Introduction to Different Types of Mental Training free essay sample

Task: B1 Introduction to Different Types of Mental Training An athlete qualifying for an Olympic Final competes against athletes who are fit, strong, flexible, powerful and skilful. All the competitors have devoted time and energy to becoming top-class athletes. However, there is only one champion and two medal winners. Often the difference between a medal and eighth place is a fraction of a second or a few centimetres. Interviews with athletes who succeed at this highest level often focus on which aspect of their preparation made them different from everyone else.Nine times out of ten these great athletes refer to a mental edge or psychological toughness. An athlete who wants to compete against other talented athletes needs to think carefully about mental preparation. It is not enough for them to expect to win simply because they have coved more mileage then the next athlete, or because they have lifted heavier weights. We will write a custom essay sample on Introduction to Different Types of Mental Training or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page In the final analysis it is often more important to keep the mind in the pressurized environment of competition. In this essay I will be covering different forms of mental training employed by the sport psychologist.Imagery Imagery and mental rehearsal are techniques that are frequently used in sport and exercise psychology because of the verity of applications they have in different settings. Imagery Imagery is a polysensorial and emotional creation or recreation of an experience that takes place in the mind. It should involve as many senses as possible as well as trying to recreate emotions experienced through the activity the athlete takes part in. The post effective imagery uses kinaesthetic, visual, tactile, auditory and olfactory senses.An example of imagery that anyone could take part in is to think about a favourite athlete in any sport. Then think about when you have watched that sports person performing. Consider when you have thought about what that athlete has done during their performance, (e. g. how they kick a ball) tried to see your self doing that in a future competition, and then copied what they did during your performance. This is just one example of how our mind allows us to remember different events and then attempt to recreate them. It is imagery in one of many forms.There are two main types of imagery in port and exercise: internal and external. †¢ Internal imagery is imagining yourself doing something and concentrating on how the activity feels †¢ External imagery is imagining yourself doing something as tough you are watching it on a film so that you can develop an awareness of how the activity looks Uses of imagery Imagery has a number of uses in different areas of performance including relaxation, goal setting, concentration, developing confidence, controlling emotions and handling pressure, and diction making. Goal settingImagery can be useful to highlight specific faults in performance which can then be used to set goals to improve performance . Concentration A key aspect to concentration is being able to focus on relevant cues in the environment (e. g. things that directly affect sports performance) and being able to close out factors that don’t directly affect the sport performance (e. g. crowd noise and banners). By imagining what you want to achieve and what you need to be able to do to achieve it you can prevent your attention from focusing on irreverent aspects and focus on relevant aspects instead. Decision MakingDecision making skills are benefited greatly by imagery because the use of imagery allows individuals to look at a number of options in different situations and the consequences of making different decisions. The benefits of imagery in the area tend to be greater for experienced performers rather than novices, because it helps them to refine skills and make the necessary dictions quickly. Controlling Emotions and Handling Pressure One of the benefits of using imagery is that you can imagine things that have gone wrong in previous performances (such as missing penalties, being bowled out and experience poor officiating).Then you’re able to imagine yourself coping with these negative influences in a number of ways and being able to perform the task successfully. Developing Confidence A football player has been taking penalties for his team on a regular basis but keeps missing them which have knocked his confidence in his ability to score penalties. The sport psychologist could work with the player asking him to remember having a strong support foot placement, striking the ball hard and true, thinking about where exactly he wants the ball to go, seeing the ball hit the back of the net and thinking about the elation experienced at successfully scouring a goal.The sport psychologist would do this because seeing yourself perform well in your mind is a good way of in creasing a sense of mastery. It increases your belief in your ability to perform a task. Relaxation A sprinter is in the start position in the final of the men’s 100m hurdles at the Olympics Games. In this example the athlete would imagine emotions associated with relaxation and together with other techniques such as breathing exercises, could try to control anxiety, arousal and stress levels Mental Rehearsal Mental rehearsal is one aspect of imagery.It is a strategy for practicing something in your mind before actually performing the task. The difference between mental rehearsal and imagery is that mental rehearsal does not take into account how the skill is rehearsed or what senses and emotions are used throughout the skill. It is the cognitive rehearsal of a skill without any physical movement. Uses of Mental Rehearsal There are a number of ways in which mental rehearsal is used including skills practice and rehearsal, practicing ‘what if’ scenarios, replaying performance and performance routines.Mental rehearsal can also be linked to pre-performance routines, as mental rehearsal can allow the performer to rehearse how they want to complete an activity before t hey actually start the performance. The use of mental rehearsal of future performance ensures that athletes take time to review physical, technical and mental aspects of the activity and produce strategies that will help individuals to meet its demands. Practice for Events Using mental rehearsal in the lead p to competition as well as in practice settings has been shown to benefit skill practice and developmentSkills Practice and Rehearsal Although it is not as effective as physically practicing a skill mental rehearsal is more beneficial then not practicing the skill at all. It actually helps to develop neuromuscular patterns associated with different movements. It is important for the performer to rehearse both good and bad movement patterns so that they can get to know the difference between the two to develop the appropriate neuromuscular responses. Practice ‘what if scenarios’ Mental rehearsal gives the performer the opportunity to practice ‘what if scenarios’ (e. . what would happen if I did it this way’). Then to assess whether something different would work in the same scenario. In Competition Practice Mental rehearsal gives the athlete the opportunity to practice their skills during an event without having to expend any energy or perform any movements. This is a useful way of concentrating on a particular aspect of skill and further developing it. Performance Routines Mental rehearsal forms an important part of performance routines. Think about when you have seen a rugby player take a kick at goal from the ground.They place the ball then look up at the posts, take a few steps back and to the side, take a stance, look at the ball then up to the posts, sometime close there eyes then take a deep breath and go to kick the ball. This is all part of a performance routine. During this routine the player is mentally rehearsing the kick of the ball before actually performing the movement. Replay Performance ‘What if’ are often combined with replaying performance in your mind, where you go thorough previous performances and detect errors in performance using the mental rehearsal.Arousal Arousal is an important aspect of sport and exercise because it can affect performance either positively or negatively depending on how you perceive the arousal. Therefore it is important to understand ways of regulating arousal and how this can benefit performance. Arousal Reduction Over-arousal is often experienced by athletes for reasons such as lack of confidence or seeing competition as a threat. The effects of over-arousal are generally the same regardless of the performer: physical and psychological discomfort that leads to reduced performance.The role of the sport psychologist would be to help the athlete to understand the causes of over-arousal to recognise the symptoms of over-arousal and then to help athletes to apply appropriate arousal management strategies to reduce levels to an optimal point. Common arousal reduction techniques include progressive muscular relaxation, breathing control, biofeedback, mind to muscle techniques and imagery. Progressive Muscular Relaxation Muscle tension is one of the most uncomfortable and devastating symptoms of an over-aroused state and can severely hinder performance due to losses in coordination (and therefore disrupt technique).It can also lead to an increased risk of injury due to vastly decreased flexibility. Progressive muscular relaxation (PMR) is an easy to use technique that can help to reduce muscular tension. It is a useful technique because it increases an individual’s awareness of their levels of muscle tension and through the relaxation phase helps the individual to distinguish between what is a state of tension and relaxation. Breathing Control When you start to experience increased pressure in sport situations an automatic tendency is to hold your breath a little.Unfortunately when you do this it increases factors that can be negative to performance (like muscle tension). The best time to use breathing control is when you are in a sporting situation that allows you to take a brake. Controlled breathing is one of the easiest techniques for reducing anxiety symptoms and it has a range of physiological and psychological benefits. The physiological benefits include oxygen transport, carbon dioxide removal, reduced muscle fatigue and reduced chances of injuries such as cramp. However the psychological benefits are also important.One of the biggest problems with over-arousal is the reduced concentration levels that accompany it such as (focusing on the negative aspects) muscle tension, increased heart rate and (in some cases) the nausea that can be symptoms of over-arousal. Using breathing control techniques can be beneficial in reducing arousal in two main ways: †¢ It reduces the physiological symptoms of arousal and anxiety †¢ It focuses the athlete’s attention away from the negative aspects, because they have to concentrate on getting the breathing techniques correct.As a result of these different aspects, the athlete will benefit throu gh increased concentration, confidence, control and well-being. Biofeedback Biofeedback involves the use of different equipment to detect physiological responses to arousal. This helps the athlete to learn how to control those responses. The technique generally uses either visual or auditory feedback of different physiological responses. The common physiological responses that biofeedback is used with are heart rate, breathing, skin temperature and muscle tension.It has not always been shown to improve performance but it is effective in helping the athlete to detect and reduce physiological symptoms of arousal and anxiety. Mind to Muscle Techniques The aim of mind to muscle relaxation is to train the athletes muscle to be able to recognise tension so that it can be released and a relaxed state can occur. Common examples of mind to muscle relaxation techniques include imagery, PMR and autogenic training. Imagery Imagery is one of the most common psychological skills techniques because it can be used to reduce arousal symptoms before, during and after competition. The process by which imagery reduces anxiety is a relatively simple one. If the athlete can use calming, tranquil and relaxing images this will reduce the symptoms of arousal and anxiety to a level that will not hamper performance. Arousal Increasing Just as over-arousal can be detrimental to performance under-arousal can also be as damaging. It is generally based on the interaction between the situation in which the individual finds them in and their psychological appraisal of that situation. Under-arousal is nowhere near as common in a sporting situation as over-arousal.However when an athlete is virtually guaranteed success this phenomenon is quite understandable. The sports psychologists’ role would be to consult with athletes and teams to develop ways of increasing arousal levels again. Some common ways of increasing arousal levels in a sport or exercise setting include: use of music, using energising imagery, increasing breathing rate, affirmations and acting energised (some know it as a pep talk or high energy body language). Use of Music Music is more widely researched in the exercise domain than in the sports domain, but it is often used in both areas to increase arousal levels.It has been shown to be effective at increasing arousal levels by eliciting both emotional and physiological responses in different individuals. The use of music increases arousal in a number of ways. By narrowing a performers attention music can divert their focus away from sensations of fatigue. The benefit of this is that the performer will have an elevated mood state through avoidance of negative thoughts. Another benefit of music is that the music which people consider to be exciting can increase body temperature, heart rate and breathing rate all of which will improve sports perfor mance. Energising Imagery In the same way that imagery can be used to reduce arousal and anxiety it can be also used to increase arousal. This can be achieved through the use of high-energy images of competition e. g. a hard tackle in rugby. Increasing Breathing Rate Just before a high jumper in competition attempts to jump the next height up they take a series of short, sharp breaths then take the run up. This is a way of increasing arousal levels; you take a series of sharp short breaths until you feel energised.This technique is also used in other sports such as weightlifting. Affirmations An affirmation is a positive statement that is designed to confirm gaol achievement. It is often used alongside other forms of arousal-increasing techniques such as imagery or acting energised to increase arousal levels. When you use affirmations it is important to review them on a regular basis. Good practice would be to change affirmations when you change the goals you set. It is important to do this so that further progress can be made. Acting EnergisedActing energised increases arousal levels in a number of ways that can benefit performance. It can heighten concentration levels, reprioritise goal achievement, increase motivation levels and make the athlete excited about competing again. In an elite sport setting, the use of this type of body language can also increase arousal levels in athletes. It increases the arousal levels of the crowd (often displayed through cheering on the team more) which further benefits the athlete. Goal Setting Goal setting is one of the best ways of increasing motivation in sport and xercise. In sport and exercise psychology it’s essential to be specific about what a goal is and what the different types of goal are. Types of Goal There are two main types of goal: †¢ a subjective goal is a general statement of intent such as ‘I want to have fun’ †¢ an objective goal is a measurable statement that relates to the achievement of some form of standard normally within a designated period of time Outcome goals, process goals and performance goals are all types of objective goal. Outcome Goal Outcome goals relate to the outcome on an event.They tend to be unpredictable because they depend on the performance of others as well as the one setting it. For example you could play the best frame of tennis you have ever played yet still fail to achieve your goal because your opponent plays a little bit better than you. Process Goals Process goals look at the process the athlete must go through to achieve a desired level of performance. They relate to skills and technique they could be required to perform at a high level. Performance Goals Performance goals look at achieving a certain standard of performance without comparison with other individuals.