Sports psychology and performance
Physical Education · GCSE · The School
Arousal
Performance and AROUSAL follow an inverted U: too little and an athlete is flat and unfocused; too much and they are tense, rushed and error-prone. The best level differs by task — a weightlifter benefits from high arousal, a snooker player from low. Managing it is a skill, through breathing, routines and self-talk.
Motivation
INTRINSIC motivation comes from inside — enjoyment, mastery, the satisfaction of doing it well. EXTRINSIC comes from outside — medals, money, praise. Both work, but intrinsic motivation lasts longer and survives a bad season. Heavy reliance on external reward can actually reduce enjoyment of an activity someone once did for its own sake.
Goals that work
SMART goals are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time-bound. "Get better at football" fails every test; "complete 8 of 10 passes in the next four matches" passes them all. Process goals — about what you do — are more useful than outcome goals about winning, because you control the process and not the opponent.
A weightlifter before a maximal attempt is too calm: nothing gets going, and the lift fails. The fix is to RAISE arousal — music, self-talk, a slap on the back. A snooker player before a final black is over-aroused: hands shaking, breathing shallow. The fix is to LOWER it — slow breathing, a fixed routine. Same principle, opposite interventions, because the optimum depends on how fine the motor control has to be.
Two theories of arousal, and when to use each
Both are on the specification and they answer different questions. DRIVE THEORY says performance rises in a straight line with arousal, so higher arousal favours the dominant response — which helps an expert with a well-learned skill and hurts a novice, because their dominant response is the wrong one. INVERTED U says performance rises to an optimum and then falls away. The optimum is not the same for everyone: it is higher for gross, simple, powerful skills such as a rugby tackle, and lower for fine, complex ones such as a snooker shot. Say which theory you are applying and why it fits the performer.
Managing arousal, with named techniques
A question asking how a performer can control anxiety wants named strategies, not advice to relax. Deep breathing lowers physiological arousal quickly and can be used in the moments before performing. Mental rehearsal, running the movement through in the mind, both prepares the skill and occupies attention that would otherwise go to worry. Positive self-talk replaces the internal commentary that raises anxiety. Progressive muscular relaxation works through the body tensing and releasing groups in turn. Name two, say what each does physiologically or attentionally, and match them to the moment in the event when they would be used.