Verbal Guidance relates to my performer and his weakness because the performer has not been taught the correct technique to dunking. In order for him to be able to improve this weakness, he needs to be told verbally how to improve it and then he will be able to apply it within his game. The performer’s coach can tell him where he is going wrong and tell him what he now needs to do to improve his dunking.
The second type of guidance is visual guidance. This is defined as: “helping the learner to establish an overall image or framework of what has to be performed.” One main advantage of visual guidance is when an accurate and a correct demonstration has been given, performers can then go away and try and copy what they have seen. This way the performers are then copying the right way to do it. A further advantage is that attention can be drawn towards any particular aspects of the skill or task that needs more focus. Also, the coach can demonstrate particular elements over and over again in order to make a specific point clear. On the other hand, visual guidance depends on the coaches/ teachers ability to demonstrate the skill correctly and if done incorrectly, then the performers will not be able to do the skill in the right way either. In addition, when viewing a demonstration through the use of videos, posters/charts or television this will often display irrelevant information that may not be needed to be shown to the performer.
The final form of guidance is manual/mechanical. It is defined as: “trying to reduce errors by in some way physically moving or restricting/ supporting a performer’s movements.” This type of guidance is extremely advantageous to a performer because it is very safe especially in potentially very dangerous situations. A further benefit of manual/ mechanical guidance is that the performer can focus on the skill and slow it down if required. However, it could be argued the performer does not get a true kinaesthetic feel for the skill and when unaided, the performer does not have the same feel for the action as when they were given support. Another disadvantage to the performer is that after a while of the manual/mechanical guidance, they may become reliant on the support that they have been given. Guidance training will improve performance when dunking especially because the performer will make 15% more dunks in games, (where they are much harder to make).
2. Racism- Module 2
In basketball, there are many tall players, but barely any of them have good ball handling skills. One reason for this may be due to racism within the sport. Racism is defined as: “a set of beliefs or ideas based on the assumption that races have distinctive cultural characteristics determined by hereditary factors.” This topic relates to the second weakness whereby the performer suffers from racism and has been discriminated against by being forced to play the inside positions, thus not learning how to handle the ball properly, this is a result of stereotyping, as people think that black athletes are strong and can jump high (key benefits to inside play). When the performer tried to use ball handling in games, he has had racial abuse shouted at him by fans and been laughed at by other players. Because this topic is not being applied to my performer, the performer has not been aware of what steps to take when they are suffering from racist abuse and what action to take. Instead, he simply did nothing and lets people distract him causing him to regularly lose the ball when dribbling as a result. If this subject area was considered by the performer then they will understand how to cope with and deal with the racial discrimination he is receiving therefore giving him an understanding of how he can concentrate more on his performance.
Race is “a group of people sharing the same physical inherited characteristic.” The Race Relations Act was established by the Government with its aim to prevent discrimination based on someone’s race. The Race Relations Act discussed many different aspects, these included discrimination on the grounds of race, skin colour, nationality, and areas of employment and education were also covered as well. This act aimed to eradicate any racial inequalities that existed and promote the importance of equality throughout society in every aspect of life.
There have been similar examples in professional basketball as well. When Michael Jordan’s team was beaten by the LA Lakers in the NBA play-offs semi-final, he was booed every time he questioned a decision by the referee and even when he was clearly in the right. Also, towards the end of the game, every free throw he missed was greeted with loud cheers. Racial stereotypes in sport through the use of stacking and centrality have a massive effect. Black performers are regularly being covertly and sometimes overtly pushed into certain roles in sport, and notably these are non-decision making roles with a great importance. As a result, performers are not being allowed to develop and explore sports they wish and find potential talents that they may have. There have been several attempts to overcome racial discrimination within sport. And to an extent the Race Relations Act has helped but racism still exists. The “let’s stamp racism out of football” campaign in 2003 used role models and international superstars to help try and cut out racial harassment in football. By using role models, this showed to everyone, especially younger people that racism is not acceptable. This topic will help to increase performance and will make the performer feel much more confident when dribbling the ball, therefore putting more pressure on the opponent.
3. Muscle Fibres-Module 4
Striated muscle is made up of many cells of a similar type, all working together to perform a particular function. So, muscle is a type of tissue. Skeletal muscle in the body is made up of many muscle fibres. These muscle fibres are made up of individual myofibrils. The myofibrils are made up of both thick and thin filaments called Myosin and Actin. There are two different types of muscle fibre. These are fast twitch and slow twitch. During aerobic exercise, it is mostly the slow twitch muscle fibres that are working. They produce ATP through aerobic respiration, contain large numbers of mitochondria, contain large quantities of myoglobin, have a relatively small diameter and are supplied by large numbers of capillaries. Fast twitch muscle fibres, however, are used during intensive short term exercise such as sprinting. They produce ATP through anaerobic respiration, contain few mitochondria, contain little myoglobin, have a relatively large diameter and are supplied by relatively few capillaries.
When playing basketball, both fast and slow twitch muscle fibres are used. Slow twitch muscle fibres are in use when Jon is jogging and dribbling with the ball. He will be using fast twitch muscle fibres when he is sprinting and jumping etc. To improve the strength and endurance of slow twitch muscle fibre, aerobic training is needed. This would involve working at 65-80% intensity for at least 20 minutes 3 times a week in an aerobic exercise such as swimming or rowing. To improve the strength and size of fast twitch muscle fibres, Jon will need to undergo strength training using weights.
4. Sponsorship- Module 5
Over recent years, sport has become heavily reliant to sponsorship and media. Sport is now highly commercial and billions of pounds are being spent each year on Sponsorship. It is defined as: “the provision of funds or other form of support to an individual or event in return for a commercial return.”
This topic of sponsorship is relevant to the performer’s fourth weakness. This is that the performer has only competed within Hampshire and needs to gain more experience more tournaments and competitions, in order to perform better in large crowds, therefore requiring him to travel greater distances. They do not have the necessary funding to do so at the moment. By not considering this topic, the performer is restricted on where they can perform due to a lack of funds. Subsequently, they cannot play against people of his own standard; he has to play the same people in Hampshire who are of a lower standard to him, unless they travelled further afield. If the performer knew about sponsorship then he may be able to get some financial assistance enabling him to travel to different parts of the country and play in new tournaments, against new people and against people of a higher standard, gradually building on his confidence and getting him used to playing in front of larger crowds.
Over recent decades, sport has enticed mass audiences and as well as urbanisation and industrialisation has led to the emergence of high commerciality through the medium of television; businesses can promote a good image of their products to the audience. One way is to do this through a performer, and by giving performer’s funding to wear clothing with the sponsor’s name or logo on it. Alternatively sponsors can financially support the performer with their travel expenses. And in return for this funding that they give the performer, the sponsor hopes for a high level of commercial return. Sponsors can market their performer and products through many different ways in order to make contact with the audience.
Sponsorship is an essential aspect of sport in the 21st century, and the benefit that the sponsors receive is also gained by the media and performers as well. The media and performers can receive the funding that they need, and enabling them and the sport to progress. All three, media, performers and sponsors, rely on one another and are heavily interdependent on one another.
There are many advantages and disadvantages of sponsorship in sport to both the performer and the sponsors. Firstly, performers may be allowed to give up their job and train full time instead. Also, their daily living expenses are paid for as well as clothing, equipment and costs of training and competitions are subsidised. On the contrary, the performer may become heavily reliant on the money they receive and the performer may not be able to survive without this funding/support. Moreover, finding sponsors for basketball may be difficult as at junior level it has little TV/media appeal. And it may be unlikely, that a company would want to sponsor a county standard performer, unless they had prospects of going on to be national standard. However, Sponsors benefit from giving funding as they receive an increase in sales revenue and strong links with their product and a particular sport/performer.
By receiving sponsorship, the performer could afford to go to 60% more tournaments than they are currently doing. This will give him a greater experience base of how to approach different players on the court, so his win ratio will increase as well, from winning 3/5 matches to winning 9/10.
5. Arousal- Module 4
The fifth weakness that the performer suffers from is in relation to arousal whereby when given an opportunity to hit valuable free throws, the performer often fails to take this opportunity and hits 1/2 at best. Arousal can be defined as: “the energised state of readiness of an individual to perform a task, motivating them to direct their behaviour in a particular manner.” If this topic was not applied to the performer’s game then they will not understand the importance of having the right level of arousal in basketball, and as a result they will continue to miss easy shots by being too under aroused. By understanding this subject, the performer will hit many more winning shots and free throws as he will have a better knowledge of his arousal levels and how to control them to the correct level.
This diagram is known as the Inverted U theory. It shows that by having too high or too low arousal, the quality of performance is low whereas if the level of arousal is in the middle then the quality of performance is at its optimal level.
This theory is called ‘Drive Theory.’ From this theory you can infer that the higher the level of arousal that a performer has, the better they will perform. This contradicts the Inverted U theory view. This theory shows that the optimum level of performance would be as highly aroused as the performer can be.
Catastrophe theory is where the performer reaches their optimal level of arousal (point A), therefore an optimum level of performance. But due to high cognitive anxiety this arousal then increases causing performance to decline dramatically, to point B. The performer may recover to point D but they may not recover and continue to point C.
By having the optimum level of arousal, the performer’s performance would increase substantially. The performer would hit 15% more free throws and his number of errors and turnovers would almost half (-50%).
5. Self efficacy- Module 4
Self-efficacy is considered to be one of the most influential explanations of the success and failure of a performer. It can be defined as: “the belief in one’s ability in relation to a specific task in a specific situation.”
This topic area is in relation to Jonathan’s sixth and final weakness which is that when losing in a game, he struggles to recover the deficit and win the match. This weakness is relevant to the subject of Self-efficacy. By not applying this topic to the performer, it will mean that when playing against difficult teams, Jonathan could be losing at one stage and then not be able to then beat the opponents in the end, and consequently has a bad game. However, if this issue was taken into consideration then the performer would then be able to know what he needs to do in order to motivate himself to be able to contribute better to winning the game.
Past Performance Accomplishments- These are the most influential source of self-efficacy. A successful experience can increase a person’s self-efficacy; on the other hand, an experience of failure can decreases self-efficacy. In order to, increase the performer’s self-efficacy they need to win more matches and know what it is like to recover from a losing position in a match. By making Jonathan’s opponents easier and starting the match whereby Jonathan is in a losing position, will give him a chance to beat the opponent as well as testing him to work hard and recover from losing. Subsequently, his self-efficacy would increase.
Vicarious Experiences- This is when the performer watches someone of similar standard and ability to themselves who is achieving success is known as vicarious experiences. It helps them, to see what other people, similar to them are doing wrong in their performance and allows the performer to potentially apply this to themselves. In addition, vicarious experiences can develop a performers evaluative skills and their positive attribution of performance. This helps the performer as it can give them the self belief that they can achieve if the person of a similar standard can as well. Consequently, this increases self-efficacy. To increase the performer’s self-efficacy they need to watch someone of similar ability who is often falling behind in a match but manage to recover to win the match.
Verbal Persuasion- When a coach or peer talks to the performer giving them encouragement and motivational help so that they believe they can do the task that they are given. Depending on the level of persuasion and the significance of the motivator, verbal persuasion can be very influential on a performer. By verbally encouraging the performer, self-efficacy could increase dramatically if the verbal encouragement is from a significant other or a role model.
Emotional/Physiological Arousal- This is the way in which the performer interprets and understands the arousal levels that they experience. Interpreting arousal, such as increase heart rate or sweating, or simply thinking negatively would decrease self-efficacy. In contrast, by adapting this arousal positively through positive psychological preparation will increase self-efficacy as the performer has a better arousal perception prior to performance.
By understanding this topic, Jonathan would win 60% of the games that he currently loses. Also, his free throw consistency would improve to 75%, as a result of a rise in self-efficacy.
Conclusion
This assignment has observed the performer and as a result forming six weaknesses of their performance then discussing six topics relevant to those weaknesses from the Sport and PE syllabus and explaining how knowing about those topics would help the performer to improve to the next stage of performance.
