turkington-psychological skills manual for the high school football player

8/13/2019 Turkington-Psychological Skills Manual for the High School Football Player

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PSYCHOLOGICAL SKILLS MANUAL 1

Mental Skills Training Manual for the High SchoolFootball Player

Steve TurkingtonApril 11, 2011

Psychological Perspective in Sport Perforance !nhanceentP"F #$%


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Table of Contents

&ntro'uction((%

Assessents(()

Arousal* An+iety "egulation(()

"api' "ela+ation((-

.bservation((-

Me'itation((/

Positive SelfTalk((/

ase Stu'y((#

Motivation((#

oal Setting((#

Tea 3uil'ing(($

Perforance !nhanceent(($

Attention ontrol((4

SelfHypnosis((10

&agery((10

onclusion((11

"eferences((12

Appen'i+ 5A!6((1%21


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PSYCHOLOGICAL SKILLS MANUAL %

Introduction

Ho7 iportant are psychological factors for football8 Accor'ing to

Mac9aara, 3utton, : ollins 520106, psychological factors 7ere the

key 'eterinants in those that 7ere consi'ere' talente' an'

successful in their chosen sport The psychological factors that

Mc9aara et al 7as referring to inclu'e'; goal setting, iagery,

focus, precopetition plans, an' copetition plans Mc9aara et al

520106 go on to say that selfconfi'ence, otivation, iagery, an'positive selftalk are all characteristics of 7orl' chapions For the

athlete training to be their personal best or the coach looking to get

the best perforance fro his or her tea, it becoes apparent that

ental skills training is crucial to success

Many elite athletes are recogniones, Hanton, onnaughton, 200#6 &n fact, psychological

factors account for over -0@ of the variance in athletic talent

'evelopent 5Mac9aara, et al6 The 'evelopent of ental

toughness through psychological skills 'evelopent can iprove on

fiel' perforance Accor'ing to oight 5200-6, at the highest levels of

sport, ental toughness 'ifferentiates the best fro the rest

This anual is 'esigne' to present psychobehavioral strategies to the

high school football player an' their coaches The athlete that focuses


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PSYCHOLOGICAL SKILLS MANUAL )

solely on the physical aspects of their sport is issing half the picture;

this anual 7ill provi'e the other half

Assessment

Bn'erstan'ing each of your athletes? baselines in ters of etal

con'itioning an' skills is iportant to the success of the football tea

Much like a preseason test of strength an' con'itioning, coaches can

give their athletes a test of their etal skills

The first area of ental skills that can be assesse' is focus control

Accor'ing to .rlick 5200$6, focus rules your perforance High school

football players can be given the focus control rating scale 5Appen'i+

A6 The rating scale can be use' to assess each athlete?s strengths an'

7eaknesses regar'ing their level of focus A focus plan an'*or strategy

can be 'evelope' bet7een the coach an' athlete base' on the

inforation provi'e' by the focus control rating scale

The ne+t step in the process of assessing your football players is to

have the take the ental skills Cuestionnaire 5Appen'i+ 36 The

inforation fro the ental skills Cuestionnaire 7ill gui'e the coach

an' athlete to 'esign an intervention plan that can a+ii


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PSYCHOLOGICAL SKILLS MANUAL -

Arousal!An"iet# $e%ulation

Accor'ing to Murphy 5200-6, the relationship bet7een arousal an'

perforance is a+ii


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PSYCHOLOGICAL SKILLS MANUAL /

inutes before copetition

Step 3ack an' .bserve

Davis et al514$#6, suggests a techniCue that can be use' to cobat

an+iety The athlete accoplishes this by 'etaching fro the situation

an' observing the an+iety they are feeling 3y observation, the athlete

gets to kno7 the various coponents of the an+iety The stress

response is turne' off 7ithin % inutes of the initiation of the

observation techniCue 5Davis et al, 14$#6

Me'itation

Me'itation is the process of setting your attention uncritically to one

thing 5Davis et al, 200$6 An easy focus point in the e'itative

practice is the breath Focusing on the inhalation 5in through the nose6

an' e+halation process 5out through the outh6, allo7s the football

player to get into a rela+e' state an' clear their in' fro thoughts

other than the breath The benefits of e'itation inclu'e re'uce'

heartbeat, re'uce' breathing rate, an' bloo' lactate levels 'rop 5Davis

et al, 200$6

Positive SelfTalk

There are any situations in the course of a football gae 7hen an

athlete nee's to be able to regain their coposure or confi'ence .ne


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PSYCHOLOGICAL SKILLS MANUAL #

of the 7ays this can be accoplishe' is by using positive selftalk The

athlete can begin to use positive selftalk by shifting their perspective

to soething positive, that is in their control 5.rlick, 200$6 The athlete

ay say, & a in controlG or & o7n y focusG The athlete is al7ays in

control of their selffee'back, if they keep it positive, they can iprove

their perforance Soe other positive selftalk rein'ers inclu'eI &

a in control of y thinking, y focus, an' y life; & a capable of

focusing through a'versity 5.rlick, 200$6

ase Stu'y Positive SelfTalk

Darren is a 1/yearol' fullback on the high school football tea

Darren has all the Cualities of an outstan'ing football player, si


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PSYCHOLOGICAL SKILLS MANUAL $

on the effects of intrinsic otivation vs the effects of e+trinsic

otivation &ntrinsic otivation is create' by high selfefficacy,

enJoyent of the sport, an' 'esire to copete !+trinsic otivation

inclu'es peer pressure, a7ar's, an' ego goal achieveent 5Murphy,

200-6 The use of a sources of otivation survey 5Appen'i+ D6, can

assist the high school football coach i'entify 7hat the sources of

otivation are for each of the players

T7o interventions to increase athlete otivation inclu'e goal setting

an' tea buil'ing activities These t7o interventions approach

otivation fro the intrinsic an' e+trinsic perspective

oal Setting

oitent can be 'escribe' as putting your heart an' soul into

'oing everything it takes to accoplish your goal 5.rlick, 200$6 oal

setting 'eterines 7hat that coitent is oal setting can be 'one

as a tea an' as in'ivi'uals The goals shoul' be specific an'

easurable, 7ith a 'ea'line The high school football coach can 'esign

a goal 7orksheet that allo7s players to set goals for every aspect of

the football progra oals can be set an' achieve' on an every'ay

basis, in the 7eight roo, practice fiel', an' classroo Those short

ter goals can allo7 the tea an' in'ivi'ual to buil' oentu

to7ar's the longter tea goals

The research sho7s that 'eveloping high task* high ego goals lea's to

the highest achievers 5Murphy, 200-6 =hile coaching your football

players through the goal setting process, 'irect the to7ar' task

specific goals 5skills that they can 'evelop6 an' ego goals 5state

chapions, allconference6

Tea 3uil'ing Activities

reat teas becoe great teas 7hen the in'ivi'ual ebers

becoe 'epen'ent on each other for their success Accor'ing oight


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5200-6, tea cohesion is 'epen'ent on t7o factors, task cohesion an'

social cohesion Task cohesion is the ability of the tea to 7ork

to7ar's coon goals Social cohesion is closeness bet7een

teaates The research sho7s that tea cohesiveness is 'eterine'

by the effectiveness of the coach 5Turan, 200%6 Activities that

iprove the perforance of the tea inclu'e iproving

counication, creating a tea vision that is greater than the

in'ivi'ual, an' fun tea activities outsi'e the usual practice routine

5Murphy, 200-6 Specific tea buil'ing activities that can be utili


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Athletes that are un'er pressure bring their attention to a narro7

focus; this contributes to the chokingG phenoenon 5Murphy, 200-6

hoking is e+plaine' by an increase' selfa7areness an' an+iety

5Mesagno, Marchant, :Morris, 20046 ople+ tasks reCuire a broa'er

focus 5Murphy, 200-6 This broa'er focus on perforance or gae play

cues coes fro a positive, internal conversation 7ith your self To

ensure that each athlete has a strategy to ensure focus in pressure

situations, a refocus plan can be ipleente'

Bltiately, the high school football players? focus shoul' be on the

oent, letting go of outcoes, an' being connecte' to the

perforance =hen you are fully engage' in the process of 'oing,


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1 Focus by feeling, not forcing

2 Let your intuition lea' you

% 3ecoe one 7ith your perforance

) Stop Ju'ging the perforance- Pure focus is pure connection this is the only place to be

SelfHypnosis

=hat is the value of selfhypnosis to the high school football player8

Terry .rlick PhD 5200$6 e+plains it?s value this 7ay; 7e all live far

belo7 our a+iu ental an' physical liits, selfhypnosis can

trigger those 'orant ental an' physical po7ers .rlick 5200$6 states

that there are t7o steps to selfhypnosisI fi+ate your conscious

attention an' rela+ your bo'y The high school football player can

spen' tie staring at an obJect, like a spot on the 7all an' rela+ the

bo'y &n this state, the athlete can begin repetitive suggestion

"epetitive suggestion involves repeating a po7erful stateent about

anything you 7ant to iprove in your perforance an' stating it in a

positive anner

&agery

The huan brain cannot 'istinguish bet7een a real perforance an'

one that is iagine' 5.rlick, 200$6 That is the po7er of iagery High

school football players can use iagery to visuali


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five senses, to ake the e+perience ore po7erful 5Murphy, 200-6

1 Sight Athletes practice seeing as any 'etails as possible, aking

the iages as vivi' as possible

2 Hearing Athletes focus on hearing the soun's associate' 7ith thee+perience 5coaches? voice, roar of the cro7', cleats on si'e7alk, etc6

% Sell Athletes recall the sells associate' 7ith their sport 5grass,

concessions, etc6

) Touch Athletes focus on the tactile sensations of the gae 5contact

on tackle or block, hol'ing the football in your ars, etc6

- Taste Athletes focus on the taste of the gae 5outh guar', 'irt,

s7eat, etc6

/ Feel The e+perience of the bo'y oving through the perforance

# !otions Athletes recall the elation of victory an'*or fla7less

perforance

Conclusion

The high school football player is provi'e' 7ith any opportunities to

iprove perforance on the fiel' Most of the techniCues to ai' in that

perforance are physical oaches that incorporate the psycho

behavioral techniCues liste' in this anual ay see vast

iproveents in the perforance of their football teas Leaving the

ental si'e of the gae to the athletes is not coaching the 7hole

athlete ui'ance in the areas of arousal regulation, otivation,

iagery, an' rela+ation are nee'e' for high school football teas to

e+cel

High school football is a treen'ous opportunity for young people to

stretch their liits an' learn the values of tea7ork, har' 7ork, an'


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PSYCHOLOGICAL SKILLS MANUAL 1%

perseverance &ncorporating the psychobehavioral techniCues into the

high school football progra allo7s athletes to be e+pose' to lifelong

skills A football progra that coaches the 7hole athlete, ental an'

physical skills, is ore likely to succee' on fiel' an' ore iportantly,off the fiel'

$eferences

.rlick, T T 520006 &n pursuit of e+cellenceI ho7 to 7in in sport an' lifethrough ental training %r' e' hapaign, &ll; Bnite' StatesIHuan Einetics

Murphy, S 5200-6 The sport psych han'book hapaign, &ll; Bnite'StatesI Huan Einetics

oight, M 5200-6 Mental toughness training for volleyball Monterey,A; Bnite' StatesI oaches hoice

Mac9aara, A, 3utton, A, : ollins, D 520106 The "ole ofPsychological haracteristics in Facilitating the Path7ay to !litePerforance Part 1I &'entifying Mental Skills an' 3ehaviorsSport Psychologist, 2)516, -2#% "etrieve' fro !3S.host

>ones, , Hanton, S, : onnaughton, D 5200#6 A Frae7ork ofMental Toughness in the =orl's 3est Perforers SportPsychologist, 21526, 2)%2/) "etrieve' fro !3S.host

onnaughton, D, Hanton, S, : >ones, 520106 The Developent an'Maintenance of Mental Toughness in the =orl's 3estPerforers Sport Psychologist, 2)526, 1/$14% "etrieve' fro!3S.host


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PSYCHOLOGICAL SKILLS MANUAL 1)

Davis, M M, McEay, M M, : "obbins !shelan, ! ! 514$#6 Therela+ation an' stress re'uction 7orkbook 2n' e' .aklan',alif; Bnite' StatesI 9e7 Harbinger Publications

acko7it


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PSYCHOLOGICAL SKILLS MANUAL 1-

- & Cuickly regain a high Cuality, fully connecte' focus 7hen 'istracte'in practice

9ever 1 2 % ) - / # $ 4 10 al7ays

/ 3efore & perfor, & focus on things that ake e feel confi'ent an'rea'y

9ever 1 2 % ) - / # $ 4 10 al7ays

# 3efore & perfor, & focus on things that ake e feel confi'ent an'rea'y

9ever 1 2 % ) - / # $ 4 10 al7ays

$ & have strong inner confi'ence that & can 'o anything & set y in'

to 'o

9ever 1 2 % ) - / # $ 4 10 al7ays

4 & focus through ba' calls, errors, or situations that go against e

9ever 1 2 % ) - / # $ 4 10 al7ays

10 & stay focuse' an' otivate' 7hen behin' or suffer a set back9ever 1 2 % ) - / # $ 4 10 al7ays

A((endi" *


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PSYCHOLOGICAL SKILLS MANUAL 1#


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PSYCHOLOGICAL SKILLS MANUAL 1$

A((endi" CAthletic opetition Self!valuation Kuestionnaire

en'erI AgeI SportI

&9T!9S&TN SAL! D&"!T&.9AL

SAL!

9ot At All ery Much ery 9egativeBniportant ery Positive

1 &? usually concerne' about copeting 1 2 % ) %2 1 0 O1 O2 O%

2. I feel nervous before I compete 1 2 3 4 -3 -2 -1 0

+1 +2 +3

3. I feel at ease before competing 1 2 3 4 -3 -2 -1 0

+1 +2 +3

4. I have self-douts efore I co!pete " # $ 4 -$-# -" % &" &$

- Bsually & feel Jittery before copeting 1 2 % ) %2 1 0 O1 O2 O%

'. I usually feel co!fortale efore co!peting " # $ 4 -$-# -" % &" &$

# & a concerne' that & ay not 'oas 7ell as & coul' 7hen copeting 1 2 % ) %2 1 0 O1 O2 O%

(. )y ody feels tense efore co!peting " # $ 4 -$

-# -" % &" &$4 & usually feel selfconfi'ent before copeting 1 2 % ) %2 1 0 O1 O2 O%

"%. In general* I a! concerned aout losing " # $ 4-$ -# -" % &" &$

11 & feel tense in y stoach before a copetition 1 2 % )% 2 1 0 O1 O2 O%

"#. I feel secure efore I co!pete " # $ 4 -$-# -" % &" &$

1% & get concerne' about choking un'er pressure 1 2 % ) %2 1 0 O1 O2 O%

"4. )y ody usually feels rela+ed " # $ 4 -$-# -" % &" &$

1- &? usually confi'ent & can eet the challenge 1 2 % )% 2 1 0 O1 O2 O%

"'. ,sually I! concerned aout perfor!ing poorly " # $ 4


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-$ -# -" % &" &$

1# My heart is usually racing before & copete 1 2 % ) %2 1 0 O1 O2 O%

"(. I! usually confident aout perfor!ing ell " # $ 4 -$

-# -" % &" &$

14 &? usually concerne' about reaching y goal1 2 % ) %2 1 0 O1 O2 O%

#%. I get a sinking feeling in !y sto!ach " # $ 4 -$-# -" % &" &$

21 & usually feel entally rela+e' 1 2 % ) %2 1 0 O1 O2 O%

##. I a! concerned that others ill e " # $ 4 -$-# -" % &" &$disappointed ith !y perfor!ance

2% My han's get clay before & copete 1 2 % )% 2 1 0 O1 O2 O%

#4. In general* I! confident ecause I " # $ 4 -$-# -" % &" &$!entally picture !yself reaching !y goal

2- &? concerne' & 7on?t be able to concentrate 1 2 % ) %2 1 0 O1 O2 O%

#'. )y ody usually feels tight efore co!peting " # $ 4 -$-# -" % &" &$

2# &? confi'ent of coing through un'er pressure 1 2 % )% 2 1 0 O1 O2 O%

-escri(tion.The SA&2 is an instruent use' to easure state

cognitive state an+iety, soatic state an+iety an' state self

confi'ence in copetitive situations The test in'icates to choose

the ans7er that correspon's 7ith ho7 they feel at this point in

tie, right no7

Cognitive an+ietyites are nubers 1, ), #, 10, 1%, 1/, 14, 22,

an' 2-


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So!atic an+ietyites are nubers 2, -, $, 11, 1) 5reverse6, 2%,

an' 2/

Self-confidenceites are nubers %, /, 4, 12, 1-, 1$, 21, 2), an'

2#

Accor'ing to Martens et al 514406 the scoring of the SA&2 is

achieve' the follo7ing 7ay A person rates ho7 they are feeling

right no7 by circling one of the presente' ans7ers The four

presente' ans7ers inclu'e not at all 516, soe7hat 526, o'erately

so 5%6 an' very uch so 5)6 The final scores for each subscale 7ill

range fro 4 to %/, 7ith 4 in'icating lo7 an+iety*confi'ence an'

%/ in'icating high an+iety*confi'ence


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A((endi" -

Sourcesof Motivation

Name ______________________________ Date____________________

1. What has been your greatest commitment to date?

2. What will make this sport fun for you?

3. What could be a great achievement for you this year?

4. What are your personal goals this year?


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5. What are you willing to do to accomplish your goals?

6. What motivates you?

AppendixE

Grou( &nironment /uestionnaire

/irections0 The 1roup 2nviron!ent 3uestionnaire 1235 helps youassess your perceptions of an athletic tea! of hich you are a!e!er. If you are not currently participating on a tea!* anser the6uestions ith respect to a tea! fro! your past. There are no right orrong ansers* so please give your i!!ediate reaction. So!e of the6uestions !ay see! repetitive* ut please anser the! all-and e ashonest as possile.

The follo7ing Cuestions help assess your feelings about your personalinvolveent 7ith your tea .n a scale of 1 through 4, 1 in'icatingthe strongest agreeent, an' 4 in'icating the strongest 'isagreeent,

ans7er each Cuestion

1 & 'o not enJoy being part of the social activities of this tea

2 &? unhappy about the aount of playing tie & get

% & a not going to iss the ebers of this tea 7hen the season en's

) &? unhappy 7ith y tea?s level of 'esire to 7in

- Soe of y best frien's are on this tea

/ This tea 'oes not give e enough opportunities to iprove y personalperforance# & enJoy other parties ore than tea parties

$ & like the style of play on this tea

4 This tea is one of y ost iportant social groups


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PSYCHOLOGICAL SKILLS MANUAL 2%

10 .ur tea in unite' in trying to reach its perforance goals

11 Mebers of our tea 7oul' rather go out on their o7n than get together as atea12 =e all take responsibility for any loss or poor perforance by our tea

1% .ur tea ebers rarely party together

1) .ur tea ebers have conflicting aspirations for the tea?s perforance

1- .ur tea 7oul' like to spen' tie together in the offseason

1/ &f ebers of our tea have probles in practice, everyone 7ants to help theso 7e can get back together again

1# Mebers of our tea 'o not stick together outsi'e of practices an' gaes

1$ .ur tea ebers 'o not counicate freely about each athlete?s

responsibilities 'uring copetition or practice

ScoringI

The !K easure these four eleents regar'ing ho7 attractive a group is to its

in'ivi'ual ebersI1 Attraction to group task2 Attraction to group social% roup integration task) roup integration social

To 'eterine your score siply a'' you nubers in the brackets belo7 Ho7ever,for Cuestions 1,2,%,),/,#,$,11,1%,1),an' 1# you shoul' revere the score 51Q4 an'4Q16


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PSYCHOLOGICAL SKILLS MANUAL 2)

Attraction to group task 2,),/,$ 5range )%/6Attraction to group social 1,%,-,#,4 5range -)-6roup integration task 10,12,1),1/,1$ 5range -)-6roup integration social 11,1%,1-,1# 5range )%/6

The higher your score on each subscale, the greater you reflect hat 'iension 7ith

the tea

turkington-psychological skills manual for the high school football player

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