Psychological Aspects of Sport And Exercise

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Psychological Aspects of Sport and Exercise
Overview of the Skill of Interest
A successful sports and exercises procedures does not only depend on one’s physical attributes, but also on their psychological features. Some of these psychological factors include self-confidence, motivation, emotional control, and connection. Most of the high-performance athletes claim that 90% of their success emanates from their mental training and ability. In sports, there is usually no significant difference among the employees in terms of their training, physical ability, and potential to succeed. These people are subjected to the same training exercises under the same conditions and all of them are physically fit for the competition. Therefore, the determining factors that set winners apart from the rest is their psychological realm.
Over the years, there has been more researchers have shown an increasing interest in the psychological aspect of sports. This increased interest has resulted in sports psychologists and other researchers in the field to assess the psychological variables that determine sports performance and the underlying theoretical factors. The fact that one’s mental strengths significantly determines the sports outcome is undisputable. Greenleaf and colleagues interviewed Olympic Games sports performers concerning what contributed to their success. In their responses, the athletes revealed that top level performance was associated with psycho-social factors, which included the athlete’s self-confidence, focus on fun, and a positive attitude. These findings show the important role that psychology plays in the success of sports. Besides, the participants also highlighted social factors as contributing to their success. These factors included social support, interpersonal trust and team unity. Understanding the theoretical basis of these factors will be important determining the areas of improvement in future training procedures.
Theoretical Basis to Explain or Describe the Skill
The psychology of sports and exercise emphases on motivation as a key factors in sports success. This trait is also associated with the persistence of the athletes while exercising and also during the competition. Athletes face several challenges in their road to success. Among these include extensive training sessions, unpleasant rehabilitation following injuries, and also disappointments after defeat. Overcoming all these setbacks requires a strong psychological stability on the part of the athlete besides their talent and good physical preparation. According to research, athletes talk about two main types of motivation: intrinsic and extrinsic, as their drivers towards success (Sheehan, Herring, & Campbell). Athletes who enjoy intrinsic motivation derive pleasure from engaging in the sports activity and performance. On the contrary, those who experience extrinsic motivation derive their pleasure from acquisition of some benefits, which can be material such as monetary rewards or social in nature. Consequently, the psychological factors in sports and exercise revolve around intrinsic and extrinsic motivation that the individuals derive from the events.
The contribution of intrinsic and extrinsic factors in the success of the athletes is evident in the responses that these individuals give concerning their performance. CNBC Make It interviewed one of the top Olympic athletes, Ryan Murphy about his sports activity and the major factor that he attributes his success to is believing in himself (Scipioni). Believing in yourself is a psychological process that results from motivation to achieve a specific goal. Clarey talks about the tendency of Olympians to use imagery as mental training, where he notes that visualization is part of the elite sports. Nicole Detling, a sports psychologist with the United States Olympic team noted that the more an athlete was able to imagine the entire package, including the conferences and the sports event, the better it was going to be. Imagery involves the athletes closing their eyes and envisioning their future. All these revolve around motivation. When the person imagines people applause they are likely to receive after winning, the television interviews, serving as role models, and all the good things that will come from the process, they become motivated to perform even better. All these are internal motivations. In addition, the athletes also imagine about the good things they will be able to achieve, which serve as extrinsic motivators. Therefore, intrinsic and extrinsic motivators are the main psychological factors that shape athletes performance.
Major Components of Theories or Frameworks
Achievement Goal Theory
The achievement goal theory is a motivation theory based on the notion that people experience success differently. People are created to have two orientations: task orientation and goal orientation. Task oriented people perceive themselves as being successful when they maximize their efforts in doing something. Such people focus more on the process rather than the outcome. Thus, athletes in this orientation train their psychology to focus on their individual targets and improvement of their sports skills. Individuals who focus on the goal are mainly fascinated by what they will achieve from their efforts. The psychology behind the goal theory is training one’s mind to be focused either on the task or the goal. Consequently, the athletes focus on efficiency and productivity in everything that they do. They prepare a to-do list, focus on being as productive as possible, and set firm deadlines for their tasks. All these processes play an essential role in psychologically preparing an athlete.
There are several studies about the achievement goal theory. For example, Monteiro and colleagues conducted a study to examine the motivational determinants of athletes’ perceived efforts in football. The researchers considered a four-stage motivational sequence at the contextual level, which included task-involving climate, basic psychological needs, self-determined motivation, and perceived effort (Monteria et al.). The findings supported self-determination, basic psychological needs satisfaction, and behavioural regulation as determinants to athletes’ success. Therefore, when an employee regulate their behaviour in a manner that helps them focus more on task that will culminate in their desired goal, they increase their chances of success. Therefore, this theory advocates the strengthening of the orientation to the task. When an athle...