Sport Psychology From Theory to Practice 5th Edition

Sport Psychology: From Theory to Practice FIFTH EDITION

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Sport Psychology: From Theory to Practice FIFTH EDITION Mark H. Anshel Middle Tennessee State University Benjamin Cummings Boston Columbus Indianapolis New York San Francisco Upper Saddle River Amsterdam Cape Town Dubai London Madrid Milan Munich Paris Montréal Toronto Delhi Mexico City São Paulo Sydney Hong Kong Seoul Singapore Taipei Tokyo

Executive Editor: Sandy Lindelof Project Editor: Katie Cook Director of Development: Barbara Yien Senior Managing Editor: Deborah Cogan Production Project Manager: Megan Power Production Management and Composition: Integra Cover Designer: Gary Hespenheide Photo Researcher: Laura Murray Interior Photo Credit: Middle Tennessee State University Manufacturing Buyer: Jeffrey Sargent Executive Marketing Manager: Neena Bali Cover Photo Credit: Mike Powell/Getty Images Credits and acknowledgments borrowed from other sources and reproduced, with permission, in this textbook appear on the appropriate page within the text. Copyright © 2012, 2003, 1997 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Pearson Benjamin Cummings, 1301 Sansome St., San Francisco, CA 94111. All rights reserved. Manufactured in the United States of America. This publication is protected by Copyright and permission should be obtained from the publisher prior to any prohibited reproduction, storage in a retrieval system, or transmission in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or likewise. To obtain permission(s) to use material from this work, please submit a written request to Pearson Education, Inc., Permissions Department, 1900 E. Lake Ave., Glenview, IL 60025. For information regarding permissions, call (847) 486-2635. Many of the designations used by manufacturers and sellers to distinguish their products are claimed as trademarks. Where those designations appear in this book, and the publisher was aware of a trademark claim, the designations have been printed in initial caps or all caps. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Anshel, Mark H. (Mark Howard) Sport psychology : from theory to practice/Mark Anshel.—5th ed. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN-13: 978-0-321-73249-1 ISBN-10: 0-321-73249-9 1. Sports—Psychological aspects. I. Title. GV706.4.A57 2012 796.01—dc22 2010054572 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10—EB—15 14 13 12 11 ISBN-10: 0-321-73249-9 ISBN-13: 978-0-321-73249-1

Contents Preface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xv SECTION I OVERVIEW OF THE FIELD CHAPTER 1 The Science of Sport Psychology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 What Is Sport Psychology? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 The Athlete . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 The Coach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 The Environment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 A Brief History of Sport Psychology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Different Contributions to Sport Psychology— Sport Science versus Psychology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Sport Psychology Is Multidimensional . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 What Do Sport Psychologists Do?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Clinical Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Educational Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Research Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Ethics in Sport Psychology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Clarification of Correct Titles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Ethics in Sport Psychology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Key Points. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Review Questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 SECTION II PSYCHOLOGY OF SPORT PERFORMANCE CHAPTER 2 Personal Factors Affecting Sport Performance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Overview of Sport Personality. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Separating Traits, Orientations/Styles, and Behavioral Tendencies . . . . . 21 Behavioral Tendencies. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Routines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 In Favor of Sport Personality Testing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 Against Personality Testing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 Personality and Gender Roles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 Profiling the Elite Athlete . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 Early Sport Personality Research . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 Advances in Sport Personality Research . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 Psychological Dispositions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 Performance Expectations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 Peak Performance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 v

vi CONTENTS Sport Attention and Concentration. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 Preparing an Athlete for Optimal Performance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 Fear of Failure (FOF) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 Fear of Success (FOS) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 Audience Effects on Athlete’s Performance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 The Home Field Advantage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 Talent Identification (TID): Does It Work? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 Drugs in Sport. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 Anabolic Steroids . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 Psychological Issues of Sport Injury and Rehabilitation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 Fears of the Injured Athlete. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 Mental Factors Affecting Return and Recovery from Injury . . . . . . . . . . 45 Mental Reasons for Poorer Postinjury Sport Performance . . . . . . . . . . . 46 Recovery Strategies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 Pain Threshold and Tolerance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48 Role of Athletic Trainers and Coaches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48 Rehabilitation Compliance Issues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49 Key Points. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 Review Questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51 CHAPTER 3 Youth Sports: Special Considerations and Needs of Child Athletes. . . . . . . 52 Sport Socialization: Antecedents of Sport Participation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 General Model of Achievement and Activity Choice. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 Why Children Play Sports and Why They Drop Out. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58 Why Children Participate in Sport . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58 Why Children Drop Out of Sport . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58 When Are Children Ready for Competition? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61 Primary Factors of Readiness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61 Signs of Readiness for Learning Sport Skills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62 Sport Commitment Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63 The Proper Role of Parents in Youth Sport . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64 Coaching Children: Positive Approaches to Avoiding Dropout. . . . . . . . 68 The Coaching Behavior Assessment System (CBAS) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69 Mastery Approach to Coaching . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70 Gender Differences: Implications for Coaching Females . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70 The Role of Parents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71 The Parent Orientation Meeting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72 Postseason Evaluation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74 Bill of Rights for Young Athletes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77 Concluding Thoughts and Recommendations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78 Key Points. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81 Review Questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81 CHAPTER 4 Motivation: Theory & Application. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82 Defining Terms: What Is Motivation? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83 Sources of Motivation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84 Person-Centered Motivational Sources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84 Situational-Centered Motivational Sources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84 Interactive Personal and Situational Motivational Sources . . . . . . . . . . . 85

CONTENTS vii Theories of Motivation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86 Achievement Motivation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86 Achievement Goal Theory (AGT) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87 Goal Orientation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88 Mastery and Ego Orientation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88 Application of Achievement Motivation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89 Competence Motivation Theory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89 Self-Determination Theory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90 Deci’s Cognitive Evaluation Theory: Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90 Application of Cognitive Evaluation Theory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94 The Hierarchal Model of Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95 How Not to Motivate Athletes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98 Myth #1: Exercise for Punishment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98 Myth #2: The Pregame Prep Talk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98 Myth #3: Our Opponent Is Weak . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99 Myth #4: “Our Goal Is to Win” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99 Myth #5: Treating Team Players Differently . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99 Myth #6: “If They Don’t Complain, They’re Happy” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99 Myth #7: “What Do Athletes Know, Anyway?” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99 Myth #8: The Postgame Rampage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100 Myth #9: The Napoleon Complex . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100 Myth #10: Fear! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100 Group Motivation Strategies. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101 Motivating the Child Athlete . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102 Motivating the Nonstarter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102 Team Motivation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103 Key Points. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104 Review Questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105 CHAPTER 5 Attribution Theory: Explaining the Causes of Performance Outcomes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106 Weiner’s Attribution Model. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107 Stability. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107 Controllability/Locus of Causality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108 Weiner’s Model Applied to Sport . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109 Attributional Style. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110 Changing Locus of Causality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111 Attributions and Skilled Athletes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113 Learned Helplessness and Hopelessness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114 Reducing Learned Helplessness: Attribution Retraining . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115 Attributions and Helplessness: The Coach’s Role . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117 Attributions for Motivation in Sport and Exercise . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118 Review of Important Concepts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120 Key Points. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120 Review Questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121

viii CONTENTS CHAPTER 6 Regulating Stress, Anxiety, and Arousal. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122 Defining Terms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123 Theoretical Foundations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123 Stress. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124 The Concept of Positive Stress . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124 Arousal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125 Anxiety . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126 Anxiety about Failure and Success . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127 Ways to Measure Anxiety . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128 Arousal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130 The Coach’s Role in Game Preparation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135 Anxiety and Arousal Reducers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136 Effective Precontest Arousal Raisers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137 Coaching Strategies for Half-time and Time-outs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139 Incorrect Strategies That Increase Anxiety and Arousal . . . . . . . . . . . . 140 Guidelines for Managing Anxiety . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141 Choking in Sport . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142 Strategies for Overcoming “The Choke” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144 Key Points. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144 Review Questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145 CHAPTER 7 Coping with Sport Stress . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146 What Is Coping? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147 The Coping Process. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147 Coping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148 Coping Styles and Coping Strategies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149 Individual Differences in Sport Coping: Gender, Race, Culture . . . . . . . . . 151 Effective Coping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152 Generalizability of Coping Skills. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153 Key Points. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154 Review Questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154 CHAPTER 8 Sport Psychology Interventions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155 Interventions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156 Self-Regulation in Sport . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156 Cognitive Strategies (Mental Skills). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157 Behavioral Strategies. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157 Coping with Stress . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158 Coping with Physical Discomfort and Pain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159 Stress Inoculation Training (SIT) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159 The COPE Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160 Other Stress Management Techniques. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161 Imagery. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161 Examples of Imagery Programs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161 Objective: To Learn a New Skill or Strategy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161 Objective: Gaining Self-Confidence. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161 Objective: Overcoming a Slump . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162

CONTENTS ix Building Mental Toughness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162 Mindfulness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163 Relaxation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163 Behavioral Strategies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163 The Science of Goal Setting. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163 Team Goals. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167 Light Physical Activity/Exercise . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167 Music . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167 Key Points. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168 Review Questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168 CHAPTER 9 Aggression in Sport . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169 Defining Terms: What Is Aggression? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170 Theoretical Bases of Aggression . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172 Biological/Instinct Theories. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172 The Catharsis Hypothesis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173 Frustration-Aggression Hypothesis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174 Social Learning Theory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176 Aggression and Sport Performance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177 Arousal, Aggression, and Sport Performance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177 Pros and Cons of Aggressive Performance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178 The Assertive Athlete . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179 Implications for Coaches and Athletes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179 Gender Differences and Aggression in Sport . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181 Mental Control of Anger . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182 Anger Management Strategies. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182 Spectators and Violence in Sport . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184 Key Points. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185 Review Questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186 CHAPTER 10 Athletes Speak for Themselves. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187 About Practice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189 Pregame Issues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190 During the Game . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192 Postgame Behaviors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193 Behaviors Off the Field or Court. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195 Differing Perceptions between Coach and Athlete . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196 Key Points. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199 Review Questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199 SECTION III COACHING PSYCHOLOGY CHAPTER 11 Effective Communication and Mentoring Techniques . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200 Coach Communication Skills: The Need for Dialogue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201 The Ten Commandments of Effective Communication in Sport . . . . . . . . 203 I. Thou Shalt Be Honest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204 II. Thou Shalt Not Be Defensive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205 III. Thou Shalt Be Consistent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207

x CONTENTS IV. Thou Shalt Be Empathetic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208 V. Thou Shalt Not Be Sarcastic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208 VI. Thou Shalt Praise and Criticize Behavior, Not Personality . . . . . . . 209 VII. Thou Shalt Respect the Integrity of Others . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213 VIII. Thou Shalt Use Positive Nonverbal Cues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 216 IX. Thou Shalt Teach Skills. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217 X. Thou Shalt Interact Consistently with All Team Members . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 218 The Importance of the Nonstarter. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219 Approaching the Coach: When Athletes Take the Initiative. . . . . . . . . . . . 219 The Coach–Athlete Meeting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219 Written Feedback . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221 The Mentoring Coach. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223 The Need to Mentor Athletes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 224 Team Mentoring . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225 Fundamental Mentoring Skills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225 Listening . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225 Showing Concern . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225 Being Supportive. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 226 Respecting Privacy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 226 Effective Team Meetings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 226 Team Meeting Procedures. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 226 Planning the Team Meeting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 228 Implementing the Meeting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 230 The Heart of Communication: Self-Awareness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 232 Key Points. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233 Review Questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233 CHAPTER 12 Leadership in Sport: A Matter of Style . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 234 Roles of the Coach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235 Leader. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235 Follower . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235 Teacher . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 236 Role Model. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 236 Limit Setter/Disciplinarian . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 236 Psychologist or Counselor. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 236 Mentor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 237 Parent Substitute. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 237 Successful versus Effective Leadership . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 238 Successful (but Ineffective) Coaches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 238 Effective Leaders. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239 Qualities of Effective Leaders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 240 Theories of Leadership in Sport . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 241 Fiedler’s Contingency Model. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 241 The Life Cycle Theory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 243 The Multidimensional Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 244 Mediational Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245 Theory X and Theory Y . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 246

CONTENTS xi Tannenbaum and Schmidt’s Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 247 What Leadership Theories Do and Do Not Tell Us. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 248 Leadership Styles. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 249 Autocratic Coaching . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 249 Behavioristic Coaching . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 251 Humanistic Coaching . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 254 Democratic Coaching . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 257 Applying Different Coaching Styles in Sport . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 259 What We Still Don’t Know about Sport Leadership . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 259 The Workaholic Coach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 260 Coaches Speak for Themselves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 261 Do Coaches and Athletic Directors Accept Sport Psychology Service? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 263 Key Points. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 264 Review Questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 265 CHAPTER 13 Team Cohesion and Group Dynamics. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 266 How a Group Becomes a Team . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 267 Evolution of a Team . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 268 Forming . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 268 Storming . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 268 Norming . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 269 Performing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 269 A Who’s Who of Team Personnel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 269 Qualities of an Effective Team . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 270 Developing an Effective Team Climate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 271 Factors That Most Affect Team Climate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 271 Team Climate Checklist for Athletes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 274 Group Dynamics: The Roles and Interactions of Team Members . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 275 Everyone Has a Role. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 275 The Positive Leader. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 275 The Negative Leader. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 276 The Follower . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 277 The Isolate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 277 The Scapegoat. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 279 The Comedian (Clown) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 280 Team Cohesion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 281 What Is Group Cohesion?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 281 Measuring Group Cohesion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 281 Group Cohesion Inventories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 282 Factors That Influence Group Cohesion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 283 Collective Efficacy: The Group’s Beliefs about Member Competence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 285 Does Cohesion Affect Player Satisfaction? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 286 Does Cohesion Affect Team Performance? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 286 Factors That Inhibit Cohesion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 288 Suggestions for Improving Team Cohesion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 288

xii CONTENTS Self-Handicapping (SH) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 289 Social Loafing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 290 Key Points. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 291 Review Questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 291 SECTION IV PSYCHOLOGY OF PHYSICAL ACTIVITY CHAPTER 14 Applied Exercise Psychology: An Emerging Area in Sport Psychology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 293 What Is Exercise Psychology? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 295 Exercise Motivation: A State of Mind . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 296 Measuring Exercise Motivation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 296 Exercise Barriers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 297 Psychological Benefits of Exercise . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 299 Stress Reduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 299 Anxiety Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 299 Mood Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 300 Self-Esteem Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 300 Theories and Models in Exercise Psychology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 300 Health Belief Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 300 Theories of Reasoned Action and Planned Behavior . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 301 Self-Determination Theory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 303 Self-Efficacy Theory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 303 Transtheoretical Model. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 304 Exercise Adherence and Compliance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 306 Why Exercisers Quit: Exercise Barriers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 307 Exercise Interventions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 307 Exercise Adherence Strategies: How Exercisers Can Avoid Quitting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 307 Resistance (Strength) Training . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 308 Strategies for Enhancing Exercise Adherence and Compliance . . . . . . . 309 Exercise Addiction/Dependence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 311 Positive Addiction to Exercise. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 311 Negative Addiction to Exercise: A Mental Disorder? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 312 How to Avoid Negative Exercise Addiction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 314 Exercise Interventions: Applying Exercise Psychology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 314 Behavioral Strategies. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 314 Cognitive Strategies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 322 Key Points. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 324 Review Questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 325 CHAPTER 15 Conclusions and Future Directions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 326 Challenges in the Future Development of Sport Psychology . . . . . . . . . . . 326 Future Directions and Recommendations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 328 The Emergence of Exercise Psychology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 331

CONTENTS xiii Re-examining the Field of Sport Psychology: Where Are We Going? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 331 Limitations and Overcoming Obstacles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 331 Challenges to New Graduates. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 333 Recommendations for Future Graduates. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 336 APPENDIX Research and Measurement in Sport Psychology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 339 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 349 Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 373

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Preface As I write the fifth edition of this book, 20 years theories. Athletes and coaches are often quoted trying after the first edition was first published in to explain an athlete’s or team’s performance using 1990, I am both optimistic and pessimistic about terms that can be identified as anxiety, choking, how far the field of sport psychology has progressed. “overeagerness,” lack of confidence, or mental readi- On one hand, there have been favorable changes in ness. For example, a rookie outfielder on a major the field of sport psychology in its acceptance by the league baseball team had an incredibly productive sport, exercise, and scientific communities. For ex- spring training, hitting over 400. Not surprisingly, he ample, more sports teams and individual athletes at made the team for the 2010 season. During the sea- various levels of competition have embraced the son, however, his batting skills seemed to abandon ever-growing sport psychology literature, especially him. He hit well on occasion, but nowhere near his ef- at the elite level. Virtually all national Olympic ficiency in spring training. He admitted to a reporter teams, for instance, incorporated sport psychology in that he felt “tight” and “pressure” once he stepped their programs and preparation for competition. into the batter’s box. This player was suffering from a Slowly, coaches and athletes are experiencing the classic case of anxiety. His lack of productivity under value of mental skills and other interventions to pro- pressure conditions was descriptive of a choking con- mote athletic performance. The field has expanded dition. There was no mention of any coach or sport significantly into the exercise area as researchers and psychology consultant trying to address the problem. practitioners try to increase exercise habits in our The rookie player had a mediocre season. population in fighting the ongoing “war on obesity.” The dilemma of sport psychology is to gain credi- The scientific community has also embraced the bility in the sports community at all levels of play. growing field of sport (and exercise) psychology. The Sports organizations and individual teams do not field has seen an explosion of scientific research and appear to view this area of science and practice in the scholarly journals that report these studies. The num- same essential light as, let’s say, a strength and condi- ber of university graduate programs and students in tioning coach. Coaches remain adamant about using sport psychology have increased dramatically over the the same tactics, strategies, and communication styles past several years, according to the Directory of as their coaching colleagues and mentors, rather than Graduate Programs in Sport Psychology edited by applying sport psychology principles and concepts. The Sachs et al. (2010). Sport psychology organizations re- vast array of sport psychology books and journal arti- port increased membership and conference attendance cles often remain ignored in many coaching circles. For in recent years. Moreover, the field has expanded to in- example, coaches still—wrongly—scream obscenities at clude other areas of human performance in addition to athletes; offer performance feedback and teach new exercise, including rehabilitation, the arts (e.g., actors, strategies to athletes while they are angry; use exercise dancers, musicians), law enforcement, and the corpo- as a form of punishment (which leads athletes to rate sector. The science of sport psychology has be- develop negative attitudes toward exercise and a seden- come increasingly practiced, scholarly, and recognized. tary lifestyle after retirement from sports); refuse to explain to players the reasons for team decisions, poli- On the other hand, from a less optimistic perspec- cies, and strategies; often do not use proper pedagogical tive, full acceptance and integration of sport psychol- (teaching) skills and strategies; rely on the exclusive use ogy in various levels of competitive sport remain of an authoritative coaching style; do not separate task elusive at all levels of sport competition. It is ex- and social cohesion; do not know how to select and tremely difficult to know how widespread applied provide a proper role of team captains; and fail to sport psychology has become at all levels of competi- properly ensure that nonstarters are mentally and phys- tion. It is certain, however, that the field has much to ically prepared to enter the contest. Despite their offer coaches and athletes and that most of the pro- expertise and depth of knowledge in the sport they fessional literature is ignored by sports participants. were coaching, many coaches had much to learn about The media are continually reporting situations that the psychological needs of athletes and the application can be explained by sport psychology concepts and xv

xvi PREFACE psychologist nurture the connection between the pro- fessional literature and real-life sport experiences. of mental skills and other interventions that have been shown to enhance sport performance. Application of I begin the book (Chapter 1) with an explanation exercise psychology techniques and interventions in of the various dimensions and history of sport psy- applied settings also remains relatively ignored by prac- chology. I also examine the respective contributions titioners. We have much work to do in order to apply of two primary disciplines responsible for the devel- our research literature in real-life settings. opment of this field: psychology and sport science. Not unlike other disciplines that include interacting From a professional perspective, careers in sport with people, I cover the area of ethics in carrying out psychology continue to remain elusive. The proper responsibilities and assuming careers in sport psy- educational training and mentoring of sport psychology chology. Organizations and employment opportuni- consultants remains uneven from university program to ties in this field are also discussed. program. And there continues to be uncertainty be- tween psychology and the sport/exercise science aca- Chapter 2 includes a description of highly skilled demic disciplines—and their respective faculty—over (elite) competitive athletes, their personality and be- who “owns” the proper training of sport psychology. havioral characteristics, and the ways in which we measure and identify these features. A review of the My initiative to write this book was based on my sport personality literature and identifying the case in own observations of coaches who ignored principles of favor of and against personality testing is offered. Is sport psychology and effective leadership, mistreated there such a thing as talent identification? Can we de- their players, punished athletes through exercise, termine an athlete’s future success based on psycho- lacked a general understanding of how to induce in- logical inventories? This is addressed in a brief review trinsic motivation, and were dependent on a command of the talent identification literature. Other areas cov- style of leadership. While many coaches do understand ered include drugs in sport and the psychological fac- the importance of the mental game—and practice it— tors that explain rehabilitation from sports injuries. the field still needs credibility in the sport community. Credibility is improved when you associate practice The following are just a few chapter highlights of with the scientific literature. Sport psychology consult- the rest of the text. I moved the topic of youth sports ants do not gain credibility when they address issues in to Chapter 3 in this edition because it was important their consultation using traditional counseling tech- to compare and contrast the psychological needs and niques, but without knowledge of this academic disci- differences in coaching style between mature and pline. Sport psychology rests on a body of knowledge, younger athletes. How coaches and athletes interpret and that knowledge should be embedded in practice and explain the causes of contest results plays an im- with participants. There are relatively few books that portant role in future participation, which is the focus perform the very important function of linking practice of Chapter 5. For instance, players may be less moti- to the literature—the science of sport psychology. The vated if they feel that a lack of ability caused an error main focus of this book is to overcome this problem. or loss. On the other hand, players who recognize that enhanced effort will help ensure their future success My experiences as a consulting sport psychologist typically have increased motivation and self-image. (usually entitled “mental skills coach”) for several Chapter 6 explains the underlying causes of an ath- United States collegiate teams and individual athletes lete’s emotions, particularly anxiety, just prior to the indicate that coaches and athletes are slowly embrac- contest and what one can do about them. For example, ing at least some of the mental skills and interventions anxiety and arousal are common in sport and influence that have been shown to influence an athlete’s thoughts performance both directly and indirectly; both coaches (cognitions) by researchers and emotions that lead to and players can learn to control these emotions. improved performance quality and outcomes. Sport psychology writers, practitioners, and researchers must This new edition includes two new chapters, coping continue to gain insights into ways that help athletes with stress (Chapter 7) and sport psychology interven- perform at their best. The pursuit of excellence in sport tions (Chapter 8). Coping with sport stress has become a should be relentless and persistent. Perhaps the one very popular topic over the past several years and is cen- area of sport psychology that has gained more influ- tral to effective performance. This literature is reviewed, ence in the public eye is exercise psychology. with particular attention to ways to cope effectively in response to stressful events. The use of mental skills and In summary, the primary purpose of this book is other interventions is also important in sport psychology to help coaches and sport participants alike under- consultation and required its own chapter and review of stand and apply the psychological and behavioral literature. Chapter 9 discusses communication skills by factors that influence the thoughts, emotions, and sports leaders in building trust and credibility with performance of sports leaders and competitors so athletes; a much-needed area of mastery among coaches. that the sport experience becomes more satisfying Effective communication is the ability to listen and and successful. Sport examples from media publi- cations and from my own experiences as a sport

respond to a person’s feelings with the appropriate com- PREFACE xvii passion and empathy and with valid information. From a scholarly perspective, Dr. Anshel has an in- I continue to recognize the importance of listening ternational reputation as a leader in the field of sport and to the words of athletes in Chapter 10, “Athletes Speak exercise psychology. He has a prolific publication record, for Themselves,” and add a segment for coaches including over 125 publications in scientific journals and (“Coaches Speak for Themselves”) in Chapter 12 on 14 book chapters. Books he has authored include leadership. The words of athletes and coaches are too Applied Exercise Psychology: A Practitioner’s Guide for often neglected in sport psychology textbooks, which Improving Client Health and Fitness, Aerobics for are often consumed with reporting study after study. We Fitness (5th ed.), Concepts in Fitness: A Balanced need to hear about the thoughts, feelings, and practices Approach to Good Health, and he is the editor of the of individuals who play the game. These interviews pro- Dictionary of Sport and Exercise Sciences. He has been vide a valuable source of information to determine the an invited international speaker in at least 12 countries. needs of athletes and the practices of effective coaching. Dr. Anshel is a reviewer for numerous scholarly journals. Chapter 14 provides updated content in applied exercise He is most widely published in the area of coping with psychology, an area of increased research and recogni- acute stress in sport and perfectionism in sport. In more tion in the field. Applied exercise psychology has yet to recent years, he has developed the Disconnected Values make significant inroads among psychologists, fitness Model that is an intervention intended to replace trainers, and sport psychology consultants, but its unhealthy habits with more desirable routines and im- importance in helping to control our obesity epidemic is prove exercise adherence. He is an active member and apparent and represents an important area of future Fellow of the American Psychological Association, Divi- research and practice in the field of sport psychology. sion 47 (Exercise and Sport Psychology), along with Divisions 18 (Psychologists in Public Service) and 38 Here’s hoping that my book makes a significant (Health Psychology), the Association for Applied Sport contribution to your knowledge and application of this Psychology, Society of Behavioral Medicine, Interna- growing and important field. Perhaps you’ll be able to tional Association of Chiefs of Police—Police Psycho- use some of its content to become more effective in what logical Services Section, and the Stress and Anxiety you do—in sport or any other field of endeavor. I hope Research Society. Dr. Anshel received his Bachelor of this book provides you with the incentive to improve Science degree in physical education at Illinois State your life and the lives of others through hard work and University. After working for five years as a fitness and effort. As former British Prime Minister Sir Winston recreation director in the community recreation field, he Churchill said, “Continuous effort—not strength or returned to graduate school, earning a Master of Arts intelligence—is the key to unlocking our potential.” degree from McGill University in Montreal, and a Doctor of Philosophy degree in psychology of motor per- Mark H. Anshel formance from Florida State University. About the Author Acknowledgments Dr. Mark H. Anshel is I want to express my deepest appreciation to the fol- a professor in the Depa- lowing individuals who reviewed this book and offered rtment of Health and excellent suggestions that are included in this edition. Human Performance at Thank you. Middle Tennessee State University in Murfrees- Victor Aeby, East Carolina University boro, Tennessee. He has Melissa A. Lea, Millsaps College consulted with sports Jean Lopour, Southern Utah University teams and hundreds of Rafer Lutz, Baylor University individual athletes and Scott B. Martin, University of North Texas coaches, ranging from Harold M. Merritt, St. John’s University youth sports to professional levels, and has applied the Mary Schumann, George Mason University sport psychology literature in rehabilitation, corporate, C. Craig Stewart, Montana State University and law enforcement settings. For example, he con- sulted with cardiac and pulmonary patients undergoing As in my previous editions, this book is dedicated to exercise rehabilitation in hospital settings, consulted the memory of my beloved mother, Rochelle, and with exercisers to enhance exercise performance and my beloved father, Bernard, who provided me with adherence in fitness programs, and applied performance the opportunity to learn, the drive to achieve, and psychology concepts in helping corporate clients to the desire to show compassion toward others. They reach and sustain high performance under pressure. gave me what I always try to give my students—100 percent.

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CHAPTER 1 The Science of Sport Psychology CASE STUDY Goalkeepers in penalty situations cannot wait until the ball is in the air before choosing whether to jump left or right as the speed of a well-placed penalty kick will almost definitely get past the goalie. This is why goalkeepers jump before the foot hits the ball. In a study published in ScienceDaily, Gabriel J. Diaz attempted to explain how some top goalkeepers are able to head off a penalty kick, diving in the correct direction in advance of the kick. Diaz observed penalty kicks (in which players aim for the left or right side of the goal while hiding their choice from the goalkeeper) to determine if the goalie was making a preplanned, “educated” choice about which direction to jump or if the direction of their jump was left up to chance (50/50). Diaz employed motion capture technology and computer analysis to identify five early indicators of the direction a ball would ultimately be kicked. He found that in the split second before the foot meets the ball, a soccer player’s body betrays whether a penalty kick will go left or right. The result is that skilled soccer players were able to predict the direction of the kick before the foot strikes the ball. Indicators such as the angle of the kicking foot, kicking upper leg, and kicking shank were movements of a specific, or “local,” area of the body highlighted by coaches and sports psycholo- gists. Two of these, the angle at which the nonkicking foot is planted on the ground and the angle of the hips as the kicking foot swings forward, are reliable indicators of kick direction. The results of this study could help change how players kick and goalies react. Sport psychology is a field that goes well beyond counseling athletes or teaching mental skills. One rarely recognized dimension of sport psychology concerns understanding the factors that explain learning, remembering, and performing sport skills and the use of mental skills in each of these processes. Educational sport psychologists can employ instructional techniques that will improve the athlete’s ability to learn and remember new skills and strategies. One technique used by many elite athletes is pre-cueing. Pre-cueing is the performer’s detection of an environmental stimulus, or cue, just before initi- ating the skill that allows them to be ready, anticipate, and then perform the skill with the right precision, coordination, and speed. While receiving guidance during skill execution is termed a cue, a pre-cue is a planned strategy for obtaining this information and guidance before the skill is performed. Occasionally, sport psychology consultants can take on a teaching (pedagogical) role to help athletes use pre-cueing to anticipate the initial moves of their opponents, which results in faster response times and improved performance speed. What Is Sport Psychology? Often coaches, athletes, and even educators claim that “success in sport is 90 percent mental.” That’s simply untrue. Nothing, not even mental skills, replaces the development of sport skills and successful performance outcomes through proper training and instruction to help each ath- lete reach—or attempt to reach—his or her capability. But what is true is this: If two athletes have similar skill level in a given sport, one athlete will be more successful than the other in sport 1

2 SECTION I OVERVIEW OF THE FIELD by sport psychology researchers and practitioners. Using psychological frameworks allows researchers, educators, competition 90 percent of the time due to a mental ad- and coaches to describe, explain, and predict behavior, vantage or the use of mental skills. Successful athletes primarily in sport settings, but also in any area of physi- bring with them a full set of mental skills that allow cal performance. them to anticipate success, concentrate on the task at hand, transfer skills and strategies developed in prac- Describing behavior is defined in the present tice settings into competition, and overcome adversity. (sport) context as the process of detecting and observ- Sport psychology is about understanding the “mental ing sport performance that reflects the sport psychology game.” research literature. An example of describing behavior is that winning (i.e., team success) is a response to high The field of sport psychology means different task cohesion—players interact during the contest in a things to different people. Traditionally, sport psy- coordinated manner, as opposed to teams with low task chology consists primarily of studying and applying cohesion. Explaining behavior is defined as the process the psychological factors that affect sport perform- of determining the association between certain charac- ance. Over the years, however, sport psychology has teristics experienced or observed during competition evolved into a reputable area of science and practice, and the specific outcomes. The association between not unlike the larger field of general psychology. Sport performing under high pressure conditions to win (e.g., psychology concerns understanding the factors that high expectations by others such as spectators, coaches, help explain reaching and consistently maintaining and the media) and poor performance is an example of optimal performance—to strive to achieve one’s best. explaining sport behavior through sport psychology. This phenomenon is often called “choking,” a topic we To help athletes or a team understand the role of will cover in Chapter 5. In 2008, the Chicago Cubs sport psychology in sport competition, ask the fol- baseball team, which had the best season record in lowing question: “Are you performing at your very baseball and was expected to win the World Series, was best and there is no room for improvement?” Not swept by the Los Angeles Dodgers, a wild card team surprisingly, no one will answer this question affirma- that year, in three straight games. The Chicago Cubs tively. You can follow up by asking: “Ok, so you are players and manager admitted the team played their telling me that there is a gap between your current worst baseball of the season during the playoffs, a view skill level and the level at which you are capable of supported by making five errors in their last game. performing—what we call your performance capac- ity. Is that right? You can improve, correct?” They Finally, sport psychology often works to predict will nod in agreement. behavior. Predicting behavior is defined as the degree of accuracy with which a researcher, practitioner, or Another type of game all athletes have to play— coach can accurately anticipate a particular perform- in addition to the physical game—is called “the men- ance outcome given the presence and, sometimes, in- tal game.” The field of sport psychology is all about teraction, of one or more factors. For example, it can playing that mental game and reducing the gap be- be accurately predicted that if a coach teaches in an tween the athlete’s current level of performance and angry manner, the athlete will not retain the coach’s what they are capable of doing. Top athletes bring to information because of anxiety (feelings of being every competition a full arsenal of mental skills and threatened and worry) and the inability to concentrate strategies they know will make a difference between on and store the information. winning and losing, between success and failure, and sometimes those outcomes are a matter of a single Traditionally, the field of sport psychology research incident. It is one situation, the execution of one skill, and practice has been concerned with the effects of psy- or sometimes a matter of a few inches that separates chological factors and performance outcomes. In more athletes who regularly and consistently reach their recent years, however, sport psychology has become capacity and those who don’t. Understanding the increasingly linked to areas that go beyond sport per- mental game often helps athletes overcome the widely formance. The most notable areas of expanded study held myth that sport psychology is for athletes who and practice include psychophysiology, exercise psy- are mentally weak. Just the opposite is true: sport chology, and rehabilitation psychology (also called psychology is for athletes who are secure enough to psychology of athletic injuries). use every tool within their reach to perform consis- tently at the highest level. Psychophysiology in sport psychology first ap- peared in a 1983 issue of the Journal of Sport The foundation of sport psychology is the field Psychology in an article by Drs. Brad Hatfield and of psychology. Psychology concepts such as arousal, Daniel Landers. They defined this emerging field “as a anxiety, various types of motivation (e.g., achievement, body of knowledge concerned with the inference of intrinsic, competence), group dynamics, leadership, com- psychological processes and emotional states from munication skills, aggression, causal attributions, and an examination of physiological measures” (p. 244). clinical issues are just a few examples of areas commonly studied in psychology that have been studied and applied

CHAPTER 1 THE SCIENCE OF SPORT PSYCHOLOGY 3 Psychological measures, they contend, “must be used to of physical performance. In Psychological Bases of infer an underlying psychological process or emotional Sport Injuries (3rd ed.), Pargman (2007) writes state” (p. 244). Psychophysiological research examines “psychological factors are both antecedents and the physiological (somatic) responses that influence or consequences of athletic injury, and frequently, accompany cognition (thinking and emotion) and per- psychological recovery from injury takes longer than formance. For example, if poor performance is attrib- physical recovery” (p. xi). Perhaps the best evidence of uted to heightened anxiety, it would be interesting to a strong mental factor in experiencing an athletic in- know if the source of that anxiety was somatic (e.g., jury and the recovery and rehabilitation process is the changes in muscle tension, heart rate, or other somatic tendency of so many athletes to perform below their responses) or cognitive (e.g., negative self-talk, poor pre-injury level despite the approval from their physi- concentration, or internal attentional focusing). Such cian or surgeon that they are 100 percent recovered information allows sport scientists and educators to from the injury. Subpar performance following injury suggest the use of certain mental techniques (e.g., re- rehabilitation can be due to psychophysiological laxation or imagery) to reduce the effect of these unde- factors as such muscle tension and poor attentional sirable changes in bodily processes. Published research focusing (i.e., focusing internal toward the injured in recent years often includes physiological measures area rather than external toward the task at hand). In that help explain possible cause-and-effect relation- his extensive review of research since the 1980s, ships between a person’s thoughts or emotions and his Dr. Britton Brewer (2010) concluded that a variety of or her physical performance. See Hatfield and Hillman psychological factors—such as personality, attitude, (2001) for a review of this literature. emotion, and cognition (information processing)— have been identified related to sport injury rehabilita- The area of exercise psychology has received tion outcomes. The mental game, therefore, plays an increased attention in recent years in sport psychology important role in sport rehabilitation. literature. Rather than examining sport performance, exercise psychology focuses on cognitive, psychophysio- What has become increasingly certain to educa- logical, and situational factors that influence exercise tors, researchers, and coaches is that the field of sport behavior (see Anshel 2006; Buckworth & Dishman, psychology is a science based on scientific research pub- 2002; and Lox, Martin, and Petruzzello, 2010 for lished in journals after passing sophisticated reviews reviews of this emerging field). Examples of topics (critiques) by scholars. Sport psychology is the study of studied in this area include: human behavior in the context of participating in sport and other forms of physical activity, and it is affected • effects of physical activity on the exerciser’s by three primary sources: the athlete, the team leader emotions (e.g., arousal, anxiety, mood state) (i.e., the coach), and the environment in which these individuals interact (Figure 1.1). • certain psychological dispositions that either promote or inhibit exercise participation The Athlete (e.g., confidence, depression, self-esteem) If we define sport psychology as a field of study and • reasons some individuals engage in exercise practice in which concepts from general psychology programs, while others do not are applied within the context of competitive sport, then sport psychology must begin with the athlete. It • the causes for no longer engaging in regular exercise is the competitor who most benefits from the proper use of mental skills and serves as the primary focus of • positive and negative addiction to exercise research and consultation. When an athlete or sports team fails to perform up to the expectations of specta- • factors that influence an exerciser’s perception of tors, especially in high pressure situations, researchers his or her physical exertion seek to find out why. When athletes are unable to maintain concentration for the duration of a contest • the effect of exercise on mental illness (i.e., psy- or cannot control their emotions following a stressful chopathology; e.g., depression, irrational thinking, event (e.g., making an error or receiving a penalty), and low self-esteem) the sport psychology consultant will teach mental skills to the athlete to overcome these obstacles. • the effects of cognitive techniques (mental skills) on exercise performance (e.g., association, dissoci- The study and application of sport psychology ation, psyching up, positive self-talk) before the contest is often called “pre-game mental preparation” or “psychological readiness.” The proper • the influence of cognitive and behavioral interven- mental preparation for each athlete differs, even within tions on exercise adherence, also called exercise the same sport. Some athletes need a very vibrant, maintenance Rehabilitation psychology addresses the psycho- logical factors that influence the experience of, and the rehabilitation from, an injury that occurs during phys- ical activity such as sport, exercise, or any other form

4 SECTION I OVERVIEW OF THE FIELD Coach Athletic Performance Athlete Environment Figure 1.1 Factors that affect sport performance. stimulating, and “active” pre-game environment, Another area of individual differences is youth while others prefer more subdued, less “busy” condi- sports. As we will see in Chapter 3, children are not tions; they don’t want to become too aroused or ex- miniature adults. Child athletes, usually defined as cited. Some sports require more pre-game arousal than athletes under 14 years of age, have unique needs, as others. For example, the actions of football players on compared to adolescent or adult athletes. Given the the sideline before and during the game—such as “high high number of dropouts from youth sports programs fives,” pre-game team cheers, and other warm-up ac- in the United States and other countries, one area of tivities performed by the athletes—all serve the pur- study in sport psychology is the way in which these pose of establishing the desired emotional effect before programs can be structured and carried out to vastly the contest. Self-induced arousal strategies are an inte- reduce dropout rates. In fact, some children should gral part of mental preparation and maintaining opti- not be participating in structured youth sports pro- mal performance for many competitive athletes, grams due to their inability to execute even the most depending on the sport. Other athletes want to con- fundamental sport skills. Other children simply do not serve their energy prior to the contest and have a more enjoy competition, while others prefer to participate relaxed approach to preparation (e.g., golf, tennis). in unstructured physical activities in neighborhood or recreational settings in which there is no “winning” Another important psychological factor in ath- and no “losing.” Other topics in the area of youth letic achievement is personality. Is there a “personality sports include whether child athletes should compete type” that is predictive of high quality in sport per- for awards, if younger athletes warrant different formance? Can the coach predict sport success from a coaching styles and strategies than older athletes, the paper-and-pencil personality inventory? Do personali- role of sports parenting in developing positive atti- ties differ between athletes and nonathletes, between tudes toward sport competition, the influence of men- male and female players, and among athletes in differ- tal skills on the emotions and sports performance of ent sports? Sport psychologists have devoted consider- the younger athlete, and perhaps most important, able research to the topic of personality in sport. The ways to reduce high dropout rates and keep children answers to the above questions, which might surprise engaged in youth sports without compromising the you, are provided in this book. integrity of sports competition. Individual differences form another popular sub- While “winning” and “losing” is inherent in com- ject of research and consultation. If two athletes have petitive sport, the real issue of concern to sport psy- similar skills, sport psychology researchers attempt to chology researchers and practitioners is how adults determine why one athlete succeeds more often than can create youth sports environments that nurture the the other athlete. Why do some players succeed under young athlete’s confidence, self-esteem, and sense of pressure in sport while others do not? What psycho- improvement and achievement. Similar to adults, if logical factors separate the consistently successful children do not feel competent in an activity, or if they competitor from his or her less successful counterpart? perceive a lack of ability in performing successfully, One could write a book on this last question alone. and they conclude that they are not good enough, they For example, former heavyweight boxing champion, will quit. Sport psychology literature addresses ways Mike Tyson, would wake up at 4 A.M. to run in his in which adults can create a “healthy” sports environ- prefight training regimen: “because the other guy ment for children. doesn’t. I’ve got to prove to myself that I’m more dis- ciplined than the other guy” (Newsweek, June 20, Another important psychological factor in suc- 1988, p. 56). cessful performance and well-studied in this field is

CHAPTER 1 THE SCIENCE OF SPORT PSYCHOLOGY 5 motivation. Why are some athletes more motivated many coaches often extol the virtues of criticizing ath- than other athletes? What are the sources of their letes as integral to the sport experience. Does criticism motivation, and what are the causes of demotivation— have an important and constructive role in effective when the athlete’s initial high motivation level deterio- coaching? Do sport psychology consultants have a rates over time, or is sometimes eliminated completely? valid point when they recommend that coaches reduce What is intrinsic (as opposed to extrinsic) motivation, their criticism of players, and instead, emphasize more and why is it so important in encouraging long-term positive feedback on performance? Many coaches feel participation in sport, while reducing the dropout that sport psychology consultants are “out of touch” rate? What strategies can coaches and parents use to with high-quality, accepted coaching methods when increase intrinsic forms of motivation? Although the sport psychologists recommend not criticizing athletes. field of sport psychology has many components that go Many coaches tend to reject the interventions of others beyond sport, the competitive athlete is at the heart of who attempt to modify coaching strategies and behav- traditional sport psychology. The person who is key in ioral patterns due, in part, because often coaches pre- helping athletes achieve and perform at their best is fer to listen to other coaches rather than to individuals the coach. (e.g., sport psychology consultants) who are considered “outsiders.” The Coach Coté, Salmela, and Russell (1995), in their study American author Henry Miller once wrote, “The real of 17 expert gymnastic coaches in Canada, found that leader has no need to lead—he (or she) is content to “properties considered crucial in the sport psychol- point the way.” And so it is with effective coaches in ogy literature, such as developing an athlete’s self- sport. The coach is the team leader. Given the player’s confidence or developing concentration skills, were talent and the coach’s knowledge of sport skills and not discussed extensively by the expert coaches” strategies, the team leader’s primary goal is to develop (p. 93). The coaches indicate more traditional, exten- the physical and mental skills of athletes so that they, sive use of skill instruction techniques and involve- individually and as a team, can achieve consistent ment in the athletes’ training. Thus, in the absence of success. Success may not always be defined as win- a sport psychologist, at least some coaches remain ning; success may also be defined as performance skeptical—or uninformed—about implementing men- improvement and even participation satisfaction. As tal skills. It appears that the lack of attention given to we will discuss in Chapter 12, a coach may be suc- sport psychology information may be due to a lack of cessful (i.e., a good won-loss record), but not effective awareness and very limited knowledge about the (i.e., athletes who are not fulfilled or have not enjoyed field. Usually, we do not trust what we do not under- competing on this team). Sport psychology addresses stand, and the lack of trust is likely one reason the the ways in which coaches can be effective in terms of field has been slow in gaining ground on many sports successful game outcomes and ensuring that athletes teams. have enjoyed their experience and have contributed to the team. On a more positive note, journal articles and media reports in more recent years indicate increasing Other coach-related issues addressed in sport acceptance by coaches and sport organizations of the psychology include how the coach can facilitate the need for psychological interventions in competitive interaction of all team players to promote group iden- sport. Issues of applied sport psychology journals, such tity, player satisfaction, and group cohesion in team as The Sport Psychologist and the Journal of Applied sports; how to help athletes mentally prepare for the Sport Psychology, have been devoted to the experi- contest; and the ways in which coaches can motivate ences of sport psychologists who consult with elite both starters and nonstarters so that each player feels sports teams in various countries. In 1992, Biddle, they had satisfying experiences as a team member. Bull, and Seheult reported “a substantial increase in the demand for sport psychology services in Britain Not all coaches are aware of the importance of over the last few years” (p. 68). Sample roles of sport sport psychology in their role as team leaders. In a psychology consulting have included the education of conference seminar, one coach said that, in general, coaches and participants in mental training programs coaches learn their trade more by observing and listen- and in the psychological aspects of sport. Clinical sport ing to other coaches (the modeling effect or, more to psychologists are trained to address personal problems the point, “monkey see, monkey do”) than by receiv- and even mental illness, or psychopathology, among ing formal instruction on proper coaching techniques. athletes. Examples include depression, chronic anxiety, The athlete’s personal needs may not be taken into insomnia, irrational thinking, suicidal thoughts, and account prior to, during, and following the contest if low self-esteem. coaches are merely repeating the actions and tech- niques of their former coaches. For better or worse, Finally, the sport psychology research and applied literature is filled with examples of programs worldwide

6 SECTION I OVERVIEW OF THE FIELD criticism, however, is dependent on the manner in which it is communicated. While sport psychologists that include sport psychology specialists as an integral and coaches may differ on this point, the content of part of preparing elite athletes for the Olympic Games. critical comments is about addressing the person’s be- Sport psychologists often accompany the team to pro- havior, not his or her character or personality. The vide on-site mental preparation and crisis management. same goes for anger. Ginott claims that anger per se is Hopefully, one additional positive outcome from the in- normal, and its free expression should be allowed. creased involvement of sport psychology specialists for But when anger is expressed through abusive and de- different skill levels, age groups, and different sports will structive messages that serve no other purpose than be to assist coaches to become more aware of the ways to destroy a person’s self-image and to promote feel- in which applying sport psychology concepts will im- ings of guilt, then its potential benefits are void. This prove individual and team performance. Here are some is discussed at length in Chapter 11. of the ways information from the sport psychology liter- ature can contradict traditional coach behavior. Punishment Perhaps you have heard a sports coach The Pre-game Pep Talk Many coaches, particularly yell to his or her athletes, “OK, that’s 10 laps around the field,” because a player committed some infraction in contact sports, give an exciting, emotionally or failed to perform up to the coach’s expectations. charged talk just before game time. Sport psycholo- There is evidence that punishing an individual with gists and some of the more successful coaches argue exercise reduces that person’s desire to be physically against a hyped-up pre-game talk (see Chapters 8 and active and a well-conditioned sport participant. An as- 12). Researchers have found that athletes are already sociation between exercise and punishment is undesir- sufficiently “pumped up” for the contest. An arousal- able. A far better tool for punitive purposes is the inducing talk before the game may excite the players short-term denial of participation in physical activity above optimal levels, a concept called overarousal; or sport, not additional (exercise) activity. Many other the athletes become too excited (see Chapter 6). examples of common, yet questionable coaching prac- Sometimes a low-key approach in which a review of tices, some quite destructive of the player’s confidence information is presented may be more effective, par- and self-esteem, are offered throughout this text. ticularly in sports that require lower emotional levels. The pre-game talk may be even less effective when Effective coaching in sport is difficult and chal- its content focuses on the importance of winning lenging. It is not easy to influence and control the the event rather than offering confidence-building thoughts, emotions, and actions of a group of athletes statements. Coaches do not want to increase player who yearn to be successful and want to make a contri- pre-contest anxiety levels. bution to the team. The successful management of a team is a complex and sophisticated skill. To make “Winning Is the Only Thing” Feelings of anxiety everyone in the group feel that he or she contributes to team success, and to promote desirable behaviors (e.g., (i.e., the athlete’s perception of threat or worry) and developing team cohesion and quality player leader- some degree of fear of failure usually already exist in ship, showing team loyalty, maintaining motivation competitors before the contest. The coach’s job is to and team member satisfaction) while inhibiting inap- help the athlete to manage (i.e., to cope with) these propriate ones (e.g., hostile actions toward other team feelings, not eliminate them. Pre-game messages that members, taking banned drugs, not following coach express the need to win only heighten anxiety and may instructions, forgetting skills and strategies, not show- distract the athlete from executing skills and strategies ing up to practice and games on time, quitting the flawlessly. Contrary to the beliefs and actions of many team) is a challenge for any coach. The effective coach coaches, it may be better to remind athletes about exe- applies principles of sport psychology in nurturing cuting previously practiced skills and strategies than to player loyalty, trust, and mutual respect. This can be emphasize the importance of winning—an outcome accomplished by using a variety of leadership styles that will take care of itself. and by always respecting the player’s integrity. This is covered in depth in Chapter 11. Criticism The late newspaper columnist Sydney The Environment Harris wrote, “Even the behaviorists concede that praise works twice as well as criticism in providing Sports performance is clearly influenced by an array of the incentive to improve—but it is also twice as hard environmental factors. The sport environment refers to for most people to praise as it is to point out defects.” the situations and features of sport competition and the Was he correct? Are coaches too critical of their interactions between athletes, other sport participants, players? and observers. For example, media reports have shown Growth, maturation, and improvement all re- quire critical feedback. Learning to execute sport skills requires critical feedback. The effectiveness of

CHAPTER 1 THE SCIENCE OF SPORT PSYCHOLOGY 7 that players are (understandably) concerned about mak- These are only some of the many questions con- ing errors and failing to perform successfully in front of cerning how environment can influence the outcome thousands (in the stadium) or millions (on television) of of competitive events in sport. One or more psycho- fans. Playing in unfamiliar environments (e.g., stadiums, logical factors are present in each of these examples fields, locker rooms) or in the presence of unfriendly, to a significant degree. It should be obvious to the nonsupportive spectators can cause player anxiety and reader that participating in and coaching competitive inhibit full concentration. Entering a “hostile” environ- athletics is a far more sophisticated endeavor than ment can distract the individual from the task at hand most spectators, journalists, and even the participants and inhibit normally high-quality performance. themselves realize. One environmental issue in sport psychology is a Over the past 40 years, sport psychology has concept called team cohesion, the players’ sense of grown to be a sophisticated and scholarly academic dis- “togetherness.” Effective coaches try to foster a team cipline (or, as some feel, a subdiscipline of psychology atmosphere in which athletes offer mutual emotional or sport science) and field of study. Sport psychology support of one another’s efforts, improvement, and researchers have devoted considerable energy in con- performance, a concept called social cohesion; and a ducting scholarly research and disseminating their sense of feeling united in meeting team goals and each findings through numerous national and international athlete giving 100 percent during the contest, a con- journals and have received recognition from the aca- cept called task cohesion. It is also desirable for team demic community through publications in highly re- members to feel group satisfaction and a sense of spected journals, presentations at scientific conferences, pride in being on the team representing their school, representation in numerous professional organizations, club, or community. At the elite sport level, players and by applying sport psychology concepts as consult- also represent their team’s history, and sometimes ants on sports teams, rehabilitation centers, exercise their country. This creates deep team loyalty and pres- and fitness centers, and other locations that wish to sure to succeed. It also raises expectations of player enhance physical performance. behavior; no coach wants to see his or her player ap- pear in the newspaper about a legal matter. Examples of journals that frequently publish sport psychology research include Journal of Sport & Other environmental issues that are the focus of Exercise Psychology, Psychology of Sport and Exercise, sport psychology include: Journal of Sport Behavior, Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport, Journal of Applied Sport • Examining the popular conception of a home-field Psychology, International Journal of Sport Psychology, advantage; truth or myth? International Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, European Journal of Sports Science, Journal of Sports • Determining the extent to which crowd behavior— Sciences, Journal of Clinical Sport Psychology, and The cheering or booing, for instance—influence player Sport Psychologist. performance; are quality athletes really affected by crowd reactions? A Brief History of Sport Psychology • Does the effect of environmental conditions on per- The late U.S. Senator Adlai Stevenson said, “We can formance depend on the sport? For example, would chart our future clearly and wisely only when we know golfers practicing on a different course experience a the path which has led to the present.” Knowledge of significantly greater environmental effect than history helps explain the present, allows us to learn basketball players playing on a different basketball from mistakes, and helps us plan and carry out a more court? Is it the physical environment that affects successful and satisfying future. What was the genesis performance quality, or is it the social environment of sport psychology? How did it develop? Does it such as the presence of a supportive audience? belong to the field of psychology or to the field of sport and exercise science/physical education? • Does social team cohesion influence player perform- ance? Does it matter, for example, if teammates As early as 1897, Dr. Norman Triplett, a psycholo- spend social time together away from the sport gist at Indiana University, published (in American scene? Does high social cohesion, that is, liking each Journal of Psychology) what is believed to be the first other, translate into better performance outcome? experiment directly related to sport psychology. Triplett investigated a phenomenon we now call social facilita- • Is it a good idea to tell athletes about who is tion, the favorable effect of observers on one’s perform- watching them? Should the coach inform players ance. He noticed that cyclists performed faster when that parents, college recruiters, professional scouts, competing against other cyclists and faster with other or some other evaluators of their performance are cyclists on a tandem bicycle than when cycling alone. observing them play? Or will this information cre- ate anxiety and distract the athlete from perform- ing optimally?

8 SECTION I OVERVIEW OF THE FIELD Subsequently, all sport scientists learned from the improvement in research design, equipment, statistical Triplett explained that the presence of others (i.e., com- techniques, and more frequent publications of infor- petitors, co-actors, audience members) results in the mation pertaining to the psychomotor processes that release of energy and incentive for increased effort. In underlie learning and performing skilled movements. another study published in Popular Science Monthly in Despite the “striking void . . . between Griffith’s pro- 1899, E. W. Scripture, a psychologist at Yale University, ductive years and the work of more contemporary concluded that participating in sport could lead to desir- researchers in sport psychology” (Wiggins, 1984, able personality traits. The contemporary view that p. 14), the field of sport psychology has benefited from competitive athletics builds character has its roots in these initial attempts in motor behavior research. Scripture’s research. But the recognized pioneer of sport psychology, at least in the United States, is Coleman It wasn’t until the mid-1960s that sport psychol- Roberts Griffith. ogy made great strides toward becoming the scientific discipline it is today. A number of factors contributed Referred to as the “father of sport psychology in to the development of this academic area. Textbooks America,” Griffith is acknowledged as the first person were more readily available. Examples include Bryant to conduct systematic and frequent sport psychology Cratty’s Movement Behavior and Motor Learning experimentation over a period of several years (Kroll & (1964); Bruce Ogilvie and Thomas Tutko’s Problem Lewis, 1970; Wiggins 1984). Griffith developed the first Athletes and How to Handle Them (1967); three sport psychology laboratory—the Athletic Research books by Robert N. Singer: Motor Learning and Laboratory—at the University of Illinois in 1925, but Human Performance (1967), Coaching, Athletics, and his research on the psychological factors that affect Psychology (1972), and Myths and Truths in Sport sport performance began as early as 1918. His primary Psychology (1975); and Joseph Oxendine’s Psychology areas of interest included psychological and environ- and Motor Behavior (1967). These books provided an mental factors that influence the learning and per- impetus for prolific research and publication in scien- forming of motor skills and personality in sport. He tific journals, most notably Research Quarterly (now developed equipment for his laboratory that measured called Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport), the awareness of skilled movements; mental alertness; official research publication of the physical education reaction times to sight, sound, and pressure; steadiness; and exercise science profession in the United States. muscular coordination; muscular tension and relax- ation; and learning ability (Kroll & Lewis, 1970). He But even more important to the advancement of was the first scientist to acknowledge, based on an sport psychology scholarship was the proliferation of interview with football great Red Grange, that better courses and university graduate programs in the athletes perform sport skills automatically—with no or 1970s, becoming increasingly common in the 1980s, minimal thinking. He wrote the first sport psychology that led to the emergence of our most prestigious texts in 1926 (Psychology of Coaching) and 1928 scholars in sport psychology. (Psychology of Athletics) and taught the first sport psychology college course at the University of Illinois The final component in the growth of sport psy- in 1923. chology was the establishment of several professional associations. The first annual meeting of the North In a task that today’s sport psychologists would American Society for the Psychology of Sport and truly envy, Griffith was hired by the Chicago Cubs Physical Activity (NASPSPA) was held in 1967. Its major league baseball club to be the team’s consulting Canadian counterpart, the Canadian Society for sport psychologist for the 1938 season. He adminis- Psychomotor Learning and Sport Psychology (CSPLSP), tered various motor tests and psychological invento- was founded in 1969. At first, this organization was af- ries to determine each player’s current psychological filiated with the Canadian Association for Health, status, ability, and potential as a competitive athlete Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance (CAH- from spring training to the season’s end. PERD), but it became an independent society in 1977. In 1975, a subdivision of the American Alliance for Sport psychology research was at a virtual stand- Health, Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance still in the 1940s and 1950s, with the exception of the (AAHPERD) was created to promote sport psychology occasional doctoral dissertation. More common dur- within the academic framework of physical education. ing this time was the establishment of motor learn- It was called the Sport Psychology Academy. The pur- ing laboratories, including those founded by John pose of the academy was to promote theory and Lawther at Pennsylvania State University, Clarence research that could be applied in a physical education or Ragsdale at the University of Wisconsin, C. H. sport setting. McCloy at the University of Iowa, and, perhaps most notably, the late Franklin Henry at the University of In 1986, the Association for the Advancement of California at Berkeley. This movement provided the Applied Sport Psychology (AAASP), now called the field of physical education with a more sophisticated, Association for Applied Sport Psychology (AASP), scientific approach to research in motor behavior.

CHAPTER 1 THE SCIENCE OF SPORT PSYCHOLOGY 9 came into existence to promote a more “hands-on” experiences, (3) to hear and interact with established approach in sport psychology. AASP has one of the practitioners whose work and expertise is well-known largest memberships of sport psychology profession- in areas applicable to sport and exercise behavior, als and students in the world with approximately (4) to debate and perhaps create guidelines or set pol- 1,200 members representing 29 countries outside of icy about controversial issues, and (5) to bring back North America (www.aasponline.org). This organi- to their respective programs, classes, and state or zation comprises three subdisciplines: health psy- regional organizations new and exciting ideas in the chology (e.g., studying the psychological effects of field. physical activity), intervention (i.e., sport counseling and studying the effectiveness of using psychological The student’s decision for graduate training in and behavioral techniques on sport performance), sport psychology should be primarily determined by and social psychology (i.e., examining the influences their professional aspirations. Sport psychology is of environmental factors on emotions and behaviors compatible with the growth of computer information of athletes and coaches). technology. In addition to databases—for example, PSYCHLIT, SPORTSDISC—the SPORTPSY listserve Although the field of sport psychology is rooted at http://listserv.temple.edu provides opportunities to in the area of physical education, a field that has interact with other students, practitioners, researchers, expanded its title to include sport science, exercise and educators sharing information or debating vari- science, kinesiology, human performance, and ous issues. Discussion of professional issues, exposure human movement, sport psychology has gained in- to recent articles and events, job placements, and pro- creasing recognition by an affiliation with the field fessional advice or assistance have become increas- of psychology, particularly since the American ingly popular and simplified in recent years. Psychological Association added Exercise and Sport Psychology (Division 47) as a new area of member- Different Contributions to Sport ship interest and specialization in 1986. The accept- Psychology—Sport Science versus ance of sport psychology into general psychology Psychology was partly due to the legal use of the title psycholo- gist, which should reflect academic training in Although sport psychology is taken seriously by the psychology. Understandably, considerable debate academic community, there remains controversy, currently occurs among scholars and practitioners sometimes contentious, about which academic disci- about which discipline—physical education/sport pline should govern the education, training, and prac- science or psychology—should coordinate programs tice of sport psychology students, researchers, and for training sport psychologists. practitioners. There is a clear political and philosoph- ical “battle” for territory and ownership for repre- The American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) senting the field. In fact, the American College of has an interest group called Exercise Psychology, com- Sports Medicine (ACSM) is gaining heightened recog- prised of individuals who conduct scholarly research in nition and credibility as the primary organization an attempt to link psychology with exercise behavior. that oversees the field of exercise psychology. They The primary mission of this group is to address re- have clearly taken the lead in promoting educational search questions that promote the initiation and adher- requirements and developing policy in recognizing ence to physical activity for all ages. exercise psychology as a reputable field of training and research, with far less attention toward training The link between sport psychology and psychol- and supervising the practitioner. ogy is also strong in Canada, throughout Europe, Australia, New Zealand, and throughout Asia. The There are two fields of study, or academic dis- Korean Society for Sport Psychology is among the ciplines, that have valid claims on maintaining a largest and most active organizations in Asia. These strong influence on the development of sport psy- countries have sport psychology organizations, con- chology. One area is sport science, also referred to ferences, and professional and research publications. as departments entitled physical education, exercise In addition, most of these countries have sport psy- science, health and human performance, kinesi- chologists who work with their elite athletes and ology, and human movement. The second discipline accompany their respective teams to international is psychology. competitions and to the Olympic Games. Neither field is going to “own” or be the sole rep- In summary, these organizations provide scholars resentative of sport psychology. Both disciplines bring and practitioners in sport psychology with their own complimentary needs and skills to the field. Each field, national and international identity as a scientific disci- sport science and psychology, has unique features pline and area of practice. They also allow organiza- needed by people who want to improve some aspect tion members an opportunity to meet annually (1) to of their human performance. exchange ideas, (2) to communicate their research

10 SECTION I OVERVIEW OF THE FIELD In Favor of Psychology The three main strengths of In Favor of Sport and Exercise Sciences A perusal of the field of psychology linked to sport psychology include the legal title of “psychologist,” the status of Directory of Graduate Programs in Applied Sport licensure that allows clinicians/counselors/therapists to Psychology (2010, 10th ed.) clearly indicates that receive third party payments (i.e., paid from the client’s sport and exercise science is the primary area from health insurance), and, of course, the training in coun- which sport psychology programs are offered. It is the seling or clinical psychology that provides knowledge in rare psychology department that includes a course or administering and interpreting psychological tests avail- specialization in sport psychology. This is understand- able only to licensed psychologists (Carlstedt, 2008). able, given the strict requirements of psychology de- partments in order to have an academic program that The student’s decision for graduate training in meets the criteria for licensure as a psychologist ap- sport psychology should be primarily determined by proved by the American Psychological Association their professional aspirations. If the student plans on (APA). In most states, psychologists can be licensed an academic career, then the sport and exercise sci- only if they graduate with a Ph.D. from an APA- ences are more likely to have courses in sport psychol- approved program. Course requirements and many ogy. If private practice is the student’s goal, then he or hours of field supervision do not easily allow graduate she should follow the road for licensure as a psycholo- students to complete additional courses, such as sport gist. Paid consultancies in sport psychology without psychology, although a few universities, such as the licensure are difficult to find because a licensed psy- University of North Texas, do include a sport chologist is eligible to collect third party payments psychology specialization in their Psychology Depart- from health insurance. This means two things. First, ment. Graduate students from exercise and sport sci- the client can be financially supported, perhaps pay ence departments train to conduct research in sport only a fraction of the psychologist’s fee. Second, licen- and exercise psychology by writing their master’s sure means the psychologist can be covered by the thesis or doctoral dissertation. From a political per- organization’s insurance policy—a requirement to spective, 14 of the 17 presidents of AASP have their guard against a possible lawsuit. Sport psychology doctorate from sport science-related areas, with the consultants who are not licensed psychologists can remaining three former presidents from the field of gain employment if paid out-of-pocket from clients or psychology. Moreover, every editor from Journal of by organizations in which the consultant is not engag- Sport & Exercise Psychology, The Sport Psychologist, ing in counseling or any form of psychotherapy. The Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, and Inter- content is restricted to performance enhancement national Journal of Sport Psychology has doctoral de- techniques. grees from the sport and exercise sciences rather than psychology. The exception is the current editors of And then there is the small matter of who owns Journal of Sport Behavior, who, at this writing, are the title of sport psychologist. This issue is frustrating professors in a department of psychology. for those in academic circles who have spent their en- tire career in sport psychology yet may not legally use Also, the “father” of sport psychology, Dr. Coleman the title “sport psychologist” because the title Griffith, was a professor of physical education. Sport psychologist is legally protected by State Boards of and exercise science/physical education educators and Licensed Psychologists (American Psychological researchers appear to have given birth to the field. Association, 2002). Using the title “psychologist”— Perhaps it is not surprising, then, that AASP has created sport, clinical, or anything else—requires a licensure and maintained the only certification program in applied from the state board, meaning a Ph.D. from an APA- sport psychology, although Division 47 (Exercise and approved program in psychology and passing three Sport Psychology) within the American Psychological national examinations, an oral exam, and two writ- Association has recently developed their own set of crite- ten exams—Examination for the Professional Practice ria for recognition as a sport psychologist for licensed of Psychology (EPPP) and the jurisprudence exam psychologists. Despite an impressive set of credentials concerned with ethics and the law. Each state has its from this field, psychology has much to offer sport psy- own set of rules and its own licensure board in which chology. to arbitrate who may become—or remain—licensed, so there are exceptions to these criteria, including a AASP has recognized the importance of providing master’s degree level certification program in psychol- appropriate interventions based on the development ogy that will also allow for third party payments. and mastery of requisite skills and knowledge. While However, only earning a doctoral degree will allow the field is embroiled in an ongoing debate about cur- use of the title “psychologist,” including sport psy- rent certification content, members of the sport and chologist. Some sport science professionals are not exercise science community contend that clearly the concerned about titles because, they say, the title practice of sport psychology warrants a level of so- “psychologist” is threatening for many athletes and phistication that goes beyond traditional training in psychology (Sachs, 1993). They are right.

CHAPTER 1 THE SCIENCE OF SPORT PSYCHOLOGY 11 coaches. Alternative titles include mental skills coach, age), cognitive psychology (the link between thoughts, performance coach/consultant, or performance coun- emotions, and performance), educational psychology selor (Singer & Anshel, 2006b). (factors that influence learning and remembering sport skills and strategies), clinical psychology (examining Psychologists make a valuable contribution to personal issues that require professional guidance, sport psychology by their sophisticated published sometimes called psychopathology, in order to over- research, describing clinical issues among competitive come barriers to optimal performance), psychology of athletes—individuals who often require psychological sport injury (called rehabilitation psychology in gen- intervention due to deep-rooted issues that cannot be eral psychology) and others. These subdisciplines of addressed effectively by applying mental skills—and psychology—exercise psychology is the only area that through their support and collaboration with sport is not a traditional area of study in psychology, al- and exercise science departments in the education and though it is linked closely with health psychology— training of sport psychology graduate students. are illustrated in Figure 1.2. On the other hand, however, the field is replete Social Psychology of Sport Components of social with psychologists who have never taken a course in sport psychology, have not read and mastered the lit- psychology studied and applied in sport psychology erature, and do not have a sport background (they are include leadership theory and styles, the psychological nonathletes), yet lay claim to the title of, and market aspects of effective coaching, understanding the fac- themselves as, a sport psychologist. Training and tors that influence group cohesion and group experience often dictate what we do and how we do dynamics, effects of audience characteristics (e.g., size, it. Thus, trained psychologists will rely on their clini- evaluative role, passive presence versus interaction cal training in representing the field, and sport psy- with the athlete) on athletic performance, aggression, chology consultants with a sport science background cultural factors that explain psychological characteris- will rely on mental skills training. Some sport science tics and behavior, and effects of gender (usually stud- academics and practitioners perceive psychologists as ied as cross-gender comparisons) on an array of intrusive and undertrained in sport psychology, and psychosocial and behavioral factors that influence hence, a threat to the integrity of the field. It is an area sport performance. of contention still debated by scholars, writers, and practitioners. Who, then, “owns” sport psychology? Developmental Sport Psychology Child athletes and In a capitalistic, open market society, it is the individ- ual who delivers the most effective, highest quality adult athletes have different needs and their objectives product who wins. for participating in sport competition differ as well. As we develop and eventually age, so does our ability to Sport Psychology Is Multidimensional perform sports skills. Developmental sport psychology is concerned with the psychomotor and emotional Sport psychology is a multidisciplinary area of study factors that accompany these changes with age. Less and practice. It is derived from, and therefore in- emphasis on training and competitive outcomes (i.e., cludes, many of the traditional disciplines of psychol- winning and losing) and more emphasis on skill devel- ogy such as social psychology (the study of group opment and enjoyment are typical suggestions coming behavior and environmental/situational factors that from youth sport research. Other areas of study affect a person’s emotions and actions), developmental include socialization factors that contribute to partici- psychology (changes in cognition and behavior with pation in sport, and ways in which we can encourage Educational Sport and Cognitive psychology physical psychology activity Social Clinical psychology psychology Developmental Psychology of psychology sports injury Psychophysiology Exercise Personality psychology psychology Figure 1.2 Multidimensional components of the field of sport psychology.

12 SECTION I OVERVIEW OF THE FIELD called psychopathology, which concerns helping ath- letes address deeper problems that have long-term, sport participation (recreation) and other forms of profound influences on their level of happiness, moti- physical activity among children and adolescents. vation, normal functioning, and of course, their sport performance. Examples include low self-esteem, irra- Cognitive Sport Psychology Cognition is the techni- tional thinking (e.g., “I don’t deserve to be success- ful”), depression, extreme fear of failure, and many cal term for thinking. In sport psychology, researchers others. and practitioners want to know the ways in which the timing and content of the athlete’s thoughts and emo- Personality Sport Psychology Through the use of tions influence performance quality and outcome. Sources of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, the man- psychological inventories, can we predict who will ner in which an athlete explains performance success become a successful athlete? Who will achieve cham- and failure (causal attributions), and the influence pion status and who will not? Who is best suited to of an array of mental (e.g., imagery, psyching up, achieve success in a particular sport? Who is most thought stopping, self-expectations, confidence, cop- likely to reach his or her potential? Who is most re- ing, self-talk) and behavioral (e.g., goal setting, plan- silient to pressure and the expectations of others? ning, self-regulation) strategies on performance are Personality assessment in sport received considerable primary areas of study and application. Helping ath- attention in the 1970s and 1980s, then began to wane letes to manage anxiety, for example, is a common in the 1990s, and is less popular today. Perhaps most requirement for successful competition and an area alarming is the finding, discussed in Chapter 2, that where much intervention research has been con- psychological inventories predict performance success ducted. Surprisingly, coaches are often the source of only 8–10 percent of the time. an athlete’s anxiety rather than a source of comfort and confidence. How can coaches (and parents, too) Instead of using personality tests to predict an ath- communicate information that will facilitate confi- lete’s future, researchers have focused more recently on dence rather than instill feelings of worry and threat examining the extent to which an athlete’s style—a sta- (i.e., anxiety) among their players? This is addressed ble disposition (not an entrenched personality trait)— in Chapter 3. and thoughts (more situational and unstable) affect athletic performance. Attempting to predict an ath- Educational Sport Psychology Good coaches are lete’s future by using a psychological inventory, with- out considering the roles of growth, development, good teachers. Improved athletic performance often coaching, training, motivation, and a vast array of reflects the coach’s ability to communicate skills and other factors, is obsolete thinking. strategies effectively. This area of sport psychology is concerned with examining the processes of learning Psychophysiology of Sport Psychophysiology is formally and remembering sports skills, often referred to as in- formation processing, the study and application of defined as the inference of psychological processes, ways to increase motivation and other desirable emo- emotional states, and performance outcomes from ex- tions and feelings while reducing anxiety and related amining physiological measures. What, exactly, goes on undesirable thought content, and the proper use of in- beneath the surface of human performance? For exam- structional techniques. Educational sport psychology ple, is an athlete’s anxiety due to muscle tension is related to other disciplines of sport science called (somatic anxiety) or to worry and thoughts of possible sport pedagogy and applied motor learning. future harm or failure (cognitive anxiety)? This is important to resolve because each source of anxiety— Clinical Sport Psychology Perhaps the form of sport somatic or cognitive—requires different types of mental skills to overcome. How do we train athletes in archery, psychology with the highest public profile concerns shooting, bowling, and other sports that demand re- addressing the psychological issues that impede the duced arousal, the mental skills needed to lower heart athlete from reaching and sustaining high-level per- rate, and other physiological processes that will opti- formance. One common, related aspect of clinical mize performance through mental skills training? issues is the use of mental skills that help athletes Researchers want to know the mechanisms of the mus- overcome obstacles to high performance and to cles, nervous system, and other physiological processes achieve desirable outcomes. Researchers in this area associated with performance quality. often concentrate on developing and testing the effec- tiveness of instruments that measure certain psycho- Exercise Psychology Exercise psychology is defined, logical dispositions that may predict the athlete’s thoughts, emotions, and performance. While practi- according to the Dictionary of Exercise and Sport tioners use this information to counsel athletes about Sciences (Anshel et al. 1991), as “the study of psycho- the sources of certain problems and suggest interven- logical factors underlying participation and adherence tions to overcome them. A related area of practice is

CHAPTER 1 THE SCIENCE OF SPORT PSYCHOLOGY 13 in physical activity programs” (p. 56). Other compo- period of time. Although laws vary among states and nents of exercise psychology include examining the countries, persons should not practice clinical sport effects of physical activity on mental health and emo- psychology unless they have full membership in their tion; determining the reasons why certain individuals national psychological, psychiatric, or clinical associa- voluntarily engage in a structured exercise program tion; a current license to practice counseling; and for and why some of them continue to exercise (called professional, though not legal, reasons, some aca- adherence) while others decide to stop exercising demic preparation in the sport sciences. (dropping out); determining how a person’s percep- tion of their exertion (called ratings of perceived exer- Educational Services tion) influences exercise intensity and duration; and studying the phenomenon of positive and negative The teaching component of sport psychology occurs exercise dependence, or addiction. Of particular im- most often on university campuses, in community sem- portance is to determine effective interventions that inars, and in consulting with teams and individual ath- will significantly improve exercise adherence. letes. It usually involves helping performers develop the psychological skills to realize their athletic poten- Exercise psychology is gaining extensive attention tial. Relaxation, concentration, imagery, and coping by researchers, practitioners, and graduate students in strategies to handle stress are examples of these cogni- sport psychology programs. This is partly because the tive skills. Many university faculty members who teach same concepts that explain and improve sport behavior sport psychology tend to lecture and provide counsel- are similarly valid in exercise settings. In addition, grad- ing services simultaneously. Because such persons are uates and practitioners are finding that a professional perceived by constituents to possess up-to-date knowl- market exists for applying exercise psychology in fitness edge and expertise in this area, they must read the clubs, weight loss clinics, and rehabilitation settings. most recent professional research literature and have the academic skills to translate this information into Psychology of Sports Injury Psychology of sport applied form. Without the ability to bridge the gap from theory to practice, the educator continues using injury addresses the reasons that some athletes become antiquated, perhaps unproven and ineffective, tech- more seriously or frequently injured than others and niques. An educational sport psychologist or consult- why selected competitors are unable to regain previous ant should have earned at least a master’s degree in performance levels after injury rehabilitation despite psychology or have completed graduate study in sport all test data indicating full recovery; ways of determin- psychology. ing differences in pain detection and pain tolerance among athletes and of how athletes’ pain perception Research Services influences their recovery from injury and subsequent performance quality; and methods for identifying the A doctorate in psychology or a related field (e.g., effectiveness of psychobehavioral interventions that sport science), evidence of scholarly research activity improve rehabilitation from sports-related injuries. applied to sport or exercise, and letters of reference A team’s athletic trainer and sports medicine staff from reputable research institutions that recognize have an important role in helping athletes recover one’s research attempts and contributions to the field mentally—as well as physically—from injury. qualify one to provide research services. The research sport psychologist has three major responsibilities: to What Do Sport Psychologists Do? conduct research, to publish the research findings in a professional (refereed) journal, and to present these One approach for examining the roles of sport psy- research results to colleagues at professional confer- chologists is derived from the United States Olympic ences. A scientist who lacks the skills to communicate Committee (USOC). At their August 1982 meeting in about his or her work is effectively mute and literally Colorado Springs, Colorado, the USOC’s Sport goes unrecognized in the scientific community. Psychology Advisory Committee divided the services of sport psychologists into three broad areas: clinical The types of research services conducted by sport services, educational services, and research services psychologists include the effects of certain mental (see Clarke, 1984). These areas are still prevalent techniques on the athletes’ psychological state (e.g., today. arousal or anxiety levels, readiness to perform, or self- confidence) and performance. Other popular research Clinical Services areas include examining effects of various personal and situational factors on the individual’s psychologi- This area includes helping athletes who experience se- cal or physiological status and on physical perform- vere emotional problems (e.g., depression, anorexia, ance. Sometimes, the participant is asked to complete panic) and who need treatment over an extended a psychological inventory, which may “describe”

14 SECTION I OVERVIEW OF THE FIELD include attending a minimal number of AASP confer- ences, receiving at least 400 hours of supervised prac- a current mental state or psychological disposition tical experience, and submitting three professional (e.g., self-esteem or trait anxiety) or point out certain reference letters. The consultant may or may not be a mental strengths and weaknesses of the performer. licensed psychologist. The effectiveness of certain cognitive or behavioral strategies on altering the subject’s mental status and Who Is a Sport Psychologist? As indicated earlier, the athletic performance may be evaluated. How certain leadership styles influence the team or individual play- title “psychologist” is legally protected (American ers forms yet another area of research. Psychological Association, 2002). Therefore, only in- dividuals educated and university-trained in the field Ethics in Sport Psychology of psychology may refer to themselves as psycholo- gists, and state licensing boards have traditionally The rapid growth of sport and exercise psychology supported this position. However, an employee of an has been accompanied by ethical issues concerning educational institution who will engage in the practice how it is studied and practiced. Issues addressed here of sport psychology only within the confines of a uni- include the debate about the qualifications of a sport versity sports program, and not in the community, psychologist, examining credentials and the use of may also use the title, “sport psychologist.” Typically, titles (e.g., “psychologist” as opposed to “consultant” however, an individual who wishes to practice as a or “mental skills coach”), clarification of the sport sport psychologist, similar to the practice of any other psychologist’s role, claims about the success and type of psychology, must be a licensed counseling or proven usefulness of performance enhancement tech- clinical psychologist. niques, sensitivity to individual needs, confidentiality, use of psychological inventories, and the need for Ethics in Sport Psychology updating knowledge in the field. Let’s clarify the term ethics. Ethics provide the moral Clarification of Correct Titles component of professional practice, forming a system of principles that suggest a particular code of conduct Titles serve a valuable purpose. One of the main pur- (Sachs, 1993). This code is communicated as a set of poses of an individual’s title is that it reflects the indi- guidelines that describe acceptable actions or proce- vidual’s level or type of expertise or achievement. A dures a person may use to work at a level of expertise person using the title “psychologist” has a different that has been predetermined by a professional body credential than the person who does not use this title (e.g., usually a country’s legally established psycholog- when providing psychological services. To clarify, here ical organization or a state’s psychology licensure are the main titles or categories of achievement and board). how they are defined by the American Psychological Association (2002). Clarification of the Sport Psychologist’s Role One Credentialing. This process ensures that members common ethical dilemma faced by sport psycholo- of a given profession or area of expertise meet certain gists (or sport psychology consultants/mental skills standards that encompass all types of designations coaches) is determining their primary loyalty. Is it to listed here. the athlete, to the coach, or to the organization that hired the psychologist? Although loyalty is not an Licensure. This process designates an individual’s issue in private practice, consultants hired by teams level of education and experience and allows the and organizations have a wider array of individuals to individual, after passing national and state exams, to whom they are accountable. For whom does the con- use the title, “psychologist.” Licensure is also a legal sultant work? There are no set guidelines, but Sachs term—called a “statutory process”—that regulates (1993) offers what is probably the safest approach: member conduct. Licensed Professional Counselors “Whatever arrangement is entered into must be are included, however, these individuals have com- clearly specified in advance, preferably in writing, and pleted their master’s, not Ph.D., degree. Both cate- explained and understood by the athletes and team” gories of practice may collect “third party payments,” (p. 923). All nonathletes associated with a sport from a client’s insurance policy. organization, including members of the governing board, need to know that without confidentiality, Certification. This type of credential reflects the there is no trust. Athletes who do not feel certain that recipient’s completion of criteria in order to represent issues discussed in sessions will remain private and a level of education, training, and expertise in carrying confidential will not be willing to disclose personal out a specific service. AASP, for example, offers its issues and, in fact, will refrain from even approaching members the opportunity to use the title, “Certified a sport psychology consultant. Consultant-AASP,” if they have completed specific educational courses or programs and have received a specific number of hours of supervision provided by another AASP Certified Consultant. The criteria

CHAPTER 1 THE SCIENCE OF SPORT PSYCHOLOGY 15 There are three common strategies taken by sport Clinical psychologist and researcher, Dr. Roland psychologists for sharing privileged information with Carlstedt, contends that too often the practice of coaches or other team personnel. Perhaps the ideal sport psychology offers scant evidence of intervention approach is to work with the athlete to initiate con- effectiveness, lacks proper attention to individual dif- tact with the coach (or any other person who is the ferences, and applies interventions in a haphazard subject of conversation), thereby dealing with the manner in which the athlete’s response to treatments issue directly. Another technique is first to get the ath- is monitored and followed up with manipulation lete’s permission to disclose and obtain specific infor- checks (i.e., whether the treatment was used correctly mation to and from a predesignated person. For and did it make a favorable difference in perform- example, athletes may feel uncomfortable approach- ance). He asserts that too much information about ing their coach to ask why they are not receiving the treatment’s benefit—or lack of benefit—is based more playing time. The counselor may then ask an on anecdotal or self-report descriptions. athlete’s permission to solicit this information from the coach, but keeps other issues confidential. As Singer and Anshel (2006a) concluded from their review of this literature, “abuses of interventions A third approach found to be effective is to help or claims of beneficial interventions are primarily the coach plan the content of at least one private attributed to those individuals without credentials and meeting with each team member early to midseason formal educational training. Unfortunately, there are for the purposes of (1) offering positive feedback on many opportunistic entrepreneurs who exaggerate past performance and effort; (2) providing input their competencies” (pp. 69–70). Thus, it’s “buyer on one or two areas for further improvement; and beware,” in which coaches, athletes, and parents need (3) asking athletes to disclose any feelings, questions, good judgment about extravagant and exaggerated or wishes they may have about their experiences up to claims about the consultant’s competencies and the that point. To overcome the athlete’s hesitation about outcomes of their interventions. This problem may be being candid, the coach could ask this question: at least partially addressed by consulting the registry “Without my making any promises, what is one thing of a reputable organization, such as AASP, which that you would like to see changed or improved to be offers a list of recognized certified consultants in sport more satisfied or more productive?” psychology. Claims about Performance Enhancement Techniques Use of Psychological Inventories Despite the wide- Perhaps among the most frequent criticisms of applied spread use of psychological inventories in sport psy- sport psychology, even from members within the pro- chology, researchers (e.g., Schutz & Gessaroli, 1993) fession (e.g., Landers, 1988; Morgan, 1988; Singer & and practitioners (e.g., Carlstedt, 2008; Singer & Anshel, 2006a), are the exaggerated claims of treat- Anshel, 2006b) have questioned the validity and use- ment effectiveness. Sometimes the scientific evidence fulness of scores derived from many of these measures. simply does not support verbal arguments of consis- Ethical considerations arise when a sport psychology tent improvements in psychological and performance consultant either uses an inventory without knowledge measures based on certain techniques or programs. about how to interpret its results or does not under- Other doubts exist about the validity of specific inven- stand the limitations of certain inventories, especially tories to provide highly accurate psychological profiles those that were not originally developed for sport about the client’s mental “strengths and weaknesses” (Gauvin & Russell, 1993). Still other omissions in or predictions of future performance. In short, sport proper ethics occur when the consultant provides the psychology practitioners must be prudent about claim- athlete with a score without properly interpreting its ing credit for anything about the athlete’s success. meaning, or does interpret inventory scores but fails to probe for more information in order to validate or Professionals in sport psychology, as in all areas invalidate the objective measure (Anshel, 2000). After of psychology, have a professional and ethical obliga- all, athletes have the right to say, “Your interpretation tion to know the research evidence supporting a par- of my score doesn’t sound like me.” ticular technique or treatment before making such claims. In fact, due to the inability to prove cause The use and misuse of psychological inventories and effect between using a mental skill and perform- in sport psychology consulting is potentially more ance outcomes, it would be best if such claims were complicated, unproductive, and even damaging to not made at all. There currently exists an array of experiencing desirable outcomes in consulting than cognitive and behavioral strategies and mental skills most people (including practitioners) think. Though a programs in the academic and applied literatures vast array of self-report inventories is often an integral from which to choose. Consultants should take a part of the process of conducting research, there are conservative approach in using and interpreting the different criteria when using an inventory for consult- results—positive or negative—of these treatments ing or clinical purposes. Anshel (2000) and Gauvin (Carlstedt, 2008). and Russell (1993) have addressed these issues.

16 SECTION I OVERVIEW OF THE FIELD Psychometric Scrutiny Inventories published in Preliminary Issues Questions that consultants research journals receive different levels of statistical validation, depending on the inventory’s purpose. An should ask before using an inventory include: (1) Is an inventory meant for diagnostic or predictive purposes inventory necessary when consulting in this situation? will be expected to have greater predictive power and (2) What will the inventory score tell the consultant have more extensive statistical validation than an that a personal interview will not disclose? (3) Does inventory that serves to describe or categorize a spe- the inventory have a diagnostic purpose, perhaps to cific sample within the study. Consultants should be disclose a limitation in a psychological characteristic, cautious about using an inventory incorrectly. Because psychopathology, or dysfunction (e.g., depression, the inventory was published in a scholarly (refereed) chronic anxiety, neuroticism), or is the inventory journal article does not automatically mean it can meant to describe some characteristic (e.g., confi- provide valid information about a particular client in dence, self-control, perfectionism)? (4) What can be a counseling or clinical setting. done with the information obtained? Will it be useful in the consultation process to improve performance, Developing Trust To be effective, the counseling or to reach an issue that might explain a deeper, more complicated problem that prevents or inhibits athletic process requires building trust between the consultant success? Finally, (5) does the consultant have the and the client (e.g., athlete, coach, exerciser, rehabilita- credentials—educational, legal, and experiential—to tion patient). Developing the client’s feelings of security interpret and apply the inventory’s findings in a clini- about disclosing personal issues, reducing client anxiety cal or consultative setting? The focus of these ques- about being in a potentially unfamiliar environment, tions should help consultants focus on the selective and determining the client’s psychological needs all and cautious use of inventories with the athletic popu- require time. Often, visiting a sport psychology consult- lation whose trust and willingness to engage in the ant is unfamiliar and is threatening to most athletes. counseling process is marginal. For some athletes, the use of inventories before the Use of the Term “Test” The term “test” has been consultant-client relationship has matured sufficiently prevents them from revealing very personal thoughts, widely, but incorrectly, used in sport psychology con- particularly in writing. It is one thing to ask an athlete sulting. Gauvin and Russell (1993) provide a superb to disclose information about behavioral tendencies, overview of this issue. Briefly, a “test” infers a “right” such as whether he or she has developed any precon- or “wrong” answer, an amount or degree of a charac- test routines. It is an entirely different level of disclo- teristic, and a quantitative comparison with some sure, however, to ask the athlete about the extent to standard, an outcome quite rare for the purpose of which they feel nervous or pressured before con- most inventories with athletes. To the authors, “tests fronting an opponent, or about their feelings toward are designed to classify respondents on a given attrib- authority figures such as a coach or team administra- ute in comparison to a normative group, whereas a tor. These issues can be exacerbated by cultural differ- scale can distribute subjects along the quantity of an ences: Some cultures simply do not allow a person to attribute only within the limited sample under investi- answer such personal questions. gation” (p. 892). A scale or questionnaire lacks the competitiveness of a test. Finally, it is reasonable to Sachs (1993) offers five guidelines for using surmise that, to an athletic population, at least, the psychological inventories. (Incidentally, these are not terms “inventory” or “scale” would be perceived as labeled “tests” because, unlike tests, which ascertain less threatening than responding to items labeled right and wrong answers, the purpose of inventories “test,” a word that reminds most of us of educational used in sport psychology is to obtain an individual’s settings, evaluations, and grades. feelings or emotions without regard to correctness.) Using the Correct Inventory It is important that the 1. Know the inventory’s psychometric properties. Users of an inventory should know its validity and inventory be used with the appropriate population. reliability to ensure that the results are meaningful That it is not is a widespread problem. Too often, the and accurately reflect the consultant’s reason for data on which the inventory was developed—often using this particular inventory. This information is nonathletes—came from respondents with a different usually published in the manual that accompanies set of psychological characteristics (e.g., culture, gen- most inventories or in the journal article that der, age, skill level). This is one reason why many arti- includes a copy of the inventory. cles in sport psychology research journals in recent years have been devoted to validation of inventories 2. Know for whom the inventory is intended. To constructed for the athletic population, including expand on an issue that was addressed earlier, scales that focus on a particular sport or age group. most inventories were developed for adults, unless otherwise noted. The Sport Competition Anxiety

CHAPTER 1 THE SCIENCE OF SPORT PSYCHOLOGY 17 Test has both adult and child versions, for exam- interpretation of results should be available only to ple. Other inventories were developed only for the client, unless a written agreement using a stan- individuals with certain characteristics (e.g., an dard consent form is signed before the inventory is abnormal condition such as chronic depression or administered that indicates the athlete’s permission a personality disorder) and may not be valid for to share this information. clients who do not have this condition. It is also necessary to know if the inventory was developed Sensitivity to Individual Needs and Differences Like for athletic participants as opposed to nonathletes. Sport psychology consultants must be sure that a everyone else, athletes differ in culture, gender, ethnic- given inventory is used prudently to improve the ity, previous experiences, and personal needs. The accuracy of interpreting the results. ethical sport psychologist is aware of individual differ- ences, tries to understand and be sensitive to these dif- 3. Beware of false interpretations. The consultant must ferences, and does not allow the uniqueness of each restrict the interpretation of measures to the types athlete to interfere in their perceptions of and judg- of personal characteristics the inventory is intended ments about the person. Athletes from some cultures, to obtain. For instance, a certain personality profile countries, or ethnic groups may be more hesitant to does not mean the athlete needs to use certain men- seek or be receptive to consulting with a sport psy- tal skills. Thus, a poor score for the trait “stability” chology consultant or to use mental skills techniques does not necessarily mean the athlete lacks self- than a person more familiar with this service or with confidence, at least not until additional measures these techniques. This may be particularly true if there are collected or a personal interview is conducted. is a language barrier (e.g., English is not the athlete’s Similarly, athletes whose favorite color is red are not first language in an English-speaking country). Ethical necessarily more aggressive than athletes whose practice also includes sensitivity to the unique needs favorite color is pink. It is now generally accepted of athletes of color, such as African Americans, by researchers that inventories not designed for ath- Hispanics, and so on. For example, Anshel (1990c) in- letes, especially if they reflect abstract interpretations terviewed 26 African American football players from of the responses (e.g., linking color and aggression), a university in the southwestern United States about have little validity in predicting sport-related racial issues in competitive sport, with particular ref- emotions and performance. Feedback from athletes erence to their own experiences on the team. The ath- themselves ought to be considered necessary for letes reported a general lack of sensitivity on the part validating psychological inventories. Finally, many of coaches to individual and sociocultural needs of inventories are intended for use and interpretation African American team members. Particular concerns by individuals with special training (e.g., a licensed reported were a perceived lack of fairness and a gen- psychologist). If the consultant does not have eral lack of psychological support from white coaches. this training, then the test is administered and inter- preted unethically. If the client’s health or well-being In another study, Anshel and Sailes (1990) is endangered, the consultant may face legal action. attempted to identify racial differences among 64 white and African American team sport athletes from univer- 4. Avoid inventories for exclusionary purposes. sities in the northeastern and southwestern United Perhaps the greatest abuse of psychological States. Results from their inventory indicated several inventories is to select members for a team or to racial differences among the players. For example, determine playing time. This concept is often African American players, in contrast to their white called talent detection or talent identification. peers, perceived their coaches as too authoritative, were Sport psychology consultants should refrain from more likely to become upset upon receiving critical using inventories for this purpose at all times. feedback from the coach, preferred more independence Not a single measure has yet been devised that is in controlling their pre-game preparation, felt more capable of accurately predicting future perform- accountability for performance and game outcomes, ance or ability. In fact, the existing literature does and perceived interracial relationships as less pleasant not offer very promising results (i.e., poor pre- and more disruptive. Taken together, these studies dictability rates) about the use of psychological indicate that sport consultants should be sensitive to inventories to predict future success in sport ethnicity in providing effective counsel. (Lidor, Cote, & Hackfort, 2009). Also see Régnier, Salmela, and Russell (1993) for an The issue of male consultants who work with excellent review of the problems associated female athletes is another area of consideration. Many with talent detection. sport psychologists and coaches work differently with female athletes than with males. Gaining trust and 5. Maintain confidentiality of results. All scores confidence of all athletes, but particularly those of the obtained from psychological inventories and the opposite sex, is essential to maintain integrity of the

18 SECTION I OVERVIEW OF THE FIELD expertise. However, too often, consultants overstep the bounds of their expertise and become involved with client-consultant relationship. For example, Henschen clients in areas for which they have no training or cer- (1991) suggests that male consultants strive to main- tification. For example, counseling and clinical psy- tain ethical practice by consulting in a semiprivate chologists are trained in different types of interventions atmosphere, in which the office door remains partially for clients with different types of problems. Clinical open; staying in constant communication with the psychologists, on the one hand, work with individuals athlete’s coach and sometimes her parents; avoiding with severe psychological dysfunction (e.g., chronic physical contact (e.g., hugs and other physical contact depression, eating disorders), while counseling psy- common among female athletes) so as to avoid misun- chologists, on the other hand, are legally restricted to derstandings; and even avoiding traveling with female work within the “normal” population, which includes athletes in some cases. most athletes. In a critique of current consultation practices, Carlstedt (2008) contends that sport psy- Issues concerning athletes’ sexual orientation also chology practitioners rarely make referrals, regard- require great sensitivity among sport psychology con- less of their limitations in education, training, and sultants. Homosexuality in sport has gone virtually expertise partially because they seem very confident unrecognized in the sport psychology literature. One to handle any sport and any performance issue. rare professional article on this topic has addressed More troubling, he asserts, is that few practitioners homophobia in sport, defining homophobia as “the are aware of what they do not know. This leads to irrational fear and/or intolerance of homosexuality” the uncertain use of proper strategies and perform- (Rotella and Murray, 1991, p. 356). The authors offer ance outcomes. superb recommendations to coaches and to sport psy- chology consultants for ensuring that sexual orienta- Training in psychology provides instruction on tion is respected, that it is not viewed as a predictor of when to recognize certain types of psychological dis- athletic performance, and that the individual is viewed orders that require referral to a clinician with special- as equal to other team members. ized training. Sport psychology consultants who are not licensed psychologists need to practice similar The Need to Update Knowledge Is it ethical for a referral services. Failure to do so may result in misdi- agnoses and inappropriate treatments, potentially doctor to diagnose an illness and then prescribe drugs placing the client at risk. For example, an athlete with based on his or her knowledge from medical school an eating disorder, chronic sleeplessness, or relation- without consulting recent journals and incorporating ship problems with family members usually requires more current information? A specialist who fails to consultation with a person trained and registered as a offer clients information about the most recent ad- counseling or clinical psychologist. An athlete who vances in the field may be considered unethical. Sport requests help to manage pregame anxiety or to over- psychology is a field of rapidly advancing knowledge. come a slump in performance may obtain the neces- Content of the sport literature, in part testing theories sary knowledge and techniques offered by a person and examining the effectiveness of performance en- trained in sport psychology through a university sport hancement techniques, is unique and differs starkly science or physical education program. Proper ethics from the general psychology literature. Therefore, dictate that consultants assist the client by acknowl- sport psychologists must keep current with the litera- edging limitations in their own knowledge and train- ture to be effective in their diagnosis and prescription. ing and by knowing when to refer the client to a colleague with superior expertise. Knowing When to Provide a Referral Inherent in proper ethical practice is determining when an issue with a client goes beyond the consultant’s training and KEY POINTS • The primary goals of sport psychology are to describe, explain, and predict the attitudes, feelings, • Improving concentration, increasing or reducing and behaviors of sport participants—including arousal level (i.e., psyching up and psyching down, athletes, coaches, and even crowd members. respectively), managing stress and anxiety, and maintaining high self-confidence are examples of • Persons familiar with the psychological factors that what athletes must do to approach their optimal underlie sport competition are sport psychologists, performance.

CHAPTER 1 THE SCIENCE OF SPORT PSYCHOLOGY 19 or, if not licensed psychologists, are referred to as • New areas of study include psychophysiology, sport psychology specialists, educators, consultants, sports injury rehabilitation psychology, and exer- or mental skills coaches. cise psychology, each of which offer more exten- sive and sophisticated approaches to the study of • Clinical sport psychologists, that is, persons with a human performance. Ph.D. degree in clinical psychology along with meeting other required national standards, apply • There are numerous ethical considerations in the research findings by interacting directly with ath- practice of applied sport psychology. Examples of letes to help them to deal with issues that may questionable conduct include inappropriate claims impede reaching their performance potential. about the usefulness of performance enhancement techniques, the misinterpretation of research find- • Educational sport psychologists teach psychologi- ings, improper training for counseling, and misuse cal skills to inform athletes, coaches, and students of the title sport psychologist. about resolving these issues. • There is currently debate among professionals con- • Research sport psychologists/specialists examine cerning the proper training of sport psychologists the effects of various treatments and environmen- and consultants to help enhance ethical practice tal situations on the competitor’s mental status, and treatment effectiveness. ability to execute sport skills, or both. REVIEW QUESTIONS 6. What are the differences between different forms of credentialing, specifically, licensure and 1. Describe the ways in which factors related to certification? athletes, coaches, and the environment favorably and unfavorably influence sport performance. 7. Describe the ways in which the field of sport psy- chology has become a recognized and respected 2. Sport psychology consists of and reflects different scientific discipline and field of professional prac- areas of general psychology. What are these tice over the past 30 years. areas? Provide an example of how each area is represented and studied in sport psychology. 8. Describe the different dimensions of sport psy- chology and how each makes a contribution in 3. Name some of the different specializations in explaining or influencing physical performance. sport psychology and describe the various roles they play. 9. Describe three examples of unethical behavior in sport psychology and how each of these behav- 4. Who may be called a sport psychologist, and iors can be prevented or changed. what are the criteria for being a sport psycholo- gist, as opposed to a sport psychology consultant 10. If you are not a licensed psychologist, can you still or specialist? use psychological inventories with athletes? Are there inventories that a sport consultant who is 5. Why is it important to have a separate set of not a licensed psychologist can use? On a related criteria and training for sport psychologists and issue, how should the athlete’s inventory scores be sport psychology consultants? In your opinion, is used—or not used—during the consultation? Are an individual trained in psychology more quali- there right and wrong ways to use inventory fied to counsel athletes than one trained in the measures with a client? sport sciences, or is it the other way around? Support your views with examples.

CHAPTER 2 Personal Factors Affecting Sport Performance CASE STUDY Recruiting athletes is a very expensive process. Teams at all levels, but especially professional organ- izations, spend a lot of money to draft and train athletes. Teams want to make sure that the player selection process is efficient and accurately predicts a player’s future success. In 2010, Edmonton Oilers general manager Steve Tambellini asked sport psychologists to assist with predraft research. The team was trying to decide between Taylor Hall and Tyler Seguin as the number one draft pick at the National Hockey League (NHL) entry draft. In 2010, the Oilers finished last in the NHL; the team had not employed a team psychologist or one-on-one clinical psychologist. When selecting draft picks for the new season, Tambellini wanted to find players who would be proud to wear the Oilers jersey and who would be a valuable asset to the team. The NHL Central Scouting already conducts psychological testing on its players, but Tambellini wanted to employ further testing to determine the character of Hall and Seguin before choosing his pick. To help make this decision, the Oilers employed the help of a sport psychologist to assess some key characteristics including if the players were self-disciplined with good training habits; if they were self-motivated to succeed, even after a big loss; if they were good students and had good study habits; and if they were givers and had a sense of humility. Dr. John Dunn, an Edmonton sport psychologist and professor at the University of Alberta, who worked with the Oilers two seasons prior, said, “Behaviors give you an idea of what is going on in people’s heads and about their attitude and beliefs. Assessing consistent patterns of behavior is really the only way to judge a person’s character, and this needs to be done over an extended period of time. You have to realize that any psychological test can be faked. It’s called ‘social desir- ability response bias.’ I can take any test and give you the profile that I think you are looking for. It’s often not very hard to figure out the questions” (Barnes, 2010). Tambellini believes in the efficacy of sport psychology and hopes that enlisting a sport psychol- ogist will make his team stronger on draft day and in the coming season. Attempts to understand the psychological factors that can either explain or predict the behavior of high-quality (elite level) sports competitors has been an important mission of sport psychol- ogy researchers and practitioners since the early years of contemporary sport psychology. Researchers, psychologists, and coaches were predicting that an athlete’s responses to a psychologi- cal inventory could reveal the likelihood of their future success in sport. Imagine requiring all athletes at a given skill level, age, or culture to take an inventory intended to predict their future success in sport. In addition, imagine if their survey scores could predict the sport and which position in that sport their personality was best suited. These objectives were attempted by Dr. Arnold J. Mandell (1974), a psychiatrist who consulted with the San Diego Chargers football team in the early 1970s. In his article, “A Psychiatric Study of Professional Football,” Dr. Mandell claimed to describe the personality profile of players who competed in the National Football League and to separate player personalities based on their position. Receivers, therefore, had a different 20

CHAPTER 2 PERSONAL FACTORS AFFECTING SPORT PERFORMANCE 21 personality profile than running backs. Although these and Folkman (1984, p. 121) define traits as “properties claims were not supported in subsequent research, the of persons that dispose [them] to react in certain ways in image of sport psychology as a reputable field of study given classes of situations [and] are usually narrower in and practice can be questioned if individuals make scope (than dispositions).” As we discuss in the next sec- claims about predicting future performance, the benefits tion, the concept of personality traits is often confused of using certain types of mental skills, or any other asser- with a person’s orientation, or style. The failure to differ- tion that cannot be supported by research. entiate these concepts is one of several concerns about being able to identify a set of traits and to accurately One objective of this chapter is to examine per- compare different groups (e.g., athletes and nonathletes) sonality testing and the use of research to determine if on these personality traits. Even if we could identify and elite and nonelite athletes have different psychological compare the personality traits of athletes of different skill characteristics. There are two important implications levels, genders, cultures, and so on, would it matter? for detecting differences in personal characteristics. There is doubt among researchers whether this infor- First, this information would allow sport psycholo- mation can be applied meaningfully due to numerous gists and coaches to select athletes for future partici- limitations in the sport personality literature. Before we pation in advanced competition. A second implication examine the cases in favor of and against sport personal- is that determining strong evidence for possessing cer- ity testing, it is important to define terms so we separate tain psychological characteristics would allow sport traits, orientations, and behavioral tendencies—concepts psychologists to provide interventions that promote that are (wrongly) used interchangeably. these desirable features. Determining a very weak case for using psychological inventories to separate elite Separating Traits, Orientations/Styles, and nonelite athletes, however, would result in very and Behavioral Tendencies different outcomes. For example, one characteristic called mental toughness has gained great interest by Before examining the issues surrounding the validity of sport psychology researchers in recent years. In order personality testing in sport and whether we can sepa- to describe and identify mental toughness, an inven- rate elite and nonelite athletes, the term test, when as- tory has to be validated that accurately measures it. sessing personality, needs to be explained. A test is a Then, researchers would have to conclude that mental term that many individuals use to describe responses to toughness is a characteristic unique to elite level ath- items that are “right” or “wrong.” Personality assess- letes. Coaches would want to recruit athletes with a ment is void of value judgments, that is, there are no high “mental toughness score,” and sport psychology “good” or “bad” traits. Therefore, rather than admin- consultants would want to provide an intervention istering a personality test, the document that examines that improves this quality among all sports competi- any type of psychological trait is more accurately de- tors. In other words, mental toughness would be seen scribed as an inventory, questionnaire, scale, or profile. as a high predictor of sport success. In keeping with this view, these terms will be used inter- changeably in this chapter and throughout the book. One last point needs to be acknowledged on the issue of using psychological tests as one means to pre- How, then, are personality traits different from ori- dict future sport success. Researchers have known for entations (also called styles) and behavioral tendencies? many years that our motor capacity (i.e., the upper lim- As described earlier, traits are permanent, enduring, its of our level of sport ability) is genetically determined and stable qualities of a person that reflect what Passer (Singer, 1980). Thus, individuals differ on their optimal and Smith refer to as a person’s “psychological core” level to perform a given sport skill. Assuming the athlete and help explain a person’s responses to external has not reached his or her capacity in a given sport skill events. The term traits is sometimes used interchange- and still is capable of improving, the goal of sport psy- ably with the term dispositions. For example, Vealey chology is to use mental skills to shape the environment (2002) used the terms “personality dispositions” (p. 46) in the hope of helping each athlete come closer to his or in her definition of personality in sport. her potential. Mental skills close the gap between their current level of performance and the performance level Traits are not the same thing as orientations, or of which they are capable of consistently reaching. styles, however. While traits are permanent, enduring, and not susceptible to change, orientations/styles re- Overview of Sport Personality flect a person’s preference, or tendency, to think or act in a predictable manner. An athlete’s coping style, for Personality is defined as a person’s distinctive and endur- example, reflects the individual’s typical coping re- ing (i.e., cross-situational) thoughts, emotions, and be- sponse, or use of a type or category of coping strategy haviors that characterize the person’s reactions to life following stressful events in sport (Anshel & situations (Passer & Smith, 2007). Similarly, Lazarus Anderson, 2002). According to Anshel and Anderson, “coping styles reflect the tendency to respond in a

22 SECTION II PSYCHOLOGY OF SPORT PERFORMANCE predictable manner when confronted with a specific use relaxation techniques, review individual and set of circumstances . . . either across different situa- team strategies, imagine successful performance, tions or over time within a given situation” (p. 194). and verbalize positive self-statements to promote confidence. One good example of how sport psychology theo- rists, researchers, and consultants have separated traits • Elite athletes prefer to have a coach present during from orientations comes from Vanden Auweele et al. the warm-up period, perhaps as a source of inspi- (2001). They concluded from their review of the sport ration or to obtain information. The athletes feel personality literature that relative to their less skilled less competitive anxiety when surrounded by counterparts, elite athletes possess more self-confidence, supportive personnel. less state anxiety both prior to and during competition, more effective techniques for managing anxiety, greater • They don’t worry about other competitors before a concentration on task-specific goals and relevant skills, contest. There is a difference between acknowledg- better ability to cope with unexpectedly poor perform- ing the strengths, weaknesses, and tendencies of an ance, and more positive thought content. Each of these opponent and being consumed with these thoughts qualities can be categorized as orientations, or styles, be- and worrying about them. cause they are not fixed “traits” and may be changed with training and given situational characteristics. For • They are nervous and tense. Mahoney et al. (1987) example, an intervention of mental skills training by found elite athletes are not unlike their nonelite a sport psychology consultant can improve certain peers in their precontest emotions, but are far thought processes that build and maintain confidence better at managing these emotions. Nervousness during sport competition, but it is far more difficult, if and tension translate into high levels of controlled not impossible, to change trait anxiety—the predisposi- arousal. This is desirable. They use self-statements tion to feel worried or threatened in competitive sport. that reflect their readiness and eagerness to com- An athlete’s behavioral tendencies are the one category pete. Elite athletes sometimes use behavioral tech- of characteristics of athletes that is highly changeable niques, such as jogging in place or even throwing with training, modeling, and other interventions. tantrums, to manage high arousal levels. For example, professional (now retired) tennis player Behavioral Tendencies Martina Hingis slammed her racquet on the court six times in one winning match. She explained her How are elite athletes different from other athletes in actions by saying, “When I throw my racquet, it how they approach competitive events? helps me concentrate” (Sydney Morning Herald, October 21, 1996, p. 26). Sport psychology researchers have extensively studied the behavioral patterns of elite athletes before • Elite athletes are capable of regaining composure and during events. Researchers noted that elite ath- if they become troubled, stressed, or too excited. letes have the following pre-event and event behav- These performers know their optimal level of ioral tendencies: arousal and have trained themselves to control it. • Many elite athletes put less effort and intensity into • They engage in numerous mental rehearsals. practice than the competitive event. Apparently, Quality performers expect to be successful, and they do not hold true to the adage “You play as they review images of their successful performance you practice.” They seem to produce a level of before the contest. This builds confidence and pro- energy and skill during serious competition that motes mental practice. exceeds their achievement in practice, training, or during less challenging competitions. • They can concentrate totally on the upcoming event during preparation (warm-up). They focus • When it comes to physical training, elites go all intently on the demands of their upcoming per- out; they get in top shape and maintain it during formance instead of observing and being preoccu- the season. pied with their opponents during this time. • Athletes feel increasingly confident with more • They can accurately assess how well they will do detailed competition plans. Therefore, coaches during the competition. Skilled athletes are keenly should use specific and detailed competition plans. aware of their physical and mental status before Highly skilled athletes feel comfortable and capa- the event and, therefore, are able to make mental ble of handling a sophisticated approach to contest or physical adjustments for meeting performance preparation and implementation. demands. • Elite athletes have contest contingency plans to • Athletes can deal with unusual circumstances implement if things do not go as expected. and distractions before and during the event. Top athletes do not allow unpleasant or unexpected • Elite athletes often prefer to be alone or remain circumstances to break their mental preparation. silent immediately before the contest. They tend to Examples include enduring a delay in the contest,

CHAPTER 2 PERSONAL FACTORS AFFECTING SPORT PERFORMANCE 23 a change in weather conditions, pre-event harass- (1) to focus their attention on certain aspects of the ment, waiting for transportation to escort them to game, (2) to gather information that can be used to the event, or lacking appropriate warm-up and improve their status, or (3) to relax and reduce locker-room facilities. physical fatigue. However, sometimes time-outs slow their psychological momentum and induce • They are relatively unaffected by unfamiliar com- temporary failure (Silva, Hardy, & Crace, 1988). petitive environments. Practicing in an unfamiliar environment before the contest is beneficial to deal • The skilled athlete handles the pressure of a con- with specific features of the area. However, they test’s final stages. This is an index of confidence are able to perform skills competently regardless that elite athletes have in their own abilities. of the uniqueness of their surroundings. In fact, Numerous mental plans help athletes prevent research on the home field advantage has shown “choking” in high-pressure situations, manage that the presence of supporters may actually be state anxiety, and maintain optimal arousal levels more harmful than helpful in some situations. For prior to and during the contest (e.g., Bull et al., example, Baumeister and Steinhilber (1984) found 1996; Goldberg, 1998; Loehr, 1990). that the home team won more baseball and basket- ball games than they lost in early playoff games • Elite athletes can concentrate on using aspects of (i.e., first 3 playoff games) but lost disproportion- a strategy throughout the contest. Anshel’s (1995b) ately more later playoff games (i.e., games 4–7 that study of elite swimmers indicated greater use of determined the final winner). self-regulation strategies compared with nonelites. The best players know, in great detail, what they • Elite athletes prefer to “play their own contest” are supposed to do and when they are supposed and to regulate their own effort levels. This means to do it. that elite performers use certain strategies and skills in the contest without having to react to or • They learn and later use information gained from be put on the defensive by opponents. For exam- each contest. This information may come from ple, top runners and swimmers prefer to regulate coaches, teammates, and even from spectators. Elite the pace of the event. athletes engage in debriefing and self-evaluation to formalize the feedback process, which sometimes • When fatigue sets in, elite athletes concentrate on changes their strategies in future contests. technique and effort rather than outcome. Such concentration distracts them from sensations of A person’s capacity to perform motor skills may fatigue, reduces the possibility of injuries (which be genetically fixed, but what separates the elite ath- occur more often near the end of contests when lete from those who are less successful is the willing- fatigue has set in), and helps them to maintain ness to make mental and physical efforts to reach that proper form and performance quality. Elite per- capacity. Developing and maintaining a routine is one formers will fight pain and fatigue rather than example of behavioral tendencies common among succumb to it. high level sports competitors. • They are able to overcome the physical demands— Routines even abuse—that are a part of being a participant. In fact, contact sport athletes actually enjoy the Routines are thoughts and behaviors automatically physical aspects of the contest. integrated into our day and are of particular impor- tance in sport. We have routines before we go to sleep, • Elite athletes compete even when injured. True, when we wake up in the morning, and just before and some athletes have a higher tolerance or threshold during the sport event. In sport, as in life, routines of pain than others, but typically, successful elite serve many valuable purposes including reducing the athletes can focus their attention externally on the amount of energy and time spent thinking—such as task and opponents rather than be preoccupied decision making and problem solving—before and with physical discomfort. during sport competition. Routines also help athletes maintain emotional control (particularly under pres- • There is no “giving up.” Elite competitors are sure) and regulate physical, mental, and emotional reluctant to give less than their best efforts performance preparation—both before and during because they are proud of their ability and past competition. accomplishments. Finally, the Fitts-Posner (1967) Three-Stage Model • They can withstand poor officiating. Poor calls of motor performance indicates that motor (sport) skill may temporarily upset top performers, but not for learning occurs in three stages. Phase 1 is early (cogni- long. They express their feelings and then get on tive), phase 2 is intermediate (associative), and phase 3 with the task at hand. is final (autonomous). The cognitive stage is highly ver- bal; learners are engaged in considerable thinking • They prefer that time-outs be used for productive purposes. Skilled athletes use a pause in the contest

24 SECTION II PSYCHOLOGY OF SPORT PERFORMANCE about how to move properly; to detect cues (stimuli) in point ends. Physically, the athlete should make a quick, the environment that help performing speed, timing, decisive move (e.g., a pumping action with the arm, location, and precision; and at the same time are trying clap using the hand and racket, moving away from the to execute coordinated movements. The associative mistake). Mentally, the athlete’s self-talk is “no prob- stage focuses on proper practice conditions and the use lem,” “come on,” or “nice shot,” depending on who of information feedback in learning the skill. Learners won the point. address whether speed or accuracy should be empha- sized and whether the whole skill or just parts of the Stage 2 is The Relaxation Response, which allows skill should be practiced. The autonomous stage, the the athlete’s body to recover from physical and emo- most advanced level, addresses performing skills with tional stress of the previous point and to return the “regular” (required) speed and a minimal amount of athlete’s arousal to optimal level. Stage 2 endures for conscious processing. This stage of performance re- 6–15 seconds. According to Loehr, “the more stressful flects a well-learned skill. It may involve some degree the previous point or the more important the next of planning prior to performance, but the skill is exe- point, the more time (the athlete) should take in this cuted in the virtual absence of thinking. stage” (p. 110). Here, the athlete thinks calming thoughts, such as “settle down,” “relax,” or “every- Learning strategies have been developed to help thing is fine.” Physically, the athlete should keep his or athletes move from the cognitive stage to the auto- her feet moving (e.g., walk back and forth across the matic stage of performing sport skills. The cognitive baseline area, engage in mild stretches, bounce the ball stage is characterized by a considerable amount of a few times, spin the racket). thinking (e.g., planning, decision making), typical of novice performers. The automatic stage is more ad- Stage 3, The Preparation Response, takes 3–5 sec- vanced, in which sport skills are performed with mini- onds, and consists of a preserve preparation period for mal thinking. Rituals help the competitor maintain what the athlete intends to do before the next serve. self-control and concentration under conditions of Physically, the athlete should project a very confident, high duress and pressure, not uncommon in competi- aggressive image. The athlete looks at his or her oppo- tive sport. One of the best examples of using rituals in nent and verbalizes the score out loud. The self-talk elite sport comes from Dr. James Loehr (1990, 1994), might consist of something like “I have full confidence who developed the 16-second cure, a set of rituals that in winning this point.” Mentally, the player plans his has been adopted by most of the top professionals in or her strategy—what, where, and how to play the tennis. According to Loehr (1994), “repetition of the next serve. right physical, mental, and emotional habits eventually brings them under automatic control” (p. 184). Stage 4, The Automatic Ritual Response, lasting 4 seconds, deepens concentration and produces an The 16-Second Cure Imagine what it feels like to lose a instinctive, automatic form of play. Physically, the player bounces the ball 2–3 times prior to the serve. Loehr point in tennis by hitting an “easy” shot into the net, by claims that this delay in serving reduces the tendency to double faulting (hitting two consecutive serves into the rush the next serve under pressure. If receiving the serve, net or out of bounds), or by having a “bad” call go the player may be jumping up and down, swaying back against you. In professional tennis, you have all of and forth, or blowing into one’s hands. The receiver’s 20 seconds to get the ball back in play. No time to lose eyes should be fixed on the ball, now being held by the your concentration or emotional control, or to have a opponent. Mentally, the player avoids thoughts of tech- temper tantrum. Yet, many fine athletes are incapable of nique and even self-talk. Instead, the serve should be regaining their composure and “letting go” of past un- mentally rehearsed. The same rituals should be repeated pleasant events while focusing on the task at hand. on the second serve if the first serve is missed. Sport psychologist Dr. Jim Loehr developed a set of four mental and physical routines performed in sequence Loehr’s 16-second between-point routine provides between points for competitive tennis players which a good example of how athletes enter and remain in many professional players have adopted. The routines, their “zone” for maintaining concentration and focus performed over a period of 16 seconds, allow the player on important information in the competitive environ- to respond to the pressure of being mentally and physi- ment and manage anxiety and other distracting cally ready for the next serve—performing under pres- thoughts that interfere with optimal performance. sure on demand. Loehr describes the sequence as stages. In Favor of Sport Personality Testing Stage 1 is called The Positive Physical Response. Its purpose is to help the athlete maintain positive emotion Any discussion about the personal factors that influ- and to reduce the chance of anger, disappointment, and ence sport performance starts with determining if frustration that might disrupt performing the next task. competitive athletes have unique personality traits, as Stage 1 consumes 3–5 seconds, beginning as soon as the compared to nonathletes, or if personality differences exist with athletes who compete in different sports.

CHAPTER 2 PERSONAL FACTORS AFFECTING SPORT PERFORMANCE 25 For example, selected characteristics such as competi- relationship between dominance and reaction time? tiveness, confidence, and self-control would appear Wouldn’t traits related to one’s anxiety be better predic- strongly linked to performance success. tors of success in sport performance? Morgan (1980), for example, accurately predicted which athletes would As indicated earlier, initial attempts at assessing participate on the U.S. Olympic wrestling team in 1972 the personality of athletes resulted in promises of find- based on measures of anxiety and a few other traits ing such an ideal athlete. It was thought that a person’s using the Profile of Mood States (POMS). answers on a questionnaire could be used to predict successful performance. Coaches were at first ecstatic Another concern about sport personality testing is about the possibility of selecting their players based on that answers to questions on a personality inventory can the ability of a psychological inventory to predict suc- be faked. Most respected inventories, especially those cess. As it turned out, the preliminary data from these used for clinical diagnosis and treatment, have built-in inventories were not interpreted and used appropri- lie scales. Lie scales include questions inserted in the ately by coaches or by researchers. In fact, some inven- inventory that are either discarded when the results are tories have been shown invalid and unreliable for use computed or used to detect response inconsistencies. with sport competitors (Vealey, 2002). Researchers sometimes include in their studies the Social Desirability Scale (SDS) (Hays et al., 1989), which de- Against Personality Testing tects biased self-reported responses. The SDS is intended to screen for “favorable self-representation,” that is, Research on personality assessment in sport has been when a subject’s answers on a scale falsely reflect a limited in recent years. Sport psychology consultants “more desirable” personal characteristic. These subjects and coaches need to take a critical look at the personal- must be omitted from the study. ity in sport issue based on the reviews of sport scientists such as Vanden Auweele et al. (2001). These authors The traditional personality inventories used in sport have identified a number of weaknesses associated with personality research were not created for sport partici- personality inventories and have expressed reservations pants. For example, the Minnesota Multiphasic about their use in sport. Personality Inventory (MMPI) was originally meant to diagnose mental illness. The CPI requires a reading com- Personality scales have been used inappropriately prehension level equal to about the tenth grade, making to examine changes in personality traits over time younger athletes or persons with poor reading skills inel- (e.g., before vs. after the season). This is incompatible igible for this assessment tool. In addition, personality in- with the design of any instrument that examines per- ventories such as the MMPI, CPI, and Cattell’s 16 PF do sonality because, by definition, traits are stable and not include a single item related to thoughts, emotions, enduring. Consequently, results cannot be interpreted or behaviors in competitive sport situations. Thus, such to measure personality change. inventories may not be interpretable and valid as predic- tors of sport performance, for which they have been Often, personality profiles have been used to pre- used—or misused—in past years. dict the probability that an individual will achieve sport success. However, research has shown that in- Vanden Auweele et al. (1993) have extensively re- ventories can predict athletic behavior and success viewed the previous research on personality in sport and only 8 to 10 percent of the time. offer several additional limitations. The primary short- coming, cited in most review articles on this topic, is the Sometimes the terms and factors used in personality lack of a conceptual (theoretical) framework. That is, scales are not universally defined. For example, the defi- there is no defined body of literature on which to base nition of an athlete differs among studies. Athletes to comparisons between athletes and nonathletes, male and one researcher might be participants in recreational female, or elites and nonelites. This failure to define a sport while in another study the term may refer to com- conceptual framework has been termed the “shotgun” petitors who represent a school or who perform at more approach; investigators administer various personality elite levels. In addition, sociability, ego strength, shrewd- inventories to a group of athletes, hoping to find some- ness, dominance, and other traits are defined differently thing of “significance” or importance that makes the and have limited value and relevance in the context of sample unique. Properly conducted scientific studies con- competitive sport. We cannot interpret and apply the sist of trying to answer specific research questions, unlike finding that elite athletes score higher for trait domi- many previous studies on sport personality. nance than their non-elite peers (Morgan, 1980). Another limitation is poor sampling techniques, Some personality traits are better predictors of suc- in which whole teams or categories of sports (e.g., cess than others. Personality inventories such as Cattell’s team vs. individual sports) are examined in the same Sixteen Personality Factors Questionnaire (16 PF) and study without controlling for skill level, age, gender, the California Personality Inventory (CPI) inherently and cultural differences. Improper use of statistical assume that each of many factors is interpretable in procedures is an additional problem: Certain types of sport situations. But how would a coach interpret a high

26 SECTION II PSYCHOLOGY OF SPORT PERFORMANCE statistics are more valid than others. Finally, some that androgyny is desirable because these individuals, in studies rely on anecdotal, or single-subject, data, which possessing both types of traits, have greater flexibility of may not represent any other athlete than the individ- behavior than do persons who are gender-typed toward ual being questioned. Although the purpose of exam- the perceived male or female extremes. ining personality in sport is to generalize the results to large groups of athletes, these research limitations Reviews of the sport psychology research by Gill severely hinder this capability. (1992) and Gill and Kamphoff (2010) examining gender role orientation of female athletes indicates that female Despite the above problems, certain personality athletes possess personality traits traditionally labeled traits of successful athletes have been identified, albeit “masculine” as compared to female nonathletes. This is not conclusively, in the literature. Evidence does support understandable given that sport is an achievement activ- the existence of a consistent psychological profile of ity that demands assertive behavior, competitiveness, highly successful performers that differs from the pro- mental toughness, effective coping skills, and high self- files of less successful competitors. An example is control. Higher masculine scores of female athletes prob- Morgan’s (1979a) attempt to predict members of the ably reflect an overlap with other dispositions in sport U.S. Olympic wrestling team using the Profile of Mood psychology that are needed, even necessary, to meet per- States (discussed later in this chapter). Whether these formance demands. The fact that female athletes possess traits are inherited, developed, or both is not clear. What more masculine personality traits than female nonath- is apparent, however, is that the results of a personality letes does not mean that athletes are less feminine, but profile cannot predict sport success and therefore should rather that certain traits Western society designates as not be used as a way to identify talent and eliminate masculine are inherent in any individual who has a high those who score low on certain “desirable” traits. need to achieve. Nevertheless, this finding has implica- tions for the type of female who is more likely to partici- Personality and Gender Roles pate in, and persist at, competitive sport. Are females who engage in physical activity, particu- Profiling the Elite Athlete larly competitive athletics, more “masculine” than their inactive counterparts? Are female nonathletes more Elite, or champion, athletes have been defined in the “feminine” than female athletes? One area of consider- literature as “athletes who are eligible for competi- able study over the years has concerned the measure- tion at the national, international, or Olympic level, or ment of individual differences in a personality charac- who are professional sportspersons” (Vanden Auweele, teristic called gender role orientation. According to 1993, p. 257). For many years, researchers have shown Bem (1974), who popularized this research by generat- a keen interest in the psychological dispositions and ing the Bem Sex Role Inventory, these characteristics personality traits of those who are consistently in the are defined as masculine, feminine, and a mixture of upper echelon of their sport. both called androgynous. Examples of stereotypically feminine items include affectionate, cheerful, yielding, Early Sport Personality Research and sensitive to the needs of others; while independent, self-reliant, athletic, and willing to take risks are exam- Far more studies have been conducted on elite male than ples of masculine items. on elite female athletes. In one study, Williams (1980) reviewed research examining the personality characteris- Bem found that these personality characteristics, tics of successful female athletes and concluded that: labeled “traits” rather than “dispositions” by the Bem study, were not linked to biological sex or sexual orienta- • Women on the 1964 U.S. Olympic team who tion. Thus, women who scored high on masculine traits engaged in individual sports were more dominant, did not necessarily possess a male personality nor did aggressive, adventurous, sensitive, independent, they prefer female companionship. Further, nonathletes self-sufficient, and introverted than women who were not always more feminine than athletes. In addi- engaged in team sports. tion, masculinity and femininity are not opposite ends of the same personality continuum. Rather, masculinity and • Female competitors in general tend to be assertive, femininity are separate clusters of personality traits. dominant, self-sufficient, reserved, achievement oriented, and intelligent and have average to low Gill’s (1992) review of Bem’s research indicated emotionality. that “there is no reason why males should possess only masculine characteristics or females only feminine char- In other early studies, Reilly (1979), Paige (1973), acteristics.... The most mentally healthy and adaptable and Rasch and Kroll (1964) reviewed the personality individuals possess both feminine and masculine charac- research of champion male athletes in soccer, football, teristics” (p. 145). This combination of both masculine and wrestling, respectively. In Reilly’s review, the soccer and feminine traits is called androgyny. Bem contends

CHAPTER 2 PERSONAL FACTORS AFFECTING SPORT PERFORMANCE 27 athletes were assessed almost uniformly with the Cattell conditioning. Because of the physical nature of all con- 16 PF questionnaire and were found to be stable, extro- tact sports, players must maintain high self-confidence, verted, tough-minded, and highly efficient. Researchers even to the point of bravado. Similarly, based on anec- using the MMPI across nine European countries found dotal evidence, boxers tend to brag and to appear very most male soccer players aggressive and dominant, self-confident—even conceited—prior to a fight. For the especially the Germans and Italians. Brazilian players football athlete whose commitment to excellence and scored higher in intelligence than the other groups. But pain threshold are high but whose tolerance for failure is in general, elite soccer players scored significantly low, the chance of being successful increases measurably. higher on each of these traits than less skilled partici- pants and nonathletes. In most studies in which successful and unsuc- cessful athletes have been compared, successful partici- According to Paige (1973), American football ath- pants have scored statistically higher on measures of letes differ from competitors in other sports. He con- self-confidence, perceiving their skills as closer to their cluded that football athletes “are outstanding for their maximum potential and on their ability to focus atten- roughmindedness, extroverted tendencies, and self- tion on task-related issues. In one classic study, Morgan control. There is some indication that despite the foot- (1979a) found, using the Profile of Mood States baller’s extroverted traits, he is not as sure of himself as (POMS) inventory, that wrestlers on the 1972 and 1976 his actions indicate...winners are less sportsmanlike than U.S. Olympic wrestling teams were “uniformly low on losers which reflects the ‘win at all cost’ attitude some- tension, depression, fatigue, and confusion, but well times found in winning teams” (p. 12). Kroll and above average on vigor” (p. 184). The shape of the Peterson (1965) compared personality traits between curve that illustrates these results resembles an iceberg winning and losing football teams of 176 players (six and therefore has become known as the “iceberg teams). The most common difference between the teams profile” (Figure 2.1). was that players on teams with winning records were less sportsmanlike than participants on teams who lost One important limitation of Morgan’s study is more games than they won. However, not every person- that the POMS is a measure of subjects’ mood within ality study of football players has revealed unique one week of completing the scale. It is not a measure personality attributes. For example, Rushall (1976), us- of stable traits associated with personality. Thus, it is ing the 16 PF inventory, failed to find differences among more accurate to conclude that the iceberg profile re- collegiate players competing in different sports at a large flects the consequences of competition among elite university, and he concluded that personality was not an competitors rather than acting as an antecedent or important factor in football performance. However, in predictor of skilled performance. most instances, at least at the elite level, studies indicate that success in football requires extensive tenacity to Advances in Sport Personality Research overcome the skill and effort of opponents, to tolerate pain and play with injuries, and to maintain vigorous Terry (1995) has criticized the concept of an iceberg profile in sport. According to Terry, sports—and the Figure 2.1 Example of iceberg profile. Source: Reprinted with permission from Psychology Today Magazine, (copyright © 1980 Sussex Publishers, LLC.).

28 SECTION II PSYCHOLOGY OF SPORT PERFORMANCE individuals who play them—vary markedly concerning Psychological Dispositions the mood state that is most “desirable” or predictable for their own successful performance. For example, he Risk-Taking One characteristic of highly successful cites other research in which tension and anger, unde- sirable mood states in the iceberg profile, are linked to competitors is risk-taking. The term risk is defined in performance success in cross country running and most dictionaries as a dangerous element or factor, pos- karate. Similarly, the needs and tendencies of individual sibility of loss or injury, hazardous speculation, danger, athletes are very different. As Terry concludes, citing his or peril. In sport, risk has been associated with physi- own earlier research, “it is not uncommon for athletes cal injury during competitive athletics. Risk-taking is a to perform well despite having theoretically ‘negative’ function of narrowing the margin of safety, both physi- profiles” (p. 313). He concludes that mood states best cally in terms of bodily harm and psychologically in predict performance when preperformance conditions terms of the probability of success or failure. Malone’s include short-duration events, competing against previ- (1985) review of literature on risk-taking in sport con- ous personal standards rather than against opponents, cludes that the athlete’s perception of danger creates ex- and when opponents have similar levels of ability and citement and a desire to master the environment. Sport conditioning. scientists have studied the tendency of highly skilled athletes to engage in more risk-taking behaviors— The POMS has also been criticized for use in actions that can lead to bodily harm or failure— competitive sport. For example, according to its in- compared to less skilled competitors. However, skilled structor’s manual, POMS was developed as a meas- competitors will rarely perform tasks for which they ure of mood for psychiatric outpatients, specifically are not well trained and physically fit. As much as high- individuals with mental illness who are about to be quality athletes want to win, they also realize that it’s discharged from the hospital. Any inventory not used only a game. No one wants to get hurt because there is with a population for which it was originally devel- always another game to play. oped is invalid (Thomas & Nelson, 2001). In defense of the use of POMS as a personality measure, Sport competition is, of course, inherently risky Vanden Auweele et al. (1993) contend that POMS for all performers. But the elite athlete, more than oth- scores resemble a traitlike concept and, in fact, have ers, seems to thrive on and to prefer the excitement of been effective in predicting success among highly engaging in risk-taking behaviors. These behaviors skilled athletes. Vanden Auweele and his colleagues occur most often during situations that require solving reviewed 11 published studies totaling 308 elite ath- problems and making decisions. The quality defensive letes using the POMS to predict sport success. They back in football will guard his opponent (the receiver) report that “only one group . . . of 16 lightweight more closely than his conservative, less skilled counter- wrestlers had scores entirely not consistent with part. Champion divers, skaters, skiers, and gymnasts Morgan’s iceberg profile” (p. 263). The authors all tend to “go for it” in attempting very complex warn, however, that these studies consist solely of coordinated movements, and they usually succeed. American, mostly male, elite athletes, thereby limit- ing generalizations of these conclusions to females The question becomes: Why do elite athletes take and to people in other cultures. greater and more frequent performance risks than oth- ers in improving their chances for success? The answer, Despite flaws in research tools and other limitations, although still open to further scientific inquiry, might sport psychologists generally acknowledge that highly be found in the areas of stimulus-seeking, competitive- skilled athletes score relatively low in neuroticism, ten- ness, self-confidence, attentional style, expectations for sion, depression, anger, fatigue, and confusion. They success, strategies for developing mental toughness, tend to score very high in self-confidence, self-concept, and ability to regulate stress. self-esteem, vigor, need achievement, dominance, aggres- sion, intelligence, self-sufficiency, mental toughness, Stimulus-Seeking A psychological disposition of elites independence (autonomy), sociability, creativity, stabil- ity, and extroversion. A composite of psychological similar to risk-taking is called stimulus-seeking, or sen- profiles of elite athletes reveals a person who is mentally sation-seeking. Athletes enjoy the challenge presented in healthy, physically and psychologically mature, and com- competitive sport. Zuckerman (1984) was the first mitted to excellence. Certainly, these traits serve as a to classify individuals who desire situations that foster model toward which all athletic participants should tactile and other forms of sensory stimulation as high strive. However, some authors (e.g., Landers, 1983; stimulus-seekers. Stimulus-seeking is a motivational fac- Singer, 1988) question the value of applying these find- tor to participate in sport and to engage in risk-taking ings in sport, and many others (see Vealey, 1992; Vanden behaviors (Malone, 1985). Stimulus-seeking appears to Auweele et al., 1993 for reviews) do not support using be based on a chronic level of activation (high excita- these personality characteristics as the basis for athlete tion) that is easily and quickly rewarded by taking risks selection, promotion, or elimination. in sport. Indeed, the elite athlete thrives on it. Straub (1982) studied the sensation-seeking dispo- sition of hang-gliders, automobile racers, and bowlers.

CHAPTER 2 PERSONAL FACTORS AFFECTING SPORT PERFORMANCE 29 Hang-gliders scored highest on the sensation-seeking Maintaining high confidence is accompanied by scale for thrill and adventure seeking and experience positive emotions (e.g., elation, excitation, vigor), seeking, whereas racers scored highest for disinhibi- improved concentration, increased effort, lower sus- tion. Not surprisingly, bowlers scored lowest on all ceptibility to mental distractions, reduced muscular sensation-seeking dimensions. Thus, it may be an over- tension, improved ability to remember and use game generalization to conclude that all athletes are higher strategies, and more rapid and accurate decision mak- sensation-seekers than nonathletes. But it appears that ing. Successful athletes possess—and maintain consis- this disposition is associated with engaging in high-risk tently—a high degree of confidence. However, this sports. mental state does not occur automatically. Coaches, and the athletes themselves, must employ mental and Competitiveness Naturally, all athletes want to win. behavioral strategies that induce self-confidence. The boxes on page 30 list at least some confidence-building Researchers Gill and Deeter (1988) generated the strategies used by coaches and athletes. Sport Orientation Questionnaire (SOQ) to measure the extent of the desire to win along three dimensions: Self-efficacy, a concept often associated with confi- competitiveness (desire to strive for success in competi- dence, is a situationally specific form of self-confidence— tion), win orientation (focus on winning and avoiding the athlete’s conviction to perform successfully skills losing), and goal orientation (focus on personal goals). required to produce a certain desirable outcome. Self- When athletes and nonathletes are compared using the efficacy combines state confidence with self-expectations SOQ, athletes score higher on all three dimensions, (Bandura, 1977). Athletes should maintain a high degree with competitiveness the major discriminator. In addi- of both self-confidence and self-efficacy. tion, Gill and Dzewaltowski (1988) found that males tend to score higher on the SOQ than females. Attentional Style Attentional style, a concept devel- Contrary to expectations, however, the researchers found that elite athletes did not score uniformly high oped for sport by Nideffer (1979), is defined as a on win orientation but were more oriented toward the “predisposition to attend to the environment in a cer- quality of their performance than toward the contest’s tain personalized manner; depicted as internal, exter- outcome. Gill’s extensive work in this area over the nal, broad, or narrow” (Anshel et al., 1991, p. 13). years has shown that highly skilled athletes enjoy and Nideffer’s model of this cognitive tendency is that each optimally strive for success in competition but tend to person possesses a unique manner of attending to envi- measure their success by performing at their personal ronmental stimuli and that efficient task performance is best (performance goals) rather than by only winning a function of the compatibility between the person’s at- or losing (outcome goals). The implication for coaches tentional style and the attentional demands for the spe- is that quality performance deserves at least as much cific task and situation. Heightened anxiety, for exam- recognition as the contest’s outcome. ple, results in a narrowed, internally focused attentional state that is rarely desirable. The important issues in de- Self-Confidence Sport psychologists, coaches, and re- picting elite performers are their ability to shift atten- tion as the situation demands and that their attentional searchers agree that self-confidence is one of the most style is compatible with the types of skills they most important mental states for success in sport competi- often perform (e.g., open and closed skills in which en- tion. Self-confidence, also called sport confidence (e.g., vironments are unpredictable and predictable, respec- Vealey, 1986), is the athlete’s belief about his or her abil- tively, thus requiring different attentional strategies). ity to be successful in performing a desired skill. Feltz (1988) defines self-confidence as “the belief that one can Expectations for Success One reason for upsets in successfully execute a specific activity rather than a global trait that accounts for overall optimism” (p. 423). sport is that the more successful teams—athletes ex- Whether confidence exists in both state (i.e., this pected to win easily—do not perceive their opponents moment) and trait forms (i.e., stable and permanent) is as threatening to their continued success. Their expec- unknown. However, Vealey (1986) has developed trait tation of success is too high and the amount of effort and state scales of sport confidence. State sport confi- they give is too low. Success expectations and athletes’ dence is “the belief or degree of certainty individuals motive to achieve are influenced by the perceived possess at one particular moment about their ability to ability of their opponents. In many cases, low expecta- be successful at sport,” whereas trait sport confidence is tions of success become self-fulfilling prophecies. In depicted as their usual belief about their sport success the opposite direction, quality athletes have a very (p. 223). Thus, in its trait form, self-confidence in sport high expectation of success: They expect to win—and is a component of the athlete’s personality that he or she they often do. Competitors are optimally motivated brings to the sport venue. Highly confident athletes are when they feel that they have about a 50 percent more likely to have high self-expectations and to antici- chance of success (Atkinson, 1957). In high-risk sports pate successful performance outcomes. such as high jumping or pole vaulting, which require explosive muscular effort as shown in Figure 2.2, expectations of success must be as high as possible.

30 SECTION II PSYCHOLOGY OF SPORT PERFORMANCE Building Confidence: Coaching Strategy 1. Have high, positive expectations of all of your favorable performance outcomes (Prapavessis, athletes. Studies on self-fulfilling prophecy 2000). indicate that high expectations by teachers and coaches result in better performance by 5. Teach skills and strategies. Self-confidence and students and athletes, respectively. In addition, performance jointly improve when athletes if athletes do not perceive their coach’s high continue to learn new skills and strategies. expectations, performance may suffer. Good coaches are good teachers. Be sure athletes continue to acquire skills and over- 2. Ensure early sport success in each athlete. A pri- come deficiencies. Let them know quickly mary source of self-confidence is performance when they have improved on a given task. accomplishments. Structure the environment whereby each athlete is given the opportunity 6. Be a proper role model. Weinberg and Jackson to succeed at a skill, no matter how elementary. (1990) find that coaches foster higher self- confidence in their athletes when they exhibit 3. Offer positive feedback. Athletes will feel more this same quality. Players look to their coaches assured if their coach offers verbal information for guidelines on desirable feelings and actions. about the quality of their performance. This type of input also reinforces desirable skill 7. Make accurate causal attributions. Coaches execution. should teach athletes to explain the causes of performance outcome—good or bad— 4. Maintain a positive precompetition environment. accurately. Perhaps the most important strat- Emotional arousal is an important component egy is to avoid concluding that failure, or the of self-confidence. A person cannot be enthusi- perception of failure, is explained by a lack of astic and unhappy at the same time. Be sure ability—this is a leading cause of decreased athletes maintain an upbeat mood before the confidence and influences athletes to quit contest. This does not necessarily mean using participating (see Chapter 5). Low effort “psyching up” techniques because athletes and/or high task difficulty attributions appear differ in their preferred precontest thoughts more helpful in response to failure. On the and behaviors. Research evidence strongly other hand, high ability and optimal effort suggests that positive moods are linked to following successful performance are confi- self-confidence, desirable attention focus, and dence builders and improve motivation. Building Confidence: Athlete’s Strategy 1. Determine and emulate positive role models. not have anxiety, interpret it as a positive sign, Modeling fosters desirable emotional states a display of readiness and confidence. and improves performance if athletes can easily identify with a highly skilled competitor who 5. Be ready. Nothing builds self-confidence like possesses characteristics similar to their own. good preparation. Athletes should practice hard, be in good physical condition, listen to 2. Use cognitive strategies. Mental techniques such their coach, learn from past mistakes, remem- as positive self-talk, mental imagery, thought- ber skills and strategies already learned and stopping, and many others have been used practiced, and always do their best. for building confidence. Thought-stopping serves to prevent athletes from engaging in 6. Have fun. One of the most effective pregame negative self-talk, a response that should thoughts an athlete can have, especially prior not be allowed. to “high-pressure” contests or in tense situa- tions, is the thought of enjoying the competi- 3. Reflect on previous successes. All athletes have a tive experience. I’ve seen athletes play their history of quality sport performance. If you best games against their most superior have self-doubts about the present situation, opponents when their coach reminded reflect on those past successes, even if they them to “go out there and have some fun.” occurred in practice. 7. Know your opponent’s strengths and weaknesses. 4. Interpret anxiety as a sign of enthusiasm and Fear, intimidation, and threat about the readiness, not fear. Virtually all quality athletes perceived superiority of opponents is a major feel anxious before the contest. It is the obstacle to self-confidence. All opposing interpretation and management of this feeling players and teams have weaknesses. Athletes that separates successful from less successful should know them and—through their compe- competitors. Rather than pretending you do tition plan—exploit them.