(Hatzigeorgiadis et al., 2011). Hatzigeorgiadis (2006) suggest instructional self-talk is more effective for finer movement because it focuses attention. Hardy et al. (2009) first used the terminology ‘matching hypothesis’ to refer to the idea that the type of cue should be matched to the task requirements (Theodorakis et al., 2000). These decisions are further supported through research regarding the novelty of a skill: Hatzigeorgiadis et al. (2011) postulate that both types of cue equally meaningful regardless of the level of learning the athlete is at.
With regards to the characteristics of my participant, because she exhibits greater levels of negative thinking than desired in the TOPS, and from observing her ‘hiding’ from the ball after making a mistake, it is not unreasonable to hypothesise that she has a fear of failure and sports anxiety when it comes to competition. Conroy and Metzler (2004) noted that self-talk was most effective for athletes who present this trait. Furthermore, my athlete uses self-talk a lot during practise, but less so in competition. This could suggest she believes it helps but is not competent enough to use it in a more high-pressured scenario.
Conroy and Metzler (2004) suggest success is associated with more positive self-talk. Participants report more self-affirming self-talk compared to self-blaming. However, Tod et al. (2011) reported that negative self-talk is not always detrimental to performance because it can re-focus attention if distracted. Another component of self-talk to consider too is whether it is said covertly or overtly. Whilst both have proven effective in previous studies, (Hardy, 2006). Likewise, Hatzigeorgiadis et al. (2011) noted that self-talk cues are equally effective whether they are assigned or self-selected, or internal compared to external.
Goal Setting
The second area of notable discrepancy identified by the TOPS questionnaire was goal setting. This low score goes against the athletes perceived level of goal setting as identified through performance profiling (see figure 1 in Appendix). Nonetheless, it will form the second part of my proposed mental skills training package. There is a relatively low amount of sporting literature regarding goal setting and whether it is more effective when self-set or assigned by a coach (Latham and Marshall, 1982). Goal setting has the potential to have a number of benefits to performance, as it influences self-efficacy and motivation (Schunk, 1990; Bandura and Locke, 2003). Locke and Latham (2002) advocate that motivation levels will not be affected so long as there is rationale behind why it was chosen.
Bandura (1982) defined self-efficacy as the belief in one’s ability to perform the relevant action successfully. It is the reflection of skills previously performed, but it also influences subsequent performance (Locke et al., 1984). Goal setting is influential to self-efficacy because it focuses practise and trains the athlete to cope with pressure (Locke and Latham, 1985). Motivation, on the other hand, influences effort and performance (Schmidt, 2005). Together, these factors both contribute to self-regulated learning which sustains behaviours, thus improving and maintaining athletic performance (Schunk, 1990). Goal setting direct attention, energize the athlete, improve persistence and stimulate the discovery of task-related knowledge (Locke and Latham, 2002). Locke and Latham (2002) identified that personal goals initiated more immediate actions.
Figure 3 in the Appendix shows the six goals I have set my athlete. The effect goal setting has varies on its specificity, proximity and difficulty (Locke et al., 1981). More tailored and specific goals result in a higher level of performance because fewer performances are seen as acceptable. Furthermore, Schunk (1990) suggested specific goals improve self-efficacy because progress is easily identified. This can be achieved through quantifying the goals, for example the athlete beating her current time on the Illinois Agility Test by 0.5 seconds, or the distance an aerial can be thrown over.
Likewise, progress is easier to gauge if the goals are proximal as supposed to distal. This further enhances self-efficacy, but Schunk (1990) also suggested this increases motivation levels. Schunk continued to propose that this was even more important in younger athletes (1990), such as my client. The goals I set with the athlete are split into short-term, medium-term and long-term outcomes. Dividing the long-term goal into sub-goals is a means of attaining a distal goal as it ensures the goal is always within the athlete’s current capabilities and generates self-satisfaction through accomplishments (Locke and Latham, 1985; Bandura 1991). Lastly, previous research suggests greater goal difficulty increases the effort expended and produces better performances (Schunk, 1990).
The effects of goal setting are well documented within the literature and show very reliable data (Locke and Latham, 2002). Feedback is used in order to maximise the effectiveness of goal setting and this can be given in one of two ways: that concerning progress towards a goal and the second, concerning the accuracy of a movement directly from a coach (external feedback) (Locke and Latham, 1985). It is believed that feedback directly influences motivation levels of the individual (Carver and Scheier, 1981). In addition to this, a coach taking the time to measure performance also reinforces the importance of the goal to the athlete (Locke and Latham, 1985).