Sports psychology refers to the proficiency, which uses the psychological knowledge and skills in addressing the optimal performance and healthy wellbeing of the athletes. Sports psychology helps in the development of the sports participants and addresses the systematic issues regarding the sports settings and organisations (Weinberg and Gould 2014). The sports psychologists mainly help the athletes to manage the psychological pressure during participating in competitions and overcome the problems. The sports psychologists motivate the athletes via various tests and methods so that the athletes can overcome the anxiety (Halperin et al. 2016). They work with the athletes to improve their performance and improve the health injuries.
The chosen sport is boxing, the identified participant is Umar Mahmood, who is an Asian Male and his age is 18 years. He is an amateur boxer who feels anxious during his competition. To determine the anxiety of the participant, the Sport Competition Anxiety Test is done that will help the psychologist to reduce the problems of Umar Mahmood. He joined the boxing club to maintain the weight and body structure and thereafter he started to participate in the competitions and his initial goal is 2020 Olympics.
The discussion focuses on the psychological interventions in sports. The discussion stated various psychological intervention models and psychological intervention methods. Various techniques are used in the case study that the assignment focuses and discusses. However, proper techniques of the psychological interventions are discussed and suggested to implement. In the assignment, the needs of the individual groups are identified and the outcomes of the methods are stated. Sports psychologists have various roles in the development of athletes’ performance. Therefore, the client relationship is very important that are discussed. To check the performance levels of the athlete, various tests are done such SCAT test, Personality test and GEQ test.
Social Cognitive theory:
According to Tougas et al. (2015), social cognitive theory is used in the education, communication and psychology. The social cognitive theory is directly related with the knowledge acquisition of individuals and help to observe others regarding the social interaction, outside media and experience influences. As per the theory, people including the athletes need to observe the model. The model performs some specific behaviour and they can remember the event sequences by using the information of the model to modify their behaviours. Prochaska (2013) mentioned that people could modify their behaviour by observing the social cognitive theory.
Self-determination Theory:
Self-determination theory refers to the macro theory of human that motivate the personality of the athletes. The main concern of the theory is the inherent growth of people and innate the psychological needs. The external factors can influence people in changing their behaviour (Weinberg and Gould 2014). Edward Deci and Richard Ryan expanded the theory and differentiated the extrinsic and intrinsic motivating factors.
Suitable theory for Umar Mahmood:
For Umar Mahmood, the social cognitive theory is suitable. The social cognitive theory can help Umar to control his stress and communicate properly with the trainer. The communication is necessary for Umar so that he can share his problems with the trainer that will help him to develop his skills and techniques. This theory can help Umar to develop the observation power, which is necessary for an athlete. The model can help Umar to improve some specific behaviour. Thus he can remember the event sequences by using the information of the model to modify behaviours.
Needs of identified groups:
The identified groups are the Asian male boxers. After 2004, the demand of boxing is increased among the Asians. However, the stress level and anxiety of the Asian boxers are higher than other boxers of different countries are. Therefore, the Asian athletes need to concentrate on the practice and need psychological intervention. Amir Khan won silver medal in 2004 Athens Olympics, before that he lost various competitions, which was the result of the anxiety. Anxiety can harm the athletes therefore; they need to be calm during the match. This can provide the athlete various opportunities to win. Umar Mahmood has the problem of over thinking that makes him nervous and anxious. Therefore, the participant needs psychological intervention. The SCAT test shows that the anxiety level of Umar Mahmood is very high. To reduce the stress the psychologist is trying to help him by providing him psychological therapy (Bhardwaj 2014). In case of the identified group, the athletes need psychological therapy that helps them in success. The health belief model mainly suggests the beliefs of people about the health problems and perceived benefits of the actions and barriers to action. The self-efficacy mainly explains the engagement of the health promoting behaviours (O’connor et al. 2014). In sports psychology, this model helps to explain the health related issues and problems. The focus of the theory is to influence the individual for self-motivation and self-determination. This model will help Umar Mahmood to gain more knowledge and confidence, which will reduce the anxiety. It can be expected that this theory will help the identified group to improve their behavior. According to the theory, the psychological theories include competence, psychological relatedness and autonomy that an individual should remind (Garcia 2016). In case of changing the psychological state that is anxiety during competition, the self-estimation plays important role. Umar Mahmood needs to motivate himself for better outcomes and practice the physical exercises.
Psychological intervention method:
To remove the pre and post psychological trauma of the participants, the psychological intervention methods play strong role. This can include the various symptoms such as depression, psychological distress and anxiety. The psychological intervention methods can improve the psychological and emotional state of the participants (Gagné and Deci 2014). The psychological strategies include the imagery, relaxation, goal setting and common techniques. The main cause of anxiety is the uncertainty of the sports. Sports provide various challenges and stimulations (Terry and Si 2015).
Goal setting:
In case of participating in a competition, Umar needs to set a particular goal to achieve the success. Without any goal, Umar Mahmood cannot achieve any success. The psychologist and the training coach need to help Umar to set the goal and motivate to practice hard to achieve the goal (Reise et al. 2016). To achieve the success, Umar Mahmood needs to focus on his training and make a strong plan against the opponents to get success. He needs to sharpen his key strengths and improve his key skills. Umar needs to look smarter to gain the self-confidence. In case of reducing the stress and anxiety, self-motivation is necessary (Pervin 2015). Self-confidence helps to motivate Umar to look smarter.
Attention, emotion control, concentration and stress management:
Umar Mahmood needs to focus on the practice that will help to gain self-confidence. Moreover, he needs to control his emotion and anxiety that can be gained by meditation (Roberts and Woodman 2015). Umar Mahmood’s activity level is high, he works out for at least 2 hours, and performs morning run. He spends 5-6 days in practice in a week. He needs to concentrate on his training and should not over thing about the competition that breaks the concentration, and distract the participant.
To manage the stress, Umar Mahmood needs to control his emotions that are another method of psychological intervention (Seaward 2013). Over thinking can increase the emotional stress that needs to be managed. In such cases, the sports psychologists play important role in reducing the stress. Umar needs to follow the guidance of the psychologist. The psychologist can use some intervention tools and tests to check the stress level of the participants (KS and Sathya 2015).
Suitable intervention for Umar:
In case of Umar, the ‘attention, emotion control, concentration and stress management’ intervention is suitable for Umar. During the competition, Umar became hyperactive, which reduces his skills. Therefore, he needs to control his stress. For this reason, he can practice meditation on daily basis that will help him to reduce the stress. Moreover, he needs motivation that the psychologist and trainer can provide. He follows the instruction of the trainer that can help him to gain self-confidence and improve the skills and techniques of boxing. He needs to increase his practicing time to develop the motor skills.
As per the case study, after 2004, boxing became the common sports among the Asian male. SCAT (Sports Competition Anxiety Test) is done to check the anxiety level of the participant. This technique helps him to gain the self-confidence to get success in the competitions. The participant, Umar Mahmood is working hard but he feels anxious during his match. However, he wants to be world champion. For this purpose, he wants to participate in the 2020 Olympic Games. In case of participating in a competition, the participant needs physical preparation but also needs mental preparation. The participant can be defeated the competition due to anxiety and over thinking. The psychologist interviewed the participant to diagnose his problems and thus the psychologist can know the cause of the anxiety in the participant. Zhang et al. (2016) mentioned that anxiety can happen due to various reasons such as lack of confidence, lack of practice and lack of experience. In case of Umar Mahmood, he is new in the sport therefore; he may not have proper confidence and experience. However, he should practice hard to gain the self-confidence.
Specific procedure and their implementation:
Various tests of sports psychology:
The various tests of sports psychology are the SCAT test, GEQ test and Personality test.
SCAT test:
The psychologist has done the SCAT test to check the anxiety level of Mahmood. Cleckley (2016) opined that SCAT test is the analysis of the response of the athlete to some specific questions or statements. This will show the feelings of the athletes during the competitive situation. By the test, it is possible to determine the anxiety level. The target group of the test is the participants of the competition. As per the case study, Umar Mahmood is the candidate of the test, as he feels nervous and anxious during competition. The validity of the test refers to the degree of the measurement that extends up to the inferences, decisions and conclusions. Based on the score, the development of the candidate is seen. This test helps to monitor the performance of the athletes. The advantages of the SCAT test are that no equipment is necessary to perform the test (Martin 2016). Moreover, the test is very easy to conduct and more than one athlete can participate in the test. This test can be done anywhere. With the various advantages, the main disadvantage of the SCAT test is that the psychologist needs some assistance to administer the SCAT test (refer to appendix 1).
Personality test:
Another effective test to determine the psychological condition of the athlete is the personality test. The personality test is the questionnaire that is designed to expose the aspects of the character of the individual or the psychological makeup. In 1920, the first test was developed. In between various personality tests, the Myers Briggs Type Indicator, Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory and five-factor model of personality test are famous (Köhler, Famp and Araújo 2013). This test is made based on the Isabel Briggs Myers’ and Carl Jung’s personality type theory. The Carl Jung and Isabel Briggs Myers’ theory helps to determine the strengths and weaknesses of the athletes. This test is applicable for the athletes to check their anxiety and stress level. This test helps in self-reflection and understanding. This test can help the participant to know the best way to communicate with others and opponents (Stenling and Tafvelin 2014).
In case of Umar Mahmood, the psychologist can perform the personality test to check his personality. If the athlete needs any modification in his personality then the psychologist will provide advice to improve personality and get success.
The GEQ (Group Environment Questionnaire) is one of the instruments that intended for the learning of the cohesion in the sport team. The main advantage of the test is that this test can include more than one participant at one time (Laborde at al. 2014). However, to perform the test, more than one participant is required. Group Environment Questionnaire can be recognised among the international methods. The GEQ is four-scale tool with 18 items. This helps to measure the cohesion of the sport team. The main disadvantage of the test is that it is difficult to perform in a single athlete (Skovholt and Jennings 2016). Each of the scale of the tool plays significant role in the test. This study provides various evidences of the multilevel factorial validities of GEQ. This suggests the group level analysis and interprets the result.
Outcomes of the methods:
The psychological intervention may have strong effect on the participants. From the SCAT test result, it is found that the participant, Umar Mahmood is very anxious during his competitions. The SCAT test result is below:
|
Rarely |
Sometimes |
Often |
|
|
1. Competing against other people/ Teams is socially enjoyable |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
2. Before I compete- I feel uneasy |
2 |
||
|
3. Before I compete- I worry about not performing well |
1 |
||
|
4. I am a good sportsman when I compete |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
5. When I compete- I worry about making mistakes |
3 |
||
|
6. Before I compete- I am calm |
3 |
||
|
7. Setting a goal is important when competing |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
8. Before I compete- I get a queasy feeling in my stomach |
3 |
||
|
9. Just before competing- I notice my heart beats faster than usual |
3 |
||
|
10. I like to compete in games that demands a lot of physical energy |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
11. Before I compete- I feel relaxed |
3 |
||
|
12. Before I compete- I am nervous |
3 |
||
|
13. Team sports are more exciting than individual sports |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
14. I get nervous wanting to start the game |
2 |
||
|
15. Before I compete- I usually get upright |
2 |
||
|
TOTAL |
25 |
Table 1: SCAT test result
(Source: As created by Author)
|
SCAT score |
Analysis |
|
Less than 17 |
Low level of anxiety |
|
17-24 |
Average level of anxiety |
|
More than 24 |
High level of anxiety |
Table 2: Analysis of SCAT result
(Source: Mahmood, Cleckley 2016)
From the SCAT test result, it is seen that the anxiety level of Umar Mahmood is high.
As per the result of the GEQ test, it is seen that the participant answered all the 18 questions of the GEQ test and did not score well. This showed that the participant needs counseling to improve the social behavior to work as a team member.
From the personality test, it is seen that Umar has problem to interact with people easily. Therefore, he needs to improve the personality for better outcome.
In case of sports, client relationship plays important role to improve the performance level of the athlete. In such cases, the sports psychologist needs to satisfy the athlete to continue his working as a successful sports psychologist. The sports psychologist needs to be loyal to the client and do not share the confidential information with others without the permission of the client (McMorris 2014). To maintain the loyal client relationship, proper communication is necessary. Lack of communication may create misunderstandings in between the athlete and sports psychologist. The psychologist needs to assure the client about the expected outcome. Therefore, the psychologist needs to set the goal for the athlete so that he can achieve the expected success. The psychologist needs to gain the trust of the athlete, which is necessary to make a strong client relationship. The psychologist needs to identify the problems of the client and note the points. Thereafter, it will be easier for the psychologist to set the goals. Therefore, the sports psychologist needs to collect the important documents of the client and go through them carefully to know the problem of the client. To maintain the client relationship, the sports psychologist needs to behave politely with the client and avoid use of jargons during the conversation (Kivlighan Jr et al. 2015).
In case of Umar Mahmood, as he is suffering from the anxiety during the completion and from the SCAT test, it is clear that the anxiety level is high. From the SCAT test, the sports psychologist can understand the specific reasons of the anxiety of Mahmood. He often worries about the mistakes during the matches and he is worried about his moves. Therefore, he needs to practice his moves repeatedly to gain self-confidence. The sports psychologist needs to advice the participant to practice his moves. This advice will help Umar Mahmood to improve his moves and gain the self-confidence. Thereafter, the sports psychologist can gain the trust of the participant and provide effective result. It is his responsibility to teach the athlete how to meet the goals and gain knowledge.
The common responsibility of the sports psychologist is to provide education on the mental skills to enhance the performance of an athlete.
Help the athletes to cope with performance fear:
Sports psychologists helped Umar to overcome fear, for example fear of failure, embarrassment and performance anxiety. Peel et al. (2013) mentioned that the anxiety is very common in the athletes. The sports psychologists mainly fix this problem and help the athlete to gain self-confidence.
Help to improve the mental skills for performance:
Sports psychologist teaches Umar about the mental skills during a competition. This can be done by enhancing the performance level. The metal game expert helps the athlete to improve the confidence, intensity, focus, composure and trust in the performance of the athlete (Ottoboni, Russo and Tessari 2015). These mental skills can help the athlete to improve the performance with the life style.
Help Athlete mentally prepare for the competition:
The sports psychologist helps Umar to prepare mentally for the competition as well as for the practice. The athlete needs to have mental skills and tricks to handle a specific situation in his field (Martin 2016). In case of Mahmood, he needs to know some actions that he can apply against his competitor in the competition.
Help the athlete to return after injury:
The sports psychologist motivates Umar to reduce the stress and improve the performance level. The psychologist needs to check that if the athlete has any injury. It is necessary for the athlete to be fit for a competition (Peel et al. 2013). In such cases, the sports psychologist plays major role. He needs to teach the athlete how to reduce the stress and get well soon for the competition.
Help the athlete to develop the pregame routine:
As mentioned by Skovholt and Jennings (2016), the mental preparation includes the making of pregame routine. Umar needs to focus on the methods instead of the results.
Help to develop the preshot routine:
The sports psychologist has the common role in making the preshot routine (Bhardwaj 2014). Umar needs to use the mental skills to make the particular motor skills like boxing.
Help to improve the practice efficiency:
The sports psychologist helps Umar to improve the efficiency of practice. However, in case of boxing, the participant has limited time to practice (Zhang et al. 2016). Coaches need to help them to understand the technique of practice in the limited time.
Conclusion:
Based on the above discussion, it can be concluded that sports psychology helps in the development of the sports participants and addresses the systematic issues regarding the sports settings and organisations. Various tests like SCAT test, Personality test and GEQ test helped to check the performance level and stress level of the participant. To manage the stress, the participant needs to control his emotions that are another method of psychological intervention. The participant needs to look smarter to gain the self-confidence. Anxiety can happen due to various reasons such as lack of confidence, lack of practice and lack of experience. The participant needs to focus on the practice that will help to gain self-confidence. SCAT test is the analysis of the response of the athlete to some specific questions or statements. The personality test is the questionnaire that is designed to expose the aspects of the character of the individual or the psychological makeup. The main advantage of the Group Environment Questionnaire test is that this test can include more than one participant at one time. To reduce the stress the psychologist is trying to help him by providing him psychological therapy. Reduction of stress can lead the participants towards success. . From the SCAT test result, it is found that the participant, Umar Mahmood is very anxious during his competitions, which needs to be reduced. It can be expected that he will be able to reduce his anxiety during the matches after getting training and can improve the performance level.
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