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The purpose of this assignment is to identify two psychological strategies I could employ to achieve optimal arousal and motivational levels to improve my Volleyball performance as well as justifying the strategies selected in terms of the impact I expect them to have on my psychological strengths and weaknesses and the ease with which the technique can be implemented and also its potential for improved performance.
By gathering research and using instruments to identify anxiety/arousal and motivation levels in terms of Volleyball performance and my own performance as well as considering different strategies to employ in my performance, I will be able to achieve optimal arousal and motivational levels, improving my performance in volleyball. Background information Anxiety can affect a volleyball player’s state of mind in a game of volleyball by causing different feelings of concern etc.
It is generally defined as a concern or a sense of uneasiness, regarding some thing or event, prospect or doubt which disturbs the mind, and keeps it in a state of painful uneasiness. “Simply, anxiety can be defined as a subjective feeling of apprehension and heightened physiological arousal” (Levitt, 1980). Motivation can also affect a volleyball player’s state of mind when playing volleyball by the different aspects being worried about; it is generally defined as a readiness of action especially in behaviour.
The action of motivate or motivating, something which motivated and also a reason for doing something are definitions of motivation. The skills profile allows me to assess my skills in a game or drill situation in volleyball. By marking cognitive, associative or autonomous it would provide an understanding to different ways I react in different situations. Cognitive – can perform the skills in the most basic of drills or game situations but must concentrate very hard to execute.
Associative – can perform the skills with conscious thought in varying drills and game situations with reasonable consistency and success. Autonomous – can perform the skills in any drill or game situation without conscious thought or concentration (comes automatically) and skill is done at a consistently high standard. By using the Illinois competition questionnaire (Laboratory#1), it allows me to assess my psychological readiness in terms of Anxiety/Arousal levels by answering a series of questions based around sport performance.
After reading each statement and answering either HARDLY EVER, SOMETIMES or OFTEN then adding up a SCAT score, it allows me to gather an anxiety and arousal levels in a game situation. After analysing the results, I can then gather whether a correlation to my level of competitiveness and volleyball performance is associated. The Alderman’s incentive motivation inventory (Laboratory #2) allows me to assess my motivation in a game situation, after answering a series of seventy questions relating to aim, power, stress, independence, success, aggression and affiliation levels.
ALDERMAN’S INCENTIVE MOTIVATION INVENTORY (LABORATORY#2) Analysis In terms of the volleyball skills profile, my main strength is digs, in a drill situation, where I can autonomously achieve the skill, followed by associatively attaining forwards sets in a drill situation and under arm serves in both a drill and game situation. I can also achieve, cognitively, spikes, blocks, over head serves, backwards sets and set play in both a drill and game situation along with digs and forwards sets in just a game situation. Therefore my main strengths relating to physical skill as per the volleyball skills profile is digs.
After answering and evaluating my results of Laboratory #1 (Illinois competition questionnaire), I have determined that my SCAT score of 18 results in my trait of competitiveness as an average between a low or high competitive trait anxiety. After gathering my results, by answering a series of seventy questions relating to motivation (aim, power, stress, independence, success, aggression and affiliation) from Laboratory #2 (Alderman’s motivation inventory), I have collated that my excellence and affiliation levels are generally my top strengths followed by stress compared to my more lower scoring results, ower, success, independence and aggression, therefore my incentives revolving around opportunities to do something well, for its own sake as well as by incentives revolving around opportunities for social intercourse, being socially reassured by making or maintaining friendships are of a higher level in a game/drill of volleyball.
By incorporating my psychological and skill strengths and weaknesses in a game/drill of volleyball I have determined the impact on my success in volleyball, by realising my weaknesses and my potential on playing successfully. Strategies By analysing the readings and realising my different strengths and weaknesses that could be achieved by using various strategies, I decided that the two most suitable for the task would be Visualisation and Goal Setting.
Visualization is a mental training technique that involves using your mind by including thoughts, feelings, emotions, and other sensations such as sight, sound, feel and adrenaline to create an experience in your mind. By creating an ideal Sportsmind Training Complex, I was able to visualise instruments and equipment I could use to train and improve my performance, therefore positively programming in my mind a good performance in volleyball.
There are steps for re-programming errors and mistakes as well as acknowledging your good shots, ARIA and ALIA are different methods for this. By using ARIA I acknowledged the error I performed at various times, then stopped for a moment and acknowledged the mistake in a detached way, then released it; the error and just forgot about it, after that, I imprinted a visual image of the proper action, whether it was after someone scored a point or after a shot then I asked my body to do that correct action visualised, next time.
When employing ALIA, I acknowledged the good stroke and felt good about it, then I thought myself, good work, next I imprinted the shot; then reinforcing and relaying it in my mind, lastly I asked myself to execute the shot again correctly. An important skill implied in both of the above processes is an ability called going ‘down-time’ (directing attention inwardly) and ‘up-time’ (for directing attention outwardly), this means you can transfer attention and concentration from an external focus to an internal one, and back again.
By using the ARIA and ALIA processes, it allowed me to reinforce all my good performances for the next match, and to work in a productive way with any errors I have made which would be far more effective than self recrimination. By implicating the ability of ‘down-time’ and ‘up-time’, it has given me the opportunity to focus on my abilities physically and emotionally during a game of volleyball. By applying the ‘down’ and ‘up’ time skills, the ARIA and ALIA processes as well as creating an ideal Sportsmind Training Complex, it has allowed me, with ease to achieve an improved performance in volleyball.
Goal setting has many different aspects in it including, the main points are ‘set specific goals’, which means you should set specific goals to specific aspects of performance to be improved, ‘set short and long term goals’, is the next which shows it is important to set long and short term goals to enhance learning whereas setting long term goals provides motivation and direction and help to increase persistence when the target date for achievement is a long way off. Set multiple goals’ achieves having more than one goal, increasing the chance of success, providing multiple opportunities for achievement, after that is ‘set a target date for completion of goals’, allowing a target date to be set in your mind providing a reminder that there is something to complete within a specific time period, lastly, ‘write down your goals’, which assists in learning a couple of different ways, including clarifying what the goal is, a sense of ownership over the goal and written down, the goal could be posted somewhere obvious and serve as reminders of what has been committed to.
It is also important to not refer goals to behaviour or outcomes, which could be dependant upon another person or persons, make sure they don’t apply to these headings: measurable (enabling the athlete to know if the goal was achieved), realistic (unrealistic goals will create a possible false situation), challenging (the end state must be sufficiently beyond the athletes situation so effort and persistence have been achieved) and dynamic (each goal needs to be able to be changed if progress is faster or slower than anticipated).
By easily setting goals and employing the different types of goals stated above, it has enhanced my performance and level of motivation in a game of volleyball. Conclusion After gathering research and using instruments to identify my anxiety/arousal and motivational levels in terms of a game of volleyball, then identifying two psychological strategies to attain optimal arousal and motivational levels, as well as justifying them as to how they could allow me to achieve the components, I can and have improved my volleyball performance significantly.
Bibliography Websites: English dictionary. www. allwords. com Implementing a psychological skills training program in high school volleyball athletes. http://clearinghouse. missouriwestern. edu/manuscripts/78. asp Teaching Athletes Visualization and Mental Imagery Skills. http://www. mascsa. psu. edu/dave/Visualization-Handout. pdf Books: Psychology in Action Barr, K. , Craig, H. , & Rodgers, Wendy. The use of imagery by athletes in selected sports. The Sport Psychologist, p. 1-10.