Tom Camp

Psychological Factors

In this assignment I will outline the psychological factors that affect sports training and performance, I will also describe the psychological factors that can affect sports training and performance and I will then analyse the psychological factors that affect sports training and performance.

Main areas of Psychology and sport are:-

  • Motivation
  • Anxiety
  • Arousal
  • Personality Factors
    - Concentration
    - Self Confidence

Motivation

Motivation is “a drive to fulfil a need”, Motivation in sport is important because it can be the difference between winning and loosing. It encourages us to behave in a particular way, E.G. an athlete driven by achieving a PB (personal best) in a race.

There are two types of Motivation;

  • Intrinsic

This is an internal drive that people have to participate or perform well in a sport. Motivate includes fun, enjoyment and the satisfaction of achieving something. This gives participants high levels of concentration and a feeling they are in total control E.G. Enjoying it so you make your self committed to the sport, listening to music to get you in the mood. I enjoy playing tennis so I play it when ever I can; I train 3 times a week and play socially when ever possible. If you play a sport you enjoy, it means you will play a lot which means you will improve a lot. Steven Gerrard plays football because he enjoys it, he once said that if he wasn’t a professional, he would be playing for a men’s team on a Sunday and playing when ever he can.

  • Extrinsic

Extrinsic is to motivation that comes from outside an individual. The motivating factors are external, or outside, rewards such as medals or money. These rewards provide satisfaction and pleasure that the task itself may not provide. An extrinsically motivated student, for example, may dislike an assignment, may find it boring, or may have no interest in the subject, but the possibility of a good grade will be enough to keep the student motivated in order for him to put forth the effort to do well on an assignment. When I was in school last year doing my PE GCSE I really hated it, because it was so boring. I tried really hard though because I wanted the good grade to get into college. Football owners often only care about winning these days; if they don’t get into Europe of win a trophy then it is often the manager that will get sacked with no second chances, all they care about is winning and getting rewards.

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Anxiety

Over anxiety to do well causes high levels of stress and involves worrying that failure may occur. Some competitors can cope with anxiety and are mainly calm; I think Steven Gerrard is a very good example because he can keep calm in very important situations such as an FA Cup Final or Champions League Final. If personal motivation becomes too great then performance can suffer.

There are two types or Anxiety:-

  • Trait Anxiety

This is a personality trait that is enduring in the individual. A performer with high trait anxiety has the ...

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