Chapter 14 Sport Psych

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Question 7: What are simulations? Illustrate with a sportexample that is not in this chapter.

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Stimulation is a mental training process that allows athletes to transfer athletic performance from practices to competitions. In order to do this, stimuli in the practice environment resemble those that will be encountered in competitions. Example: Golf players may use virtual reality simulations to practice launch angles and a variety of golf shots. In these types of computer-based simulations, players use special golf clubs and a head mounted display in order to play rounds of virtual golf games. Moreover, virtual stimulations offer video playbacks for swing analysis, ball speed and spin data. As a result, golf players can physically immerge into “reality-based games” having stimuli similar to those encountered during golf competitions.

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Question 8: List seven categories ofcues that are useful for simulating competitive stimuli at practices.

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1. Cues from the physical environment:

2. Cues from the behaviour of the coach:

3. Cues from the behaviour of other athletes:

4. Cues from the level of autonomic arousal or degree of anxiousness of the athlete:

5. Proprioceptive cues from the muscles of the athlete:

6. The athlete’s imagery as cues:

7. The athlete’s self-talk as cues:

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Question 10: Describe an example ofhow athletes might use imagery at practices to simulate aspects of acompetition in order to increase the likelihood that practice performance willtransfer to competitions.

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Example: A golfer while at a driving range, might imagine all 18 holes of a course that she is going to play. Before actually playing the course, she can play it at the driving range. For each hole, she could visualize the general layout and the landing area for each shot. She could then hit those shots that she wants to play on those holes. She might keep track of the number of imaginary fairways that she hit with her tee shots, the number of imaginary greens that she hit in regulation, and she could try to improve on each visit to the driving range. If the golfer is able to hit the desired shots at the driving range under such imaginary, simulated conditions, then the odds are increased that she will be able to hit those shots when actually playing the course.

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Question 11: Pick a sport with whichyou are familiar. For that sport, describe a plausible “pressure game” that anathlete might play at practices in order to get used to performing underconditions of increased autonomic arousal.

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Example: baseball players are preparing for an important game. A routine used by baseball players in such situations is the 21 outs. First, the coach places 8 defenders in their respective positions. A pitcher then tosses a ball to home plate and a catcher aims to receive the ball. At this point, the coach yells a particular situation and the defenders need to respond quickly to each scenario. The purpose of this “pressure game” is to record 21 outs while under the pressure of “changing conditions”. As soon as the ball is thrown away, the out-count goes back to zero. The purpose of this practice is to help baseball players dealing with the autonomic arousal experienced under “variable conditions”.

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Question 14: Describe thegeneralization strategy referred to as “programming a few common stimuli”.Illustrate it with a sport example that involves imagery that is not in thischapter.

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When athletic performance occurs to a specific stimulus in practice, and if that stimulus can be introduced into a competition, then the likelihood of stimulus generalization to the competitive environment is increased. This strategy for programming stimulus generalization is referred to as “programming a few common stimuli”. Appropriate use of imagery at practices and competitions just before performing a skill can also provide common stimuli to promote generalization from practice to competition. Example: A volleyball player has a powerful topspin serve, but tends to have a slow run up when approaching the volleyball. In order to enhance speed, the volleyball player visualizes a long rope in front of him when performing the topspin serve. As he imagines reaching out to the highest point of the rope, he then enhances the elevation and speed of his jump. The long imaginary rope is a stimulus that promotes generalization from practice to competition.

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Question 15: Describe thegeneralization strategy referred to as “vary many of the training conditions”.Illustrate it with a sport example that is not in this chapter.

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The strategy “vary many of the training conditions” involves conducting practices under a wide variety of conditions. The assumption is that if athletic skills are brought under the control of a greater variety of stimuli during training, then there is an increased probability of some of those stimuli being present during competitions. Example: a soccer player learns to perform passing, dribbling and shooting skills under a wide variety of conditions such as: when it is cold, hot, windy, calm, quite, noisy, with no on around, with many people around, then some of these conditions are likely to exist during an actual match, and the player’s soccer skills are more likely to transfer.