Sport and Exercise Psychology Study

This assignment is a compilation of various research papers related to sport and exercise psychology. It covers topics such as competitive anxiety in sports, psychological predictors of injury occurrence, and the effects of psychological skills training on self-regulation behavior. The study also includes papers on implicit beliefs of ability, approach-avoidance goals, and cognitive anxiety among team sport athletes. Additionally, it features research on the relationship between coaches' and athletes' competitive anxiety and their performance, as well as the impact of psychological resilience in sport performers. Overall, this assignment provides a thorough examination of the psychological aspects of sports and exercise, making it an ideal resource for students and researchers in the field.

Running head: SPORT AND EXERCISE PSYCHOLOGY: A CASE STUDY APPROACH
SPORT AND EXERCISE PSYCHOLOGY: A CASE STUDY APPROACH
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1SPORT AND EXERCISE PSYCHOLOGY: A CASE STUDY APPROACH
Psychological skills training or the PST refers to the systematized way of training the
mental skills that are involved in the enhancement of the performance of a certain player in
the concerned area of sports. The psychological factors directly affect the daily fluctuations
that take place in the performance of the concerned sportsperson (Weinberg and Gould 2014).
The psychological skills are often neglected by the concerned people due to various reasons
like the lack of the knowledge in the concerned fields, the lack of the time on the part of the
concerned person and the misunderstandings that surround the concept of the various
psychological skills. There exist certain notions that the psychological skills are inherent in a
concerned person and cannot be acquired over the knowledge that is imparted to the
concerned athletes. The PST involves certain myths that have been maintained by the various
members who have been into the athletic activities. The various myths state that the PST is
required by the athletes who belong to the elite classes or might have been facing certain
problems in the concerned field of athletics. The other myths that have surrounded the
concept of PST helps in providing the solutions that might prove to be temporary in the
concerned case. The myths further suggest that the psychological skills training might not be
useful to the concerned athletes.
However, there are researchers that might suggest otherwise. In the given case study,
the concerned athlete, Sally, is observed to have been suffering from the loss of confidence
since she has returned to the sport of swimming after her recovery from a shoulder injury.
The swimmer is known to be one of the high achievers in any field that she sets her mind to.
The swimmer is known to be of the international standards and might help the GB team to
attain several accolades. The coach of Sally has been noticing the apprehension in her
behavior prior to any competitions that she has been participating (Butler and Hardy 1992).
He has also noticed an increase in the anxiety levels of Sally. The coach has also noticed a
decline in the performance levels of Sally since her return after the injury. The coach had

2SPORT AND EXERCISE PSYCHOLOGY: A CASE STUDY APPROACH
advised her to consult a sports psychologist regarding the issues that she had been facing. The
swimmer had been asked to identify the key mental and the physical characteristics that
should be demonstrated by an elite open water swimmer. She was asked to rate her perceived
importance of each of the factors as well as her current self-perception on each of the
qualities that she had identified. The discrepancies in the concerned matter was calculated in
order to facilitate an identification of the areas wherein the athlete depicted weakness. Sally
had been facing major issues while participating in her swimming activities. The swimmer
was asked to undertake a performance profiling, an activity that helps in the identification of
the swimmer’s own perception of her strengths and weaknesses. The results of the
performance profiling revealed that the swimmer had been facing issues with the
concentration on the concerned sport activity, the lack of self-confidence in matters related to
her performance in the swimming activities, her composer before the commencement of the
race. She had also been facing the issues regarding the huge amount of anxiety that she had
been facing before the commencement of the concerned race. The swimmer was also asked to
go through a psychological assessment that helps the psychologists to determine correctly the
levels of the anxiety that the athlete had been facing (Butler and Hardy, 1992). The results of
the CSAI-II reveal that Sally had been suffering from a huge lack of confidence and is
observed to be losing control over the levels of anxiety that she has been facing before the
event starts. Sally has been reporting the fact that the she is not being able to concentrate on
the concerned race due to the fluctuations in her composure before the concerned race.
The major areas wherein the swimmer depicted the highest amounts of weakness are
the areas pertaining to the concentration of the athlete, the confidence of the athlete and the
control of the athlete over the anxiety before the commencement of the race. Sally had also
been facing issues with the matters pertaining to her composure before the commencement of
any competition wherein she has been participating (Martens, Vealey and Burton 1990). The

3SPORT AND EXERCISE PSYCHOLOGY: A CASE STUDY APPROACH
following essay deals with the major issues that are predominant in the given case of Sally
with respect to her performance in the field of swimming. The essay attempts to draw on the
cognitive and the somatic anxieties that the swimmer, Sally has been facing since her return
to the sport after the recovery from her shoulder injury. The essay further proceeds to employ
the needed psychological intervention program that might help the improvement of the
situation that has been troubling the swimmer.
There are two models that might be used in order employ the psychological training.
These two models include the three phases of the PST programs and the five-stage model of
self-regulation (Keynes 2015). The psychological skills training or the PST might assume
various forms in order to attend to the individual needs of the concerned athletes. The PST
programs generally follow a structure that involves three distinct steps or phases. These
phases generally refer to the education phase, the acquisition phase and the practice phase.
The initial phase of the PST program tends to be educational for the concerned
sportsperson due to the fact that the sportsperson generally tends to be ignorant about the
ways in which the mental skills might enhance the performance of the concerned athlete.
During the tenure of this phase, the participants tend to acquire knowledge on the importance
of the acquisition of the psychological skills and the ways in which these skills might affect
the performance of the concerned participants of the PST program (Stenling, Hassmén and
Holmström 2014). During the education phase, the athletes or the sportspersons are often
asked about the time that they spend in the development of the mental skills that are needed
for the concerned sport as compared to the physical skills that they practice. The most
common answer received from the concerned participants tend to be negative responses. The
athletes are then informed and provided with the necessary information on the ways as to
how these skills might be acquired by the concerned participants (Turner and Barker 2013).
The phase of educating the participants might tend to last over the time period that might

4SPORT AND EXERCISE PSYCHOLOGY: A CASE STUDY APPROACH
stretch over an hour or might even last for days. The trainer during these sessions tend to put
forth the importance of the development of the various psychological skills and their relation
to the performance of the concerned athlete.
The next phase in this model of psychological skills training is the acquisition phase.
The acquisition phase of the PST model tends to lay more focus on the various techniques
and strategies that are needed for gaining knowledge on the varied number of psychological
skills. This phase employs various techniques according to the skills that need to be acquired
by the concerned sportsperson (Ivarsson, Johnson and Podlog 2013). The sportsperson who
has been having issues with the development of the arousal regulation skills might be
subjected to the various formal meetings that might be asked to attend the formal meetings
that are arranged to lay more stress on the replacement of the negative self-evaluating
statements with the various positive statements that might encourage the sportsperson and
provide him with the mechanisms to cope up with the situation (Hazell, Cotterill and Hill
2014). The negative self-statements arise due to the huge amounts of stress that the athletes
might face due to the highly competitive situations that they might need to face on a daily
basis. In this phase the psychological skills trainer must resort to tailoring the strategies
according to the needs and the demands of the problem that the concerned athlete has been
experiencing. This phase requires the trainer to design the various activities in a manner that
the issues of the concerned athlete is addressed in the most effective manner (Berking et al.
2013). The trainer should advise the concerned athlete not to worry about incurring failure
before the commencement of the sport or the concerned athletic activity in cases wherein the
concerned sportsperson has been suffering from cognitive anxiety due to some past
mishappenings (Knudson 2013). The athlete who has been suffering from the somatic anxiety
due to the increase in the muscle tension might be assigned a relaxation technique that might
help the concerned athlete to relax physically.

5SPORT AND EXERCISE PSYCHOLOGY: A CASE STUDY APPROACH
The third phase in this model is known as the practice phase. This particular phase has
three major objectives. The first objective in this case is the automation of the skills acquired
by the process of overlearning. The second objective aimed at in this phase is imparting the
knowledge to the athletes regarding the ways in which they might systematically integrate the
acquired psychological skills into the situations that they might incur during their
performances in the actual sports arenas (Malouin, Jackson and Richards 2013). The third
major objective of this phase is to enable the simulation of the skills that the concerned
athletes might like to apply in the various scenarios that they would face in the respective
field of sports.
The other model that is often put to use in the activity of the psychological skills
training is the five-stage model of the self-regulation. The final aim of the psychological
skills training is to enable the concerned athlete or sportsperson to take decisions and function
in an effective manner without the need to seek assistance from the coach or the sport
psychologist in the concerned matter. The end result of the PST is to enable the concerned
athletes to regulate their internal functioning in the desired manner by successfully adapting
to the change that take place in the world around the concerned athlete. The self-regulation of
the concerned athlete refers to the ability to advance towards the various short and the long-
term goals that are set in order to effectively manage and monitor the behaviors, thoughts and
the feelings of the concerned athlete (Mottaghi, Atarodi and Rohani 2013). The five-stage
model of self-regulation, developed by Dan Kirschenbaum states that there are five different
stages that needs to be followed by the athlete in order to establish the effective functioning
without reaching out to their coaches for the assistance in the matters pertaining to the
concerned sport to which they are attached (Keynes 2015).
The initial stage of the five-step models of self-regulation deals with the identification
of the problem that the concerned athlete has been facing. The athlete should be able to

6SPORT AND EXERCISE PSYCHOLOGY: A CASE STUDY APPROACH
identify the problem that he or she has been facing in the given scenario. According to
Kirschenbaum, during the initial stages of this behavioral model the concerned athlete should
be able to determine the change that is desirable and possible in the concerned situation. The
athlete should be able to identify the exact problem that he or she has been facing. The next
stage in this model suggests that the concerned athlete should make a commitment towards
bringing about the required change in the situation by dealing with the matters that pose as
the barriers like the requirement of the regular practice of the various mental skills and the
slowing down of the progress of the concerned athlete (McCrory, Cobley and Marchant
2013). The third stage of the five-stage model deals with the execution. This step is the
primary step towards the solution of the concerned problem that the athlete has been
incurring. This step requires the self-evaluation and the self-monitoring of the concerned
athlete on matters that pertain to the situation that the athlete has been facing. These steps are
followed by the development of the appropriate expectancies and the self-reinforcement of
the ways to attain the expectancies during the learning process of the effective coping up
from the problematic condition that they have been facing. The environmental management
forms the fourth stage of Kirschenbaum’s five step model. This stage helps the concerned
athlete to make plans and derive the strategies that are essential for the management of the
physical and the social environment that surrounds the concerned athlete. The fifth and the
final stage in the five-stage model of Kirschenbaum is known as the generalization stage.
This stage helps in the sustenance of the efforts made by the concerned athlete over time.
This stage in the five-step process might also deal with the extension of the acquired
behaviors in all the situations that create anxiety in the concerned athlete, irrespective of the
changes in the settings and the conditions that are faced by the concerned athlete
(McCormick, Meijen and Marcora 2015). The concerned athlete is expected to deal with the

7SPORT AND EXERCISE PSYCHOLOGY: A CASE STUDY APPROACH
various challenges that he faces by drawing on the skills that he or she might have acquired
through the process of the self-regulation.
In the given case, Sally should be advised to follow the three-phases model of the PST
programs. Sally had suffered from a shoulder injury that had stopped her from attending to
the swimming sessions. Her coach had been observing a drop in her performance since her
return to the sport and had asked her to take help from a sports psychologist. The swimmer
had been suffering from the various cognitive and somatic anxieties due to her injury. The
best possible psychological interventions that might help the concerned athlete are the
theories pertaining to the goal setting, the positive self-talks and the social support from the
people who are concerned with the well-being of the concerned athlete.
Sally might be advised to undergo a performance profiling in order to correctly
identify the source of the problem that she has been facing. The swimmer might be advised
by the concerned psychologist to set shorter goals for herself during the initial days of the
recovery. This might help her to regain the self-confidence that is needed by her in order to
reach the perfection levels that she had previously owned. The swimmer is also suggested to
set for herself the long-term goals that might help her to keep a track of her progress during
the tenure. There are studies that state that the setting of the performance goals by the
concerned athlete all by himself or herself tends to affect the progress of the performance in a
positive manner (Mabweazara, Andrews and Leach 2014). The athlete in this case, Sally,
might find the setting of the self-performance goals to be beneficial in the process of the
coping up with the shoulder injury that she had incurred. The concerned swimmer is advised
to include the activity of the regular exercising in her daily routine in order to bring about a
boost in the low self-confidence that she had been facing after her return to the sport after the
recovery from the shoulder injury. The studies suggest that the depression symptoms tend to
render the concerned athlete to be less active in the various exercises and might also lower

8SPORT AND EXERCISE PSYCHOLOGY: A CASE STUDY APPROACH
their self-efficacy rates that might result in deterring the recovery process (Sarkar and
Fletcher 2014). The swimmer in this case should be advised to include the various exercises
into her daily routine of self-performance which might help her to regain the self confidence
that she might have lost due to the low performance since her injury.
The swimmer is further advised to engage herself in the self-talk that might help her
to cope up with the injury that she had sustained. The self-talk might help the concerned
athlete to overcome the mental conditions that she had been suffering from due to the injury
(Balk et al. 2013). Sally has been observed to comment on the fact that she had been anxious
about hurting herself again or losing the competition due to the injury that she had developed.
These anxieties seem to pose as a hindrance to the achievement of the earlier levels of the
performance that Sally had displayed. The studies suggest that the athletes and the other
players are quite prone to the development of the negative thoughts within their ownselves
after incurring any physical injury (Weinberg and Gould 2014). The experts on the matter
suggest that the positivity in the self-talk might help the concerned athletes to recover better
and faster from the lowly feeling that they might experience after the recovery from the
physical injury that they might have been facing (Moran 2016). These self-talks might help
the concerned athlete to eradicate the negativity in the thoughts that the concerned athlete
might be facing.
The researches have established the fact that the concerned athlete who has been
recovering from the physical injury needs the constant support from the people who have
been close to her and are her well-wishers (Gill, Williams and Reifsteck 2017). In the
concerned case of Sally, the swimmer needs the constant support and encouragement from
her coach as well as from the sports psychologist that she has been visiting on the advice of
the coach. The recovery of the concerned swimmer could be hastened with the motivational
comments from her coach and the psychologist that depicts their belief and the trust on her

9SPORT AND EXERCISE PSYCHOLOGY: A CASE STUDY APPROACH
abilities to perform well. The swimmer could also be helped by the patience on the part of her
fellow swimmers who are advised to pay heed to the concerns that she has been facing
without being judgmental on the concerned topic (Hanton, Neil and Evans 2013). The experts
in the field claim that the social support received by the concerned athlete helps in the faster
recovery of the concerned athlete.
Thus, from the above discussion it might be concluded that the swimmer, Sally has
been facing the various cognitive and the somatic anxieties due to the injuries that she had
been facing due to the injury on her shoulder. The above discussed psychological intervention
methods might help the concerned swimmer to display an increase in her performance at the
various swimming events that might take place in the future. The swimmer is advised to
make a self-commitment towards the completion of the realistic goals that she had set for
herself to achieve. The swimmer might expect a speedy recovery from both the short-term
and the long-term goals that she had set for herself. These goals might help to keep her
focused in the commitment towards the sport that she needs to depict in order to regain the
levels of the performance that she had displayed prior to her injury. The coach and the sports
psychologist might help the concerned swimmer to bring about the changes in the behavioral
patterns that she has been depicting after the recovery from the shoulder injury that she had
faced. The swimmer might benefit from the behavioral sessions that the trainer might advise
her. The positive self-talks might benefit the swimmer by helping her to boost her own self-
confidence and help her to regain her performance levels in the events. These self-talks might
also prove to be beneficial to the swimmer as these tend to build the confidence that she has
been lacking in these fields. The swimmer in this case, Sally is also advised to set the goals
that she needs to achieve all by herself in order to achieve them within the timeline that she
has set for myself. The achievement of these self-set goals might also help the athlete to
display her ability of performing well in the concerned sport and thus help the athlete to

10SPORT AND EXERCISE PSYCHOLOGY: A CASE STUDY APPROACH
regain the lost confidence. These techniques might also help the concerned swimmer to deal
with the various cognitive and the somatic anxieties that she had been facing after her return
to the sport after the recovery from the shoulder injury. The swimmer might also benefit from
the support that she receives from the other members who have been present in the swimming
club wherein she had been practicing for the various events. The swimmer might benefit from
the support that she receives from her coach, the concerned sports psychologist and her
fellow swimmers who have been a part of the same club.

11SPORT AND EXERCISE PSYCHOLOGY: A CASE STUDY APPROACH
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12SPORT AND EXERCISE PSYCHOLOGY: A CASE STUDY APPROACH
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13SPORT AND EXERCISE PSYCHOLOGY: A CASE STUDY APPROACH
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