We’ve all seen it or heard about it – stories of top football coaches shouting, throwing things all in the name of getting the best out of their players. From Sir Alex Ferguson’s legendary temper in the changing rooms, to Graham Taylors’ touchline fury broadcast in the 1994 BBC documentary ‘An Impossible Job’, you could […]
A complex process of self appraisals and self persuasion form the basis of judgements that individuals create with regards to whether they believe they have the capabilities to achieve. This is known as self efficacy and it relies on cognitive processing from a wide range of sources of efficacy information (Bandura, 1990). Self efficacy is […]
Imagine you’re an athlete of the future. It’s your rest day, but you schedule a specialised brain training session that gives you the edge over the competition, without compromising recovery. Or you’re injured, but can’t afford to sit around just waiting to heal – so you train your brain while your body rests, reducing the negative […]
Stretching has long been standard practice in sport. Advocates of stretching claim that it helps reduce injury, improve performance, and aid recovery. However, a number of studies have shown that stretching doesn’t actually produce all the positive physiological effects that were once thought to be true. In fact, studies have shown that certain types of […]
Athlete preparation is a hugely diverse area with many different factors contributing to producing the best possible performance on any given occasion. It is the norm to see player preparation centred around the physiological aspect of performance, whether that is muscular or any other physiological aspect. Consequentially, a factor, which may often be overlooked, is […]
Sports, such as basketball, require individuals to shoot under pressure, and under the observation of others, such as co-actors (other performers), an audience, or a coach. Performing in front of others can be a daunting prospect; athletes may feel the pressure to perform up to a certain standard, but crumble. For some players, this pressure […]
There are many theories surrounding the development of personality. The Biological Approach to personality suggests that genetics are responsible, with a well researched link between genetics and personality traits (Eysenck, 1967). Behavioural theories associate personality characteristics with the individual and their interaction with the environment; focusing on learning stemming from increased behaviours that have positive […]
In August of last year I moved to the USA to play soccer for a small university in Tennessee. What we achieved as a team was more than any of us could have imagined, or even dreamt about whilst going through a brutal pre-season at the beginning of August. We under-achieved in our conference, lost […]
Anxiety is a state consisting of psychological and physical symptoms brought about by a sense of apprehension of a perceived threat. However, levels of anxiety can differ according to situation and the individual. Trait anxiety relates to an aspect of personality in which nervousness is a stable personality trait. State anxiety refers to temporary feelings […]
Not so long ago I was asked by a friend of mine, who is an athlete as well as me and has been for most of his life, whether I would encourage my own children into the competitive world of athletics. After a lot of consideration there was an uncertainty over the answer, but more […]