Identify key factors that aid performance in football. Evaluate the relative importance of these key factors with reference to the achievement of effective performance.

University Degree Business and Administrative studies

Identify key factors that aid performance in football. Evaluate the relative importance of these key factors with reference to the achievement of effective performance

Word count: 2160

Michael Hoult

There are a number of key factors that aid effective performance in football. These factors can be put under the headings of physiology, biomechanical, tactical, technical and psychological. It is beyond the scope of this essay to elaborate on all five of these factors, therefore; only psychological factors will be explored. The Key factors within Psychology that are appearing to have an effect on performance are motivation, stress and arousal. The use of psychology has achieved little penetration into the world of football (Moran 2002). This factor has been mainly down to the lack of research into football and the misconceptions about the nature and role of sport psychologists (Moran 2002). Everyone involved in the football profession does not share this view. Forzoni (2003) has shown this with use of motivation techniques such as goal setting while coaching at club level. Reilly and Williams (2003) have also helped to bring psychology into football by putting theories into practice. The work of Horn (2001) and Gifford and Noblet (2002) has established different stressors that effect players. When looking at how arousal effects performance it is important to look at the different theories. The Inverted U and Drive theory attempt to explain how arousal affects performance. All the psychological factors discussed will be backed up by theory from Cox (2002), Horn (1992), Gill (2000) and Hackford and Spielberger (1989) This essay will discuss each key psychological factor in relation to effective performance.

Motivation is described in simple terms as the direction and intensity of effort or behaviour (Horn 1992 and Gill 2000). In football the level of motivation an individual has is often associated with performance. Reilly and Williams (2003) describes how motivate is seen in football:

The highly motivated player is frequently linked to a range of

characteristics or attributes such as commitment, a willingness

to work hard and a sense of dedication. In contrast, a player who

is thought to lack motivation appear to be lethargic and short on

enthusiasm. (p24)

It has been argued that players respond to different factors of motivation depending on their consequences and individuals past experience (Forzoni 2001). It is therefore important to considered the different types of motivation and their effects on performance. Three types of motivation have been established, Participation and Discontinuation, Intrinsic and Extrinsic and Achievement Goal Orientation (Horn 1992 and Gill 2000). For the purpose of this essay only the later two will be discussed.

Intrinsic motivation refers to “engaging in an activity purely for the satisfaction derived from doing that activity” (Forzoni 2001 p57). This is put in simpler terms by Cox (2002) as “motivation that comes from within” (p57). In contrast Extrinsic motivation can be viewed as external reasons for participating behaviour (Horn 1992). Examples of this are money, social approval and trophies.

When looking at intrinsic and extrinsic motivation techniques it is important to realise that they are part of a continum called the Self- Determination model (Cox 2002). This continum places less self-deterministic forms on the far left and the most self-deterministic forms on the far right.

Amotivation Extrinsic motivation Intrinsic Motivation

(Cox 2002 p75)

Intrinsic motivation (IM) can be divided into three types, IM to know, IM towards accomplishments and IM to experience stimulation (Gill 2000 and Forzoni 2001). IM to ...

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Amotivation Extrinsic motivation Intrinsic Motivation

(Cox 2002 p75)

Intrinsic motivation (IM) can be divided into three types, IM to know, IM towards accomplishments and IM to experience stimulation (Gill 2000 and Forzoni 2001). IM to know is defined as:

performing an activity for the pleasure and the satisfaction

that are experienced while learning, exploring or trying to

understand something new (Forzoni 2001 p57)

IM towards accomplishment is found when individuals want to feel competent (Gill 2000). This type of intrinsic motivation can be seen using the example of David Beckham. Beckham is well know to stay behind after a training session has finished and continuously practise his free kicks until he is personally satisfied. The results of this extra work can be seen in his performance on the pitch specifically when taking set pieces. IM to experience stimulation “occurs when someone engages in an activity in order to experience pleasant stimulating sensations” (Forzoni 2001 p57). It would be hoped that this motivation could be seen in every individual who plays football. If a player is experiencing sensory pleasure, fun or excitement during a game it would be expected that their performance would be better then a player who wasn’t.

Effective performance by individuals on the pitch can be attributed to intrinsic motivation alone, however this does not appear to be the case. Gill (2000) proposed that extrinsic rewards such as trophies and money are also powerful motivational tool that play a part in performance. If this is true it would be logical to suggest that when both the intrinsic and extrinsic motivations associated with a game are added together then overall motivation should be higher resulting in effective performance. However this notion is rejected by Horn (1992) and Cox (2002) who claim that when extrinsic motivation is added the activity loses some of its intrinsic value. Most of the extrinsic rewards offered to participants in modern football with the exception of trophies do not appear to have any effect on player’s performance. The exception of trophies can be seen using the example of Rio Ferdinand during the 2002 World Cup. During this competition Ferinand’s performance on the pitch seem to improve when compared to form in the premiership.

Achievement Goal Orientation is the identification of short and long term personal goals (Cox 2002 and Gill 2000) Research into goal setting has found that individuals who use this technique have improved performances compared to individuals with do not set goal (Gill 2000). An example of a long-term goal can be seen in an example given by Forzoni (2003) who has used this method at the various clubs he has coached.

At Brenford during the 2001/2 season we set a goal in

pre-season to achieve automatic promotion with one of the

smallest and youngest squads in divison 2, and a favourite

for automatic relegation. Whist we did not achieve our aim

it went to the last game of the season whereby a win would

have secured automatic promotion. (p63)

The long-term goal encouraged the players to perform on the pitch to achieve a specific target despite the prediction of relegation by the outside world.

Individual goal setting can be split into Ego or task orientated. (Lemyre, Roberts and Ommundsen 2002, Gill 2000, Cox 2002 and Reilly and Williams 2003) Task orientated individuals decided whether they have achieved their goals through personal improvement (Reilly and Williams 2003). An example of this goal setting would be players such as Ruud Van Nistelrooy setting a goal of scoring more then he did in the previous season. This would increase his performance in order to achieve his goal. Individuals who are ego orientated compete against other players in order to achieve their goal. The perfect example of this would be a goal of getting a starting position in the current Chelsea line up. Strikers such as Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, Hernan Crespo, Adrian Mutu and Eidur Gojohnsen are battling against each other in order to achieve this goal. The result is effective performances on the pitch from each player and lots of goals for Chelsea.

Stress is defined as “a substantial imbalance between demand and response capability” (Reilly and Williams 2003 p215). The professional footballer is placed under many different demands during the season, which consequently have an effect on their performance. Each of these demands is put through a cognitive process, which determines how the player will respond (Cox 2002, Reilly and Williams 2003). The process can be put into 3 stages. 1) Stimulus- environmental or competitive situation, 2) Primary/ secondary appraisal of situation- the player decides if and how to cope with the stimulus and 3) Response- anxiety responses (Cox 2002). The anxiety response can be split into two responses, sate and trait anxiety (Hackfort and Speilberger 1989 and Cox 2002). State anxiety can is the immediate response experience by the player (Cox 2002) and it usually responsible for the effects on a player’s performance. An example of this process would be seen when a player takes a penalty. The competitive situation of taking a penalty would be the stimulus felt by the player. They would then decided if they could cope with the stimulus, if the player scores then it would be thought that they had the ability to cope, however, if the player misses then it may be determined that the player wasn’t able to cope. If this is true then it could explain the why Gareth Southgate, Stuart Pearce and Chris Woddle all missed penalties in extremely demanding situations. This is an example of a competitive situation where a player may feel stress but there are other sources that players might feel. Gifford and Noblet (2002) found that players in team sports experience more stressors in their environment the participants in individual sports. 77 source of stress were identified and placed into six categories of A) negative aspects of organizational systems and culture, B) Worries about performance expectations and standards, C) Career development concerns, D) Negative aspects of interpersonal relationships, E) Demanding nature of work it’s self and F) Problems associated with work/ non- work interface. Although the response of players to a stressful situation could have serious consequences on their performance, it must be noted that players are individuals and react to sources of stress in different ways as Hackfort and Spielberger (1989) explain,

the same stimulus may be seen as a threat by one person,

a challenge by another and as largely irrelevant by a third.

(p5)

This is backed up by studies of stress on players in different positions (Brando and Winterstein cited in Horn 2001). The studied looked at the effects of 77 real life football situations and their effect it had on performance of goalkeepers, defenders, midfielders and attackers. The results showed that goalkeepers neutralised stress best whist strikers where most responsive.

Some players may there take what is a stressful situation to someone else and use it in a positive way to arouse them in a game situation. Arousal refers to “the entire continuum of a person’s psychological activation” (Hackfort and Speilberger 1989 p96) Arousal is can increase the level of performance by a player and is explained using two theories, the Inverted U and Drive Theory (Horn 1992 and Cox 2002) (Appendix 1). The Inverted U theory gives the impression that an increase in arousal will enhance performance up until a certain point. Once this point is reach the performance of a player will begin to deteriorate (Horn 1992 and Cox 2002). The point at which performance and arousal are at there highest is called the optimal level (Cox 2002). The drive theory shows a positive correlation between arousal and performance and is predicted using the formula Performance= Habit strength (learnt skill) x Drive (Arousal) (Horn 1992 and Cox 2002). The theory implies that arousal can only increase the performance of a player if the player has learnt all the skills necessary to carry out the task. It would therefore hamper any beginner in the game. A problem with this theory is that it doesn’t have an optimal level of arousal. An example of the drive theory hampering the performance of a developing player might be seen in Wayne Rooney. Rooney who has still got a lot to learn is expected to cope with the same arousals experience by established players. This has appeared to have an effect on some of his recent premiership performances.

In conclusion it can be seen that psychology does indeed play an important part in the world of professional football as noted by Moran (2002). Bridging the gap between theory and practice is a growing part of professional football as players and coaches strive to understand how their performances are affected and why. Although most managers and players are opposed to the introduction of a psychologist to a club Forzoni (2003) argues that it is already there and being used, it is just that they are unaware of it. The issue of motivation is one that should be particularly discussed as Reilly and Williams (2003) pointed out. Forzoni (2003) has already demonstrated how the use of Achievement Goal Orientation has benefited many of clubs he has been employed at. Gifford and Noblet (2002) found that there are multiple stressors that a professional player can be put under and Horn (2001) found that these stressors effect players in different ways depending upon their playing position. The theory behind arousal is very generic and is not football specific but relations can be made.

Through looking at the psychological key factors that have an effect on performance in football it is evident that it is an area of very limited research. The work of Forzoni and other coaches such as Steve McClaren and Sven-Goran Eriksson has helped changed some attitude towards psychology but Fronzi (2003) has found that there are still negative feelings. In order for football to move forward it is clear that it must embrace psychology.

References

R. H. Cox (2002) Sport Psychology concepts and application, McGraw- Hill, New York

A. Moran (2002) “Shrinking” or Expanding? The Role of Sport Psychology in Professional Football, “Insight”- The F.A Coaches Association Journal, Vol 6, issue 1, pp 41- 43

R. Fornzi (2001) Motivation in Football (Part 1) the components of motivation, “Insight”- The F.A Coaches Association Journal, Vol 4, issue 3 pp56-58

R. Fornzi (2003) Sport Psychology in Football…. does it really work, “Insight”- The F.A Coaches Association Journal,

S. M. Gifford and A. J. Noblet (2002) The Sources of Stress Experienced by Professional Australian Footballers, Journal of Apllied Sports Psychology, Vol 14, pp1-13

D. L.Gill (2000) Psychological Dynamics of Sport and Exercise, Human Kinetics, USA

D. Hackfort and C. D. Speilberger (1989) Anxiety in Sports An International Perspective, Hemisphere Publishing Corporation, USA

R. Horn (2001) World- wide Review of Science and Football Research, “Insight”- The F.A Coaches Association Journal, Vol 4, issue 4, pp20-22

T. S. Horn (1992) Advances in Sport Psychology, Human Kenetics Publishing, Inc, USA

PN. Lemyre, G.C. Roberts and Y. Ommundsen (2002)Achievement Goal Orientations, Perceived Ability, and Sportspersonship in Youth Soccer, Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, Vol14, pp120- 136

T. Reilly and A.M. Williams (2003) Science and Soccer, Routledge, London

Appendix 1