Report on Applied Sport and Exercise Psychology: Skills and Strategies

This report delves into the realm of applied sport and exercise psychology, focusing on the development and implementation of psychological skills training (PST) programs within a soccer team. The report highlights the importance of mental toughness (MT) and psychological wellbeing (PWB) as crucial skills for athlete success. It outlines a 16-week PST program incorporating arousal regulation, self-talk, imagery, and goal setting, with sessions dedicated to education, acquisition, and practice phases. The theoretical connections between MT, PWB, and theories like incremental theory and self-determination theory are explored. Furthermore, the report critically analyzes the intervention, emphasizing MT's role in elite performance and the significance of PWB in fostering an optimal training environment. The report concludes with a discussion of the limitations and strengths of the approaches discussed.

Running head: APPLIED SPORT AND EXERCISE PSYCHOLOGY
Applied sport and exercise psychology
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
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Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................2
Clear outline of the programme and the psychological skills..........................................................2
Implementation of the programme..................................................................................................5
Theoretical connections with the psychological skills....................................................................6
Critical analysis of psychological skill intervention........................................................................7
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................9
References......................................................................................................................................10
Appendix........................................................................................................................................13

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Introduction
The sports psychology training (PST) is a sort of training programme that trains the
exercisers and athletes in learning the psychological skills (like the relaxation skills) and it helps
the performers or athletes in regulating their psychological state. Within the field of exercise
psychology and sport psychology, the PST brings with itself a study on the psychological states
that affects the performance in exercise and sports. It is an established fact that if the performers
can regulate their psychological states then their performance can be enhanced (de Freitas, Dias
and Fonseca 2013). The PST programmes are the designed individually and it is a combination
of selected methods to attain the needs of a specific psychological need. It is important to note
that there is no single training programme that can be based on a wide range of psychological
needs of a performer. It is dependent on the type of the individualised programme and for this
there is a need to distinguish between the PST methods and the PST skills. PST skills can be
defined as the attributes or the psychological qualities that needed to be developed. While the
PST method can be described as a tool that will be used to improve the PST skills (McCrory,
Cobley and Marchant 2013). This study will be based on the identification of the important skills
required for the development of the appropriate strategies; critical analysis of the psychological
skill intervention that are based on the psychology literature and it will involve a compare and
contrast of the different types of the approaches; evaluation of the limitations and strengths.
Clear outline of the programme and the psychological skills
Year after year the game of soccer has become one of the toughest and complex which
requires an optimal level of performance, cooperation and it includes a number of parameters
like the team factors (team culture, team building), tactical strategies, technical skills,
psychological skills. Recently the tactical strategies and the technical skills are emphasised a lot

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in comparison to the psychological factors. The different types of the psychological skills that
are required the most are the various aspects of the anxiety, stress, concentration and motivation.
However, one of the important aspects of this study will be the mental toughness and
psychological wellbeing. It is important to mention that both the psychological skill of mental
toughness (MT) and psychological wellbeing (PSW) are the two most vital skills that are
required by each and every athlete to become successful. In researches it has been found that
both the PSW and MT are the two most common features or bases on positive psychology.
Researches and findings have led to the revelation of the information that both MT and PSW
helps in the development of the knowledge and aspires an athlete towards a building or progress
(Miçoogullari and Ekmekçi 2017). Furthermore, the psychological well-being and the mental
toughness are both the psychological concepts that are trainable and they are essential for
performance in general life, sport and health. The psychological skills consist of the learned
behaviours that the athletes use and it has been found that if such skills are practiced prudently
then it can help the athlete towards the excellence. The PST are the combination of
methodologies that are specially designed for an individual to meet the needs of a specific
psychological skills. The PST can be described as a process that has a relation with the daily
routine development with respect to a sort of setting that includes the exercise and sport.
Research have shown that PST can potentially develop the mental toughness and it capable of
promoting the psychological development and it helps a performer in a variety of sports like the
student athletes, field athletes, track, cricket, swimming and football (Cook et al. 2014).
The individuals that are born with a specific amount of mental toughness have agreed to
the fact that mental toughness is a skill and if learned well through appropriate set of approach
then it can toughen up people. It has been established through studies that the mental toughness

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is a psychological approach and the different types of sports require the mental toughness to be
successful. It is important to mention that the mental toughness needs to be developed and
maintained because it is a long-term process and it gets influenced by a number of mechanisms
and multiple characteristics. It has been highlighted by Diment (2014), that the mental toughness
includes a variety of constructive psychological factors that has the capability of reducing the
somatic effects and the negative cognitive effects. This helps the athletes to perform well
independent of the type of situation. Mental toughness can be described as the capability of a
performer to achieve the personal goals under a wide range of pressure and different types of
stressors. Thus, mental toughness is not only relevant during the times of adversity but it is also
appropriate even if the circumstances are not favourable. Research and studies have
acknowledged that the mental toughness includes the aspects of the quality preparation,
resilience, handling pressure, enjoyment, hardiness, attention control, self-motivation and self-
confidence. It has been highlighted by Crust et al. (2014), that a number of behavioural skills and
psychological strategies and skills (coping skills, anxiety control, imagery and goal setting) are
closely connected with the peak performance of an athlete and they could master the skills and
strategies through the consistent practice and psychological skills training. The psychological
skills are maintained and developed with training and the benefits of such training gets
accumulated over years (Sheard 2012). Psychological wellbeing on the other hand is
theoretically divided into two separate parts like objective part (eudaimonic) and subjective part
(hedonic tradition). The psychological wellbeing is defined through the eudaimonic part and it is
achieved through some form of struggle. PWB is one of the major components of health and like
the psychological skill, falls under the category of psychology. Research and studies have
demonstrated that the positive effects of sports on PWB and the positive effect of PWB on the

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sports. Studies have shown that why exercise elevates and enhances the psychological wellbeing
and it includes the social interactions, self-efficacy, self-esteem, self-concept and feelings of
control. Enhanced psychological wellbeing has been found to be closely connected with the
lessening in the negative physical states, negative emotional states that helps the athletes in the
creation of an optimum training environment that boosts the performance. PWB has close
connections with the positive psychology and the knowledge generated henceforth guides people
in the to thrive and flourish (Morgan et al. 2013).
Implementation of the programme
This entire psychological skills training with the two psychological skills (mental
toughness and psychological wellbeing) will be implemented within a soccer team. At the initial
phase of the implementation programme the players of the soccer team are conveyed about the
concept of positive psychological wellbeing and mental toughness. The players or the athletes
are asked if they had any questioning regarding volunteering and participating into the study.
The psychological skills training program involved the four different mental abilities like the
arousal regulation, self-talk, imagery and goal setting. These four psychological skills are
selected because they have a positive relation with the psychological wellbeing and mental
toughness. A sixteen-week psychological training program will be organized and each of the
skills will have a duration of 4 weeks. The psychological skills training program will have a
duration of 35 to 45 minutes each session. The psychological skills training phases consists of
practice, acquisition and education and is used to practice the psychological skills. The overall 16
weeks program will have a total of 48 sessions and for each of the psychological skill, a total of
12 sessions will be conducted. The first 4 session will be chosen for the education phase, the next
four will be chosen for the acquisition phase of the psychological skills training and the

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remaining four session will be selected for the practice phase (appendix). The last session will be
done to make the reviews and corrections if required (Miçoogullari and Ekmekçi 2017).
Theoretical connections with the psychological skills
The scientific study of mental toughness begins with the understanding that it is primarily
used in the sports context. This psychological skill has developed because it is the least
understood and most commonly applied by the athletes and coaches. Alongside the presence of
this trait within the athletes and its increased emphasis by the scholars, mental toughness got it
linkup with the positive psychology. While it was later found out that the mental toughness has
led to the increase in the optimal functioning and increase in the human strength. Incremental
theory held that not everyone starts with the same potential or talent and everyone can be
anything (Song and Park 2015). Everyone has the capability to grow with the proper kind of
motivation, instruction and opportunity. Performing well in sports has a direct connection with
the way an athlete prepares himself. An athlete must have to through the hard work and gain a
specific skill. Thus, the incremental theory says that intelligence is changeable, fluid and
malleable. Skills that are learned can be improved as well and with enough effort. The
incremental theorists are more likely to blame the lack of effort and lack of strategy as the
possible reason of negative outcome. The incremental theorist also highlight that an individual is
more likely to act and improve a situation with more effect (Sevincer, Kluge and Oettingen
2014).
Exercise and physical activity are the if undertaken on a regular basis can be highly
beneficial for the psychological wellbeing, physical wellbeing and health. It has been heighted
by Teixeira et al. (2012), that physical activity and exercise has direct connection with the
wellbeing. Self determination theory emphasises on the extrinsic and the intrinsic motivation that

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regulates one’s behaviour. Intrinsic motivation can be described as a motivation which arouses
due to an activity which provides inherent satisfaction. When a person gets intrinsically
motivated then they experience feelings of excitement, personal accomplishment, exercise of the
skills, and feelings of enjoyment. While extrinsic motivation can be described as a motivation
aroused by doing activity for instrumental reasons. For example, if a person engages into an
activity to gain a social reward or to avoid disapproval then it can be said that a person is
extrinsically motivated. Self determination theory also introduces that concept that basic
psychological needs are required to support and satisfy the high quality and the autonomous
forms of motivation. Satisfaction of all the basic needs leads to a greater feeling of wellbeing and
vitality. For example, getting engaged with exercise and sports will be somewhat conducive if
the psychological needs are realized. Experiences of competence differ upon failure or success
and undertaking a challenging task as a function of feedback from a coach or a fitness
professional (Fortier et al. 2012).
Critical analysis of psychological skill intervention
Mental toughness- In the sports and the scientific community, the mental toughness is
considered as one of the important aspects that leads to successful performance of an athlete. At
the highest level of a game, it is the mental preparedness that separates the good performers from
the elite performers. Within the field of sports, mental toughness is used by the sports
psychologist, performers, and a variety of coaches. Studies and researches have shown that
mental toughness is all about having a developed or a natural psychological edge over the others.
The strength of the mental toughness psychological skill is that it helps the performers to cope
with the opponents in a better way. Even if a specific type of sports demands lifestyle, training
and competition then a specific performer can excel in that sports due to the mental toughness.

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Mental toughness also helps a performer to be more consistent and in a better position in
comparison to the opponents because such a performer is more confident, focussed, determined
and can handle pressure (Gucciardi, Hanton and Mallett 2012). It has been also established that
the following are the key for a mentally tough athlete: a) mental toughness is a self-belief that
enables a performer to achieve his goals; b) the ability to recover from the setbacks and extra-
determination to succeed from failure; c) having the self-belief and better abilities to in
comparison to the opponents; d) having high amount of the desire and motivation to succeed in
any game; e) the ability to focus fully even under the presence of the distractions; f) the ability to
regain control even if there are uncontrollable events; g) the performer gains the ability to
overcome physical and emotional pain; h) the ability to cope up with the anxiety during a stiff
competition; i) the ability to thrive under pressure; j) the ability to not to be affected by bad or
god performance; k) the ability to stay focussed even if a performer faces distraction; l) the
capability of a performer to switch focus on and off. One of the major drawbacks of the mental
toughness is that majority mental blockade and mental rigidity that raises due to practising
mental toughness leads to bounded thinking. In terms of sports psychology, excessive mental
toughness affects a performer emotionally and mentally. It might make an athlete arrogant and
careless (Mahoney et al. 2014).
Psychological wellbeing- in the present society, about 20 percent of the people face
depression, and 25 percent of the people face anxiety disorder. Studies have shown that there is a
positive effect on the wellbeing of a person and exercise can effectively reduces the effect of
depression and anxiety. Exercise can effectively have a number of effects on the wellbeing and
can have a dramatic changes over longer periods of time. Exercise can become an addiction and
it is defined as a psychological dependence if a person withdraws for about 24 to 36 hours from

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exercise. The positive side of the exercise addiction is that it is a condition in which exercise is
considered to be an important part of one’s life and it gets successfully integrated with the other
aspects of life. While the major limitation is that exercise addiction leads to a condition where
life of an individual is centred around exercise to such an extent that both work and home
responsibilities suffer due to it (Ntoumanis, Taylor and Thøgersen-Ntoumani, 2012).
In comparison to the other two psychological skills, the mindfulness-based intervention is
also a good intervention that facilitates mindfulness. It describes the ability of a performer to
hold his attention momentarily when body experiences thoughts, emotions, visual perceptions
and bodily sensations. It has been found that mindfulness increases the alertness, conflict
monitoring, orientation, and attention (Röthlin et al. 2016).
Conclusion
From the above discussion it can be concluded that the PST programs are the designed
individually and it is a combination of selected methods to attain the needs of a specific
psychological need. It is important to note that there is no single training program that can be
based on a wide range of psychological needs of a performer. Both the psychological skill of
mental toughness and psychological wellbeing are the two most vital skills that are required by
each and every athlete to become successful. In researches it has been found that both the PSW
and MT are the two most common features or bases on positive psychology.

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References
Cook, C., Crust, L., Littlewood, M., Nesti, M. and Allen-Collinson, J., 2014. ‘What it takes’:
perceptions of mental toughness and its development in an English Premier League Soccer
Academy. Qualitative research in sport, exercise and health, 6(3), pp.329-347.
Crust, L., Earle, K., Perry, J., Earle, F., Clough, A. and Clough, P.J., 2014. Mental toughness in
higher education: Relationships with achievement and progression in first-year university sports
students. Personality and individual differences, 69, pp.87-91.
de Freitas, S., Dias, C. and Fonseca, A., 2013. What do coaches think about psychological skills
training in soccer? A study with coaches of elite Portuguese teams. International Journal of
Sports Science, 3(3), pp.81-91.
Diment, G.M., 2014. Mental Toughness in Soccer: A Behavioral Analysis. Journal of Sport
Behavior, 37(4).
Fortier, M.S., Duda, J.L., Guerin, E. and Teixeira, P.J., 2012. Promoting physical activity:
development and testing of self-determination theory-based interventions. International Journal
of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity, 9(1), p.20.
Gucciardi, D.F., Hanton, S. and Mallett, C.J., 2012. Progressing measurement in mental
toughness: A case example of the Mental Toughness Questionnaire 48. Sport, Exercise, and
Performance Psychology, 1(3), p.194.
Mahoney, J.W., Gucciardi, D.F., Ntoumanis, N. and Mallet, C.J., 2014. Mental toughness in
sport: Motivational antecedents and associations with performance and psychological
health. Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 36(3), pp.281-292.

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McCrory, P., Cobley, S. and Marchant, P., 2013. The effect of psychological skills training
(PST) on self-regulation behavior, self-efficacy, and psychological skill use in military pilot-
trainees. Military Psychology, 25(2), pp.136-147.
Miçoogullari, B.O. and Ekmekçi, R., 2017. Evaluation of a Psychological Skill Training
Program on Mental Toughness and Psychological Wellbeing for Professional Soccer
Players. Universal Journal of Educational Research, 5(12), pp.2312-2319.
Morgan, A.J., Parker, A.G., Alvarez-Jimenez, M. and Jorm, A.F., 2013. Exercise and Mental
Health: An Exercise and Sports Science Australia Commissioned Review. Journal of Exercise
Physiology Online, 16(4).
Ntoumanis, N., Taylor, I.M. and Thøgersen-Ntoumani, C., 2012. A longitudinal examination of
coach and peer motivational climates in youth sport: Implications for moral attitudes, well-being,
and behavioral investment. Developmental Psychology, 48(1), p.213.
Röthlin, P., Birrer, D., Horvath, S. and Grosse Holtforth, M., 2016. Psychological skills training
and a mindfulness-based intervention to enhance functional athletic performance: design of a
randomized controlled trial using ambulatory assessment. BMC psychology, 4(1), p.39.
Sevincer, A.T., Kluge, L. and Oettingen, G., 2014. Implicit theories and motivational focus:
Desired future versus present reality. Motivation and Emotion, 38(1), pp.36-46.
Sheard, M., 2012. Mental toughness: The mindset behind sporting achievement. Routledge.
Song, C.I. and Park, H.S., 2015. Testing intention to continue exercising at fitness and sports
centers with the theory of planned behavior. Social Behavior and Personality: an international
journal, 43(4), pp.641-648.