Sport Psychology for Peak Performance

Lesson 1: Motivation and Self-Confidence. Sport and exercise psychology defined; the history of sport psychology; professional organizations; ethics; multicultural training issues; models of self-confidence: self-efficacy theory, competence motivation theory and the sport-specific model of confidence; self-talk; psychological momentum; gender issues.

Lesson 2: Goals and Casual Attribution. Achievement goal orientations; the developmental nature of goal orientation; measuring goal orientation; goal involvement; the motivational climate; research and goal perspective theory; the attribution model; causal attributions in competitive situations; attributional training; egocentrism in attribution.

Lesson 3: Intrinsic Motivation and Youth Sports. An integrated theory of motivation in sport and exercise; cognitive evaluation theory; the psychology of optimal experience; outcome, performance and process goals; effective goal-setting; a team approach to setting goals; benefits of youth sports and the reasons children participate; negative factors associated with the youth sports experience; training volunteer coaches.

Lesson 4: Attention and Athlete Personality. Divisions of the nervous system; central nervous system structures controlling arousal; the autonomic nervous system; the adrenal medullae and the stress response; electrophysiological indicators of arousal; information processing; selective attention; attentional narrowing; getting in the zone; measuring and controlling attention; associative vs. disassociative attention; theories of personality.

Lesson 5: Situational Anxiety and Mood. How mood and anxiety are measured; mood states and Morgan’s mental health model; the interactive model; psychological profile of the elite disabled athlete; differentiating among anxiety, arousal, and stress; the multidimensional nature of anxiety; antecedents of precompetitive state anxiety; time-to-event nature of precompetitive anxiety; the relationship between arousal and athletic performance; Marten’s multidimensional anxiety theory; Fazey and Hardy’s catastrophe theory; Hannin’s individual zone of optimal functioning theory; Jones’ directionality theory; Apter’s reversal theory.

Lesson 6: Coping, Relaxation and Arousal Strategies. Conceptual framework for coping strategies and styles; measuring coping skills; the dynamic nature of coping systems and strategies; factors that enhance the generalizability of coping; coping strategies used by elite athletes; progressive relaxation; autogenic training; meditation; biofeedback training; team energizing strategies; immediate self-energizing strategies.

Lesson 7: Imagery, Hypnosis and Psychology Skills. Why imagery works; imagery perspective and sensory mode; studying imagery; developing imagery skills; cognitive-behavioral intervention programs using imagery and relaxation; theories of hypnosis; self-hypnosis; hypnosis and athletic performance; the effectiveness of psychological intervention programs; differentiating between psychological skills and methods; psychological skills training program; ethics in sport psychology.

Lesson 8: Aggression and Crowd Effect. Defining aggression; theories of aggression; fan violence; the effects of aggression on performance; situational factors in a sport setting; how to reduce aggression in sport; social facilitation; effects of an interactive audience on performance; audience characteristics; crowd size, intimacy and density; crowd hostility; players’ perceptions of home court advantage.

Lesson 9: Team Cohesion and Leadership. Defining characteristics of team cohesion; a conceptual model of team cohesion; measurement and determinants of team cohesion; consequences of team cohesion; developing team cohesion; theories of leadership; coach-athlete compatibility; player position, leadership opportunity and stacking.

Lesson 10: Exercise Psychology and Burnout. Psychological benefits of exercise; theoretical explanations for the relationship between exercise and improved mental health; exercise adherence and determinants; theories of exercise behavior; fitness as a moderator of life stress; the immune system, cancer, HIV and exercise; social physique anxiety, physical self-concept and body image; eating disorders and physical activity; defining burnout and other related terms; models of burnout; symptoms of burnout and interventions; recommendations for athletes, coaches and parents.

Lesson 11: Psychology of Injuries and Drug Abuse. Psychology predictors of athletic injury; psychological response to injury and rehabilitation; benefits associated with sustaining and recovering from an athletic injury; psychophysiological effects of certain banned substances; the position statement of the SCA; combating drug abuse in sport.