Sport Psychological Interventions in Competitive Sports [1 ed.] 9781443875905, 9781443865197

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Sport Psychological Interventions in Competitive Sports

Sport Psychological Interventions in Competitive Sports

By

Jürgen Beckmann and Anne-Marie Elbe

Sport Psychological Interventions in Competitive Sports, by Jürgen Beckmann and Anne-Marie Elbe This book first published 2015 Cambridge Scholars Publishing 12 Back Chapman Street, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE6 2XX, UK British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Copyright © 2015 by Jürgen Beckmann, Anne-Marie Elbe All rights for this book reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the copyright owner. ISBN (10): 1-4438-6519-2, ISBN (13): 978-1-4438-6519-7

TABLE OF CONTENTS

About the Authors .................................................................................... viii Foreword .................................................................................................... ix Chapter One ................................................................................................. 1 Sport Psychological Perspectives Introduction What is mental strength? Definition and content of sport psychology What can sport psychology provide? What contributions can the neurosciences make to sport psychological practice? Sport psychological interventions Chapter Two .............................................................................................. 21 Personality and Personality Development Introduction What is personality? Is there a relationship between sport and personality? Selection and socialisation hypothesis Findings regarding the selection hypothesis Findings regarding the socialisation hypothesis Change of personality characteristics – personality development Chapter Three ............................................................................................ 34 Diagnostics Procedure and basic principles Why are psychological diagnostics so important in competitive sport? Which diagnostic tools? General and sport-specific measures Advantages and disadvantages of standardised tests Selection criteria Interpretation of findings Integration of diagnostics in the intervention process The diagnostic process as an "action research" approach How does one ensure the participants’ co-operation?

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Co-operation with the coach Co-operation with the athlete Selection of diagnostic instruments Test of Performance Strategies (TOPS) Recovery Stress Questionnaire for Athletes (RESTQ-Sport) Competitive State Anxiety Competitive Trait Anxiety Instruments for motivation and volition Instruments to assess coaching behaviour Diagnostics for evaluating the intervention Concluding remarks Chapter Four .............................................................................................. 58 Basic Training Introduction Basic psycho-regulation Chapter Five .............................................................................................. 78 Skill Training Introduction Motivation and activation Goal setting Explaining success and failure: Attribution Self-esteem and self-confidence Self-talk Chapter Six .............................................................................................. 121 Recovery, Stress, and Prevention of Overtraining Introduction Definition and characteristics of recovery How is recovery assessed? Monitoring of recovery and stress Under-recovery and overtraining as a consequence of lack of recovery Chapter Seven.......................................................................................... 140 Crisis Intervention Introduction Disturbances in communication Conflicts Psychological skills training after injuries Doping controls

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Career transition: From junior to senior athlete Tasks of the sport psychologist Psychological problems Chapter Eight ........................................................................................... 175 Impact Interventions Introduction Impact techniques Music Humour Clinical hypnosis Chapter Nine............................................................................................ 189 Mental Tool Box Introduction Anchoring Anxiety Breathing freely to clear your head Burnout Cloak of invisibility Complaint box Concentration, difficulties concentrating Coping with failure Emotion regulation External memory Fear Fear at the start of a competition Fearing specific problem situations Habituation Internal dialogue Overtraining Positive thinking Pressure situations, handling pressure Reset Routines and rituals Self-confidence, lacking Self-talk, problematic Start preparations Stop-to-go technique References ............................................................................................... 203 Index ........................................................................................................ 226

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Jürgen Beckmann is a full professor for sport psychology at the Technische Universität Munich, Germany, and was president of the German Association for Sport Psychology from 2005 to 2009 and editorin-chief of the Zeitschrift für Sportpsychologie from 1998 to 2000. Besides his academic education as a psychologist, he completed training in clinical hypnosis. He is a certified coach in a number of different sports and, as a sport psychologist, has been consulted by numerous top athletes and national teams (among others, professional football, basketball, golf and alpine skiing) for more than 25 years. Anne-Marie Elbe is an associate professor for sport psychology at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark. She is vice-president of the European Federation of Sport Psychology (FEPSAC) and associate editor of the International Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology and the Zeitschrift für Sportpsychologie. She is a licensed track and field coach and, as a sport psychologist, has been consulted by athletes and coaches in numerous sports for more than 10 years.

FOREWORD

Sport psychology has been receiving more and more interest over the past years, and it is almost common knowledge that being fully present mentally, when required, can give an athlete the final edge in competition. Still, there seem to be differing opinions about the role that the psyche plays and how important psychology in sports really is. Some people consider the use of psychological skills to be a pure waste of time or to simply be an excuse for poor performance. Coaches often say that they have sufficient psychological skills to influence their athletes and that all they really need to have is sympathy, willingness to listen and good communication skills. These are indeed important abilities, which, to a large extent, have psychological significance. Modern psychology, however, extends itself well beyond these basic skills. Psychology can explain processes that occur during competitions and can be used to systematically derive measures and interventions that help athletes in dealing with challenging situations. Although psychology cannot turn a moderately talented athlete into a world champion, many coaches and athletes have realised that psychological skills in two equally talented and trained athletes might provide the advantage that decides victory over defeat. In the past 30 years, much knowledge about psychological processes in sport has been produced. This knowledge can be used to develop measures to support individuals involved in sport. Sport psychologists can optimise the preparation of a competitive athlete so that he or she can achieve an optimal athletic performance. Our book does not aim to present a directory of all mental skills that can be used in sport. Rather, our goal is to show that sport psychological support is a systematic process based on scientific knowledge. We provide a structure for conducting sport psychological interventions that can be followed not only by sport psychologists, but also by athletes and coaches. This structure has proven to be helpful in communicating what sport psychology is, and what it does, to coaches and officials who are not yet convinced about how it could enhance their professional practice. In addition, we present sport psychological measures that have proven their value in our applied work. Therefore, this book does not intend to be a textbook about sport psychology, but rather should be seen as a handbook on how to conduct sport psychological interventions. On the one hand, it is

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important for us to state that the suggested interventions are not based on mere intuition, but are founded on solid scientific knowledge. On the other hand, however, it should become clear that standard interventions are the exception rather than the rule. Interventions must be customised for individual athletes. In this book, we would like to provide a basis and suggestions for specific sport psychological support. We have included a number of examples from our own practical work that should assist readers in finding solutions for psychological problems. For those who are beginning to apply sport psychological interventions and are looking for more specific orientation, we have included a mental toolbox as the last chapter of the book. We have not overloaded the book with scientific details, since it is a book to be used in applied work. At the same time, however, it was important for us to make clear that the practical methods presented are grounded on verifiable scientific knowledge. We want to discriminate ourselves from unscientific or pseudo-scientific mental training. In addition, by including references, interested readers may be impelled to delve more deeply into this material. At the end of some of the chapters, you will also find literature for further reading. The book primarily deals with the structure of basic sport psychological support. It is divided into two main parts: In part 1, the basic structure of sport psychological interventions is presented, whereas part 2 focusses on concrete interventions and training measures. Chapter 1 defines the main terms of the book and describes the model of sport psychological support that lays the foundation for all other chapters. Chapter 2 provides an overview of the topic of personality and personality development in sport, gives basic knowledge about diagnostic tools and also addresses the questions of talent selection and development. Chapter 3 deals with diagnostics in more detail, as diagnostics should lay the foundation for all sport psychological support measures. The second part of the book begins with a practice-oriented presentation of basic training in Chapter 4, which mainly focusses on relaxation techniques. Chapter 5 describes the training of those skills that are essential for the stabilisation of athletic performance. Maintaining a balanced recovery-stress state is particularly important for the long-term stabilisation of athletic performance and the avoidance of overtraining. Chapter 6 is dedicated to this issue and describes how continuous monitoring of an athlete’s stress and recovery levels is to be conducted. In the course of an athletic career, critical situations, as well as conflicts or longer term crises, can occur. Chapter 7 addresses these challenges, which are represented in the top part of the structural model of sport

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psychological support presented in chapter 1. Sometimes psychological interventions may consist of aiding clients in understanding their problem situation and finding solutions themselves. Chapter 8 presents impact interventions, including clinical hypnosis, which have proven to be instrumental in this context. These interventions are provided by the sport psychologist rather than being skills learned by the athlete. The mental toolbox in chapter 9 gives the practitioner an overview that will help him or her to quickly identify a problem and its possible causes, and then to initiate suitable measures as a solution. This book is based on the first two editions of our successful book published in 2008 and 2011 in German, Praxis der Sportpsychologie im Wettkampf-und Leistungssport. This new edition in English has been updated to include the most recent developments in the field; among other amendments, this includes the addition of the chapter on sport psychological impact techniques (chapter 8). We would like to thank Nils Bühring, Felix Ehrlenspiel, Christian Heiss, Josef Keller, Lena Lämmle and Denise Beckmann, who critically read the German versions and provided invaluable feedback. We extend our particular thanks to Petra Sollnberger and Marleen Eberle for secretarial work in the completion of this manuscript, Ed Beese for assisting us in translating the German book into an English version and Barbara Every of BioMedical Editor for her excellent copy editing. We would also very much like to thank the numerous athletes with whom we have been working because they provided us with the opportunity to expand our experience and develop new insights into how psychology works in sports. With this new edition of our book in English, we hope to provide basic scientific knowledge that can be applied directly and in a practical manner to an even larger audience. Enjoy! Munich and Copenhagen, Summer 2014 Jürgen Beckmann, Anne-Marie Elbe

CHAPTER ONE SPORT PSYCHOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVES

Introduction What is sport psychology? Who are sport psychologists and what do they do? Why do we need sport psychology? We are frequently confronted with these questions by athletes and coaches in our applied work and by students in the fields of sport sciences and psychology. The public’s familiarity with and knowledge about sport psychology has increased over the last decades. Today, most athletes and coaches no longer expect to lie on a couch when consulting a sport psychologist. However, not long ago, when the first author became a sport psychologist of the German men’s national alpine ski team in 1991, a tabloid claimed that the "ski team is working with a psychiatrist". Such a headline would be unlikely today. Ever since the Football World Cup in 2006 when Jürgen Klinsmann, as coach of the German national football team, brought in a sport psychologist, sport psychologists have no longer been mistaken as psychiatrists. But if not to treat psychological disorders, why should athletes and coaches seek the advice of a sport psychologist? The authors of this book have received many different answers to this question in their applied sport psychological work. Sometimes rather specific issues are addressed, such as "to improve the team spirit of my club" or "to get control of my nerves before the start of a competition". At other times, the goals and objectives are more encompassing, such as "to win the championship" or "to avoid relegation". Goals or problems, however, are not always described so concretely. Furthermore, what coaches and athletes describe as reasons for deficient performance may not necessarily be the actual factors interfering with performance. Before a sport psychologist can set up a training programme for improving the mental skills of an athlete, he or she must first know where the problem actually lies. Sport psychologists will use diagnostic tools to get a clearer understanding of the problem situation. On the basis of this diagnosis, the sport psychologist will set up a systematic training programme focussing on the specific problem. This training programme will be based on

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scientific sport psychological knowledge. However, athletes also approach a sport psychologist for reasons other than when they encounter a problem. After all, many sports have recognised that sport psychological training can serve to further optimise an already good performance. Sport psychology has become part of the spectrum of sport sciences that play a role in improving athletic performance. From a modern perspective, sport psychology complements, for example, training science in maximising athletes’ performance capacities. An ideal answer to the question of why an individual came to see a sport psychologist was given by a young speed skater (who later became German champion), who said, "Because this is part of what I need. Mental strength must be trained in the same way as everything else". Although most athletes believe "that a minimum of 50% of the course of a good game is the result of mental or psychological factors", according to an American sport psychologist (Loehr, 1995, p. 15), such mental skills are not practised nearly as often as the importance assigned to them in the statement above would suggest (Waldenmayer & Ziemainz, 2007). Most athletes use only 5%-10% of their entire training time to improve their mental skills (Loehr, 1995).

What is mental strength? In the case of two equally trained and technically developed athletes, one often hears that the mentally stronger one is more likely to win. But what is mental strength or toughness? Loehr provides a short, simple definition of mental toughness: "Mental toughness is the ability to consistently perform toward the upper range of your talent and skill regardless of competitive circumstances" (Loehr, 1995, p. 20). This definition is not really satisfactory though, because it focusses on what is achieved through mental toughness rather than on its constituents. A more recent definition is given by Jones, Hanton & Connaughton (2007). According to these authors, mental toughness is "having the natural or developed psychological edge that enables you to: generally, cope better than your opponents with the many demands (competition, training, lifestyle) that sport places on a performer; specifically, be more consistent and better than your opponents in remaining determined, focused, confident, and in control under pressure." Loehr goes into more detail in describing mental toughness. According to him, mental toughness is composed of four emotional markers (Loehr, 1995, p. 19):

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Emotional flexibility: The ability to handle different situations in a balanced or non-defensive manner. Emotional flexibility also speaks to the skill of drawing on a wide range of positive emotions—humor, fighting spirit, pleasure. Emotional responsiveness: The ability to remain emotionally alert and committed, even if one is under pressure, and to stay engaged in the competitive situation rather than withdrawing. Emotional strength: The ability to handle great emotional force and sustain one’s fighting spirit no matter the circumstances, to mediate one’s own strength and ignore that of one’s adversary even when under pressure, and to express an unyielding fighting spirit even in hopeless situations. Emotional resiliency: The ability to handle setbacks and recover quickly from them; to suffer a blow from one’s opponent and to immediately get into action again; to quickly disregard disappointments, errors and chances that have been missed; and to continue in the competition with full power and concentration.

According to Loehr’s definition, emotions are core elements of mental toughness that strongly impact an individual’s mental strength. Emotions are the organisational nuclei of motivation, as one must be enthusiastic about what one wants to do. Emotions are not everything, though. The socalled cognitive processes, which deal with information processing, are also important. Being able to control one’s thoughts is an important mental skill with several facets. Modern psychology refers to the control of thoughts, emotions and motivation as self-regulation. Self-regulation is another important element of sport psychological training. Clough and Earle address mental toughness more like a personality trait. Their model contains four components: confidence, challenge, control and commitment. Because of these components, it is referred to as the 4 C model (see Clough & Strycharczyk, 2012). These components are certainly elements that are necessary for effective self-regulation. They will therefore be addressed in several chapters of this book. Generally, we refer to mental strength as the ability to effectively apply self-regulatory skills, which make it possible for individuals to achieve their full performance potential even under unfavourable conditions (see chapter 5 for more details).

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Definition and content of sport psychology But first, back to the basic question: What is sport psychology? According to the European Federation of Sport Psychology (FEPSAC, 1995), sport psychology is concerned with the psychological foundations, processes and consequences of the psychological regulation of sportrelated activities of one or several persons acting as the subject(s) of the activity. The focus may be on behaviour or on different psychological dimensions of human behaviour, that is, affective, cognitive, motivational or sensory-motor dimensions. This definition clearly lacks an applied perspective, namely, the practical application of sport psychological knowledge. As a consequence, a relatively large number of books deal with the subject of "sport psychology" but surprisingly few illustrate concretely how sport psychological knowledge can be applied in practice. This is precisely what our book attempts to do. Gabler (1986) defines sport psychological applications as psychologically reflected practice. Considering the continually growing knowledge in sport psychology, however, this definition can no longer be considered adequate. We therefore prefer to speak of a scientifically grounded practice and also see this as a clear distinction from so-called mental trainers, who demonstrate no basic professional training. Today’s applied sport psychologist involved in competitive and high-performance sports provides psychological skills training support to both athletic training and practice and also serves to improve and stabilise the performance potential of athletes in competitive situations. All these interventions are based on scientific knowledge. Psychological training supplies these skills and gives direction on how to effectively practise them. Coaches in particular, when asked why they are consulting a sport psychologist, frequently answer that they want to avoid "going into relegation". In general, sport psychologists try to avoid such assignments, especially if contacted when time is already running out, meaning that the team has already reached relegation or is in last place shortly before the end of the season. Of course, some mental skills can be learned easily and will show effects rather quickly. However, respectable sport psychologists will make it clear that long-term acquisition and mastery of mental skills is necessary, just as it is for technique and condition training. The first thing that a sport psychologist always needs to know is where the exact need for sport psychological intervention lies. This requires systematic diagnosis. Targeted training measures are then developed on the basis of the knowledge attained through the diagnosis. Emergency jobs or "quick

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fixes" are not generally crowned with enduring success and consequently not a tool used by sport psychologists. When a "mental guru" lets a team walk over glowing coals, this may have a short-term, team-building effect and also strengthen the self-confidence of the individual players on a short-term basis. These measures, however, can be likened to a flash in the pan, which flares up only in the short term. Skills that benefit players on a long-term basis are not learned through a quick fix. Reputable sport psychological interventions involve the acquisition of specific mental skills, and this requires long-term training, just as other elements of athletic performance do. One seeks the sport psychologist’s advice because she or he applies scientifically grounded sport psychological knowledge in order to help individuals acquire "mental strength". Sport psychology is a scientific field at the crossing between psychology, sport sciences and medicine. The field of sport psychology involves research on basic psychological knowledge, on the psychological processes in sports and on the effects of these processes on the sport. This knowledge is used to derive scientifically grounded training and practice for optimising behaviour in the specific sport.

What can sport psychology provide? When athletes, coaches or sport officials seek sport psychological support, the sport psychologist will frequently be confronted with high expectations, creating a dilemma: On the one hand, it is encouraging to see that the necessity of seeking the support of a sport psychologist has been recognised, while, on the other hand, the sport psychologist needs to dampen unrealistic expectations. Even if mental strength can provide the winning edge in elite sport, not even the most well-engineered sport psychological training tools will make a below-average football team win the European Cup. Right from the start, one must be sure to set and communicate realistic goals. The authors of this book have furthermore been confronted with the following claim: "It is not actually proven that sport psychology can improve performance." In response, we always point out that athletic performance is an extremely complex phenomenon involving many different components—both physical and psychological. The goal of practice must be to optimise all components; the optimisation of an individual component is by no means a guarantee for achieving a top performance. Although there is ample evidence that psychological training works, we would not restrict sport psychological counselling to

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performance effects alone, but rather to a more general psychological growth of athletes and coaches. Even though sport psychological training is no more a guarantee for athletic success than is physical training, the effectiveness of sport psychological interventions has been repeatedly verified. This is the case for individual aspects (e.g. imagery) as well as for systematic consultancy. Some investigations, for example, show that imagery has fundamental effects on the neural programming of movements (as summarised by Jeannerod, 2001). Positive effects on individual parameters of performance (e.g. muscular growth; Reiser, 2005), motoric learning (Schlicht, 1992) and simple motor performance (e.g. Driskell, Copper & Moran, 1994) have also been empirically documented. Some studies even show that the increase in performance through imagery alone can be larger than that through physical exercise (Minas, 1980). This can be explained by the fact that a complex movement can be executed and consequently programmed more perfectly in one’s mind than through actual performance of the movement itself. Actual performance will almost never be perfect, but can be perfect in mental rehearsal. Ultimately, Eberspächer et al. (2005) found a positive relationship between participation in sport psychological training in preparation for the 2004 Summer Olympic Games and actual performance in Athens. Athletes who had participated in sport psychological training prior to the Games were significantly more successful than those who had not.

What contributions can the neurosciences make to sport psychological practice? In recent years, everything related to the neurosciences has received an enormous amount of attention. "Neuro" sells well, especially for those who still tend to be sceptical towards psychology. However, "not everything labelled neuro actually contains neuro." Many advertising offers with the neuro label can be found, but most of them do not actually involve the application of knowledge developed in the neurosciences. In many cases, pseudoscientific explanations are used that do not have anything to do with modern neuroscientific research. Here, once again, the difference between "mental trainers" of questionable competency, who see their marketing chances improved through the use of the term "neuro," and fundamentally trained sport psychologists becomes apparent. The latter make an attempt to conscientiously use the perspectives provided through neuroscientific research in an appropriate practice.

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The neuroscientific movement (Hollmann, Strüder & Tagarakis, 2005) is still in its infancy. Viewed scientifically, a series of neuroscientific findings support the assumptions of older psychological theories. For example, it has been found that the levels of the neurotransmitter dopamine are highest when the success of the athletic activity is more or less unexpected. No dopamine is released, on the other hand, if the success (or even the failure) appears to be certain (Beck & Beckmann, 2010). Naturally, this has practical consequences for the design of practice. In principle, however, these results correspond to Atkinson’s achievement motivation theory from 1957. According to this theory, at least in individuals who are confident of being successful, the highest level of motivation is instigated by tasks with the greatest insecurity regarding the result (either success or failure). This is the case when the likelihood of success is about 50%. In agreement with the older motivational theories, current neuroscientific results also show that after longer phases of practice, an onset of dopamine release occurs when activity-related stimuli merely involve reward cues. Thus, motivational incentives are perceived. Self-regulation plays a fundamental role in competitive and professional sport. In competition, for example, it is important to stick to one’s competition plan and not give up when it gets tough but rather to mobilise additional energy. Self-regulation is also a necessary condition for maintaining practice during long and exhausting periods of training. This is especially essential if the training in itself is not very stimulating, but nevertheless strenuous. According to current research, the neurotransmitter dopamine is also involved in this kind of self-regulation. The forefront of the cerebrum, the prefrontal cortex, is responsible for executive functions such as self-regulation. However, a greater supply of dopamine in this part of the brain has more than just positive effects, as research has shown. An increase in dopamine levels also increases motivation, which simultaneously increases susceptibility to stress. One can regard this as a neurophysiological explanation for the so-called phenomenon of overmotivation. Interestingly, genetic differences also determine how susceptible an athlete is to this over-motivation (Diamond, 2007). The effectiveness of mental training is also confirmed by neuroscientific research. Various studies report that imagining previously learned movements also leads to increased activation in the brain areas that are relevant for these particular movements. In addition, mental training improves the implementation and planning of previously practised and new tasks (Cross, Hamilton & Grafton, 2006). Over the last decades, neuroscience research has increased our knowledge of brain functions related to athletic performance. From these

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findings, new interventions are being developed in sport psychology, such as pre-activation (priming) of brain regions involved in the implementation of athletic activity (e.g. spatial orientation), or inhibition of brain regions that interfere with optimal performance (see the section "Embodiment" in chapter 5). It is still a vision of the future that the optimal activation of athletic activity can be implemented through biofeedback by registering brain waves in different brain regions through an electroencephalogram (EEG feedback training). However, the research in this area shows that the Yerkes-Dodson law of arousal and performance, which is popular in sport psychology, is far too simple to allow for effective interventions (in regard to this, see the section "Motivation and Activation" in chapter 5). Instead, according to Hanin (2000), one may assume that there is an individual zone of optimal functioning (IZOF). IZOF refers to an individually optimised activation of specific areas of the brain. In an initial step, the IZOF must be determined by using EEG. After that, an athlete’s IZOF could be trained with EEG biofeedback to generate the IZOF prior to a competition. Several sport psychological laboratories are already working on making this vision come true. Nonetheless, it will probably be some time before this "science fiction" can be implemented in practice. The authors are convinced that the neurosciences not only provide explanations for already known issues, but that they can also contribute to newer solutions for older practical sport psychological issues. We believe that the rapid development of neuroscientific research in the field of sport and physical activity will provide deeper insights regarding processes in the brain that are crucial for athletic performance. Further impetus for sport psychological practice can be expected from the neurosciences.

Sport psychological interventions Basic prerequisites Some prerequisites must be met for effective and successful sport psychological coaching. Before beginning a working relationship, all participants should ensure that these requirements are fulfilled.

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Basic prerequisites for sport psychological interventions x x x

Every sport psychological intervention begins with a trustbuilding phase, in which the athletes and the coach get to know the sport psychologist and learn to trust him or her. Each sport psychological procedure should be supported by the team's top management and by the head coach. The sport psychological interventions should be integrated into the regular training schedule.

Sport psychological support needs to be conducted with a great deal of responsibility and care and underlies professional ethical principles. These principles guarantee the welfare of all participants and can be found, for example, on the FEPSAC homepage (www.fepsac.eu), or on the Association for Applied Sport Psychology (www.appliedsportpsych.org) website. These ethical principles include the following: Sport psychologists strive to maintain high competency in all areas of their work. This aim, among other things, demands continuous further education and training. It also means being aware of the limitations of one’s expertise. If necessary, clients with specific problems beyond the expertise of the sport psychologist who was first consulted need to be referred to specialists. • • • •

Sport psychologists should only begin with their work if they have informed all participants and obtained their consent. Sport psychologists are subject to confidentiality and cannot pass on any information to third parties without first receiving written consent. Sport psychologists are upright, which means that they are honest and fair, and are respectful of other colleagues, clients and the general public. Sport psychologists behave in a befitting manner and promote their profession. They have an obligation to their profession and to the public to protect others from unethical behaviour.

Basic orientation and self-image of the sport psychologist Since no international uniform course of education for becoming a sport psychologist is currently available, various sport psychologists may have quite different basic orientations. One sport psychologist, for

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example, may take a behavioural-therapeutic approach, while another may apply systemic therapy and a third may have a background in teaching training sciences. With all these different backgrounds, it is crucial that an alignment be made with the client concerning his or her individual personality and needs. The mindfulness-based approach: Recently, a mindfulness-based approach has been introduced in sport psychology as an alternative to skill-oriented sport psychology. This approach does not need to be seen as contradictory to the other approaches. Rather, the specific challenges in competitive and high-performance sports require diverse and flexible intervention approaches. The basic orientation of mindfulness is to eliminate "disturbances in here-and-now experiences". Over the last 10 years, mindfulness has proven to be a successful therapeutic measure for stress and fear (Evans, Baer & Segerstrom, 2009). The main focus is to learn not to react to what is happening inside oneself (be non-reactive) and, more important, not to judge this (be non-judgemental), but to merely notice and to accept it. A mindful approach can be helpful in sport psychology, but it cannot cover the entire spectrum of necessary or requested forms of support. Often sport psychological interventions need to be conducted under time pressure when the client demands rapid solutions. The expectations towards sport psychologists are often clear: Concrete help and training measures are expected to solve problems prior to an upcoming competition. Of course, sport psychologists must always ask themselves whether or not they want to accept such job requests. Such requests are nonetheless common in initial contacts with a sport psychologist. If one does not accept the job, those asking for support might develop the impression that sport psychology cannot provide help where it is needed. Athletes and coaches who request sport psychological support are primarily looking for orientation and security. A non-committal, non-goaloriented, mindfulness-oriented approach often does not meet needs or satisfy expectations. In addition, athletes can find it strange and unpleasant to take over responsibility for the content of interventions at such an early stage in the working relationship. We therefore do not find the mindfulness-based approach to be suitable when initiating a working relationship with an athlete or when concrete problem situations need to be resolved. Nonetheless, this approach is valuable and can be well integrated into a more extensive concept. A systemic approach, for example, delivers a good framework for this.

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The systemic approach: In the systemic approach (see, e.g. Nicholls & Schwartz, 2004), athletes are considered to be relationship-oriented individuals. Each individual lives in a context with diverse psychosocial conditions and interaction patterns. According to the systemic approach, every action of an athlete constitutes action and reaction in the athlete’s own system of personal experiences, as well as the basic conditions of participating in the athlete’s sport. This involves people who are significant for the athlete, such as coaches, officials, friends and acquaintances. The systemic approach assumes that there is no objective appraisal of a problem situation, since the sport psychologist can never know for sure what is truly or "objectively" good for the client. Consequently, a sport psychologist with a systemic background will consider an athlete to be the best expert for him- or herself. The sport psychologist assumes the role of a neutral process companion and does not decide for the client. If, for example, the athlete has concentration problems prior to competitions, the sport psychologist will present different interventions (after targeted discussions), or so-called invitations, from which the individual can select those that seem best suited. These suggestions are based on scientific knowledge and can thus be categorised as an interdisciplinary intervention. Consequently, a pre-start routine is derived not only from scientific knowledge involving the problem, but also from the athlete’s own wealth of experience. The athlete’s autonomy is maintained and strengthened, the athlete’s competence is supported, and the athlete’s own resources are activated. The advice given is determined from an individual context, and the process steps and results are open. The sport psychologist will always try to achieve a balance between stimulating helpful search processes and respecting autonomy. The systemic approach is solution and resource oriented. The resources lie within the individuals themselves. The sport psychologist does not search an individual’s past to look for the solution, in contrast to the approach used in many other psychotherapeutic procedures. Professionals instead work systemically by concentrating on the present and how changes for the future can be brought about. The causes for a problem only become relevant in exceptional situations. The following question is characteristic of this approach: "Which option do you prefer—discovering the cause of the problem but not being able to solve it, or finding the solution but not knowing the cause"? In the systemic approach, the athlete is not viewed in an isolated way; rather, the entire system that the athlete is involved in is considered. A systemic process analysis attempts to unfold a habit-driven system that

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might have produced the problematic pattern. In particular, the thought and action patterns of the athlete should be disclosed in order for him or her to gain autonomous goal regulation and to improve communication patterns. With the aid of questions and by pointing out inconsistencies, the psychologist tries to disturb the balance of the system to instigate the evolution of a new, more appropriate, balance through the development of new behavioural patterns and perceptions. As outlined above regarding mindfulness, sport psychologists can also work in a not purely systemic manner, since the expectations of athletes and coaches, as well as the frequently present time pressure, will not always permit this. However, the systemic approach is suitable for creating the foundation that shapes the contact with clients. Preserving neutrality (in relation to clients, problems and solutions), as well as being appreciative, lays the foundation for trustful cooperation. This also means that the sport psychologist accepts the coaches and athletes as experts and communicates this to them. The hypnosis approach: Another approach that has proven useful in recent years is hypnosis. Through the induction of a state of trance, a gateway to unconscious processes can be opened. With trance, a change of the hitherto dominating unconscious handling of problem situations, stress and pressure can be achieved. Self-confidence can also be increased and pain treatment is possible. Cases from the first author’s experience with hypnosis are reported in chapter 8 of this book. The hybrid approach: We believe that modern sport psychologists— given that they have the professional background—should not be exclusively focussed on just one approach, but that they should be flexible in applying the approach that best fits the problem and the individual. Even though an athlete might expect to be taught specific psychological skills, no basis for a trustful relationship can be created if the athlete does not feel understood and is not taken seriously, but merely provided with standard solutions. A modern sport psychologist needs to adapt his or her role to the specific situation. In some cases, an expert for mental skills is needed and in other cases, a process-oriented companion is called for. Depending on the existing motives, potentials and deficits, sport psychologists contribute to the development of alternatives in an appreciative manner. "Sport-psychologists provide as much security as necessary and as few prefabricated solutions as possible. Sport psychologists are custom tailors with partial standardisations" (Liesenfeld,

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2009). As the discussion in this section has shown, modern sport psychologists, like modern psychotherapists, make use of different intervention approaches. It is essential for professional sport psychological work to always proceed in a problem- and client-oriented manner and to use whichever tools appear to be appropriate in the given situation.

Structure Quality management and training plan An essential feature of the quality of sport psychological support, both for the athlete and for the coach, is the transparency of the programme being undertaken regarding content, time demands and costs. One should always strive to apply quality management while conducting sport psychological services. By providing a clear structure and transparent characteristics for these services, one can create an obvious distinction between a high-quality, scientifically grounded practice of sport psychology and that practised by so-called mental trainers, who demonstrate no relevant qualifications. Applied sport psychology has been described as being a scientifically reflected practice (Gabler, 1986). However, sufficiently reliable sport psychological research has been conducted to allow applied sport psychology to be carried out as a scientifically grounded practice (Beckmann & Kellmann, 2008a). This means that interventions in sport psychology can be systematically derived from existing scientific knowledge. Scientifically educated, licensed sport psychologists, who can be found in almost every Western country, differ from so-called mental trainers through their systematic mode of approach in implementing sport psychological training. When a request for sport psychological services is accepted, the sport psychologist clarifies at the very beginning that the intervention consists of clearly defined, successive steps that build on each other. From these steps, a training plan can be derived that defines the time frame for the sport psychological programme. This training plan should adhere to the periodisation principle, which is well-known in training sciences. We have heard coaches and athletes complain that sport psychology books are either too theoretical or that they mainly contain a more or less random collection of different mental training exercises. We believe that it is necessary to define a structure of coaching and to systematise sport psychological interventions. In order to do so, we have integrated the different skills and methods into one spatial-temporal, structural model of

14

Chapterr One

sport psychoological interrvention. Thiss model is preesented in Fig. 1-1. It describes spport psycholoogical practicee as being a systematic procedure, which, on thhe one hand, serves s to teach h and to train bbasic mental skills. s On the other haand, after strrengths and weaknesses w arre diagnosed,, specific interventionns can be deteermined. Thiss procedure ccan be used to o solve a problem, for instance, inn order to dettermine why a "practice ch hampion" demonstratees outstandingg performancee in practice, but is unablee to attain his or her ppotential wheen competing. In addition,, athletes witthout any current issuees can optimisse their situatiion by trainingg mental skills in order to be best pprepared for critical c situatio ons that mighht arise in futture. This means that applied sporrt psychology y includes preeventive, traiining and interventionn aspects. This systematisation and a structurin ng is by no meeans an indicaation that sport psychoologists approoach each ind dividual case aaccording to a specific rule book. A Although we are presentin ng here a genneral structuree of sport psychologiccal training, it must not be forgotten fo that aathletes are in ndividuals who demonnstrate specifiic characteristics. These inndividual feaatures are determined iin the diagnosstic process.

Fig. 1-1: Struucture of sport psychological support, presennted from both h a content and temporall point of view w. The top leveel, "monitoring ", represents a temporal continuum tthat should accompany all three levels throughout the t entire intervention pprocess.

Sport Psychological Perspectives

15

The structure described herein provides the general framework for systematic, high-quality sport psychological support. This framework needs to be adapted, however, on the basis of the diagnostic process and includes an interventional or training programme that is tailor-made for each individual athlete. More precisely, as shown in Fig. 1-2, this even involves a continued process of custom tailoring. In Fig. 1-1, the basic structure of sport psychological interventions is presented from a content and temporal point of view.

Diagnostics By diagnostics, we mean sport psychological or psychological interviews; systematic observations of athletes, coaches and group behaviour; and sport psychological or psychological tests (questionnaires and computer-based tests, e.g. to measure attention). Systematic diagnostics in applied sport psychology should be conducted in two steps. At the beginning of sport psychological coaching, a collection of a few basic individual difference measures is helpful. Even if the athlete does not approach the sport psychologist with a specific problem, it is useful to analyse the athlete’s general orientations and experiences (e.g. routine slumps in performance during the second set of a tennis match). Sport psychologists communicate these diagnostics as an analysis of current strengths and weaknesses. Rather than focussing on specific problems, this diagnostic process aims to produce a first view of the individual personalities of the athletes that the sport psychologist is going to work with. Usually, this initial diagnostic process includes the Achievement Motives Scale (AMS-Sport), the Sport Orientation Questionnaire (SOQ), the Action Control Scale-Sport (ACS-Sport) and the Volitional Components Questionnaire-Sport (VCQ-Sport), which are described in chapter 3 ("Diagnostics"). In addition, some biographical information about the athlete is collected. The second step should be a problem-centred diagnosis that provides reliable information on a given problem and thus establishes a basis for the deduction of a sport psychological intervention (Beckmann & Kellmann, 2008b). Generally, the diagnostic process deals with ascertaining the athlete’s individual need to undergo training of specific skills. Fig. 1-2, for instance, shows a golfer’s profile of strengths and weaknesses, as assessed by the Mental Golf Profile (MGP; Beckmann, in press). The MGP assesses personality characteristics that are especially relevant for playing golf.

Chapterr One

16

Fig. 1-2: A goolfer’s strengths and weaknessses, as determinned through the use of the Mental Golf P Profile (MGP; Beckmann, B in press). p

Psycholoogical diagnoostics have multiple funnctions in sp port, for instance, iddentifying prooblems regarding concenttration or mo otivation. Furthermoree, planning the interven ntions profitss from the use of psychologiccal instrumentts, for examp ple, the "Tesst of Attentional and Interpersonaal Style" (N Nideffer, 1976), or the "Psychological Skills Inventory" ((Mahoney, Gaabriel & Perk kins, 1987) to mention two.. In some countries, a database is available a that lists sport-rellated assessment tools, along with psychometriic data on these t tools ((quality criteeria). For example, in Germany, a diagnostic d porrtal can be fouund on the Internet that makes thesee sport-specifi fic psychologiical questionnnaires easily accessible a (www.bisp-sportpsycholoogie.de). An advantage off these instru uments is that they innclude normss. This mean ns that the spport psycholo ogist can compare an individual athhlete’s result with w the norm ms for a specifi fic sample of elite athleetes and comee to a conclusion on the basiis of this comp parison. The moddel of systemaatic sport psycchological inttervention, as shown in Fig. 1-1, desscribes three levels: x x x

Bassic training Skiill training Criisis interventioon

Sport Psychological Perspectives

17

The content of these three levels is described in Table 1-1. Basic training Breathing exercises

Skill training Goal setting

Progressive muscle relaxation Autogenous training

Self-regulation

Team building

Mental training of specific movements Self-confidence Attention regulation

Crisis intervention Rehabilitation following injuries Dealing with failure Psychotherapy Career termination Conflicts within the team

Imagery Table 1-1 Content of the different levels of sport psychological intervention.

Basic training Basic training entails different relaxation techniques that build on one another step by step (see chapter 4) (cf. Kellmann & Beckmann, 2004). The first element is breathing relaxation, the easiest relaxation technique to learn. Because applying breathing relaxation does not result in a loss of the necessary competitive tension, it can also be applied in competitions for short-term calming, stopping disruptive thoughts and regaining concentration. The next step is progressive muscle relaxation, which, by way of "cultivating one’s muscle senses", also has an influence on the development of one’s sensitivity to movement. Only after these techniques are mastered well should the athlete learn a more difficult relaxation procedure, namely, autogenous training. Since this technique has the strongest psychotropic effects of the three, it can potentially contribute to the long-term development of a balanced personality. Basic training does not require a preceding diagnosis. It is assumed that basic training deals with the basics that each athlete should be able to perform. A further important element of basic training is team building, a process that is explained in more detail in chapter 4.

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Chapter One

Skill training In contrast to basic training, the second level, namely, the training of specific mental skills, is closely connected to the diagnostic process. Diagnostics serve to define the athlete’s mental strengths and weaknesses. From this, one can determine which mental skills need to be trained in order to enhance performance. If one neglects to assess the athlete’s strengths and weaknesses, psychological skills training may end up being done in areas in which the athlete already has effective skills. This may lead to interferences such that competing skills can block one another. The resulting confusion could subsequently affect self-regulation and performance. In general, athletes—especially so-called action-oriented athletes (assessed through the ACS-Sport)—have good self-regulatory skills. If one tries to teach these athletes other skills, this may provoke reactance or lead to complete withdrawal (Elbe, Beckmann & Szymanski, 2003a). Skill training is described in more detail in chapters 5 and 8.

Crisis intervention The first two levels continuously extend throughout the entire intervention process. The third level, crisis intervention, however, is geared at situations requiring immediate intervention. Crisis intervention, for instance, is applied in the event of conflicts within a team, or between an athlete and the coach, as well as in cases involving injuries. This third level uses both the relaxation techniques of basic training and the skills learned in advanced training. Different forms of crisis intervention are presented in chapter 7.

Monitoring In addition, the entire intervention process should be accompanied by continuous monitoring of the athlete’s stress and recovery levels. In this way, recovery and stress imbalances can be recognised in time and conflicts can be identified. Monitoring may serve yet another important function. By applying Kellmann and Kallus’ (2000) Recovery-Stress Questionnaire for Athletes (RESTQ-Sport), it is possible to evaluate the effectiveness of the sport psychological interventions that are used (see the process model in Fig. 1-3).

Spoort Psychologiccal Perspectivess

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Fig. 1-3: Proccess model of spport psychologiical interventionn.

Further reading r Williams, J. M. (Ed.). (20006). Applied sport psycho logy: Persona al growth to peak pperformance (5th ( ed). Bosto on, MA: McG Graw Hill. Zaichkowskky, L. (Ed.). 20014. Psychoph hysiology andd neurosciencee in sport [Special issue]. Journaal of Clinical Sport Psychoology.

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Image 1.1. Photo: Das Büro for Team Danmark

CHAPTER TWO PERSONALITY AND PERSONALITY DEVELOPMENT

Introduction From the personal experiences of the authors, top-ranking athletes mostly have extraordinary personalities. That is not surprising. The many years of training calling for huge efforts in dealing with competitive pressure demand mental toughness with regard to endurance, selfmotivation and willpower. Individuals differ in regard to the strength of these characteristics. In everyday conversation, this is frequently referred to as having a "strong personality". But what is personality? What characterises a strong personality? Does this involve innate characteristics, which could also be considered as predetermined psychological talent criteria, or can such characteristics be developed? Can they perhaps even be developed systematically along with athletic talents?

In applied work, the following questions in regard to personality are of importance: x x x

How can one detect performance-enhancing personality factors in athletes? Can one select athletes on the basis of their personality characteristics, for example, as an indication of talent? Can one develop an "athletic" personality?

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If top-level athletes have extraordinary personalities, coaches and other members of the support team often want to know: How do I work with such a strong personality? This question is especially important because many young talents with strong personalities drop out from sports because their coaches do not recognise or pay attention to these strengths (Elbe et al., 2003a). Individuals with strong personalities are frequently considered not to be very sociable because they are self-confident, know what they want and are not always willing to conform. Additional names for these characteristics of a strong personality are mental toughness and hardiness.

What is personality? In the general psychological understanding, the concept of personality represents those characteristics of a person that explain a consistent behaviour pattern (Cervone & Pervin, 2014). In personality psychology, these characteristics or traits are frequently considered to be relatively stable. According to trait theory, an individual’s personality is made up of different core characteristics. Cattel (1957) assumed there to be 16 such core characteristics. These characteristics can be assessed, for example, with the 16PF personality test. Current personality psychology, on the other hand, considers there to be only five personality elements, namely, the "Big Five". In independent studies performed in the 1970s, Paul Costa and Robert McCrae, as well as Warren Norman and Lewis Goldberg, discovered the following: Most human personality characteristics can be described by means of five personality dimensions, independent of the respective language or culture (Costa & McCrae, 1985). In the field of psychology, the Big Five is the most extensively accepted model of personality today.

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"Big-Five" personality characteristics x

x x

x

x

Extraversion (outgoing/energetic vs. solitary/reserved = introvert): talkative, skilled in play and humour, rapid personal tempo, facially and gesturally expressive, behaves assertively, gregarious Neuroticism (sensitive/nervous vs. secure/confident): thinskinned, brittle ego defences, self-defeating, basically anxious, concerned with adequacy, fluctuating moods Openness for experiences (inventive/curious vs. consistent/cautious): wide range of interests, introspective, unusual thought processes, values intellectual matters, judges in unconventional terms, aesthetically reactive Agreeableness (friendly/compassionate vs. analytical/detached): not critical or sceptical, behaves in giving way, sympathetic, considerate, arouses liking, warm, compassionate, basically trustful Conscientiousness (efficient/organised vs. easy-going/careless): dependable, responsible, productive, able to delay gratification, not self-indulgent, behaves ethically, has high aspiration level

Personality research has identified some basic patterns of human personality. The most important result of this research is that it refuted the widespread assumption that personality remains unchangeable after the age of 30 years. In fact, personality changes continuously, but the precise pattern of change depends on the respective characteristic. This is discussed in more detail at the end of this chapter. When we speak of personality characteristics in this book, we are first referring to individual differences. We are not looking at the entire personality, that is, the organisation of the different characteristics of a person, but we instead attempt to pursue a more pragmatic approach (Jarvis, 2006), which moves individual, single characteristics into the centre. When considering such individual differences, questions such as the following arise: Why is one athlete able to control his or her nerves and successfully convert the decisive penalty kick while the other athlete fails? Why are all players of a team not committed to the performance goals? As in other areas, there are strong individual differences among athletes with regard to psychological characteristics. Such personality characteristics can enhance athletic performance, but may also impede it. Additionally,

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such different personality characteristics may require specific coaching behaviours. The fundamental question, however, is this: What is the significance of these personality factors in and for sport? The particular question of interest in this book relates to the role that the sport psychologist can play. In order to answer this question, one needs to take a closer look at how sport and personality are related. This controversial question is investigated in the following section.

Is there a relationship between sport and personality? Many textbooks on sport psychology claim that there is no relationship between sport and personality. Neither is sport is considered to have an influence on personality development, nor has it been confirmed that a relationship exists between personality characteristics and athletic performance (e.g. Bakker, Whiting & van der Brug, 1990). Empirical investigations on the relationship between athletic involvement and personality have delivered inconsistent results (cf. Roberts, 1992). This finding comes as a surprise to many practitioners (e.g. coaches), who are confronted with the different personalities of athletes on a daily basis. Conzelmann (2001) examined this question in depth. He comes to the conclusion that this contradiction between research findings and the coaches’ experiences is based on the fact that the studies used only general personality measures. However, no relationship between general personality factors and sport performance can be expected; rather, research should use sport-specific measures that take into account the profiles of individual sport types when investigating the relationship. For the practitioner, personality factors are important for sport performance. This primarily relates to the question of who is willing to train hard and continues to train hard. Expressed in psychological terms, this refers to motivation and volition. Motives are fundamental personality factors, which are essential for successful activity in competition and in competitive sport, independent of the specific demands and profiles of the individual sports. As Sack summarises, "the world of (professional) competitive sport is such that individuals with a certain combination of characteristics will be motivated to either remain or to withdraw from the system" (1980, p. 223). In competitive sport, it is particularly obvious that the achievement motive should be an important personality characteristic. Here again the question arises as to whether a person whose dedication to performance is stimulated by athletic incentives also receives the same inspiration from a difficult mathematical exercise. Personality characteristics

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can be domain specific, for example, related only to the field of sport or only to the field of mathematics. A relationship between sport and personality can be assumed if there is a functional relationship between the two. This pertains to which personality characteristics an athlete needs in a certain sport in order to be successful. These personality characteristics also need to be measured specifically with regard to sport or even with regard to a specific sport.

Selection and socialisation hypothesis In older sport psychological research, two models were primarily used to explain the relationship between sport and personality: the selection hypothesis and the socialisation hypothesis. Selection hypothesis: The selection hypothesis assumes that there is a pattern of different personality characteristics that stimulates individuals to participate in sport. Individuals who demonstrate a favourable—or the most favourable—combination of these personality characteristics participate in the sport, remain involved and are successful. Those who lack these characteristics either do not initiate a sport activity, or rather quickly discontinue their involvement. From this, it is assumed that beginners (novices) and successful athletes (experts) have similar personality profiles, since it is these profiles that ultimately determine the particular suitability for the type of sport and also for success in this sport. Only the strength of these characteristics may change over the course of a career. This model ignores environmental influences, since personality is the main focus of attention and interactions are not taken into consideration. Socialisation hypothesis: The socialisation hypothesis is completely different from the selection hypothesis. Here, one assumes that individuals begin with a sport without demonstrating a specific personality pattern corresponding to this particular sport. Those who continue in this type of sport and also achieve success either do so by changing existing and alterable personality characteristics, or by gradually reducing unsuitable patterns (Singer & Haase, 1975, p. 31) in order to attain more suitable patterns. According to the socialisation hypothesis, homogeneous personality patterns would not be expected in beginners, but would instead only be found in successful athletes. In addition, it is assumed here that the existing personality characteristics can change and, in consequence, are not stable. Both the selection and the socialisation hypotheses have a high degree of relevance in practice. The selection hypothesis ultimately considers

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whether particular personality characteristics are a basis for a successful career. In other words, this hypothesis is concerned with talent selection. On the one hand, the socialisation hypothesis is concerned with whether or not one can change a personality through sport, for example, by gaining more self-composure and concentration by playing golf. This idea, on the other hand, also involves the assumption that the personality characteristics of young, talented athletes can be developed in a targeted manner, in the sense of talent promotion and development.

Findings regarding the selection hypothesis A series of investigations appear to provide support for the selection hypothesis. From an investigation into the achievement motive in sports, Gabler established that "a greater hope for success and a reduced fear of failure are significant requirements for maintaining the willingness to perform in training over a longer period of time" (Gabler, 1995, p. 90). According to Gabler, the lower the hope for success (the success motive) and the higher the fear of failure (failure motive), the more probable it is that there will be a reduction in or a discontinuation of athletic training. Thomassen and Halvari (1996) found a significantly positive connection between the hope for success and the extent of high-performance athletic training and athletic success. In contrast to this, a strong failure motive correlated negatively with athletic success. These investigations cannot, however, exclude the possibility that a change in the motives occurred over time through socialisation. This is because personality factors were measured only at one point and their development was not taken into consideration. Only if young, talented athletes are followed up in a longitudinal study can one exclude the possibility that these differences did not emerge through socialisation. Longitudinal studies indeed indicate that the selection hypothesis can be justified. In an investigation carried out with students of a sport boarding school over the course of 6 years, Elbe, Beckmann and Szymanski (2003b) discovered that young, talented athletes at the time of their selection already showed a lower fear of failure than did students from a comparable school who were not involved in competitive sports. In another longitudinal investigation focussing on the achievement motives of elite students at a sport school, Seidel (2005) found that high hope for success was related to high athletic performance. Other studies that used different questionnaires to assess the achievement motive showed similar results. Gill and Deeter (1988) applied the Sport Orientation Questionnaire (SOQ) and found that

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competitive orientation is higher in US high-performance athletes than in those athletes who do not participate in competitive sports. White and Duda’s (1994) investigation in which they used the Task and Ego Orientation in Sport Questionnaire shows that college-level highperformance athletes demonstrate a higher level of ego orientation than do competitive high school athletes. Hellandsig (1998), who also used the SOQ, found that high competitive orientation and low win orientation predicted future high athletic performance in all types of sport over the next 3 years in young, talented Norwegian athletes. This means that the high-performing athletes had already distinguished themselves from the lower performing athletes 3 years before this performance. The reported research findings speak in favour of the fact that relatively general, stable personality characteristics, such as the achievement motive, are relevant for athletic performance. They can therefore, with a certain degree of caution, be considered as "psychological criteria for talent" that can be taken into account when making a decision regarding the selection of an athlete. Later in the book, though, we plead the case for more differentiated, developmentally oriented, considerations when making such decisions.

Findings regarding the socialisation hypothesis Aside from the question of selection (e.g. "Does this talent have a sufficiently high achievement motive?"), questions related to optimal talent development are of concern. How can one develop an athlete’s personality in such a way that it will provide a good basis for stable performance? Among other things, it is important to provide an optimal environment, since most personality characteristics are only relatively stable—that is to say, not unchangeable. The environment can be altered by creating specific situations (e.g. by becoming a member in a training group). A change in the environment can also occur through more longterm changes (e.g. beginning or ending friendships with members of the training group). The athlete’s parent plays a major role among the environmental factors. Most of the time, parents want the best for their children but have little understanding about the psychological situation of a young athlete. Sport psychology can support athletes’ parents through parent coaching, which is addressed later. Life in a sport boarding school represents a particular environmental situation. The question is whether such an institution has positive or negative socialisation effects. Armstrong (1984) analysed sport-related boarding schools in England and the United States. He came to the

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conclusion that sport supports the acquisition of skills such as cooperation and fairness. This question was more specifically addressed in Beckmann et al.’s (2006) longitudinal elite sport school study, which took place from 1998 to 2004. The research results showed that the specific environmental conditions had an influence on the talent’s personality development. The main differences were determined by whether the athletic talents lived at home with their families or lived in the sport boarding school, where they were nearly constantly influenced by the athletic context. The main focus of the study was on personality factors that were especially relevant for athletic performance in different sports, namely, motivation and will (i.e. volitional characteristics). In our opinion, these personality characteristics are core elements for mental toughness and hardiness, which have been shown to be important for athletic performance. When the living conditions within the group of athletic students were compared, it could be shown that those living at the boarding school demonstrated a positive development in their self-regulatory skills, whereas this was not the case for young athletes living at home. For the latter athletes, their self-regulatory skills decreased over the course of the investigation. Boarding-school students can evidently profit from this environment when it comes to developing self-regulation. Interestingly, this socialisation effect seemed to emerge directly after school enrolment (Szymanski et al., 2004). For the observed developmental advantages in those living at a boarding school, the introductory phase in the new environment of the sport school appears to play a central role. Just living through and experiencing this period, which is often described as a time of crisis (cf. Cookson & Persell, 1985), is apparently not necessarily negative but, with regard to volition, is even beneficial. Precisely during this time, a stronger contact with same-aged peers can be observed among those living in the boarding school. When asked about their leisure-time activities, those students living on campus indicate that they spend significantly more time together with friends than do those students living at home with their parents (Elbe & Beckmann, 2002). This means that after joining the new school, those students who live on campus spend more time with friends, but the students living at home, because of the time it takes to commute between home, school and training facilities, have less time to spend with friends. A relationship between the development of volitional skills and leisure-time activities can therefore be assumed. Participating in athletic training is not the only explanation for this; rather, the sport boarding school offers the opportunity for spending more time with peers and offers favourable interactional spaces for the development of self-regulation.

Personality and Personality Development

Image 2.1. Photo: Christopher Loch

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Chapter Two

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Especially when starting at such a school, those students living on campus need to invest more effort in building up new friendships in the boarding school, alongside their efforts in school and in training. They have to prove and assert themselves in the different domains, as well as to evaluate and question their own position in these settings. It takes time and effort until the students can consider the contact with their peers as "being together with friends". Studies conducted by Cookson and Persell (1985) additionally confirm the need for those living in a boarding school to belong to a clique as soon as possible and to thereby experience safety and support. This increased necessity to challenge one’s own social role favours the observed development of volitional skills. And, being confronted with failure, which is an innate part of performance situations in sports, leads one to positive development in the volitional component of coping with failure. As already discussed in connection with the selection hypothesis, this is an important basis for favourable career development in high-performance sports.

Change of personality characteristics – personality development In line with the socialisation hypothesis, society frequently assumes that sport serves to "build one’s character". Ewing et al. (2002) believe that sport has a positive influence on a child’s development in many ways: x x x x x x

Development of fitness Development of social competence Development of physical competence Support of moral development Reduction of aggression General education

Ideally, sport is a means to develop good character traits, such as fairness, self-control, courage, endurance, loyalty and cooperation (Shields & Bredemeier, 1995, p. 174). The philosopher Peter Arnold (1984), referring to Kant’s term of selfdiscovery, believes that moral self-discovery in sports is possible if the participants take personal responsibility for how the sport is performed and do not pass responsibility on to coaches or functionaries. Self-esteem is necessary in order to take on this responsibility. Self-esteem is based on positive self-appraisal (self-worth) and confidence in being able to realise

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one’s own intentions (self-confidence). Self-worth and self-confidence play a central role in sports. According to Arnold, cheating is not only bad sport, but it is no sport at all. In accordance with this, a large part of today’s elite sport would no longer be considered to be sport. Even if one does consider this to be sport, numerous researchers are nevertheless sceptical as to whether participation in competitive sports has a positive influence on building one’s character. Leonard (1972) even believes that if sport builds character, then that character would suit a criminal. Ogilvie and Tutko published an article in 1971 with the title, "Sport: If you want to build character, try something else". These opinions are quite radical and not based on representative research. But the statements indicate that sport is certainly not isolated from society. Scientific findings regarding the question of whether sport has an impact on personality development are ambivalent. Team sports give opportunities for learning cooperation and competition, as well as for developing social competence. But mere participation in sport is not sufficient for this to occur. Following from Kohn’s (1986) research, competition actually furthers the development of antisocial behaviour. Some findings show a more negative social behaviour in competitive athletes than in persons who are not participating in competitive sports, for example, greater prejudice and more aggressive potential (Kleiber & Roberts, 1983; Muir & Seitz, 2004; Shields, 1999). This could be related to the changing values in today’s "success culture" in sport, which causes this socialisation. According to Grupe (2000), elite sports are geared towards having an effect on television, creating suspense and providing mass entertainment. Victory is the only thing that matters and the end justifies the means. Thus, "fairness" seems to be disappearing. This can be witnessed in doping behaviour or in the fact that it is seen as tactically clever to eliminate strong adversaries as quickly as possible through brutal fouls. Furthermore, athletic stars’ instrumental aggression has a role model effect (Muir & Seitz, 2004; Smith & Stewart, 2003). A clearly negative development can be seen as the athletes get older: Fairness decreases with age. Success and victory become ever more important at any price. These findings are by no means based only on recent studies (McAfee, 1955). In contrast, some investigations support the assumption that sport builds character. Armstrong’s above-mentioned study about boardingschool students concludes that sport serves to educate them to be gentlemen. Kirkcaldy, Shephard and Siefen (2002) investigated 998 German teenagers and found that those who regularly participated in sport had a more positive perception of themselves, demonstrated better mental health, smoked less and drank less alcohol.

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Hastie and Sharpe (1999) carried out a sport programme with 20 delinquent Australian youths. "Fair play" was particularly emphasised in this sport programme. An improvement in the classroom behaviour of these youths, as well as in their social interactions, could be observed after the end of the programme. However, the sport programme clearly focussed on pro-social behaviour, whereas the "cult of success" in competitively oriented sport focusses on other values. It is clear that the direction that personality development takes in sport is not only dependent on participation in sport itself, but it is also influenced by significant others in the sport environment. Coaches in particular play a critical role. Shields (1999) was able to show that to the same degree to which the coach demonstrated intimidation and power as a behaviour, intimidation and power were also used by the young athletes in order to achieve their goals. A change in personality factors can also be brought about through systematic sport psychological intervention. Long-term training with relaxation measures, especially autogenous training, can develop greater self-composure with regard to challenging training and competitive situations and can develop the perception that one can effectively deal with these situations (Kellmann & Beckmann, 2004). Even the tendency to ruminate over failures (failure-related state orientation) or to have problems in making decisions (planning/decision-related state orientation) can be altered through learning programmes (which were originally derived from behavioural therapy) (Hartung & Schulte, 1994). Wikman et al. (2014) further demonstrated a significant reduction in fear of failure in young elite athletes by conducting goal-setting training over 12 weeks. In order for sport to have a "character-building" effect, specific learning programmes are necessary. Simply participating in sport, particularly in competitively oriented sport, could, according to the available findings, bring about the opposite effect. Shields and Bredemeier (1995, 209ff.) give the following recommendations for how sport could be performed should it function to "build character": x

x

Perform exercises in which the participants must coordinate their perspectives and must develop a feeling for common interests. One should begin with this before the children start playing on competitively oriented teams. In group settings, children or adolescents should discuss with one another the rules under which their athletic actions should be conducted. In the further course, one should again and again

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x x

33

provide feedback on whether and how these rules have been adhered to. This should develop a feeling of solidarity. What is morally acceptable and what is not should be clearly distinguished. The use of power by the coach should serve to develop selfdetermination. Thereby, the athlete, depending on the age of development, will be delegated to be as responsible as possible for his or her own development. Care is to be taken to see that no imbalance in power develops between the athletes in the training group.

Further reading Silva, J. M., & Stevens, D. E. (Ed.). (2002). Psychological foundations of sport (2nd. ed.). Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon.

CHAPTER THREE DIAGNOSTICS

Procedure and basic principles As described in chapter 1, diagnostics are an essential element of systematic sport psychological support. Sometimes sport organisations contact sport psychologists so that they can base decisions on selection or rejection of young athletes on sport psychological diagnostics. Talent research has shown that, in general, reliable career predictions are not feasible. At present, there is no evidence that would completely justify selection and rejection decisions based on psychological or sport psychological diagnostics. When asked to support an organisation regarding such decisions, we inform the organisations that what we can do is assess current psychological strengths and weaknesses of a young athlete. This information could be used in the talent development process that is part of the sport psychological support we provide. When starting to work with an athlete, the first step should be to explain what sport psychological support means and to build a trusting relationship with that athlete. Subsequently, the sport psychologist develops an impression of what the athlete’s mental strengths are and, more particularly what the athlete’s weaknesses are, through an initial diagnostic process. This process should consist of only a few elementary tests such as the Sport Orientation Questionnaire (SOQ). Acquisition of this information is followed by a dialogue between the sport psychologist and the athlete. Communication of the test results to the athlete is used as a starting point for getting to know the athlete’s situation better. From the results of this conversation, the sport psychologist develops further hypotheses about an athlete’s problem by testing with more specific diagnostics. If the information gathered in these first two steps appears to be sufficient, customised psychological skills training can be designed that meets the individual athlete’s needs. Different tools can be used for sport psychological diagnostics.

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Initial diagnostics For the first impression of the athlete’s strengths and weaknesses, a small standard set of basic tests appears to be best practice. The authors of this book found it helpful in their counselling to start with the Achievement Motives Scale-Sport (AMS-Sport), the SOQ, the Action Control Scale-Sport (ACS-Sport) and the Volitional Components Questionnaire-Sport (VCQ-Sport) instruments. By applying these questionnaires, the sport psychologist can gain first insights into the athletes’ goals, their achievement orientation, their tendencies to worry or ruminate, and their self-regulatory skills. In the subsequent private conversation with the athlete, the sport psychologist explains the meaning of the athlete’s test results and asks whether they describe the athlete’s behaviour adequately by giving examples of typical situations. This dialogue usually provides more indepth information on what the athlete would like to be done. The explanation of the test results will help the athlete to better understand the problem and will promote an interest in a psychological training programme to change unfavourable processing or reactions. However, sometimes the initial diagnostics will not provide sufficient information to understand the problem, but will indicate that there is need for further diagnostics.

Practical example Initial diagnostics were conducted with the 30 players of a professional third league football team. The average age of the players was 21. The two "oldies" were 26 years of age. After an introductory presentation about how the players could profit from sport psychology, the sport psychologist explained that in order to get to know the players, it would be helpful if they would fill out a few questionnaires that he had found useful and subsequently have a conversation with him about their perspectives on future development. The players were told that the information obtained through the questionnaires would be completely confidential, but it might also be helpful for the coaches to receive the results in order to optimise their coaching of each player. At this point, it was stressed that whether or not the coaches—and only the coaches—received the questionnaire results was the individual player’s decision. The set of questionnaires handed out contained a question at the top asking if they wanted the questionnaire data disclosed to the coaches. The questionnaire set contained the SOQ, the ACS-Sport and the VCQ-Sport. Only one third of the players indicated

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that they wanted the questionnaire information disclosed to the coaches. In private conversations with each player, the meaning of the questionnaire scores was explained and how these scores reflected the player’s behaviour was further explored. The players found that the questionnaire data described them well and they used these data to disclose more about their personal reactions on the field. Many times these reactions were things that had bothered them for quite a while. Furthermore, the kinds of changes that the player would like to see were discussed. Often the changes were related to coaching, especially coaching during a game. Some players did not want coaching at all, some wanted coaching through other team members rather than the coach and some specified what kind of coaching would be useful for them and what kind of coaching was detrimental. At the end of this discussion, all players decided that the questionnaire information and the essentials of the conversation should be disclosed to the coaches. When using the scores of the SOQ to speak about personal goals, it was surprising to see that these young third league players were modest in their goal setting, which they referred to as "realistic". The sport psychologist then asked the players if they had never dreamed of wearing the dress of the national team. Obviously, the players "had learned" not to be unrealistic, but that meant that they did not allow themselves to have or at least communicate dreams or visions. The sport psychologist at this point discussed with them what functions visions might have.

Further diagnostics Sometimes further assumptions about an athlete’s problem areas are generated from the initial diagnostics, requiring further diagnostics to test them. Paper-and-pencil diagnostics are the easiest way to gather information, but diagnostic devices may be added to determine, for example, arousal states (e.g. skin conductance level or EEG), peripheral vision, or attention and concentration levels. Mainly, however, questionnaires are used because this can be done both easily and economically. These questionnaires, generally speaking, are psychometric tests. A test distinguishes itself from other forms of questionnaires by the fact that it has been developed systematically and that its reliability and whether or not it actually measures what it intends to measure have been established. Only those tests should be used whose quality criteria conform to established standards. Many athletes, however, do not like paperwork and react dismissively when questionnaires are distributed to them by sport psychologists.

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Therefore, some sport psychologists instead prefer to use observations and systematic interviews. The authors, however, have mainly had positive experiences when applying questionnaires. Even those athletes who are opposed when asked to fill out the questionnaires for the first time appreciate them after they receive comprehensive feedback. They value the fact that they receive a review of their mental strengths and weaknesses if these things are communicated clearly to them, along with perspectives on how to improve. Clearly informing athletes about their potential personal gain strongly increases their willingness to complete the questionnaire, as well as their motivation to participate in sport psychological interventions. For questionnaires that measure more or less transient states (e.g. current recovery-stress balance), some athletes even express the desire to fill out the questionnaire again to determine whether or not anything has changed. According to a study by Vealey and GarnerHolmans (1998), 75% of sport psychologists make use of psychological inventories or questionnaires in their work with athletes. We believe that applying psychological diagnostics is imperative for selecting the proper intervention measures. As already stated, sport psychologists may use different forms of sport psychological diagnostics that sometimes complement each other. Those diagnostics are sport psychological or psychological interviews; systematic observations of the athletes, coaches and group interactions; and sport psychological or psychological tests (involving both questionnaires and diagnostic devices, e.g. concerning concentration). In general, sport psychological diagnostics involve the systematic collection and preparation of information with the goal of justifying, controlling and optimising the decisions derived from them.

Diagnostics as a process Diagnostics and intervention can be understood as phases of a psychological process, a process in which the intervention (treatment) is derived from the diagnosis. However, sometimes in order to understand the problem sufficiently for the selection of an adequate intervention, an iteration of the diagnostic steps is necessary. The effectiveness of a psychological intervention essentially depends on the precision, reliability and relevance of the initial diagnosis of the problem. Neglecting a proper diagnostic process inevitably leads to speculations and misjudgements regarding the existing problem. It is not without reason that the diagnostic process therefore plays a critical role as a building block in the model for systematic sport psychological support (see chapter 1).

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Basic principles for diagnostics in sport x x x x x x

Ask precise and appropriate questions Select diagnostic procedures that are suitable to answer the question Make use of reliable and valid testing methods Use several types of information sources Balance the relationship between costs and benefits Consider the athletes’ acceptance of the procedure

Why are psychological diagnostics so important in competitive sport? An extensive, problem-oriented, systematic diagnostic process should be the basis for every sport psychological intervention. The following example elucidates how important a proper diagnosis is in the applied work of a sport psychologist. Practical example Consequences of lacking motivational diagnostics While the first author was working as a sport psychological consultant for a women’s national division basketball team, he was confronted with the following problem: In preparation for the national division match on Saturday or Sunday, the coach had decided to conduct a training match for the team on Thursday evenings. The coach assumed that the training match would positively influence the players’ motivation and produce optimal preparation for playing the opponent. The players, however, did not appear to be in favour of this Thursday evening game. During the course of the season, more and more players were seen to report sick for the Thursday training. After half of the season, the problem was brought up during a team meeting. The players mentioned that they perceived the training match as hostile and could not understand why some players played so rough. They said that they wanted to be a harmonious and conflict-free team, but that the Thursday trainings had exactly the opposite effect. This training match eliminated their entire joy for basketball. Expressed in psychological terms, they said that their motivation for playing basketball was of a social nature, namely, affiliation motivation. This was surprising for both the coach and the sport psychologist. Both had assumed that top athletes were mostly motivated by their performance, that is, that they were achievement oriented. If the motives of the players

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before the beginning of the season had been known, this problem might have been anticipated. With sport psychological support, the training match could then have been integrated more carefully into the training.

Which diagnostic tools? General and sport-specific measures Diagnostics not only involves selecting the appropriate tool for the respective question, but also includes matching the tools to the respective sports and athletes. It is important to first clarify whether general psychological instruments are suitable for investigating the issue or whether sport-specific instruments are required. For example, one can consider whether a tool measuring general achievement motivation is relevant for athletic situations. An athlete’s achievement motivation in relation to math problems could be low, whereas it could be high in relation to athletic tasks. Inconsistent and unsatisfactory results from older studies concerning the relationship between sport and personality could be because of the application of general personality psychological measures that are not necessarily relevant for the sport context. In contrast to this, Elbe et al. (2003b) found a significant relationship between young athletes’ sport-specific achievement motivation and their future athletic performance. The general achievement motive, which was also assessed and showed stability over time, showed no relationship to their current or future athletic performance. Thus, for predicting future performance, a sport-specific assessment can be superior to a general assessment. In some cases, it might not be sufficient to merely distinguish between general and sport-specific tools. Different types of sports can vary excessively in their demands. For example, controlled aggression is important in combat sports, a willingness to take risks is necessary in downhill skiing and self-control is essential in golf (cf. Singer & Janelle, 1999). The diagnostic process should therefore always be tailored to the demands of the specific sport and should be problem focussed. Differences within one specific sport need to be taken into consideration as well. On the one hand, this can be observed between different disciplines within a specific sport, for example, short or long distances in track and field and in swimming, and, on the other hand, may also exist within team sports where differences are found between the various playing positions. An example of the latter can be found in personality differences regarding action and state orientation. A person classified as being action oriented makes a decision relatively easily and acts quickly. A stateoriented person, in contrast, ponders over the different possibilities and alternatives and may ruminate about them without reaching a decision.

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Nevertheless, state orientation represents a favourable condition for the position of playmaker, but is not such a good orientation for a goal getter (cf. Beckmann & Trux, 1991). Particularly in critical situations, actionoriented basketball players take better advantage of their chance to make a basket than do their state-oriented teammates. State-oriented players are more active in providing their services as "feeders" (Sahre, 1991). In addition, because state-oriented players have thought through so many different possibilities and alternatives, they demonstrate more variability in their actions and are, when on the field, more the extended arm of the coach than are those who are action oriented. The specific profile and demands of an athletic activity must always be taken into consideration when selecting diagnostic instruments.

Advantages and disadvantages of standardised tests Standardised tests are the most formal type of assessment instrument. Their procedure is precisely determined concerning content, sequence of questions, response format and response category. Standardisation is a fundamental criterion for test quality. With high standardisation, there is no leeway for different evaluations when it comes to implementation and assessment objectivity. Only when this is ensured can the data collected from different persons be comparable with one another. Aside from this, the application and evaluation of standardised processes is considerably more economical than that of non-standardised processes. The more formal and standardised the assessment is, the easier it is to pinpoint inter-individual differences and to transfer the respective situation onto a general, theoretical sport psychological perspective. From there, one can derive suitable interventions that have already proven to be successful in such situations. Standardised tests are reliable and valid instruments (cf. Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing from the American Psychological Association, 1999). Nevertheless, the results of an individual test should not be overrated, as each test still has a certain risk of error that needs to be taken into consideration. Potential advantages of standardised diagnostic procedures x x x

Objectivity (the results are independent of the person who performs the test) Reliability (high accuracy of measurement) Validity (valid statements regarding the characteristic being measured)

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Economy (the costs of implementation, evaluation and manageability are relatively slight in comparison to, for example, open format interviews) Norms (there is a frame of reference for the individual test results)

Although standardised tests have numerous advantages, it is also important to recognise their possible disadvantages. One disadvantage is that one might choose the wrong questionnaire and thus not receive the information that is relevant for solving the problem. Therefore, it is highly recommended that observations and semi-structured interviews be conducted before the administration of standardised tests. In this way, the selection of suitable and problem-focussed tools can be ensured. In general, several methods can also be used simultaneously (while taking the economic aspect into consideration). As mentioned earlier, for several reasons, it is also helpful to speak with the concerned persons about their test results. Frequently, but regrettably not always, norms are available for standardised tests, which makes it possible to relate the individual’s results to the distribution in the general population. Unfortunately, these norms rarely refer to athletic samples and definitely not when applying general psychological questionnaires. Comparing athletes’ results with those of the general population can be misleading, as athletes often achieve different results from non-athletes. However, if there is a sport-specific instrument that has norms, then these can be used for evaluating an athlete’s results. Of critical importance, however, is that a test that has norms does not necessarily assess something meaningful and significant. Besides that, the presence of norms has nothing to do with the other quality criteria of a test: A test with insufficient objectivity, reliability and validity can still have norms.

Selection criteria Generally, it may appear to be desirable to exclusively use standardised tests that adhere to the test quality criteria described earlier. Applied practice, however, requires additional criteria. A high degree of reliability and validity assessed for a group of athletes does not guarantee this to be the same for an individual athlete. Furthermore, tests with a low degree of reliability and validity do not necessarily have to be classified as useless. It always depends on the goal of the data collection. This is discussed in more detail in the next section.

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Often there is no standardised test for the specific problem the sport psychologist is dealing with. Instead of using standardised tests, sport psychologists frequently make use of questionnaires that have demonstrated neither a high degree of reliability nor a high degree of validity. Results are vague when the tests have a low degree of reliability and validity, and this can lead to misinterpretations. In this case, collecting additional data (multitrait-multimethod) to support the data attained with the questionnaire is recommended. When selecting a test, sport psychologists should keep the specific goal in mind and consider the test’s psychometric characteristics (cf. Ostrow, 1996). Selecting tests arbitrarily, just because the sport psychologist is familiar with them, is usually not appropriate. Even in the initial diagnostics, which are not problem specific, the selection should be based on the goal to acquire useful information as a first overview of attributes that have proven to be of general significance in the athletic context. Once again, however, before selecting a standardised instrument, it is essential to also acquire an understanding of the demands of the specific sport and of the specific issue.

Interpretation of findings Before intervention decisions can be made from an athlete’s diagnostic results, one should be aware of which results the test can actually deliver and how selective such diagnostic measures actually are. The final question is whether or not a qualified decision can be made by means of this measure. In order to make a decision concerning what a person's test value actually means as related to those of other persons, it is necessary to establish relevant norms or at least percentage ranges. Only by means of a norm distribution (or a percentage position) does it become clear, for example, that a value of 45 on the scale for competitive orientation in the Sport Orientation Questionnaire (SOQ; Gill & Deeter, 1998) is below the mean normal range for this scale in an athlete. Does this mean that this athlete shows a below average competitive orientation and should therefore currently not be selected as a member of the high-performance sport squad? As mentioned earlier, even having this comparative value information available does not yet guarantee that a justifiable decision can be made. One also needs to pay attention to the measurement instrument’s reliability. The reliability coefficient calculates an interval of trust (confidence interval) for individual measurements. There is no sport psychological measure that has 100% reliability (reliability coefficient = 1.0). Even if the reliability of the measuring instrument is optimal

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according to conventional standards (reliability coefficient > .90), there is nevertheless an interval within which the "true value" of our athlete lies. This interval could be between 44 and 46. If the "true value" was 46, however, the competitive orientation of our athlete would still be in the mean range and not in the middle or lower average range of the norm. If the measuring instrument were to have good reliability according to general conventions (reliability coefficient between .70 and .80), our confidence interval becomes even broader. The "true value" would then lie somewhere between 40 and 50. What we can conclude from the test result is that the competitive orientation is between average and below average. When consulting this athlete, this information is helpful, especially in the context of other diagnostic measures.

Integration of diagnostics in the intervention process Diagnostics and intervention are to be seen as a continuing process, as presented in Fig. 3-1. This figure indicates that the diagnostic process does not have to be limited to only a single measurement. In the course of this process, questions may be specified more precisely, assumptions may be refuted and new hypotheses may occasionally emerge. At times, this will be caused by contradictory results seen in different diagnostic instruments because of the limited precision in the measurement of the processes, or of unfavourable conditions for performing individual tests. Sometimes, as already mentioned, the frames of reference (norms) of general psychological processes are not applicable to athletes.

The diagnostic process as an "action research" approach Beckmann and Kellmann (2008b) present the so-called action research approach as a possible form for the diagnostic process. Characteristic of this approach is that diagnostics and intervention are developed in collaboration with all partners, which means the sport psychologist, athletes and coaches. Another important element is the open dialogue concerning the goals and implementation of measures. This guarantees both the participant’s consent and the engagement of all partners. Athletes and coaches are not only informed about the objective of the measures, but they also have an opportunity to participate in decisions regarding goals and evaluations. This process can have a cyclic character and consists of the following eight phases (cf. Moser, 1977).

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Commitment of (head) coach Ð Development of athlete’s trust Clarification of goals and contents Ð 1st problem analysis Unstructured coach and athlete interviews Behaviour observation Ð Development of diagnostic hypotheses Selection of suitable diagnostics for the problem Systematic observation Structured interviews Questionnaires Diagnostic devices Ð Performance of diagnostics Ð Feedback to athlete and coach Ð Analysis of the problem Development of the intervention Fig. 3-1: Diagram of the diagnostic processes in sport psychology.

Phases of an action research approach x Identification of the problem x Consultation with a sport psychologist x Data collection and preliminary diagnosis x Feedback to athletes and coaches x Joint diagnosis of the problem x Joint planning of intervention x Intervention x Evaluation of the intervention Particularly significant for this approach is the continuous combination of the phases of data collection and the preliminary diagnosis, as well as the actions.

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Furthermore, Moser (1977, p. 18) emphasises the importance of the following criteria: x x x

Transparency: Comprehensibility of the research process for all partners through disclosure of functions, goals and methods of the research Congruence: Compatibility of goals and methods of research Influence of the researcher: In the process of data collection, the researcher may not consciously have a distorting influence on the research process

How does one ensure the participants’ cooperation? Athletes should not be immediately confronted with stacks of questionnaires at the first meeting. In addition, personal information that is not relevant for the specific situation should not be collected. Otherwise, one would most likely provoke resentment of the diagnostics process, as explained in the beginning of this chapter. The athletes must feel that diagnostics are important because they help them to understand and to solve their problem in a targeted manner. Problem-centred diagnostics are appropriate for finding suitable solutions with the information attained on site. Therefore, although it does not appear to be meaningful, for instance, to test the athlete’s eye-hand coordination in downhill skiing, such an assessment could be helpful for shooters.

Cooperation with the coach It has already been emphasised how important a trusting relationship is between athletes and the sport psychologist. At the beginning of a diagnostic process, as part of the sport psychological intervention in competitive sport, one should first make use of trust-developing measures. This development of trust is the basis for getting the athletes to engage and cooperate in the diagnostic process. Before athletes and coaches consent to participate in the diagnostic procedure, they should be convinced that the sport psychologist understands his or her craft, that the person is trustworthy and that a systematic evaluation is associated with advantages. First, it is important to ensure the coach’s support of data collection and the measures being used (see Fig. 3-1). The head coach is the most important person. Trustful cooperation with him or her is necessary if one wants to conduct a successful intervention and wants to be well-integrated into the team.

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Only if the (head) coach is convinced of the necessity of the sport psychological measures and also of their efficacy will he or she allocate the necessary time slots for diagnostics and intervention. The coach should, if possible, even in front of the athletes, clearly commit him- or herself to the sport psychological support. Ideally, the coach should explain that sport psychological measures are to be part of regular training and that they will also be given appropriate time during regular training. It is hard for sport psychological measures to properly function, if, for instance, the owner of a team has ordered the use of sport psychological measures without first consulting with the head coach about this. The authors experienced such a case where it was impossible to conduct teambuilding measures with a professional football team because the coach was not willing to reserve training time for these measures. It is essential to ensure the coach’s commitment prior to the beginning of the interventions. In a meeting before the beginning of the interventions, the coach can build up trust in the sport psychologist’s expertise, and both of them can develop a mutual understanding of the existing problem. Transparency and clarity are of utmost importance. To attain the support of the coach, it can sometimes be helpful to let him or her fill out one of the questionnaires and to provide feedback about the collected information. A coach could, for example, fill in the coaches’ version of the Recovery-Stress Questionnaire for Athletes (RESTQ-Sport; see also chapter 6). The feedback about the coach’s individual stress and recovery level allows the coach to quickly obtain an understanding of what information can be attained from a test for the athletes and how the results can be used. The sport psychologist and the coach can then also agree on how to further proceed and what topics should be addressed in the future. Good interaction with the coach is also essential for the sport psychologist to get an initial impression about what the intervention should focus on. As described earlier, the next steps should consist of initial diagnostics supplemented by informal, explorative observations and interviews. Viewing the points discussed with the coach as a working hypothesis that needs further examination is an advantageous approach. Nevertheless, it is important to maintain a certain degree of openness in defining the exact problem. Sometimes it turns out that the point of view of the coach is only one of several possibilities.

Cooperation with the athlete During the first team meeting, the goal of the assessment should be presented. The goal of this presentation is not to influence athletes on how

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they should respond to the questions, but instead to inform them about the goals of the assessment and how they can profit from them. The best results are achieved in cooperation with those coaches who are fully included in the intervention process and who consider sport psychology to be an integral part of the training process. Furthermore, it is important to determine the right time for the assessment. The motivation of athletes to fill out a battery of questionnaires is minimal if it takes place after strenuous training or after a defeat. A diagnostic session is best accepted by athletes when it has been announced as a regular training unit involving mental aspects of their sport. A further reference point for the right time to perform the assessment is the training plan, which, for instance, includes periodisation. There are certain times during the season that can be classified as being especially critical; psychologists, coaches and also athletes would like to learn more about what is going on at these times. Especially sensitive for such an assessment are questionnaires that measure specific states. Performing the assessment in a relaxed atmosphere improves the quality of the collected data. Thus, it is advisable that the questionnaires be filled out in an undisturbed environment. However, this is hardly possible if the psychologist is working with a large team. Prior to filling out the questionnaires, it is important to provide the athletes with sufficient information concerning the purpose of the assessment. This means, first, that the athletes should develop an understanding of the fact that questionnaires that have been filled out truthfully can be used for improving performance. If insufficient information is provided about the test beforehand, the athletes might be tempted to present themselves in as positive a light as possible. Halliwell (1990) reports a negative example in which a young player copied the answers to the test from an experienced player in order to have a better result. He assumed that the experienced player knew what the best answers would be. This case may sound amusing, but it is a good example of what can happen if the athletes are not informed properly about the goal of the assessment. In order to gain the athletes’ support, it is important to inform them that they will receive feedback on the collected data and that their data will not get "into the wrong hands". Telling athletes that they will receive their test results increases their willingness to participate in the assessment because they know that they are not merely being used as a "data object". In addition, one must clarify with the athlete beforehand with whom his or

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her results may be discussed, as well as obtain permission from the athlete if the findings should be discussed with a doctor or coach, for instance.

Selection of diagnostic instruments The question that arises next is, How does a sport psychologist decide which diagnostic instruments can be used for which problems? Ostrow’s (1996) handbook contains some hundreds of different instruments. Furthermore, sport psychological journals such as The Sport Psychologist, Journal of Applied Sport Psychology or Journal of Sport Psychology in Action might provide information. However, as has been previously explained, most of the instruments listed there have been published to an insufficient degree and are frequently available only from the authors of the test. In this section, we present a selection of diagnostic instruments for competitive sports that we use in our practice. Some of these tests measure traits, whereas others assess current states. For the diagnosis of individual differences in reaction to certain situations, it is important to know whether current states or long-term personality characteristics (e.g. trait anxiety) are relevant for the problem under investigation. Substantially fewer questionnaires measure states than those that measure more stable personality characteristics (traits). The authors consider the two tools listed immediately below to be particularly important in competitive sport.

Test of Performance Strategies (TOPS) The Test of Performance Strategies (TOPS; Thomas, Murphy & Hardy, 1999) includes 16 psychological techniques and skills that are used by athletes in competitive or in training situations. Seven of the scales are used for both training and competitive situations (activation, emotional control, automaticity, self-talk, goal setting, imagery and relaxation). The control of attention applies only to the context of training, and negative thinking is used only for competition. The TOPS consists of 64 items (four per subscale) that are to be answered on a five-point scale.

Recovery-Stress Questionnaire for Athletes (RESTQ-Sport) The Recovery-Stress Questionnaire for Athletes (RESTQ-Sport; Kellmann & Kallus, 2001) is a tool that simultaneously assesses recovery and stress levels. The evaluation of a total of 19 subtests and 72 items provides a quantitative profile of current stress and recovery states. The RESTQ-Sport can be used for the continuous monitoring of the recovery-

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stress levels of athletes with the goal of avoiding overtraining. Since it also measures psychologically relevant conditions (self-efficacy, personal accomplishment, self-regulation), the RESTQ can also be used to evaluate the intervention’s efficacy. The RESTQ is discussed more comprehensively in chapter 6.

Competitive State Anxiety The Competitive State of Anxiety Inventory (CSAI-2; Martens et al., 1990) assesses the state of anxiety before and during competition by distinguishing three components, namely, the somatic, cognitive and confidence components. x x

x

The somatic components consist of physical and physiological symptoms such as sweating, heart palpitations or trembling. The cognitive components refer to mental reactions pertaining, on the one hand, to the result of a competition or one’s own performance, and, on the other hand, to concentration disorders that divert attention from the actual task. The third component records reduced self-esteem and lack of confidence.

The CSAI consists of 12 questions, four each of which are concerned with the three components of somatic fear, cognition and confidence. In order to diagnose more stable personality characteristics, instruments are used in competitive sport that are related, on the one hand, to anxiety and, on the other hand, to motivation and volition. In the following descriptions of scales and questionnaires for athletes, we describe how personality can be measured with regard to anxiety, motivation and volition.

Competitive Trait Anxiety The tendency or disposition to react to competitive situations with anxiety differs greatly between different athletes. The Sport Anxiety Scale (Smith et al., 1990) measures the tendency of athletes to react to competitive situations with an indication of fear. The scale distinguishes three components of competitive anxiety:

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Image 3.1. Photo: Christopher Loch

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Somatic anxiety describes the personal disposition of persons in competitive situations to experience physically perceptible nervousness (e.g. damp hands, heart palpitations). Concern, in contrast, is the disposition of persons to develop selfdoubt and worry, or to form negative expectations when in competitive situations. Concentration disorders describe the tendency of persons to be distracted during active competition through irrelevant disturbances. These disturbances, for example, can involve remarks or reactions of spectators.

The scale has a total of 21 items.

Instruments for motivation and volition Volitional Components Questionnaire-Sport (VCQ-Sport) The goal of this questionnaire, developed by Wenhold, Elbe and Beckmann (2009), is to assess volitional skills relevant for competitive sport and to diagnose self-regulatory impediments. The newly developed questionnaire distinguishes between self-optimisation (29 questions), selfimpediment (9 questions), lack of activation (13 questions) and loss of focus (9 questions) in sport, for a total of 60 questions. x

x

x

Self-optimisation includes 11 subscales and records characteristics of the will that are important for attaining a goal, such as positive self-determination, initiative, decision-making ability and objectives. In some scales, a distinction is made between the training and competitive situation. The area of self-impediment includes three general subscales that measure hindrance of the achievement of a goal through a tendency toward introjection, anxious self-motivation and negative emotionality. Lack of activation refers to whether athletes have difficulties with the activation and transformation of plans. The scale contains five subscales related to lack of energy, failure to fulfil intentions, postponement of training and avoidance of efforts in training and in competition.

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x

Finally, the loss of focus includes four subscales related to controlling impulses, aversion to competition and poor concentration in training and competition.

Action Control Scale-Sport (ACS-Sport) The ACS-Sport (Beckmann & Wenhold, 2009) assesses action and state orientation in three areas: after experiencing a failure, during the planning of an action and during the (successful) performance of an activity. Each of these domains is assessed with 12 questions. Those who are action oriented can rapidly "switch off" after an athletic failure and then concentrate on the actual activity. They can plan well and can make decisions quickly and effectively. Furthermore, they can fully and completely lose themselves in an athletic activity without being distracted by external things or by rumination. The questionnaire is composed of 36 questions each with two alternative answer choices.

Sport-specific achievement motive (AMS-Sport) The Achievement Motives Scale-Sport (AMS-Sport; Elbe et al., 2005) assesses the two components of the achievement motive: hope for success and fear of failure. A high hope for success indicates that athletes gladly seek athletic challenges and set realistic goals. Persons with a fear of failure avoid setting realistic goals and respond to athletic challenges more anxiously. However, since the component of fear of failure also describes the degree to which the individual concerned is affected by the performance situation, it is certainly advisable to combine both components of the achievement motive and to add the two values together to form a total value. There is a long version of the AMS-Sport with 30 items and a shorter version with 10 items.

Sport orientation of athletic performance (SOQ) The goal of the Sport Orientation Questionnaire (SOQ; Gill & Deeter, 1988) is to determine individual, sport-specific differences in performance orientation. The SOQ is made up of three subscales: competitive orientation (13 questions), win orientation (6 questions) and goal orientation (6 questions). The SOQ makes it possible to say which reference points an athlete chooses in order to judge her or his athletic performance. An athlete may, for instance, be able to compete gladly with others, may put a great deal of value on an athletic victory and/or may

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pursue individual goals, such as how to improve her or his own performance.

Task and Ego Orientation in Sport Questionnaire (TEOSQ) This questionnaire, developed by Duda and Nicholls (1989), assesses goal orientation (task and ego orientation). The instrument is composed of two subscales. Task orientation assesses whether athletes perceive their ability as self-referenced and based on personal improvement (the mastery of tasks). Ego orientation, on the other hand, assesses whether athletes assess their ability in reference to others. All items refer to the statement: "I feel most successful in sport, when…". The scale for task orientation includes seven items (e.g. "… I work really hard"). In contrast, the scale for ego orientation includes six items (e.g. "... when I’m the best").

Instruments to assess coaching behaviour Some diagnostic instruments are suitable for evaluating the degree to which a particular coaching behaviour is perceived by athletes and the climate that persists within a team or training group.

Leadership Scale Sport The Leadership Scale Sport, developed by Lee et al. (1993), measures perceived coaching behaviour. The four subscales include instruction (seven items), positive feedback (four items), social support (five items) and democratic behaviour (five items).

Perceived Motivational Climate in Sports To assess the motivational training climate, Seifriz et al. (1992) developed a questionnaire that contains two subscales, competitionorientated climate (nine items) and task-orientated climate (six items).

Break-Behaviour Questionnaire The Break- Behaviour Questionnaire by Kellmann and Weidig (2010) assesses the coaches’ behaviour in the game and during competitive breaks (in the sense of breaks in a competition, e.g. half-time, interruptions between sets, timeouts) from three perspectives: coach, player/athlete and sport psychologist. There are two versions of the questionnaire, one for

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team sports and one for individual sports. Each scale is composed of four items, with the team questionnaire having 44 items and the individual questionnaire having 40 items. For an observational perspective (= sport psychological perspective), individual instructions are provided as to how the observation and assessment of the coach’s behaviour should be carried out.

Recovery-Stress Questionnaire for Coaches In addition to the RESTQ-Sport described earlier, Kellmann (pers. comm.) is presently developing a version of this questionnaire to assess coaches’ recovery and stress levels. This questionnaire is for the most part identical to the athlete’s version. The coach questionnaire has seven general stress and five general recovery subscales. In addition, it also registers seven further coach-specific subscales involving interrupted breaks, burnout/emotional exhaustion, burnout/personal substantiation, fitness/being in form, motivation as a coach, success as a coach and selfefficacy beliefs. In total, the questionnaire consists of 76 items.

Diagnostics for evaluating the intervention The success of sport psychological interventions can and should be assessed. As described in Fig. 3-2, diagnostics and intervention should not be seen as a single event, but instead as a continuous process. Initial hypotheses about problems an athlete is having can turn out to be wrong. This demands a renewed or newly focussed diagnostic process. The success of the interventions used should be examined to either change them or to optimise them. Numerous instruments are available for this in English-speaking countries (e.g. Durand-Bush et al., 2001; Mahoney et al., 1987). Without using such an instrument, it is difficult to assess whether or not, and to what extent, an interventional measure works, or how successfully the basic and advanced training has been performed. Another method to evaluate one’s work is to redistribute the diagnostic instruments that were initially used in order to examine whether changes have occurred. This may be possible, for example, regarding selected volitional components or when anxiety is involved. The first author used the RESTQ-Sport repeatedly while he was working with a professional boxer. This instrument was first used to identify critical areas in the recovery-stress levels of the boxer and, from there, to derive suitable interventions. After the first RESTQ-Sport had been analysed, the profile was discussed with the athlete. In this session, the athlete received

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feedback abbout areas thhat were classified as beinng critical. The T sport psychologistt then discusseed methods thaat could be appplied to reach the goals. , the sport psy Through reppeated assessm ment with the RESTQ-Sport, R ychologist could recoggnise, using the t profile, whether w the intervention had h been successful. S Success showeed itself as an increase in peerceived ability y for selfregulation, reecovery valuess and perceptio on of personal aaccomplishmeent.

Fig. 3-2: Chaanges in REST TQ-Sport values after 4 weekks of sport psychological intervention.

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Concluding remarks In our opinion, sport psychological diagnostics are imperative for the performance of an appropriate intervention. The results obtained from the diagnostic process, however, can only be as good as the tools used. The knowledge gained from this process should be seen as a systematic process in which the answers to clearly defined questions continuously become clearer. When do diagnostics deliver a good result? x x x x

If problem-relevant questions are answered and the point is not missed If all diagnostically relevant information is evaluated If answers can be explained comprehensibly If inconclusive situations are detected (to carry out further investigations)

In this way, a basis is created that can be used for intervention, which does not simply go haphazardly into the blue. Diagnostics, however, should never be used as an end in itself—that is, measurements should not be made simply because you can do so—but should instead be performed functionally for the appropriate solution of a problem (through intervention): no diagnostics without intervention, but also no intervention without diagnostics. With the use of diagnostics, one must also realise that the individuals involved are not left unchanged. Consequently, diagnostics can be seen as an intervention. Seen negatively, the use of a questionnaire addressing anxiety distributed immediately prior to a downhill run could activate this anxiety. A dialogue between sport psychologist and athlete

relating to the athlete’s current or previous history of psychological problems (anamnestic consultation), on the other hand, can clearly lead to clarification of a problematic situation involving an inappropriate problem-solving behaviour of the athlete.

Further reading Ostrow, A. C. (2002). Directory of psychological tests in the sport and exercise sciences. Morgantown, WV: Fitness Information Technology. Tenenbaum, G., Eklund, R., & Kamata, A. (2012). Measurement in sport and exercise psychology. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.

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CHAPTER FOUR BASIC TRAINING

Introduction Chapter 1 introduced the basic structure of systematic sport psychological support. This chapter gives a detailed overview of the individual elements from an applied perspective. The logic behind proceeding in this way is presented, as well as the scientific basis for it. In addition, the practical knowledge and tools needed for providing sport psychological support is presented. Each systematic sport psychological support should begin with initial diagnostics that assess the strengths and weaknesses of athletes, coaches and teams. Only when sport psychologists have specific knowledge about the athletes’ strengths and weaknesses and have acquired additional information about personality characteristics and certain behaviours can they develop targeted intervention measures that will optimise athletes’ conduct in practice and competition. These intervention measures are derived from scientific sport psychological knowledge. Thus, it is a scientifically grounded practice. Basic training can begin during the analysis of strengths and weaknesses and/or the assessment of relevant personality characteristics. This basic training lays the foundation for more extensive training of skills. Skill training, in contrast to basic training, requires specific knowledge of the athletes’ strengths and weaknesses and a command of basic relaxation skills on the side of the athletes. No requirements are needed for basic training, aside from motivation and openness to participate in it. Nonetheless, basic training should not be understood as the mere preparation for skill training. It also serves the important and independent function of supporting the athlete’s personality development, as described in chapter 2. Basic training helps develop the athlete’s personality in such a way that it lays the groundwork for stable performance under pressure, for example, during an important competition. It leads to more mental balance, less distractions and improved concentration. The relaxation methods presented as part of basic training can also help the athlete fall

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asleep the evening before competition. Additionally, research has shown that relaxation accelerates regeneration, and its regular practice is thus advantageous in training camps and over the course of long seasons. Furthermore, continuous relaxation training supports athletes in acquiring a sense of self-control over their own physical perceptions and disturbing thoughts, as well as in dealing with anxiety (Petermann & Vaitl, 2004, p. 6). We have often been asked at what age basic training can start. In general, basic training should be a regular part of the training of young athletes. We found that it can be used from the age of 12 on. During the first sessions, there may be some giggling, but if you continue with the training unperturbed, this will eventually stop. In fact, one of the authors once experienced that two 12 year olds seemed to kid around rather than practise seriously. These same kids approached the author after a couple of weeks and asked if they could also do the relaxation before school. The author answered that this was no problem. They then said that they had started practising relaxation before school and meanwhile had been asked by their teacher how the change in their attentiveness and concentration had come about. With younger children, using relaxation techniques that are embedded in an age-appropriate story has proven practicable.

Basic psycho-regulation A multitude of psycho-regulatory procedures have been described. Seiler and Stock (1994), for instance, describe 24 different procedures. Among these are four activating procedures, namely, breathing activation, energy uptake, self-activation and mobilisation. From our perspective, these four procedures belong to skill training rather than basic training. Basic training involves the training of skills that are independent of personal strengths and weaknesses. On the one hand, they contribute to personality development and, on the other hand, they lay the foundation for the skills to be acquired during skill training. Just as there are many different ways to relax, there is a wide variety of different relaxation techniques and procedures. It is also wise to make use of Far Eastern practices such as yoga or qigong. In our practice, three procedures have been primarily shown to work well. These three procedures have different characteristics and effects that are all important prerequisites for the optimisation of psychological performance preconditions. In addition, these procedures differ in how easily they can be learned. If one has mastered the procedure that is the easiest to learn, the more difficult procedures will also be learned more easily. Basic

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training consequently consists of three relaxation procedures that are the most sensible to learn and be trained on successively: x Breathing relaxation x Progressive muscle relaxation (PMR) x Autogenous training (AT) Goals and function of relaxation exercises Relaxation exercises should be an integral part of sport psychological training right from the start. Relaxation training in sport has various goals: developing mental balance (personality development), enhancing regeneration and promoting self-regulation. The effects are differentiated into somatotropic effects in the sense of a decrease in general activation (arousal reduction) and psychotropic effects, as listed below, which are important in relation to sports: x x x x

Sensitisation for and focussing on physical and imaginative processes Acceptance of the unaccustomed or the unexpected Performance: Acquisition of relaxation skills Development of confidence with regard to self-regulation

The five primary goals when using relaxation procedures (cf. Kellmann & Beckmann, 2004) are as follows: x

x x x

Short term: Elimination of disturbing thoughts during the immediate competitive preparation period in order to attain the most complete concentration possible without, however, reducing the necessary competitive tension. Short term: Ability to relax and regenerate during pauses or delays in competition without completely losing the tension necessary to compete. Short term: Support of regeneration after practice (particularly during training camps) and after injuries in the periods following competition. Long term: Development of greater overall composure regarding the stress of practice and competitive situations, together with the perception to be able to effectively control oneself even in these situations.

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Ultimately, relaxation as the basis for training further selfregulatory skills (e.g. imagery).

In the following sections, basic training is described in the way that has proven itself in our applied work. Other relaxation procedures can also be applied in sports. We sometimes make use, for example, of trance induction through hypnosis. However, in order to achieve the goals of our basic training, we recommend following the techniques in the order described below. Common to all the described techniques—at least when they are part of basic training—is that one needs to start with a basic position.

Basic position Lying position The lying position is the most sensible since extensive passive relaxation of the muscular system can be achieved just by lying down. Comfortable clothing (which is not too restricting), lying on one’s back on a floor that is not too hard and performing the exercise in a room with a comfortable room temperature are recommended. The arms lie loosely beside the body. Legs are extended and should not be crossed. If one has no prior experience with the training procedure, it is important that no diversions or disturbing stimuli are present during training (therefore, cell phones must be turned off!). When the athletes are able to master relaxation training well, it can also be carried out in lively places to permit targeted training for blocking out such disturbing stimuli. The training goal is to fully eliminate disturbing stimuli through self-regulation. The first author, for instance, occasionally performed autogenous training with the German national ski team in a busy hotel lobby.

Cab-coachman’s posture Occasionally the so-called cab-coachman’s posture is recommended instead of the lying position. Here, one sits on a chair or stool with loosely opened legs. The upper torso is bent forward, supported by the arms, which are bent loosely, on the thighs—just like the driver of a horse-drawn carriage who has fallen half asleep sitting on the seat of his carriage while waiting for clientele. Here, the muscles of the trunk must especially perform more holding work than they do in the lying position. The cab-

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coachman’s posture is less relaxing than the lying position. It is nevertheless recommended by some authors, since the danger of falling asleep in this position is less likely than in the lying position. We recommend being relaxed about falling asleep. Falling asleep while doing relaxation exercises is a natural tendency. Instead of waking someone up who has fallen asleep, it is better to avoid everything that promotes the urge to fall asleep: for instance, phases of the exercise that are too long or offer too little stimulation because of instructions being given too infrequently. In addition, care must be taken in the organisation of relaxation training to ensure that it is not performed at a time of day when the athletes are already tired (i.e. after the lunch break or late in the evening after a long day of training).

Sleep-onset condition Relaxation should lead to the condition known as "sleep onset". The first training goal for beginners is to reliably bring about this condition. Thus, it is completely normal that time and again the athlete overshoots the mark and shortly falls asleep. With more training, the acquisition of this relaxing, sleep-onset state stabilises itself. One can, of course, argue that the training process is slowed down when someone falls asleep because he or she is no longer "training". A more relaxed point of view is that those who fall asleep have a need for sleep, which would have hindered the stabilisation of the sleep-onset process in any case. Our own experience shows that after only a few weeks, all of the athletes we have been working with could, independent of whether they had fallen asleep in the beginning or not, reliably bring about a state of relaxation. It is advisable not to introduce relaxation training as something new at the end of an exhausting training day or after a hard fitness session, as most of the athletes will readily fall asleep at that time. For more advanced athletes who can reliably attain a sleep-onset condition and can control it, however, relaxation training following fitness training is not only feasible, but it can also be important for the purpose of regeneration.

Assuming the basic position Lie down comfortably with extended legs (do not cross your legs). Place your arms loosely next to your body.

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Close your eyes. Concentrate on your body’s centre (around the navel). Concentrate on smoothly flowing breathing. Concentrate on the exhalation.

Withdrawal After relaxation, activation should usually be increased again. If the relaxation procedure has not been performed before falling asleep and/or in order to fall asleep, one wants to feel fresh and be active again. Furthermore, the mental processes (experiences that have not been worked through, etc.) that are initiated during relaxation need to be stopped. This is the aim of so-called withdrawal. An example of withdrawal at the end of a relaxation exercise is as follows: Withdrawal from relaxation procedures x x x x x

I will now count backwards from 4: 4, 3, 2, 1 Ball your fists! Keep your arms firm! Breathe deeply! Open your eyes! Stretch, flex your arms and legs, yawn and extend your body!

Breathing relaxation Breathing relaxation is the first skill in our basic training. It is the most fundamental and most natural form of relaxation. Breathing relaxation is easy to learn and can be used everywhere. In contrast to more extensive relaxation procedures such as PMR and AT, breathing relaxation does not reduce the general level of activation and therefore does not decrease the competitive tension that is necessary for performance during competition. As a consequence, breathing relaxation can also be used directly before and even during a competition. By concentrating on one’s breathing, disturbing, burdensome thoughts can effectively be eliminated: One clears one’s mind, and the competitive tension remains. The right technique is also important in breathing relaxation. Breathing can be divided into three phases (Fig. 4-1).

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Inspiration

Expiration

Pause Fig. 4-1: Phases of natural breathing.

Some meditation experts recommend that individuals stop breathing in order to increase concentration and emphasise a pause after inhalation. This does not, however, correspond with natural breathing, where the pause is more likely to follow expiration. This is the state of greatest relaxation. It is also more uncomfortable to pause after deep inhalation, since the thorax is extremely tense. Aside from this (purely physiologically), it is not advisable and it is potentially dangerous to make strenuous movements while holding one’s breath. Thus, the recommendation is always to exhale, for example, when pressing a barbell. Regarding relaxation, the best results are obtained by concentrating on exhaling. During inspiration, the torso is tensed, whereas it relaxes during expiration. Just concentrating on expiration can lead to the perception of relaxation. This feeling of relaxation is real because expiration stimulates activity of the vagus nerve and the heart rate decreases while exhaling.

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Hüther (2006) further describes the first thing that newborns do, which is to exhale. This cleans their lungs. This basic experience should remain with us unconsciously. The process of exhalation can be connected to the mental idea of breathing out and away all disturbing, burdensome thoughts. In addition, one can imagine that inspiration involves taking in fresh new energy. Performing breathing relaxation Assume the basic position. Breathe slowly and regularly. Inhalation occurs automatically. Concentrate on exhaling. Inhaling automatically turns into exhaling. Exhalation is controlled and is slightly prolonged in comparison to inspiration. After exhaling, pause briefly before inhalation occurs again automatically. The following thoughts can also be tied to breathing: During expiration: "Exhale all burdensome feelings until they are eliminated from your thoughts". During inspiration: "Inhale fresh energy and distribute it throughout your body".

Progressive muscle relaxation (PMR) PMR was developed in 1938 by US physician and physiologist Edmund Jacobson. Its primary goal, according to Jacobson, lies in "cultivating the muscular senses". This means learning to detect the slightest tension or strain in the body’s different muscle groups with the goal of eliminating such tension. This also illustrates that, besides relaxation, the value of PMR for an athlete can lie in becoming more conscious of the body and the muscular system, as well as in getting to know one’s muscles better. By this means, athletes can also obtain a better understanding of athletic movements. A basic statement describing PMR is also "Relaxation and fear are incompatible reactions" (Wolpe, 1958). This means that a psychological effect should emerge from physical relaxation reactions, such as a reduction in anxiety. Because PMR is a relaxation procedure in which one needs to actively exercise the muscles, it makes the beginning easier for many athletes than if they were only to imagine a relaxed state, such as in AT. With PMR, the participants deliberately and consciously exercise different muscular regions of the body arbitrarily by tensing and subsequently relaxing them. This trains the perception of tensed and relaxed muscles. During the

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practice of these exercises, attention is placed on the contrast between tense and relaxed muscles. The implementation of an exercise unit, in abbreviated form, lasts approximately 3-4 minutes. The longer form, with 17 basic exercises, takes approximately 20-30 minutes. With practice, this time can be reduced. In modern forms of PMR, muscles are not tensed to the maximum, but only to a clearly submaximal tension in order to perceive even subtle and minor tension of individual muscle groups, as well as not to produce adverse effects in the muscle, such as strain. How to perform PMR x Individual muscle groups of the locomotor system are successively tensed for 1-2 minutes (modern: submaximally for approximately 10 seconds). x After the tension, an attempt is made to maximally relax each muscle group for 3-4 minutes. x Thereby one concentrates on the sensations of tension and relaxation (experiencing the contrast). x One begins with the forearm of the dominant hand (i.e. righthanded individuals using the right hand). The forearm is tensed by clenching a fist. Tension is held for approximately 10 seconds and then released. Feel the tension as it is released; perceive the relaxation as it spreads throughout the forearm. The difference between tension and relaxation must be felt consciously. x This is followed by tensing and relaxing the dominant upper arm (tense and relax the biceps). x Subsequently, one follows with the other arm. x One can continue with the legs, first with the dominant leg: lower legs first and then the thighs; after this, do the same with the other leg. x Continue with the back, shoulders, neck, and back of the neck. x Particular attention can be dedicated to the face, since tension and relaxation can be felt especially clearly there. x Tense the lower half of the face: Grit your teeth and release them again, one movement after the other. x Area around the eyes: Tightly squeeze your eyes closed and then release the pressure again. x Forehead: Heartily wrinkle your forehead and then allow it to become completely smooth. A smooth forehead is especially associated with relaxation. Therefore, later on, after some training

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experience, just the imagination of a completely smooth forehead may trigger relaxation.

Autogenous training (AT) AT is probably one of the most difficult relaxation procedures to learn. During training, one imagines physical states that occur naturally during relaxation, for example, a feeling of heaviness in the arms and legs (like the "sense of being overdue for bed"), a comfortable feeling of warmth and smooth, or calm regular breathing. People who have no experience with relaxation find it difficult to passively concentrate on these states and produce them vividly. Consequently, AT is introduced into our basic training only after breathing and PMR have been mastered. Athletes who have previously learned these other two procedures will learn AT in a relatively short time. The goal of AT is to achieve an awareness of tension in order to reduce it when necessary. In contrast to Far Eastern meditation procedures, AT originates from an occidental background. It was developed by Berlin doctor I. H. Schultz in the 1930s, and it originated from hypnosis. AT can be considered a form of self-hypnosis. Also in contrast to Far Eastern procedures, AT is not embedded in any system of belief or philosophy. This procedure can be used everywhere, inconspicuously and without any necessary resources. Schultz developed two forms: standard psychophysiological exercises at the basic level and meditative exercises at the advanced level. The basic level exercises are of importance for sports. The meditative exercises are almost never used and are, therefore, not described here. The implementation of a full-length autogenous exercise unit takes about 20-30 minutes. How to perform AT x A comfortable position as described above is taken, with lying recommended. Eyes are closed. Attention is directed to the centre of the body as breathing flows calmly and evenly. x Basically, two imaginations are given, one of heaviness and one of warmth. While learning AT, the first sessions concentrate on heaviness only. Warmth is introduced later on. x One begins with the arm of the dominant hand (i.e. right-handed individuals using the right arm). This arm is focussed on and then the image is given: "right arm heavy, very heavy". Subsequently, imagination is induced: "right arm warm, very warm".

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x The same imaginations are induced for the other arm, both legs and the solar plexus. x The original AT also focusses on the heart beating calmly and evenly. We omit this part because it potentially produces unrest and fear in people who have fears that something might be wrong with their heart (heart phobia). x After having executed the heaviness and strength imaginations with the aforementioned body parts, individuals are instructed to focus on their forehead. This time it is not warmth that is imagined, but coolness. A warm forehead is associated with fever, whereas a cold forehead is associated with being relaxed and well. Thus, the instruction is given: "forehead cool, pleasantly cool". x Time is given to enjoy the pleasant state of relaxation. x While individuals enjoy the relaxation, other messages might be given such as "you feel strong and self-confident". x After several minutes, the instructor starts the withdrawal. A word of warning has to be given regarding AT. Autogenous training has a strong effect on unconscious processes, and suppressed anxieties might surface during training and cause a panic attack. The person instructing AT must have skills to master such a situation. Those skills are usually acquired through education in clinical psychology.

Activation So far, this chapter has dealt with relaxation. An important precondition for peak performance in sports, however, is an optimal arousal level. Therefore, in addition to being able to relax, athletes need to be able to activate themselves, as well as to alternate quickly between being relaxed and being aroused ("psyching up"). When we talk about activation, this involves a broader orientation than just physiological arousal. A guiding maxim for many years has been that optimal performance is to be expected from athletes who show medium-level arousal (Yerkes & Dodson, 1908). If the arousal level is too low, then according to this model, peak performance cannot be achieved. If activation is too high, this should lead to muscle tension and cramping and also cause suboptimal performance. Furthermore, it is often stated that an optimal arousal level depends on the type of sport and can vary widely between individuals. As a consequence of the latter, individual differences concerning the optimal arousal state should be addressed. The Yerkes-Dodson law is popular in practice, since it can easily be applied. But how can coaches, sport

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psychologists or other support staff determine whether or not athletes have acquired this optimal, medium-level arousal state before a competition? Even more difficult than the practical problems with implementation is that the assumed relationship between arousal and performance is by no means as clear as it seems. On the contrary, it is quite complex (Neiss, 1988). Dienstbier (1989) describes a number of investigations that show that arousal has a linear relationship to performance, suggesting that arousal that is higher than medium-level arousal is sometimes advantageous for optimal performance. However, this may be too onesided. In the research on fear of failure, two components of activation were distinguished (Liebert & Morris, 1967): worry and emotionality. The first component refers to intellectual, cognitive processing in a test situation, whereas the second component involves physical arousal experienced in the test situation. Research found a negative relationship between worry and performance: Anyone who worries too much and begins brooding performs poorly in the test. For physical arousal, however, no clear relationship could be found with performance (Deffenbacher, 1980). These findings suggest that it is not the physical arousal as such that determines performance, but rather the athlete’s appraisal about whether this arousal has performance-enhancing or impeding effects (Fazey & Hardy, 1988). Beckmann and Rolstad (1997) sum this up as follows: For the practitioner, the diagnosis of the current arousal state is of little significance. A high level of competitive eagerness seems to be desirable. Athletic practice should therefore be carried out in such a way that the components that attract the athlete’s attention are emphasised in order to create phases of intense attention. A basic prerequisite, however, is the ability to obtain greater composure and to control one’s thoughts. If one appraises the physical signs of competitive eagerness, such as an accelerated heart rate, sweaty hands and an uneasy feeling in the stomach as a sign of "nervousness", the situation is consequently interpreted as threatening. This high degree of mental arousal then leads to a loss of self-confidence and to difficulties in thinking and selecting the proper actions. It is different if the competitive situation is considered to be "challenging" and the physical arousal signs are interpreted as being "ready to take on and to master the challenge". Basic training that includes learning and training of relaxation procedures is necessary in order to tackle competitive situations in this manner. Relaxation skills are mandatory for the successful implementation of many of the sport psychological techniques presented in chapter 5. For imagery, a relaxed condition is indispensable. In addition, relaxation is an

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integral part of many sport psychological intervention and training programmes.

Team building Another exceptionally important component of basic training is team building. It is not only important when working with team sports, but for all types of sport psychological work that takes place in a group setting. Moreover, athletes in individual types of sport, such as track and field, swimming, skiing or tennis, are members of a team. The extent to which one considers oneself to be integrated into a team can be decisive for the individual’s ability to perform. This point is illustrated in the following practical example.

Practical example The excluded top athlete The first author was confronted with the following problematic situation in an individual type of sport: A member of the national team who had already won the World Championship in younger years was almost completely excluded by his teammates. This became especially apparent during a training camp in the United States. The other team members arranged a city sightseeing tour but did not inform him. He therefore went sightseeing on his own. While sightseeing, he bumped into the others. This made it clear to him that he was completely isolated in the team. During this time, his performance deteriorated dramatically, so that there was a chance that he would be thrown from the squad. The sport psychologist talked to all of those involved in order to analyse the problem. The other members of the team mentioned that the athlete had been pampered by the coaches and that he saw himself as being "better" than the others after his victory at the World Championships. They also were of the opinion that "he does not want to have anything to do with us and is so different from us". The first team-building measure that was introduced was to have a round of discussions before each competition, without coaches, but in the presence of the sport psychologist, who moderated the talk. The isolated athlete was asked to outline how he felt before this competition, what went through his head, what he thought, including his fears and concerns. He did this openly and honestly. The others were given the opportunity to ask further questions, which they did

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actively. In a second step, the problematic situation was directly addressed and the varying points of view were expressed. During the course of these conversations, the members of the team revised their perception and expressed that "he has precisely the same feelings as we do. He is not really arrogant at all. We can actually learn something from him". Following this, the athlete was reintegrated into the team and was able to improve his performance.

Fig. 4-2: Team rituals support cohesion and can also promote a better start during a competition.

Activities for strengthening cohesion The following practical example shows that it is necessary for the members of a group to know each other, to be able to assess each other’s strengths and weaknesses, and also to trust one another. Before one can begin sport psychological training, activities should be conducted that intensify the social cohesion of the group (see Fig. 4-2; e.g. Gruber & Gray, 1981) and achieve a good group climate (e.g. Carron & Hausenblas, 1998). The structure of the first session with the sport psychologist and the whole group is essential for achieving this.

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Practical example First meeting with a women’s handball team First, the sport psychologist introduced herself and gave the team members an opportunity to ask her anything about herself and about her sport psychological work. The team members were then asked to present themselves pairwise. After that, they were asked to interview their partner with the goal of presenting her to the entire team afterwards. The presentation was to include information about the person, her skill level, and her wishes about and expectations for the work with the sport psychologist. The interviews resulted in an exciting exchange of ideas. Although the team members already knew one another, each of them still closely listened to the descriptions given by the others. All of them expressed that they learned something new about their teammates. The athletes especially liked to hear positive things about their playing skills from the other team member. For the sport psychologist, it was especially beneficial to learn more about the expectations the athletes had. The sport psychologist felt that the opinions and information were more honest because they were not presented by the athletes themselves, but by their individual partners. Mutually exchanging experiences, fears and concerns can serve to promote group cohesion. Cohesion can be differentiated between taskrelated cohesion and social cohesion. Task-related cohesion focusses on the goal to be attained. Social cohesion relates to how strongly the group members are attached to one another. For co-active types of team sports (e.g. individual types of sport for which one must function as a team, or teams with independent task structures, such as in rowing or relay teams), it is assumed that task-related cohesion is central to performance (cf. Alfermann & Strauß, 2001). The goal of sport psychological support should be, if it does not (yet) exist, to intensify social cohesion.

Factors having an impact on cohesion Naturally, creating cohesion does not always work as well as in the example above. Many factors have an impact on cohesion and group climate. Carron and Hausenblas developed a model that illustrates the factors that influence cohesion in sport groups (1998, p. 244). This model is presented in Fig. 4-3 and involves four types of factors:

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Environmental factors Team factors Personal factors Leadership factors

Practical example Development of social cohesion in a group of track and field athletes The second author worked with a group of track and field athletes. They were all top athletes, but of varying age. Only a few of the group members practised in the same training group. In the course of working together, it became apparent that all of the athletes were indeed familiar with one another and some even practised together. Nevertheless, social cohesion was low. During the course of the sport psychological work, a group climate could gradually be established that allowed all of the athletes to speak openly about their experiences and their fears. The younger athletes, for instance, described their high anxiety levels prior to important competitions. The more experienced athletes, on the other hand, expressed that they occasionally wished to experience this kind of excitement before a competition again, which they had once experienced as young athletes. Now they experienced too little eagerness prior to some competitions. Through this exchange of experiences, the athletes became closer to one another and it could be seen that the older, more experienced athletes took over the responsibility for the younger athletes and passed on their experiences to them as mentors. Cohesion is seen as being part of a dynamic system. In Carron and Hausenblas’ (1998) model, different factors influence each other reciprocally. The model can be used well not only for athletic teams, but also for all other sport psychological, supportive situations. If one transfers this model to sport psychological group interventions, some specific aspects must be taken into consideration pertaining to the environmental factors. Here, what a team experiences outside of the actual game situation (e.g. a new coach) also influences group work. Furthermore, victory or defeat can have direct consequences on a sport team’s cohesion (Ruder & Gill, 1982). The chance of victory or defeat is given at least once a week during the season. The sport psychologist must be aware that this directly influences the team climate.

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Fig. 4-3: Moddel of the influeential factors on cohesion in ssport groups acccording to Carron and H Hausenblas (19998).

Group ccharacteristics also play a significant roole. How weell do the members off the team as a group know w each other? D Do they practtise in the same traininng group, inn the same sp port? Are yooung and exp perienced athletes toggether in one group? Sporrt psychologiical work witth mixed groups, thatt is, with grouups in which the t participantts come from different sports, has pproven to be especially dem manding. Herre, the membeers of the group not oonly must get to know onee another, but must also deevelop an understandinng for the specific demandss of different ssports. Workingg together withh large groups is also a chaallenge. Often n as many athletes as possible are included in such groups,, simply for financial reasons—esspecially withh young athleetes. Here, itt is more difficult to develop cohhesion and a good group climate. It iis therefore frequently f recommendeed that the siize of the gro oup be reduceed (Mullen & Copper, 1994) to im mprove cohesion. The daanger of cliqque formation n is also decreased inn smaller grouups. Diagnosttics also play p an imp portant role in team building. Consequentlly, it is impoortant for the sport psychoologist to kno ow which personal expperiences the athletes have had. Most athhletes open th hemselves up to thosee who are prooviding sport psychologicaal support, orr at least demonstratee a certain degree d of curiosity. Somettimes, howev ver, sport

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psychologists experience denial on the part of the athletes. The reason for this can be that the athlete has previously had negative experiences with sport psychology. The sport psychologist is also frequently confronted with the prejudice that sport psychology cannot achieve anything. It is important to talk about this right from the start and to address it openly. If it is neglected, subliminal conflicts escalate, the climate suffers and negative group dynamics develop.

Should the coach be present during team building or not? With regard to team building, it is worth discussing the extent to which the presence of the coach is relevant for the group climate.

Practical example The coach wants to be a part of it While the second author was working with a team, the coach expressed great interest in participating in the sessions. He wanted to learn more about sport psychology and also how to integrate the skills that were presented into his training. However, as soon as the coach was present, the mood of the players became tense and they only hesitantly participated in the sport psychological training. In the group discussions, they spoke reservedly. Initially, the reason for this was unclear. A little later, one of the players informed the sport psychologist that the team wished to conduct the sessions without the coach. The sport psychologist thereupon explained to the coach that it would be necessary to have a meeting without him. During this meeting, the players opened themselves up for the first time and spoke frankly about their problems. One of the main problems the players expressed lay precisely in the coach-athlete relationship. This example elucidates that the coaches’ presence is not always beneficial for the team climate. The sport psychologist should be aware of this.

Practical exercises Which practical exercises can be used in a first team-building session?

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Getting to know one another Many different exercises can be used to get to know one another. An example is the above-described interview and presentation of team members (see in this regard, e.g. Newstrom, 1998).

Fig. 4-4: Sitting circle.

Exercises for developing trust x One individual is blindfolded and is then led through the room by another person. x The members of the group stand in a circle. One person is blindfolded and placed in the middle of the circle. This person lets him- or herself fall in different directions and is always caught and supported by the other members of the group. x Team building - Sitting circle (Fig. 4-4). - Untangling oneself: All members stand in a circle with their hands extended. The goal is to grasp the hand of two group members with the left and the right hands, although it should not be the hands of

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the person standing directly next to one. This "mix of grasping hands" then needs to be untangled. One may not let go of any hand at any point.

Further reading Carron, A. V., Hausenblas, H., & Eys, M. A. (2005). Group dynamics in sport (3rd ed.). Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.

CHAPTER FIVE SKILL TRAINING

Introduction This chapter describes advanced training, which builds on the elements of basic training and includes the training of individually designed sport psychological techniques and strategies. When describing the techniques and strategies, we also present some of the scientific background and evidence for the efficacy of the various forms of skill training. In chapter 9, entitled "Mental Toolbox", we give more examples of the practical application of these skills and illustrate specific problems and solutions that can be implemented to solve them. Mental skills can be acquired both by individual athletes and by teams. Thus, for example, the skill of self-regulation through self-talk is a skill that must be acquired and practised by an individual athlete. Activation, on the other hand, can also affect a team, for instance, when concentration needs to be established before a game. Through the preceding diagnostic process, the sport psychologist knows where the strengths of an athlete or a team lie and, in particular, where the weaknesses lie. The specific content of skill training can be determined from the diagnosed weaknesses, for example, self-talk, concentration or imagery training. Skill training, however, should not explicitly make use of cognitive methods. In recent times, body-related skills have increasingly been included, which can be categorised under the term "embodiment". The different methods for training skills are described in detail in this chapter. We differentiate between general (e.g. activation-regulation) and specific skills (e.g. attention-regulation). Several skills can be combined in the course of so-called routines and can be brought into a functionoriented sequence, which can then be applied in different phases of competition (e.g. start of preparation). Routines integrating several skills are therefore described in the last part of this chapter.

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Motivation and activation Motivation and activation deal with the energising and orientation of athletic actions. Activation deals with providing basic energy. It is generally assumed that activation can be either too high or too low at the start of a competition. Puni (1961) referred to this as "competitive fever" or "competitive apathy". In the first case, the athlete behaves hectically, irritably and possibly jittery and is not concentrating at the start. In the second case, the athlete can hardly pull him- or herself together and might even continuously yawn. It is desirable to have highly motivated athletes who can fully concentrate. Puni calls this "readiness for battle". We have referred to this activation as being as necessary for competition as eagerness is. As will become obvious later, assessment of physical arousal is an important dimension. But arousal provides only a kind of physiological background. Cognitive elements determine what will happen. Arousal may be interpreted as "nervousness" or "readiness". Which interpretation is chosen will determine how confidently the athlete will perform. Goal orientation is a central cognitive element and plays an important role for motivation. Goals "attract", that is, they mobilise energy and, at the same time, give the activity a direction.

Regulatory strategies In the past, the relationship between athletic performance and activation was predominantly described as a reverse U function, which means that performance improves with increasing activation, but then drops after becoming higher than medium activation (Yerkes & Dodson, 1908). The criticism of this model was briefly described in chapter 4. Yerkes and Dodson (1908) were essentially addressing arousal, but activation in preparation for or during a sport competition is much more complex. More differentiated models for the relationship of activation and performance have now been established (Raglin & Hanin, 2000). It has been shown that diverse moderators, for instance, the demands on athletic skill or the skill level, have an influence on the optimal level of activation. Thus, skills that require an accurate execution of movement can be better performed with low activation than can tasks that require a high degree of energisation (cf. Raglin & Hanin, 2000). In addition, experienced athletes are better able than beginners to handle a higher level of activation (Kleine & Schwarzer, 1991). An important question is, What is activation? As previously discussed, the perception of physical arousal does not appear to

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be suitable for defining performance abilities. Nevertheless, this also depends on the profile and demands of the individual type of sport. In one type of sport, for instance, weightlifting, a concept involving maximum activation of the entire organism may be appropriate. In another type of sport, for example, shooting, central-nervous activation in the form of maximal concentration can be important. Whatever activation is optimal, however, is not only dependent on the sport, but also to a great degree on individual differences.

Individual zone of optimal functioning On the basis of criticism of the Yerkes Dodson model, Hanin (2000) developed the Individual Zone of Optimal Functioning (IZOF) model. According to this model, each athlete has an activation level that is optimal. Studies have shown that more successful athletes indicated having pre-competition states that lay closer to their IZOF than did less successful athletes (Raglin & Hanin, 2000). The goal of the sport psychologist is, together with the athlete, to determine the individual, optimal activation level. This can be achieved in a number of different ways. As explained in chapter 4, a high level of activation does not necessarily have a negative effect on athletic performance. Rather, it is the cognitive component, the appraisal of the situation, that is important (cf. Beckmann & Rolstad, 1997). This appraisal is usually echoed in an athlete’s self-talk. Perceived physical arousal directly before a competition can be appraised as nervousness and result in negative and unsettling feelings. But physical arousal can just as easily be interpreted as a sign of being prepared for top performance, a necessary competitive readiness, and consequently also regarded as an optimal prerequisite for performance. Even if the cognitive component (the assessment of one’s own state of arousal, particularly worrying thoughts) plays an important role, one can still relate this to the IZOF, since activation can also include cognitive activation. In this case, the activation of disturbing thoughts, for example, focussing too strongly on the elements of a technique, plays a role. Cognitive arousal can also be changed through systematic and targeted use of relaxation procedures. Breathing relaxation helps to quickly eliminate burdensome thoughts (worry) without affecting the necessary competitive tension. In addition, progressive muscle relaxation (PMR), and especially also autogenous training (AT), can lead to more composure and less rumination on a long-term basis. PMR and AT, however, reduce the

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competitive tension necessary for functioning optimally and should therefore not be used directly before a competition. Coaches or sport psychologists are frequently also confronted with a competitive tension that is too low. Here, it is necessary to "psych up" an athlete or a team. The demands in the different disciplines and types of sport are diverse. Shooting requires a quiet hand, so that high concentration should be accompanied by reduced physical arousal. This is not the case for weightlifters or sprinters (cf. Beckmann & Kazen, 1994). In order to achieve an optimal state of functioning, athletes must either increase their arousal level or decrease it and calm down before a competition. This mainly pertains to cognitive components such as worry, self-doubt and nervousness. A difficulty lies in being able to diagnose the IZOF and to systematically bring it about. One way to determine the activation of the total organism is to measure the workload of the cardiovascular system (Arent & Landers, 2003). Regarding the assessment of individual optimal central-nervous activation, the first studies with electroencephalographic (EEG) measurements are being performed in shooting (Beckmann, Kreinbucher & Wagner, 2010). On the basis of these insights, for the training of athletes, EEG biofeedback might be developed that takes into account the optimal zone of brain functioning (activation and localisation) of a specific sport, as well as determines the individual optimum.

Reduced activation: Calming down Breathing relaxation (cf. chapter 4), together with appropriate self-talk skills, is a suitable self-regulatory strategy for calming down. Younger athletes in particular and those with less experience in competitive sports—independent of the type of sport—have trouble dealing with nervousness and must therefore first learn techniques for calming themselves down. Being calm is, as a rule, also a better strategy for handling frustration and anger than "letting off steam". When reacting angrily after a failure, an organism needs 10-20 minutes to bring the hormonal household and the cardiovascular system back into equilibrium. The brain is flooded with catecholamines (adrenalin, norepinephrine) by which activation is further increased. Blood pressure rises, breathing is accelerated, the blood sugar level drops and the muscular system becomes tense. In addition, a connection is registered between this negative experience and the temper tantrum. Letting off steam is thus to some extent pouring oil onto fire. Aside from this, the athlete does not learn to deal with unpleasant experiences, but is even

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more at the mercy of these negative feelings and the accompanying physiological phenomena.

Increased activation: Psyching up Psyching up includes exercises that have the goal of increasing physical activation and of eliminating sluggishness and lethargy. In a broader sense, psyching up means more than increasing the competitive tension by increasing activation. With these methods, athletes can also simultaneously become more positively attuned to the competition and increase their expectations for success by focussing more intensively on their own strengths through activation of memories of successful experiences and by mentally and emotionally reliving them (see also "Self-Esteem and Self-Confidence" and "Imagination and Training of Mental Imagery" in this chapter). Strategies for increasing the level of activation x x x x x

Activation through rapid and abrupt movements Increasing breathing frequency Activating monologues, for example, "Let’s go—Now I am going to show you!" or "This competition is just what I have been waiting for!" Stimulating music, which activates and simultaneously produces a positive mood, possibly even in the sense of a mode of victory (see chapter 8) Activating pictures (imagery): A 400 m runner, for instance, found an activating image for herself in which she pictured herself running around the track as quickly and elegantly as a puma.

Goal setting Goal setting is one of the most important motivational techniques (Locke & Latham, 1990). Acting without having a goal is like being disoriented. Characteristically, competitive sports deal with the achievement of performance goals. The question is always this: How clear, detailed and conscious are these goals? Are they compatible with one’s other goals or with the goals of others on the team? Goals can only promote maximum performances if they are so demanding that they sufficiently mobilise the individual. Athletes without clearly formulated, demanding goals will never be able to make it to the top. They are to some

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extent like athletes who shoot without aiming. They might perhaps enjoy the moment of shooting, but they will not be able to hit the mark. In a review of 201 studies with more than 40,000 participants, Locke and Latham (1990) found that in 91% of these studies, setting difficult, specific goals led to success. A vivid example for the effectiveness of setting specific, difficult goals has been reported in physiotherapy with patients who had limited mobility in their shoulder and elbow joints. One group of patients was given the following instruction: "Close your eyes and raise your arm as high as possible…, higher…, and even higher". Another group was asked to set a specific goal: "Please take the book from the shelf". Shelf height was adjusted to the maximum individual reaching capacity. The group with the hard specific goal demonstrated a performance capability that was approximately 18 degrees higher than the group with the "do your best" instruction. Numerous goal-setting research studies support these observations (Locke & Latham, 1990). In the field of sports, however, the results of research on how effective goal-setting training is and what goals are best suited for achieving top performances have not been consistent overall. In addition, goals may sometimes have negative effects on athletic performance. As was seen with activation, defining the hard specific goal is critical. Committing oneself to a goal that is not considered as realistic, because one’s own expectancy to reach this goal is not high enough, can result in fear of failure (Jones, 1990). When practising goal setting, it is therefore critical that goals are accepted and also internalised by the athlete (Erez & Zidon, 1984). It is crucial that the athlete not only displays public compliance—because the coach wants him or her to set the goal—but also shows actual private acceptance. This becomes especially important when team goals are set in which commitment from all team members is required. In goal-setting training, it is additionally important that the athletes distinguish between different goals and also set these different goals. One can differentiate between the following: x Outcome goals: These goals involve striving for results in a competition, for example, becoming the champion in the long jump or breaking the world record in the 110 m hurdles. x Performance goals: These goals involve striving for a performance in relation to a standard or reference level set by the athlete or coach that they believe to be applicable for the athlete, for example, an increase of 10% in the number of free throws made in basketball.

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x Process goals: These goals deal with how certain skills or strategies can be implemented, for example, a rhythmic swing in golf during a tournament. Investigations show that many athletes set themselves at least two different kinds of goals, namely, outcome goals and process-oriented goals (Jones & Hanton, 1996). Outcome-oriented goals, however, are not always most important and can possibly—for instance, if merely related to ranking—lead to increased levels of fear (Burton, 1989) and even to withdrawal from competition (Roberts, 1986). A study by Kingston and Hardy (1997) showed, for instance, that golfers who make use of processoriented goals ("Where am I going to play the ball?") can concentrate and control negative thoughts better than golfers who make use of resultoriented goals. This could be related to the fact that process-oriented goals attract attention and are able to bind the athlete to the goal. Individual performance goals can be helpful, especially for those athletes who fear failure (see chapters 2 and 3). Setting a goal in sport Different goals have different functions: Outcome goals maintain motivation during strenuous phases of practice and training and prolong persistence for achieving the goal over longer periods of time. x Performance goals demonstrate progress, strengthen selfconfidence and simulate competitive situations. x Process goals during training and competition call attention to essential points and reduce the development of competitive anxiety. x

According to research findings, a multiple goal strategy with a good balance between outcome, performance and process goals leads to the best results (Filby, Maynard & Graydon, 1999). Outcome goals are especially important when the motivation to push oneself hard in training, or to refrain—in part or entirely—from other, perhaps more pleasant, activities is needed. They can lead to one’s complete dedication to sport, which is driven by this goal. Overriding, long-term outcome goals are the central source of energy for motivation, dedication and self-commitment. Such long-term goals can be seen as visions: seeing oneself wearing the jersey of the national team and lining up for a world championship game. From the experience of the authors, it appears that young athletes become more

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and more afraid of having such visions and instead try to be what they call "realistic". The function of such visions needs to be explained to these athletes, including that when you aim high, you may not always reach the highest high. It would, however, be a shame not to have tried. A good example for this is the Australian Jason Day who, according to Golf magazine, was the most promising newcomer on the professional golf tour in 2008. In the January 2008 issue of this magazine, an article described the achievements made by this athlete, who was only 20 years old at the time, as not being the result of his talent alone. The author wrote, "He dug his game out of the Australian dirt. He worked hard. He wanted to achieve this. As a teenager he hung a list of goals on the wall over his bunk bed in the boarding school to which he fully dedicated himself." He has clearly formulated his long-term goal: "I’m working on taking over his (Tiger Woods’) number one position". Athletes must learn which types of goals, at which point in time, are best suited for their performance. In competition, this could be attentionregulating process goals. In addition, it can be beneficial for athletes to divide their goals into sub-goals and to differentiate between short-, middle- and long-term goals. Fundamentally, goals should be "SMART", that is to say, specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and time based (Bull, Abison & Shambrook, 1996). People often forget that setting goals should also motivate them to develop strategies for achieving these goals. If a golf player sets the goal to reduce his handicap from 12 to 9 in the coming season, he should develop specific strategies as to how he could achieve this, for instance, by improving his putting or playing more strategically. This also shows that the best strategy for reaching one’s goals is to concentrate on performance and process goals (Orlick & Partington, 1988). Goal setting may also be different at different ages. Research on the Sport Orientation Questionnaire (chapter 3) shows that a high "win orientation" is not optimal for young athletes, but may be beneficial later in their career. In fact, McCarthy and Jones (2007) found that improving performance and enjoying sport are the foci of most youth athletes, whereas improving and winning are typically the foci of older athletes (Weinberg, Burke & Jackson, 1997). Only a few studies, however, have examined the effects of goal setting on the performance of young athletes (e.g. Mooney & Mutrie, 2000). In general, these studies show that goalsetting techniques tailored to the needs of young athletes could help them improve and master the sport skills necessary for practice and competition. Athletes as young as 12 years of age can profit from goal setting.

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Setting SMART goals. Goals should be… Specific:

Make your goal focussed and well defined.

Measurable:

Make completely clear what a success would be.

Attainable:

What is within my capability? What do I have to do to make it happen?

Relevant:

How much does it matter to me?

Time based:

Set a deadline or a date for completion.

Feedback on reaching one’s goal is also important for effective goal setting. This feedback supports the athletes’ goal-directed actions and provides them with information on how they should adapt their goals and/or strategies for achieving a goal in the sense of an optimal fit. One should continuously evaluate whether the goal has been achieved. This is an integral part of the goal-setting programme. An effective goal-setting programme includes the planning of several different goals and a commitment to them. It includes the development of strategies for achieving these goals, for their execution and for the evaluation of their achievement. This is a continuing process pertaining to short-, middle- and long-term goals. The different goals have diverse effects that can be summarised as follows: x x x x

Regulation of attention and activity Mobilisation of energy and effort Increase in endurance Motivation to develop appropriate strategies

Some athletes criticise goal setting in that it may create stress. Usually, these individuals show a high fear of failure, which implies that they doubt their capacity for mastering the goal. In this case, they see the goal as unrealistic and unattainable. The problem is not the goal setting per se, but these individuals’ fear of failure. Before trying to set a realistic goal, the belief in the individual’s capability of reaching the goal must be supported. Another question often arises: "What if I set a specific, hard goal and fail?" It is necessary to explain that hard goals are hard goals

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because the probability of attaining them is comparatively small. Goal setting is a motivational technique that attempts to mobilise all the energy that is needed to have a chance to reach the goal. However, all the mobilised energy will never guarantee that the goal is actually reached. Athletes should understand that goal setting is merely an energymobilising technique that is extremely useful in the face of performance. After the performance, the situation differs. Now it is about analysing why the hard goal was not reached. Failing to reach a hard goal should not be embarrassing, as long as one has tried hard.

Team goals Together with their coach, teams can discuss and determine goals for the coming season. As mentioned earlier, these goals should be challenging, specific and positively formulated (no avoidance goals in the sense of "We do not want to be relegated"). Finally, particularly in team sports, the setting of group goals appears to be important for athletic performance because it can mobilise team spirit; shared goals promote a "we feeling". In addition, the phenomenon of "social loafing"—the hiding behind team members and letting others do the work—is countered (Burton, 1993). Furthermore, goals that are set by a person him- or herself and goals that are set jointly by the team can be distinguished. In relation to the former, there are both individual, personal goals, as well as individual group goals. For the latter, there are the setting of team goals for an individual member of the team and the setting of team goals for the team as such. At the start of the season, we usually ask players to individually write down their goals with the team and their goals on the team. Such goals do not have to be performance goals, although those will usually come to mind first. We suggest to players to also think of process goals. For example, a goal with the team could be to be renowned for being the team playing the most attractive football. Individual goals do not have to be egoistic. A player’s goal on the team could also be, "I will do everything to support my team, even when I am not playing myself". Despite all the positive effects of goal setting, one should always be fully aware of the potential dangers. Setting a challenging goal can potentially lead to an increased willingness to take risks and possibly also to higher stress levels. One’s self-confidence could be undermined if one does not achieve the goals that were set and if goal setting as a motivational technique is not properly understood. But it is just as problematic to set goals that are too easy to achieve. In this case, the goals are considered as a limit instead of as a minimum. If one has set the goal

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of a silver medal at the Olympics for oneself and eventually could be going for gold, it might be that it is difficult to mobilise enough energy to achieve the gold medal in the end. Goals may possibly also limit one’s attention so that one neglects other areas that are not connected to the specific goal. This tunnel vision can be an effect that is striven for, but can also lead to the loss of important information. Fundamentally, athletes should learn to understand that they need goals in order to be attracted by them and to mobilise maximal motivation to reach for the top. This relates to the athletes’ realisation orientation. After the competition, however, the result is evaluated realistically, objectively and rationally in order to learn from it and to develop further. If this is properly understood, hard goals should not be feared, but sought. Checklist of motivation through goals x x x x x

Goals are clear and formulated specifically. Goals have a challenging degree of difficulty, but are nonetheless realistic. Goals are accepted and individuals show full commitment. Goal achievement is consistently pursued. Feedback is given continuously.

Explaining success and failure: Attribution After having won a competition or after failing one, it is a natural concern to understand why there was success or failure and to search for an explanation. Those attributional processes are closely connected to goal setting. The explanations for success or failure have an essential influence on the affective reactions that athletes show and are momentous for future motivation in situations where they succeed or fail. The perceived causes for success and failure can be subdivided by using the following dimensions (Weiner, 1986): x x

Temporal stability (stable versus variable) and Locality (internal versus external)

Factors lying within the individual, that is, internal factors, are talent and effort. Talent is considered to be stable, while effort is variable. The difficulty of tasks is seen to lie outside the individual person (external) and represents a stable cause. Chance, in contrast (luck, misfortune), is

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external and variable. If athletes manage to beat a strong opponent and come to the conclusion that the victory was due to their ability, they will experience pride and be highly motivated to compete again. If they lose because of unpredictable weather conditions, it will not bother them. If they fall short of a standard performance level in their sport and come to believe that it is because they lack the necessary ability, the emotion of shame arises. From this experience, they may decide to quit that sport.

Distorted attributions: The self-serving bias It is typical, especially for Western cultures, to distort one’s assessment when it comes to the attribution of success and failure. Most consider the causes for their success to lie within themselves. The responsibility for failures is primarily explained by a lack of effort or by external factors such as misfortune or the task being too difficult. This is known as the "self-serving bias" (Miller & Ross, 1975). In principle, the self-serving bias is supportive. It prevents negative emotions and serves to develop and maintain positive self-esteem. The disadvantage of this attribution, however, is that it makes it difficult to learn from mistakes. The coaches know which athletes always refute the possibility that failures could have been caused by their own mistakes. Other athletes search for the reasons for failure mainly within themselves and therefore become risk avoidant. They do not play the risky pass that might offer a chance to score. For these cases, the introduction of an "error culture" is helpful. It should be guided by the following philosophy: "Errors are good—as long as they do not create any great damage". They are good because one learns more and learns faster from errors. Of course, part of this philosophy is not to repeat the same error. In addition, situational constraints should be taken into account: Play it safe when it could be costly to make an error. The midfield player’s risky pass may not involve a cost other than losing the ball. The defender’s risky play may cause a goal for the opponent. It is best if these mistakes can be made in situations where they are not consequential—for instance, in a friendly game or competitive training. Psychologically oriented training is made up of such kinds of competitive situations in which typical mistakes can be made without causing any serious damage (see also, in regard to this, uniqueness training and prognostic training in chapter 9). Persons differ in their attribution styles. Not all athletes have an attribution with a self-serving bias. The achievement motive with its two components of hope for success and fear of failure plays an important role. Those who are motivated by success (hope for success) mainly

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demonstrate an attribution with a self-serving bias. Those motivated by fear of failure, on the other hand, present precisely the opposite pattern: Individuals with this disposition consider failures to be a result of lack of talent (internal, stable attribution). In contrast, success is attributed to luck (external, variable) or insufficient task difficulty (external, stable). For those motivated by failure, the failure is in fact the confirmation that they lack talent. Consequently, their expectation for success decreases further and they increasingly try to avoid unpleasant performance experiences. If the coach fails to identify and deal with an athlete’s fear of failure, the athlete will demonstrate less desire to participate in competitions, will report in sick and may ultimately withdraw completely from competitive sport. This would be unfortunate, since athletes with a high fear of failure do not differ in their objective performance ability from athletes with a high hope for success.

Interventions for athletes with fear of failure How does one deal with athletes who have a high fear of failure? In general, fear of failure is a relatively stable disposition. Relatively stable means that it can be changed. As mentioned earlier, athletes with a fear of failure can be outstanding talents. Consequently, one mission in talent development would be to reduce fear of failure in a talented athlete who exhibits high fear of failure. What individuals high in fear of failure abhor most is to embarrass themselves in front of other people, especially people who are significant for them, such as their peers or their team. This is mainly a fear of performing poorly on a task that they are not well acquainted with and thus for which they have no stable expectations to do well. Those with high fear of failure should consequently be given a chance to try out and to train for new demanding performances on their own. It is burdensome for them if they are supposed to demonstrate something in front of an even well-meaning coach if they are not completely convinced that they can succeed. Furthermore, the comparison with others must be postponed until they feel confident. First, the coach needs to concentrate on their individual improvement in performance. This calls for an individually oriented standard of reference. Personal improvements are praised, even if they remain behind the performances of the group (social reference standard). This may be presented from a path-goal perspective: Reach the ultimate (performance) goal by progressing step by step from an intermediate (process) goal to the next goal, like climbing up a ladder rung by rung, always focussing only

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on the next step. It has been shown that such training methods can clearly reduce the fear of failure within the course of a year. A competition is no longer felt to be burdensome (see, in regard to this, Rheinberg & Krug, 2005). Targeted support for those with high fear of failure x x x x x x

Self-determined selection of the task Realistic goal setting Prolonged time for practising individually Individual reference standards Good climate (mutual respect, mindful of others, openness for criticism, partnership-like relationship) Perspectives for further development demonstrated (path–goal approach)

Principle of optimal fit Attributions can also impact affective reactions. One feels proud if a success is attributed to ability and/or effort ("as expected, because I worked hard"). One feels ashamed if unexpected failures are attributed to a lack of talent ("I have no talent for this") (cf. Weiner, 1986). It has been shown that the highest release of dopamine, a neuromodulator responsible for motivation, follows unexpected success on a task with 50-50 chances (Beck & Beckmann, 2010). The "principle of optimal fit" enhances motivation: The difficulty of the tasks is adapted to the individual’s capability. This means that the task is at the high end of an athlete’s ability. Optimal fit of tasks is especially important when attempting to overcome failure-oriented athletes’ tendency to attribute success to sheer luck. Through repetition of a task that optimally fits these individuals’ capabilities, they will eventually concede that the proportion of successes they achieved must have something to do with their ability and cannot be attributed to luck.

Self-esteem and self-confidence Self-esteem results from judgments that individuals make about their own worth. It includes the experience of being competent to cope with the basic challenges of life. Thus self-esteem includes self-confidence as a feeling of personal capacity. Psychologists usually regard self-esteem as a

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relatively stable personality characteristic, with short-term variations according to situational factors. The extent to which one believes in one’s abilities is expressed in self-efficacy (Bandura, 1982). Self-efficacy, in comparison to self-esteem, is relatively specific to situation and domain. Thus, it might be that the expectations for success in an up-and-coming athlete are greater for their athletic performance than their academic performance. Athletes show many different types of self-efficacy. One is often confronted by athletes who have low self-esteem. This often leads to a self-fulfilling prophecy in that low self-confidence leads to poor performance expectations. If the performance is then actually poor, this leads to even lower self-confidence. In contrast, there are also athletes with an abundance of self-confidence who tend to overrate their abilities and skills. They are unable to realistically assess their abilities. For applied sport psychology, the question is this: How can an optimal level of self-esteem, self-confidence and self-efficacy be achieved? Schunk (1991) cites four sources of self-confidence and self-efficacy in athletes: .

Sources of self-confidence and self-efficacy x x x x

Past success Influence of the coach (convincing coaching) Learning through observation: Learn from successful prototypes (role models) Interpretation of one’s own body signals as an optimal state and not as a nervous state

Athletes can be trained on an individual level for different skills that positively support self-efficacy beliefs. Among these skills, for example, are self-talk, the imagination of successful competitions and realistic goal setting. Aside from these cognitive skills, physical embodiment strategies have also proven to be effective. After a failure, or a series of failures, athletes can try to get a positive response from their body (see the section "Embodiment" in this chapter). By consciously and proudly extending their chest and directing their eyes at the treetops, they proceed proudly into the arena with the upright stature of a matador. This technique was used by a golfer who described it as the "stride of the matador". One can also work on improving self-confidence at the team level, as illustrated by the following example. Here, particular interest was paid to two sources of self-confidence: convincing coaching and the influence of models.

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Practical example Lack of self-confidence Players of a junior team in women’s football expressed immediately at the start of sport psychological support that they had too little selfconfidence and especially did not have confidence in their football skills. This was hard to understand since the team was composed of the most successful players in Germany, if not in all of Europe. However, their statements were supported by the coach’s observations, who expressed the desire to strengthen the players’ self-confidence when the second author started to work with the team. The following intervention was conducted at the team level. During a meeting, the players were each asked to write down the strengths of two other players on the team and to hand these papers to the players afterwards. Furthermore, the sport psychologist discussed with the players how important it is to support one another and to provide positive support. They were informed about the positive effects this has on self-confidence. During these conversations, it was especially important that the coach was also present so that he could be introduced to the basic principles of the training and subsequently remind the players to positively support one another. In additional sessions with the coach, he learned more about the principles of self-confidence and how important it is to give feedback to improve self-confidence. Furthermore, the players completed a prognostic training session. During this session, the players practised setting realistic goals. In one exercise, for example, the players had to set the goal of how many of 10 shots would hit the top of the goal post. This task automatically provided them with feedback on how realistic their goal setting was, including how realistic their self-evaluation was.

Self-talk After internal dialogue turns negative, one frequently loses a competition. According to Gallwey (1976), the "internal sceptic" with its negative messages takes the upper hand. Statements such as "I can’t make any long passes today" or "My serve simply doesn’t work today" dominate self-talk in these cases. Frequently this is also accompanied by an inner dialogue characterised by helplessness: "I do not know what is wrong" or "Why am I so bad?" After such statements, one can hardly expect to perform well. Several studies have shown that negative self-talk results in poorer athletic performance (van Raalte et al., 1994). For example,

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gymnasts whose self-talk dealt with a fear of failure and self-doubt were unable to qualify for the 1976 Olympic Games (Mahoney & Avener, 1977). However, positive self-talk can be practised, and research has shown that the regulation of one’s own inner dialogue, in terms of staying positive and supportive, results in improved athletic performance (Hatzigeorgiadis et al., 2009). Numerous investigations also show how positive self-talk affects performance in different critical situations in sports (Weinberg et al., 1984). Self-talk can be successfully used to increase effort (Rushall, 1984), draw attention to relevant stimuli (Schmid & Peper, 1993), call forth a change in morale (Hardy & Fazey, 1990) and promote rehabilitation following an athletic injury (Ievleva & Orlick, 1991). Debriefing, which is described in chapter 6, can likewise be performed to prevent a decrease in self-confidence following an unsuccessful competition.

Optimising the inner dialogue Emphasis should be on assisting athletes in creating suitable inner dialogues that support them in critical situations. The first step is usually to help athletes become conscious of their disturbing and performanceimpeding thoughts. In a second step, these thoughts are reworded so that they positively support performance. For the processing of such inner dialogues, it can be helpful if the athlete writes them down and brings them along to the following meeting. It is good to have scripts not only from training situations, but also from successful and less successful competitive situations, so that they can be discussed and analysed together with the athlete. If this analysis shows that the athlete’s self-talk does not support his or her goal, or that the inner dialogue induces negative thoughts, the self-talk should be altered. The goal is to transform negative into positive thinking. Positive thinking is often misconceived as self-deception. However, it is simply taking a different perspective. For example, if one looks at a glass that is filled halfway with a drink one likes, a negative perspective results in the evaluation that the glass is "already half empty," whereas a positive perspective finds the glass "still half full". The goal of positive thinking is to take another point of view. After all, each medal has two sides. Why should one look at the negative side? The different perspectives have a different influence on mood. Individuals could be either sad or happy, depending on which viewpoint they take. In order to optimise the inner dialogue, an individual first needs to recognise how he or she self-talks, for example, after a bad game in tennis,

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or after a bad shot or hole in golf. Typical phrases are written down and an attempt is then made to take a different viewpoint of the situation. Sometimes phrases may only be reframed in a positive way. Ultimately, a positive statement is formulated instead of a negative one. Training of the inner dialogue Fold a normal sheet of paper vertically in half. First, on the left side of the page, write down all negative self-talk in which you frequently engage. Then replace each of these negative sentences with a positive, confidenceexpressing sentence on the right side of the page. It is important to create inner dialogues that are most suitable for the athlete. To achieve this, positive self-talk must be formulated by an athlete him- or herself and not by the sport psychologist. The newly created positive self-talk must be practised regularly and should be integrated into athletic practice. Furthermore, the efficacy of the inner dialogue can be additionally strengthened by the use of imagery (Cumming et al., 2006). Hardy (2006) differentiates between motivational and instructional self-talk. Motivational self-talk should be used to regulate activation. Instructional self-talk should be used with fine-motor activities in which accuracy of the execution of the skill and timing play a crucial role. Wulf and Dufek (2009) showed jump height to be increased when performers were given external focus instructions relative to an internal focus or no focus instructions. However, Wulf, Höss and Prinz (1998) advocate a differentiated approach to instructions. In addition, for complex motor tasks, instructions (self or other) should focus externally, for example, on the swing of the club rather than on how to move the arms in the swing (Wulf & Su, 2007). A focus on the movement effect promotes the utilisation of unconscious or automatic processes, whereas an internal focus on one’s own movements results in a more conscious type of control that constrains the motor system and disrupts automatic control processes. As shown by Ehrlenspiel (2006), self-instructions that focus internally on single elements of a complex motor skill such as a basketball free throw may interrupt the automatic flow of the movement and produce higher kinematic variance and as a result, failure. In the basketball free throw, the self-instruction "Focus on the ring of the basket" or "Imagine the trajectory of the flying ball" are therefore recommended. The inner dialogues can be reworded in different ways.

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Self-motivation This can be a self-instruction, the envisioning of one’s own skills or the anticipation of external affirmation. Through these self-motivation techniques, more energy should be set free. Examples: "I am going to show everyone"; "I can do it". Rationalisation With this strategy, the significance of a negatively experienced event should be reduced. One’s experience is brought into relationship with other experiences and thereby weakened. Example: A football coach who is fired may say, "This happens every day in football. Today you are fired; tomorrow you are hired by another team". Alteration in attention The thoughts are either to be focussed on or diverted from a certain matter. Example: Instead of thinking of hitting the ball into the water on the right side of a golf hole, focus on the left side with lots of space to land the ball. Search for problem-solving strategies One imaginatively plays through the possible solutions so that one’s thoughts do not remain stuck on the negative event, but are instead focussed on the solution. Example: "I could go directly for the hole and play a long drive on the right side of the golf hole. But there is a long water hazard in which I might lose my ball"; "I could aim at the left side where there is lots of room and a much smaller danger of losing the ball"; "I could play my 4-iron onto the right side. It is much shorter than my driver but absolutely straight, and I will have a safe chance of reaching the green with my second shot".

Practical example The inner caddy In professional golf, the caddy is, as a rule, employed by the player. A caddy not only carries the golf bag, gives the clubs to the player and takes the clubs from the player, but is also a competent consultant and motivation expert, who supports the player in preparing and planning a

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round and gives advice for individual shots. A good caddy recognises when the player is losing self-confidence and tries to build it up again. The caddy does not criticise the player, but tries to show his or her strengths. For amateurs, even the national players generally play without a caddy. Both in small and large tournaments, one can observe that when the nerves are strained after a bad shot or result, players often throw their club and/or shout things such as, "How can I be so stupid? I am not able to do anything at all. It would be better if I stopped playing golf." In an analysis of the situation, the player was asked the question, "How would you react if your caddy had spoken to you in this manner?" The response was short and crisp, "I would have kicked him out." The next question was, "What would you expect your caddy to do in such a situation?" The answer was, "He should build up my confidence and remind me of what I am able to do, and then also tell me what has to be done now." The next question was, "Could you speak with yourself in such a situation as you would expect your caddy to speak with you?" From then on, the player took along his "inner caddy" on his rounds. In every situation where he felt frustrated, was ready to lose his self-confidence and threatened to explode, he imagined what a good caddy would say to him. This made the player quieter; he remained more self-confident, felt better and played better rounds. The "inner caddy" can be used in other sports as well and could be renamed the inner coach or just "my friend Bo".

Concentration training When concentration is disturbed, unrestricted attention for an activity is lost. For example, this could happen if while shooting a penalty shot in football, the player does not completely focus on the ball and the target area in the goal, but rather allows his or her thoughts to wander to the audience, other players, or a consideration of what will happen if he or she fails to make the goal. Even though the penalty shooting has become completely automated, the player starts to think about how to shoot, or even worse, what not to do, etc. The player’s susceptibility for taskrelevant stimuli and organised thinking is inhibited. Disturbances in concentration can be brought about by a current physical condition such as fatigue or exhaustion, or by an affective condition involving fear or arousal. Various investigations have shown that positive processing of stress is a substantial prerequisite for good athletic performance (see, for

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example, Niklas, Keil & Schneider, 2008). Those who can handle stress are able to concentrate during training and achieve better results. Particularly in those cases where movements require a high degree of skill, conscious thoughts about the technique, or worrying thoughts, can cause problems. They hinder the athlete from achieving optimal functioning and from achieving a flow experience (Csikszentmihalyi, 1975). In experienced athletes especially, top performances are achieved only if athletes are completely absorbed by the activity.

Practical example Alleged concentration problems A decathlete requested sport psychological support in order to improve his concentration. He outlined his problem and reported decathlons in which he could no longer concentrate after completing the third discipline. After a longer conversation about the athlete’s history of concentration problems, it turned out that there was no psychological concentration problem, but rather a problem with his nutrition. The athlete ate too little during the competition between the individual disciplines, which negatively affected his concentration during the technical disciplines of the decathlon. The athlete was referred to a nutritionist and the problem was solved before the next decathlon. A similar problem was observed for a young golfer. His productivity curve decreased steeply after the 13th hole. It turned out that he ate little, but mainly that he drank too little, during the round. To solve this problem, he was instructed to take at least one drink of water between each of his shots and to also take a bite of food at the same time. In both practical examples, the causes for the athletes’ concentration problems were found relatively quickly. In these cases, they were not of a psychological nature. Usually, however, the search for a cause is much more complicated. Concentration decreases during the course of a competition for many reasons. In most sports, concentration is essential for athletic success. Successful athletes are distracted less by insignificant disturbances, and have a more task-oriented focus of attention, than are less successful athletes. Successful athletes stay focussed on the task and concentrate less on the result and on anxious thoughts (Williams & Krane, 2000). Most frequently, negative thoughts seem to be the cause for concentration problems because they distract the athletes from what is actually

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happening aand they com me into confl flict with whaat the athletees should actually be ffocussing on during d compettition.

Fig. 5-1: Dim mensions of attenntion according g to Nideffer (1 976).

Thou ught-stoppin ng techniqu ues A numbeer of effectivee interventionss can be used to counteractt negative thoughts. Onne of these is the "thought--stopping techhnique". Heree, one can imagine a sttop sign, or thhe word "stop", and therebyy stop the form mation of negative thoughts. It is essential th hat after that "stop", the negative thoughts bee replaced by b positive, highly h actionn-related thou ughts. In basketball, for example,, a sequencee that athletees can be trained on following ann unsuccessfuul three-point throw could be the follow wing: See the stop signn, think "defennce now", turn around, spriint back. In th he case of a young gollfer who wass highly irritab ble and had pproblems gettting back into the gam me after a badd hole, a red stop s sign was glued to his golf bag. When he puut the club thhat he had useed back into his bag, the stop sign reminded hhim of usingg the "though ht-stopping ttechnique". With W this interventionn, he was able to stay in the game and impprove his scorres.

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Fig. 5-2: Example for close external orientation: The golfer concentrates on the hole and the line on which the ball should run to the hole.

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Attention regulation Some athletes are so overwhelmed in a competitive situation that they choose an incorrect focus of attention. Nideffer (1976) distinguishes between external and internal foci, as well as between broad and narrow attention foci (Fig. 5-1). These can be combined to form four attention styles: x broad internal style x narrow external style (see also Fig. 5-2) x broad external style x narrow internal style Sport types differ regarding their optimal attention focus, and different competitive situations require different attention foci. A football player may have too narrow an external focus when running upfield and consequently shoots at the goal himself rather than passing the ball to a teammate who is in a far better position for shooting. A pistol shooter will not be able to perform well with a broad external focus of attention directed towards other shooters who are next to him. According to Nideffer (1976), athletes cannot execute all four attention foci equally well. An important part of concentration training is therefore to practise with the athlete how to change back and forth quickly between the different foci. Furthermore, it is sensible to go through the different situations in a competition and discuss with the athlete which attention focus is most suitable.

Centring Starting a competition or getting back into the game is often a problem after a short break. Centring is a useful tool in these situations (Nideffer, 1980). Right before a competition, attention is focussed on deep abdominal breathing in order to prevent disturbing thoughts. After that, attention is focussed on the stimuli that are relevant for the competition: first broad (entire stadium, spectators), then more narrow (centre circle). Centring can also be integrated into the routines described at the end of this chapter. Routines play a central role for a focussed lead-in to competition.

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Image 5.2. Photo: Das Büro for Team Danmark

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Not only might the lead-in to a competition be a problem, but there is also the danger of losing focus during a competition (e.g. after failures). If such failures accumulate, the athlete is often completely "out of order". The thought-stopping technique is then no longer sufficient to regain focus. In this case, the "reset technique" can be helpful. People press the reset button when the computer crashes. When golfers play a number of poor shots, or when football players "lose it" in a difficult phase of the game, they should also do something that resembles pressing a reset button. In golf, for instance, one can turn away from the fairway or green, look at the landscape, fix a point on the horizon, concentrate on long exhalation, eliminate everything negative while exhaling and "blowing it away", think about one’s own strengths in golf, imagine a good putt, recover one’s self-confidence, turn around, go to the ball and, if necessary, count backwards (999, 996, 993…) on the way to the ball.

Learning to deal with disturbances It is important to practise with athletes how they deal with disturbances, as these exercises can immunise them against future disturbances during competitions. These exercises are not popular, but they are successful. For example, one can simulate the actual competition, and then disturb the athletes in a targeted manner. In basketball, this technique is often used in training free throws, in which fellow team members actively attempt to distract the free thrower. Here, one can also disturb the player with loud crowd noises that are played over the stadium loudspeakers. In golf, one lets the golfer play with headphones. He or she then has to listen to disturbing noises during a shot or a putt: a lawn mower, an aeroplane or a helicopter flying over the course, clapping, coughing, etc. In addition, regular relaxation training (particularly autogenous training) can serve to reduce the attention threshold so that "the fly on the wall no longer steals one’s concentration".

Embodiment In sport and in other fields of life, not only words but also body language gives away a lot about oneself. It informs others, for example, of one’s attitude and how much self-confidence or motivation one has. If a player only looks to the ground, shows signs of fear and frustration, or has outbursts of anger, this can psych up an opponent tremendously. Players can also observe in themselves how good and confident they feel when an opponent loses control over him- or herself. Consequently, athletes should

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always be conscious of the signals their body language is sending out. In addition, they can avoid moping after a failure and instead learn to keep an upright body posture and radiate confidence. Body language not only works externally, however, but also internally. Human information processing occurs in constant interaction with the condition of one’s own body, which is known as "embodiment" (Gallagher, 2005). Bodily states, for example, include physical expression, posture and body tension. Information processing has an effect on the body; for example, low spirits after a failure express themselves as a slouched back and hanging shoulders. At the same time, body posture influences information processing, motivation and particularly how one feels. If the muscles that are needed to laugh are activated, this leads to a better mood (Strack, Martin & Stepper, 1988). We can, to a certain degree, actively influence our body. Instead of letting our shoulders hang, we can demonstrate a proudly swollen chest; instead of letting the corners of our mouth sag, we can put a smile on. We can thereby effectively influence our own motivation and emotional state. Moreover, the brain is prepared to recall our strengths, which subsequently also improves our self-confidence. We can also not show our opponent weakness, but rather show self-confidence and strength. Recently, embodiment has also been used to deal with pressure situations. The basis for this is the theoretical assumptions about how choking under pressure (in competitive situations) occurs. One of the assumptions to explain choking under pressure is that because athletes are especially motivated in pressure situations, in an attempt to do everything correctly, they retrieve technical instructions previously received during practice (Beilock & Carr, 2001). The more that technical practice involves verbal instructions for individual technical elements, the more susceptible the athlete should become to technical thoughts in a competitive situation. A failure is explained in the same way that concentrating on the sequence of single segments of a skilled movement destroys the flow of the movement. Thus, if the athlete concentrates on central components of movement (the "nodal points" of a movement), the passages between these points lead to a loss in the flow of the movement and an increase in kinematic variance (Ehrlenspiel, 2001). Brain mechanisms have also been identified that might produce the choking effect. A putting study by Crews (2004) showed that increased pressure led to increased activation of the participant’s left brain hemisphere, especially in those areas responsible for speech and the initiation of an activity. However, this was not the case for all participants. Only those who missed their golf putts showed this increased activation in

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the left brain hemisphere. One can assume that those who missed the putt concentrated on verbally represented technical thoughts in the pressure situation: Keep the wrists firm, swing from the shoulders, bring the putter straight to the ball, etc. The successful putters showed no stronger activation in the regions of the brain responsible for speech. Individuals with a disposition to ruminate, that is, state-oriented individuals, seem to be especially susceptible to this pattern of performance inhibition. It is typical for state-oriented individuals in a pressure situation to be unable to simply execute a technique that they have practised many times. They start thinking of everything that is necessary for the correct skill execution, or they begin pondering over how embarrassing it would be to miss the putt. Brain research shows that the right half of the brain, along with subcortical structures, stores and regulates the automated performance of movements as a whole. In addition, regions of the brain associated with spatial or temporal coordination are more likely to be found in the right half of the brain (Hellige, 1993). One can also speak of a feeling for movement or in ball sports as "a touch for the ball". Apparently people lose this feeling for movement when they are under pressure. When they want to do everything correctly, they fall back on their verbal representation of performing a movement. Can one eliminate choking under pressure in brooders by eliminating the activation of the dominant left half of the brain, thereby actively bringing the right hemisphere into the game? Since the right hand is completely controlled by the left half of the brain, one can assume that the right half of the brain can be activated more intensively by making a fist with the left hand. Magnetic resonance tomography of the motor cortex shows that the right half of the brain lights up, which means that it is activated, when the left fist is clenched. Experiments showed that activation of the right half of the brain by briefly clenching the left fist (in right-handed individuals) eliminated choking under pressure in skilled performers (Beckmann, Gröpel & Ehrlenspiel, 2013). This was seen to be effective in different kinds of sport such as football and tae kwon do, and indeed only by clenching the left but not the right fist. The intervention was also successfully used by gymnasts in a real competitive situation to reduce a performance slump in the finals (Gröpel & Beckmann, 2013), by an 800 m runner (see Fig. 5-4) and by golfers putting in international tournaments.

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Fig. 5-4: Clenching the left hand to stimulate the right half of the brain during an 800 m race. (Photo: Kiefner Sportfoto, Fürth).

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Imagination and training of mental imagery Imagination and the training of mental imagery are essential elements of performance-enhancing psychological skills training. In mental imagery training, a certain action or sequence of movements is mentally practised just through the imagination without observable physical activity. Imagery can be used to learn skills, refine skills, rehearse tactics and prepare for competition. From the perspective of cognitive psychology: "An internal representation of the movement is activated. Its execution – preferably optimal – is repeated and simulated in a selected mental context" (Schack, 2006, p. 255). Imagination is a mental process during which a reality is created with all senses without the actual stimuli being present. Imagination goes beyond pure mental imagery training because it includes all senses and is not limited to recalling a visual or verbal image. Therefore, language instructions are often not necessary to induce the feeling of an optimally executed movement. Imagination can be used for activation regulation, improving self-efficacy and supporting the rehabilitation process after a sport injury. Imagination is particularly suitable for practising skills holistically with an emphasis on the feeling of movement, without actually executing the movement. The imagination strengthens the pattern of an optimal performance of the skill in the brain. Errors made during the actual execution are not part of the imagination nor are they part of mental imagery training if the training is well prepared (see next section). Orlick and Partington (1988) report that 99% of top athletes use imagery. Top athletes use imagery more than less successful athletes do (Hall, Rogers & Buckolz, 1991). High-performance and competitive athletes use imagery more frequently, and they use it in a more focussed and concentrated manner than do recreational athletes. They also consider imagery to be more relevant and more significant (Nordin et al., 2006) and make use of more varied forms of imagery. Through imagery, physiological changes are brought about in more areas than just the brain. Reiser (2005) could show the effect of imagined muscle contractions on maximal isometric strength. In contrast to the control group, the group that mentally practised demonstrated a significant gain in strength. Mental imagery training and/or imagination works especially effectively in combination with physical training (Feltz, Landers & Becker, 1988). The purely imagined performance of an athletic activity evidently also leads to fatigue effects. Thus, athletes who were on the way to a competition and executed the athletic activity mentally again

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and again reported that they were exhausted in the real competition and could not achieve their top performance. Mental imagery or imagination can also be used directly before executing a skill in a competition. In this situation, it is not used as a method of practice, but to prime the activation of relevant processes in the brain. A slalom racer will visualise how she or he skis through the gates in a perfect way. It is useful to include imagery in a pre-start routine. Numerous studies prove that mental imagery training and imagination have the desired training effect for the performance of movements. Different assumptions have been made about how the underlying processes can be explained. However, how these mental procedures work remains to be clearly verified. Nevertheless, different studies provide evidence of what should be taken into consideration when learning and implementing mental imagery training and imagination.

Tips for implementing mental training x

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First, athletes’ attitudes toward mental training should be explored. It is favourable to first explain some of the basics of the techniques. In order to ensure their full involvement, athletes should be convinced of its effectiveness. The more convinced athletes are that they can actually execute the imagined movement, the more frequently they will make use of it (Short, Tenute & Feltz, 2005). The success of applying imagination is closely related to motivational personality factors (Harwood, Cumming & Hall, 2003). The authors could show that athletes with high task and high ego orientation more frequently made use of imagination than did athletes with lower degrees of these orientations. Imagery must first be learned and practised by athletes. Frequently, the erroneous assumption is made that they can master this right from the start. For beginners, it has proven to be important to practise these processes in a quiet place (e.g. in a closed room), so that those performing the exercise are undisturbed and not distracted. Mental imagery training and/or imagination should begin with relaxation. Mental imagery training that is initiated by a relaxation exercise has proven to be more successful than that performed without a preceding relaxation period (Weinberg, Seabourne & Jackson, 1981). This is related to, among other things, the fact that fear, which can develop when performing the skill, will be less likely to appear and to occupy one’s thoughts when in a relaxed

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state. A gymnast who has a difficult exercise on the bars, for instance, might be fearful of a specific element of the exercise during which she could hurt herself. A slalom skier might be afraid of missing a certain gate or of hooking it. Without the preceding relaxation, these fears can open the way to fearful imaginations: The gymnast sees herself failing during the performance of a particular element of the exercise on the bars, and thus sees herself falling. This precise imagination would then be programmed into the mental imagery training. If relaxation is performed prior to mental imagery training, the probability that fear intrudes into the imagination is minimised since, as explained in the previous chapter, fear and relaxation are not compatible with one another. The relaxation techniques described in chapter 4 can be used when implementing imagery. If one wishes to use mental imagery training and/or imagination directly before a competition, breathing relaxation is particularly well suited, since it does not reduce competitive tension. Furthermore, it is important that athletes have a vivid and accurate image of the movement that is to be mentally trained. Performing mental training immediately following practical training can be sensible, so that the memory of the movement is still vivid. When slalom skiers practise on the slope, the coach can give feedback when they reach the bottom. While taking the chairlift up to the start of the course, they can integrate the feedback into an imagination of skiing the course. If the athlete would like to imagine victory at an upcoming competition, the site where the competition is to take place should be visited or photographs of the actual site viewed. Playing a golf course right before a tournament is not allowed. However, a player may stand on the first tee, imagining being called up, the applause of the spectators as he steps onto the tee, his pre-shot routine, the shot itself, its trajectory and where it lands. Video recordings can also be suitable for generating lively pictures, as well as written descriptions of the movements compiled with the coach. A further important feature is that the performance situation to be imagined is of a positive nature. Athletes, for example, should avoid imagining unsuccessful attempts or failures (Gould & Damarjian, 1996). The functions of mental imagery training should be clarified in advance. According to Hall et al. (1998), mental imagery can be used to train for the performance of a movement, for regulating

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x

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thoughts and for regulating activation and emotions. The contents of the mental training should always be adapted to suit the goal. Depending on the goal of mental imagery training, the length of the imagination can vary. If time is an essential component (as in the case of a sprint), and one wants to imagine an actual successful competition, the imagination should take place in "real time"; that is to say, mental training should take as long as the actual performance. In contrast, if the correct execution of individual elements of a skill is addressed in technical practice, it may be helpful if the imagination of executing the skill is carried out in "slow motion" (Gould & Damarjian, 1996). Generally, interrupting the movement or imagining it backwards is not recommended. In mental training, whether athletes should perform the imagination of a skill from an internal or an external perspective is frequently discussed. With internal imagination, the athlete views the performance as if directly executing the skill him- or herself. With the external viewpoint, the athlete watches him- or herself executing the skill from an outside perspective, as though watching a video. Disagreement remains over which form of the imagination results in better performance. An investigation with Olympic participants in different sports showed that they use both internal and external images (Murphy et al., 1990). White and Hardy (1995) showed that the kind of movement determines which kind of imagery should be used. Thus, canoe slalomists, who must perform rapid changes in their movements, find an internal focus to be more important, whereas gymnasts, for whom the outer appearance is important, may find an external focus to be more advantageous. In every case, however, the focus during imagery should be on the production of good, clear and controlled images by the athletes regardless of whether they are using internal or external images. As previously explained, mental training appears to be especially effective if it is combined with physical training. For this reason, whenever possible, mental training should be performed in alternation with physical training (Igel, 2001).

One cannot merely sit down and run through the slalom course in one’s thoughts. Approaching this situation so naively and in such an unprepared way could even negatively impact the race. As mentioned earlier, without preceding relaxation, the skier might see him- or herself hook a critical

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gate and then fall. It can also happen that the athlete remains stuck at a passage and sees this again and again, or that he or she completely loses the picture. The most important goal of the training is, consequently, to maintain control of the imagination. Since the technique is generally and primarily mediated verbally, most athletes find it difficult to release themselves from verbally expressed technical thoughts and to imagine how a successfully executed movement feels. Therefore, mental imagery training and imagination must be set up and trained systematically.

Design of mental imagery training A necessary condition for imagery is practical experience of the activity to be performed. x Preparatory exercise: In order to improve the ability to imagine things with all senses, it is advisable to perform different preparatory exercises. A tennis ball is well suited for this. First, perceive the tennis ball with all sensory organs: See the yellow colour, see the seams, turn the ball around to see the course of the seams, feel the soft surface of the ball, perceive the intense smell of the material that the ball is made of, hear the noise the ball makes when bouncing on the ground. The ball is then put aside as you close your eyes. Now, try to experience all sensory impressions made earlier in as lively a way as possible. x Relaxation procedure: For instance, concentrate on prolonged exhalation until your mind is clear. x Construction of the imagination in a number of steps: - Write down the action that is to be exercised with all relevant details, with all of its sensory qualities. Sometimes, it can also be helpful to draw a picture of the action. - Read aloud or silently (inner speech) what you have written down. Train using this until the imagination flows reliably and without any interruption (by heart). - See the action being carried out as in a video film. - Imagine the action with all of its sensory qualities from an internal perspective.

Nodal points Eberspächer (2007) recommends that after having written down the fundamental structure of the action to be performed and after it can be

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repeated reliably in "subvocal" inner speech, the next step should be to symbolically mark the "nodal points" of the skill. Nodal points are decisive points in the transition of the performance of movements. Eberspächer (2007, p. 74) describes the nodal points of a tennis serve as follows: throwing the ball up (first nodal point), building up the tension of a bow (second nodal point), extending the racket backwards (third nodal point), reaching high (fourth nodal point) and swinging the racket down (fifth nodal point). These symbolic marks are then brief formulas for the respective nodal points. He provides an example of this for a discus thrower who uses meaningless syllables to mark the nodal points: LOOONG (spinning) – STA (landing to throw) – PAP (release). The description of nodal points should help elucidate the structure of the performance of a movement. Through the symbolic marking of nodal points, the rhythm of the movement should be taken up and accentuated more effectively in order to facilitate the execution of the movement. For example, as a symbol for getting on the edge, a slalom skier may use "ZACK" and for releasing it "ZAM. " He can imagine skiing through the course and can mentally practise the optimal rhythm with ZACK- ZAM, ZACK-ZAM. If the course is not icy as usual, but has a rather soft snow surface, the imagery may involve symbols that imply a softer reaction such as ZAM-WAM. As the example shows, using nodal points in imagery can be helpful, especially when it is important to find a good rhythm for the action. However, as mentioned earlier regarding Wulf and Su’s (2007) findings that an external focus (club head) is much better than an internal focus (arm movement), looking for nodal points within the execution of a skill itself is not recommended. It might be acceptable for skills that include "natural" nodal points such as in some weightlifting disciplines. However, with flowing movements that have no naturally defined stopping or transitional points, it can be problematic and in fact disturb the flow of movement. Ehrlenspiel (2001), for instance, found increased muscular activation in nodal points that had been defined in throwing basketball free throws. As a consequence, these phases of increased activation hindered the flow of movement, which resulted in increased inaccuracy of movement (increased kinematic variance) and poorer performance. Other investigations showed that verbal marking of nodal points was disadvantageous. This procedure produces dominance of the left side of the brain through its speech centres at the expense of holistic regulation of movements with spatial-temporal coordination through the right side of the brain (Crews, 2004). A nodal point should therefore only be defined where it seems natural in terms of the movement, for example, when

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placing the dumbbell down on the chest during weightlifting. If nodal points are defined and symbolic marks are used, these symbols should not be verbal and should involve no technical thoughts, but rather be used in the sense of a musical rhythm.

Stage directions More comprehensive athletic procedures, for example, an entire downhill ski race with its ever-changing demands, can be organised through so-called scripts and then subsequently be trained in the course of mental imagery training. Here as well, it is important to take an internal perspective of the movements and to give specific, brief directions (involving no technical thoughts) that involve, as far as possible, all senses. The athletes should personally develop significant concrete directions similar to the stage directions in a theatrical script, write them down and learn them by heart. This provides them with an orientation of what they should do in different situations and how they can regulate their thoughts. A basketball player who knows that she becomes nervous in critical game situations and experiences a blockage after a failed throw, for instance, can develop a script for precisely this situation according to the following pattern: take a three-point throw when the shot is free – hop – if no rebound (shot is made or ball is lost), stop your thoughts (see a stop sign) – turn – run back – defence.

Practical example Developing a script for a downhill ski race The preparations for the development of a script for a downhill ski race and especially for the Super G at the Olympic games of Lillehammer 1994 began in the summer of 1993. The difficulty with the Super G is that the slope can be viewed but not trained beforehand, which puts a particular demand on one’s ability to memorise it. An important element was to avoid "red lights". The idea of a red light stems from important races in which diverse functionaries on the side of the course radioed messages to the athlete such as, "You must pay attention at this corner", "It is very dangerous here today", and "Here, the conditions are not like they were in practice", so that the positioning of a red light was provoked at these points and the athletes slowed down. In the alternate script, the "lights were turned to green", which means that concrete instructions were given for actions about where the athlete could go fast.

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The preparatory training took place in the gym. Here, a course was set up that had to be completed with different assignments. First, while running, the skiers were instructed to jump on a skateboard and skate through a slalom course. This was followed by a jump on the mini trampoline, from there onto a box and further onto the balance beam. The instruction was then to continue over an upside-down bench that they had to cross by jumping from one leg onto the other. This course was to be completed as quickly as possible. The skiers at first just inspected the course and considered what they would have to do and where. Then they left the gym and developed the script. Some of them first drew a sketch of the course while others gave keywords for those parts of the course that they deemed to be more challenging. Stage directions were then formulated for the key parts of the course: Jump on the middle of the skateboard, one leg ahead of the other (on the balance beam) and simply a "go" or "gas" for the easy parts of the course. After that, the script was mentally trained by imagining precisely how they would go through the individual passages. Following that, a practice run took place in the gym. The experiences were evaluated and the individual scripts were optimised. This training was later adapted to the snow situation. After having inspected the course and identifying the best line for skiing it, cruxes were assessed and concrete instructions were formulated, precisely as had been done during the summer training in the gym. Subsequently, imagery training of the course was carried out. In fact, one of the skiers won the gold medal in the Super G, partly due to skiing a fast line through a gate behind a ridge where the other skiers lost time.

Routines Many of the skills described earlier can be integrated into routines so that they can be applied in the competitive situation. A routine is understood to be a process that takes place almost identically each time. Having a routine in something means to have the experience and capacity to carry it out without having to think about it much. Someone who has a routine in doing something cannot be disturbed during its execution. A characteristic of a routine is that it is executed regularly, ideally in a consistent way. Rituals can be differentiated from routines. Whereas rituals are fixed behaviour patterns with symbolic meaning, routines are well-organised, but nevertheless permit flexibility (Schack et al., 2005). Aside from that— and this is the most important distinction—routines include skills that function to solve the impending task, for instance, to eliminate disturbing

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thoughts and develop concentration and competitive tension. Rituals, on the other hand, are ceremonial and can contain superstitious elements. A German professional football coach, for instance, performed the ritual of wearing a blue pullover to each of his team’s games because he believed that his team could not lose if he wore this sweater to the game. A basketball coach pressed a plush frog in his pocket in critical situations of the game. These examples clearly show that rituals, in contrast to routines, involve no skills that can influence the performance. Rituals can unquestionably dispel nervousness and support self-confidence. If a team forms a circle before the game with each of the players holding hands with one another and jointly roaring their "war cry", this can activate their team spirit. The function of routines is to stabilise behaviour in regard to certain skills. An "intentional microcosm" is created, which can be controlled (Schack et al., 2005, p. 145) with the goal of optimising preparations for action. One follows a sequence of actions, which are useful each in themselves for the preparation or post-processing of a free throw, a penalty kick or a golf shot. By forming these actions into a routine, one can, on the one hand, ensure that none of the actions, each of which in itself fulfils a function, is forgotten. On the other hand, actions in the routine are also brought into a firm, optimal sequence. Thus, for instance, breathing should be concentrated on prior to visualising the planned act in order to clear one’s head. Ultimately, routines also help to control one’s thoughts. To some extent, they serve to silence the brooding within us. This sequence of actions in a routine sensibly consists of goal-oriented skills. It is important, on the one hand, that the sequence of actions is uninterrupted, so that no free time for actions remains, but that the entire sequence is filled with actions. Free time allows for disturbing, doubtful thoughts. On the other hand, for the automation of the routine and consequently for the reliability of the actions, it is essential that these actions and their number do not vary arbitrarily from action to action, but rather that they are performed relatively consistently. Otherwise, it would no longer be a routine. Therefore, one should, for example, never dribble the ball twice before a basketball free throw and then dribble the ball five times for a free throw. The more frequent dribbling could be an indication of uncertainty and could turn into a physical marker that induces this uncertainty. This does not mean that routines have to be completely rigid. Sometimes they have to be adjusted to given conditions. The athlete using a routine should be aware that adapting a routine to given conditions does not invalidate the routine. A golfer may be used to a routine in which when on the tee, he steps back five strides behind the ball. There are tees

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on some golf courses where there is not enough room on the tee to step five strides back. His routine should leave room to make an adjustment without interfering with his expectation of being successful. It is essential that athletes develop their own individual routines. The better they understand the functions of their routine and the better it corresponds to their individual needs, the more effective the routine will become (cf. Schack et al., 2005, p. 138). A multitude of investigations confirm the effectiveness of routines (Boutcher, 1990; Cohn, 1990; Heishman, 1989). Crews and Boutcher (1986), for instance, found that experienced and successful golfers made use of substantially more elaborate pre-shot routines than did inexperienced players and that the experienced golfers also performed these routines considerably more consistently. Studies in different sports verify that the best effects on performance are achieved with routines that contain both cognitive elements (focussing of attention, slogans, etc.) and physical elements (breathing, movement testing, etc.). These studies were performed in diving (Highlen & Bennett, 1983), golf (Cohn, Rotella & Lloyd, 1990), tennis (Moore, 1986), gymnastics (Mahoney & Avener, 1977) and volleyball (Schack, 1997). Routines are conducted before (pre), after (post) and between athletic actions and are applied in both individual and team sports. A team can perform a routine before the beginning of a game in order to better get into the game. Individual routines should not come into conflict with team routines. An important task of sport psychological diagnostics (e.g. through the observation of games, the evaluation of games and/or the evaluation of competitive statistics) is to identify weak periods in the process of a competition. In this way, for instance, diagnostics can identify whether a team or an athlete has difficulties in the beginning of a competition or after an interruption in the competition. Frequently, it can be seen that after (unexpected) setbacks (being behind, inability to score), self-confidence and concentration deteriorate. These problems can be treated successfully by implementing routines.

Pre-routines In a pre-routine, depending on the demands of the sport and the situation, three phases can be distinguished (Beckmann, in press): x

Planning and decision phase: Rationally process and weigh information in order to decide what is to be done and consequently

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make a decision that crosses the "line of commitment". After that, there is no going back and there are no more doubts. Preparatory phase: Prepare the action decided on, for example, through "breathing freely to clear one’s head", visualisation, pretesting and approaching the starting point decisively with upright posture. Completion phase: Turn to the goal at hand, breathe freely and give yourself a clear "go" signal for completion. The clear, determined go signal is especially important here in order to leave no further uncertainty. It would be fatal to wait for that good feeling to set in before completing the action, as one would lose precisely the control one is trying to attain through the routine.

Golf is a sport in which routines are used to a high degree. Routines are, however, useful in many sports. Pre-routines are used to prepare a serve in tennis, a free throw in basketball and performances in many track and field events. In football, the so-called standard situations—throw-ins, corners, free kicks and penalty shots—especially benefit from routines. With the exception of the penalty shot, these routines can also benefit the whole team. Part of the routine can be communicating to teammates about the kind of tactical variant that shall be played.

Post-routine The goal of the post-routine is to process one’s experiences and learn from them in order to know what one should do in the future. The postroutine, for example, has the explicit function of preventing an athlete from experiencing a feeling of total helplessness and of being without control after a setback, a feeling expressed through thoughts such as, "I do not know what is wrong today". With this kind of self-talk, the expectations for success decrease dramatically. Therefore, the post-routine includes cognitive elements of analysis and appraisal with forwardoriented conclusions (what I have learned; what I can do). It may also contain a physical element. A golfer may execute a number of energetic practice swings. This physical activity can serve to reduce arousal. At the same time, it may function as a form of embodiment. The repetition of a successful movement should serve to regain confidence in this movement. The movement may be repeated as often as the player feels she or he needs to repeat it in order to eliminate the physical part of the frustration, that is, to break down the frustration through a movement leading to a specific goal.

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Beckmann (in press) developed a four-phase, basic structure for the post-routine, abbreviated CAMC: x

x

x

x

x

C stands for control of the body position. After the execution of a skill or an action, for instance, a golf shot, first an upright position of the body is maintained, with a "proudly swollen chest". At the same time, a cognitive analysis (A) is performed. The extent to which the formulated goals were fulfilled is analysed and assessed, as well as, if necessary, why they were unsuccessful. The analysis refers exclusively to the movement execution and in no way should contain any kind of selfevaluation ("You did so poorly"; "You really can’t do anything at all"), which frequently becomes a self-evaluation loop that is hard to stop and ruins concentration and self-confidence (Beckmann, 1994). M stands for movement. A physical action is executed with a specific goal. This generally consists of the recently executed and analysed movement; for instance, the movement of a tennis serve is repeated—in an optimal manner. On the one hand, the movement reduces the level of adrenalin; on the other hand, it strengthens good action and increases the probability that it will be repeated again. Simultaneously, the emphasis on that which is successful helps one to develop self-confidence. Movement performed correctly after poor action shows how it can be done better and that one can actually do it better. The movement may be accompanied by self-assuring self-talk such as, "Yes, I can". In order to be able to continue with the next action, one must first come to an end with the preceding action, that is to say, the action must be brought to a conclusion (C). Here, a specific action is performed that clearly indicates the conclusion of what was just performed. Team players frequently give one another a high five after an action as an empowering and encouraging signal, while a golfer can, for instance, stick his club in the golf bag as a clear signal of the action having come to an end. It is essential, especially for younger athletes, that a post-routine not only be performed after a poor action, but also after a successful action. Far too often, the successful action is simply accepted as expected and one continues too quickly on to the next action without any post-processing. The athlete can learn something from an unsuccessful action with the help of a post-

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routine. In this way, no poor action is useless, because it serves to teach the athlete something. In addition, the athlete should not pay more attention to a poor action than to a good action. If he or she does this, failures will predominantly be remembered. Instead, the good memories should be remembered because these show one’s abilities and build up self-confidence. Therefore, a post-routine after a successful performance can serve as a confidence builder.

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Chapter Five

CHAPTER SIX RECOVERY, STRESS AND PREVENTION OF OVERTRAINING

Introduction "I was able to achieve my personal best and come in 2nd at the Junior European Championships because I had enough time to recover from the training camp which took place directly before the championships." This statement from a young high jumper highlights the importance of sufficient recovery for achieving a top performance. Psychology and sport psychology have very much focussed on stress and coping with stress. Recovery and the relationship between stress and recovery have for a long time been almost neglected. Since the last decade of the 20th century, research on recovery and recovery-stress balance has increased substantially. It is important to distinguish between recovery and regeneration. Recovery is more than the pure replenishing of psychophysiological performance resources. Recovery encompasses active and proactive (self-initiated) processes to re-establish both psychological and physiological resources and states that allow the individual to tax these resources again (Kellmann & Kallus, 1999). Those working in competitive sports have meanwhile realised the importance of recovery, which goes beyond mere physical regeneration. Neglecting it may have high costs. If the demands of training and competition are not compensated for, this can lead to long-term insufficient recovery of the athlete and to overtraining, burnout and performance slumps. Therefore, our model of systematic sport psychological support includes a fourth level: the nearly continuous registration (monitoring) of the athlete’s stress and recovery states. This chapter illustrates that recovery is a key element for the development and preservation of athletic performance. It also discusses how recovery can be measured and how overtraining can be avoided.

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Definition and characteristics of recovery Most scientific definitions of recovery describe it as a compensating factor for deficits in the organism that result from activity. This means that the initial state is restored through recovery. Allmer and Niehues (1989) define recovery as a process in which the physical consequences of stress from previous activity is equalised and the individual prerequisites for action are restored. Recovery is an essential process in competitive sport, not only for the avoidance of overtraining and burnout, but also for the effects of training. Furthermore, recovery can be an essential element in the direct preparation for competition. Before describing these aspects, we will first explain some fundamental features of recovery. Understanding these features is crucial for the applied work of the sport psychologist and also for that of the coach.

Definition of recovery (according to Kellmann & Kallus, 2001, p. 22) Recovery is defined as an inter- and intra-individual multilevel (e.g. psychological, physiological, social) process over time for the reestablishment of performance abilities. Recovery includes an actionoriented component, and self-initiated activities (proactive recovery) can be systematically used to optimise situational conditions and to build up and refill personal resources and buffers. Basic characteristics of recovery x x x x x x x x x

A gradual and cumulative process A self-determined process Specific to the individual and depends on individual appraisals Can have three approaches: passive, active and proactive Depends on a reduction, a change of, or a break from stress Closely tied to situational conditions (e.g. wrong bed size, snoring roommate) Can be described on different levels (e.g. physiological, psychological, behavioural, social, environmental) Involves various organismic subsystems Ends when a psychophysical state of restored efficiency and homeostatic balance is reached

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Individual recovery strategies Recovery is, first and foremost, specific to the individual and determined by individual assessments. While the second author was working with a group of top-level track and field athletes, she asked them how they recovered best. For one athlete, it felt relaxing to spend time in a shoe store and to buy new pairs of shoes, whereas a male athlete considered this to be the worst and most burdensome activity that he could imagine. The example illustrates that athletes can have different strategies and needs for recovery. The consequences of this for applied work are that recuperative activities cannot be planned for all members of a training group, but must be adapted individually. After performing one and the same activity, one athlete may be very relaxed while another does not perceive the least bit of recovery. A recuperative activity that coaches frequently suggest after training is a visit to the sauna. However, it is often forgotten that some athletes do not feel good at all in a sauna and will under no circumstances be able to recover there after strenuous training. Recovery therefore requires individual free zones and must be planned for each athlete individually. When working with athletes, it is important for the sport psychologist or coach to determine and compile the athletes’ personal optimal recovery strategies. Each athlete should come up with several alternatives, since the preferred recuperative strategy is sometimes not applicable or is ineffective because of either external or internal circumstances. For example, it could be that the recuperative strategy of a massage is optimal at home when the athlete is close to an Olympic training centre. In the training camp, however, there may be no physiotherapists present. Athletes therefore need to be aware of and to utilise alternative methods.

Sleep and movement Sleep is an essential recovery strategy. Particular attention must be paid so that sufficient, good-quality sleep can be obtained, especially in training camps with younger athletes. Recovery, however, does not have to be of a purely passive nature. Recovery can be subdivided into three forms: passive, active and proactive. In the past, it was believed that recovery can only take place in passive activities (e.g. in periods of rest). Sport scientific studies have shown, however, that the recuperative value of moderate activity is better than passive recovery (e.g. Ahmaidi et al., 1996). In sport, moderate physical activity in the recuperative process is

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considered to be active recovery, whereas being seated or lying down is characterised as passive recovery (Hollmann & Hettinger, 2000).

Massages, baths and sauna Passive recovery also includes practices such as massages, hot and cold baths, steam baths and sauna. These recuperative measures work through physiological and physical stimuli (heat, cold, pressure), which influence blood flow, breathing frequency and muscle tone. Passive recovery involves automated psychological and biological processes that restore the initial state. In practice, most of the activities included in passive recovery are the only activities used systematically.

Cooling-down activities Recovery is, however, also a proactive, self-initiated process aimed at restoring psychological and physiological resources. In sport, active recuperative measures such as cooling-down runs, cooling-down swimming, muscle relaxation and stretching exercises are known as cooldown activities and used after training or competition. The purpose of such exercises is to eliminate states of fatigue through targeted physical activity. During cool-downs, increased circulation to the muscular system is responsible for increased elimination of metabolic products; for example, lactate is stored only negligibly in the muscular system, and gases that are transported via the blood can return more quickly to normal levels. During recuperative periods in sports, light physical activity is considered to be superior to mere rest, since blood flow will remain elevated in this way. More lactate can thereby be removed from the muscles in a shorter period of time. When someone is sedentary, lactate is removed more slowly. However, if the demands on the muscles are too high during the activity, additional lactate will be produced (Maglischo, 1993). Therefore, cooling down with the team after training should not turn into a race.

Debriefing Follow-up after a competition is an important recovery measure. The goal of debriefing is to work through the experiences of the competition and to draw conclusions from them in order to bring the competition to a conclusion. Otherwise, there is the danger that intentions that were not

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completed successfully will intrude into one’s consciousness again and again. If this involves setbacks, it paves the way for negative feelings and reduces self-confidence. Those athletes who fear failure and are state oriented may especially find themselves caught in a negative evaluation loop: "I failed. Why did I even compete? I knew that I wouldn’t be able to accomplish this. That was truly deplorable. I am simply a loser…" (Beckmann, 1994). The purpose of debriefing is to guide selfcontemplation so that the analysis remains on a task-oriented level: x x x x x

What is the result? How can this be evaluated in relation to my goals and to past performance? What is the reason for not having achieved my goal? What should I have done differently? What consequences can I draw from this analysis in my preparations for the next competition?

Ideally, this analysis is concluded by forming concrete intentions for training and the next competition. According to Hogg (2002), debriefing is essential for being able to distance oneself from the completed competition and thereby supports the recovery process. Various studies show that systematic follow-up is more likely to lead to recovery than are attempts to distract oneself (Beckmann, 1999). Naturally, one must find an appropriate time for debriefing. It is certainly not advisable to consult with an athlete directly after a lost game. Hogg (2002) define six steps of the debriefing process: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

Select the best time, place and occasion for debriefing. Indulge in meaningful self-analysis following the performance. Be open to an exchange of performance feedback. Become aware of possible changes and alternative methods of how the situation could be handled. Set new goals that are challenging, measurable and meaningful. Self-monitor for improved performance.

Hogg (2002) believe that debriefing leads to an improvement in life satisfaction and inner satisfaction and that one can thereby (re-)discover joy in sport. In addition, debriefing serves to counteract adverse effects on self-confidence so that the danger of a loss of focus in the next

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competition resulting from the presence of thoughts about poor competition—so-called intrusions—can be avoided.

Relaxation procedures Active relaxation can be a further essential recuperative measure. The application of relaxation procedures (see chapter 4), for example, progressive muscle relaxation or autogenous training, supports and accelerates physical regeneration during training and/or competitive breaks. The effectiveness of a training camp is increased if, for example, relaxation training is put on the training plan each evening. In addition, performance ability after several days of competition can be better maintained if a relaxation exercise is done at the end of a day of competition.

Influential factors Time Aside from the high degree of individuality, there is another important aspect of recovery: Recovery needs time. The time required for sufficient recovery depends on the preceding activities and duration of stress. In competitive sport, athletes require more time for recovery during phases with more extensive training units than they do during phases with reduced training times and/or intensities.

Situational conditions Recovery is closely connected to situational conditions. For example, in one training camp, the performance of an athlete decreased because of poor sleep quality. This was caused by his bed being too short and the mattress being too soft. This example illustrates how situational conditions can impact recovery (e.g. sleep, quality of the bed, contact with partner). In competitive sport, situational conditions can play a particular role, since athletes in competitive sport rarely experience stable conditions. With trips to competitions or training camps, it frequently occurs that the roommate snores, or that a mattress sags, or that a bed is too short. This can also be the case for young talents in a sport boarding school. Elbe, Beckmann and Szymanski (2002) found lower recovery levels in those pupils who were housed in the boarding school than in those who lived at home. This difference was attributed to the fact that the boarding school

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students had less sleep because they lived in double rooms and were often kept awake by their roommates. How susceptible athletes are to disturbances depends on their own experiences. The coach must be aware of the circumstances and should encourage the athletes to speak about disturbances in their environment. The coach is not always present, for example, when a roommate snores. Situational conditions can often be easily changed if the coach is informed about them. Kellmann and Kallus’s (2000) Recovery-Stress Questionnaire for Athletes (RESTQ-Sport) can provide information for handling such problems. Therefore, this instrument is useful for coaches in order to individualise training and practice and to prevent overtraining and burnout.

How is recovery assessed? As stated earlier, recovery is essential in competitive and professional sport. An important question relates to how recovery can be assessed and measured. Various attempts have been made to measure recovery, as well as the opposite states of insufficient recovery and overtraining, with the help of physiological indicators. However, psychological indicators and instruments were shown to be better suited for reliably measuring recovery and/or insufficient recovery than were physiological markers (Kellmann, 2002b). There is evidently no physiological indicator that can reliably diagnose a condition of overtraining (Kuipers, 1998). A further advantage of questionnaires is that they are economical, can be used with little effort and can be evaluated quickly. Hence, the information is available immediately. This allows assessment of recovery more frequently in order to keep track of athletes’ recovery-stress balance during a training camp or as they prepare for the competition season, as well as to monitor athletes’ recovery-stress balance over a long and strenuous competition season.

Recovery-Stress Questionnaire for Athletes A central instrument for determining the recovery-stress levels of athletes is the RESTQ-Sport (Kellmann & Kallus, 2000). It enables one to make a quantitative statement about how balanced the recovery and stress levels are. With a total of 19 subtests and 72 items, the RESTQ-Sport compiles both general and sport-specific information, which yields a picture of the current stress and recovery state of the athlete. The questions refer to activities over "the last 3 days/nights". The athlete indicates on a seven-point Likert scale how often an activity

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occurred during that time. One item, for example, states: "In the last 3 days/nights … everything was too much for me: never (0), seldom (1), sometimes (2), often (3), more often (4), very often (5), always (6)". The RESTQ-Sport consists of 12 general and 7 sport-specific recovery and stress scales. The individual scales, along with corresponding item examples, are shown in Table 6-1. The RESTQ-Sport can be filled out in approximately 8-10 minutes. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17

General Stress Emotional Stress Social Stress Conflicts/Pressure Fatigue Lack of Energy Physical Complaints Success Social Recovery Physical Recovery General Well-Being Sleep Quality Disturbed Breaks Emotional Exhaustion Injury Being in Shape Personal Accomplishment

18

Self-Efficacy

19

Self-Regulation

... I felt down ... I was in a bad mood ... I was annoyed by others ... I felt under pressure ... I was tired from work ... I was unable to concentrate well ... I felt physically exhausted ... I finished important tasks ... I laughed ... I felt physically relaxed ... I was in good spirits ... I fell asleep satisfied and relaxed ... I could not get rest during the breaks ... I felt burned out by my sport ... Parts of my body were aching ... I recovered well physically ... I accomplished many worthwhile things in my sport ... I was convinced I could achieve my set goals during performance ... I pushed myself during performance

Table 6-1: Description of the individual scales and item examples of the Recovery-Stress Questionnaire for Athletes (Kellmann & Kallus, 2000).

Recovery-Cue The RESTQ-Sport assesses the recovery and stress states over the last 3 days and nights. However, it is frequently important for a coach or sport psychologist to know how certain events affect stress or recovery on a longer term basis. The Recovery-Cue (Kellmann et al., 2002) was

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developed to record this. It is compiled of seven items that include the most important questions from the RESTQ-Sport (Table 6-2). Additionally, questions were added to assess the self-management of recovery, such as, "How was your time management last week?" In contrast to the RESTQ-Sport, the Recovery-Cue is filled out by the athlete at precisely determined times. If information is desired regarding training and practice over the course of a week, it is filled out at the end of the week. If information about the weekend is relevant (e.g. whether the athlete recovered), the questions should be filled out at the beginning of the next week. The information gathered is important for athletes and coaches alike. From these results, and in combination with personal conversations, it is possible to gain access to training regulation directly and quickly. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.

How much effort was required to complete my workouts last week? How recovered did I feel before my workouts last week? How successful was I at rest and recovery activities last week? How well did I recover physically last week? How satisfied and relaxed was I as I fell asleep last week? How much fun did I have last week? How convinced was I that I could achieve my goals during performance last week?

Table 6-2: The Recovery-Cue (Kellmann, 2002b).

Monitoring of recovery and stress A glance at our model in Fig. 1-1 (chapter 1) shows that the top level is represented by an arrow. This arrow is to be understood as a temporal continuum and illustrates that the entire sport psychological intervention should be accompanied by continuous monitoring of the recovery-stress state. Through this routine monitoring, imbalances in recovery and stress over time can be recognised and overtraining can be prevented (Kellmann, 2002a). The risk of an overtraining syndrome can be reduced, if not even eliminated, through careful training periodisation (Norris & Smith, 2002). Nevertheless, there are differences between athletes regarding how well and quickly they can recover, their capacity for endurance, their stress tolerance and how they deal with stressors in training, competition, and other situations (Lehmann, Foster & Keul, 1993). For this reason, it is important to individually and routinely assess how the athletes are doing

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and to keep an eye on any changes. It is recommended that stress and recovery be monitored during training and then reported both to coaches and athletes. In this way, the sport psychologist can detect whether an athlete is endangered easily and early and can counteract this effect by adjusting the training and by using psychological measures (Kellmann, 2002b). Monitoring of recovery and stress and adapting the training in accordance with the individual recovery-stress profile is especially important in young athletes and children. Often stress levels are exceeded both from a physiological and a psychological perspective. This can result in the premature dropout of talented individuals because of injuries or psychological causes (e.g. a loss of motivation or burnout; Beckmann & Zier, 2011). It is important to differentiate not only between senior and junior athletes, but also between children and adolescents. Children are starting competitive sports at an earlier and earlier age. Therefore, the transition into puberty should be marked as an important and critical threshold from childhood to adolescence. Different physical and psychological demands are required for junior athletes between 14 and 20 years old than are required for children (cf. Côté, Lidor & Hackfort, 2009). Côté et al. designed a Developmental Model of Sport Participation based on the needs of children in competitive sports who are younger than 14 years old (Côté & Fraser-Thomas, 2008). Instead of a deliberate practice approach, that is, increasing expertise through many planned and focussed practices, which is useful after the age of 14, Côté advocates a deliberate play approach for younger children. Deliberate play consists of structured training of physical activities, which is intrinsically motivating, provides immediate gratification and is designed to maximise enjoyment. He also maintains that early specialisation is not the ideal route to a long and successful career at the top level.

Advantages for the athlete Practical example Problems recovering The second author worked with an athlete who showed a clear decline in recovery values that could not be explained by her training load. In a conversation with the athlete, it turned out that the university at which she had been studying was on strike and all of her classes had been cancelled. For her, these studies represented a counterbalance to athletic training. The

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change in systems helped her to recover from the stress in her sport. When she could no longer attend her classes at the university, her recovery values dropped. This was identified through recovery-stress monitoring (RESTQ-Sport). Hence, interventions could be initiated immediately. The training plan was altered in collaboration with the coach until the recovery values were at a normal level again. Assessing the recovery-stress state and its changes provides important information during a training camp for both the coach and the sport psychologist. The profile in Fig. 6-1 shows monitoring with the RESTQSport during a training camp for cyclists (Katschemba, 2003). The cyclist was assessed at the beginning of training camp and once again during it. From the first measurement (bold line), one can see that the athlete started the training camp with a low level of recovery values and a high level of stress values. It is generally assumed that recovery values should be above a value of 4 and that stress values should be below a value of 2 in order to ensure a balanced stress-recovery level. In this case, it is interesting that the cyclist began the training camp with high values in fatigue and physical complaints and also that his sleep quality was strikingly low. During the training camp, training-specific values in this athlete changed dramatically. At the end of the training camp (thin line), the values in the areas of social stress, fatigue and lack of energy in particular had clearly increased. The values for sleep quality and success decreased even further during the course of the training camp. However, an increase in self-regulation and self-efficacy could be observed. In summary, the training camp was not particularly successful for this athlete’s physical state. Following the training camp, he was also unable to achieve the performance expected of him. If the coach had known the recovery-stress values at the beginning of the training camp, he could have reduced the intensity of training at that point, which would have given the athlete more time for recovery. Furthermore, the causes for the cyclist’s low sleep quality could have been immediately identified and something could have been done to alleviate it. This did not occur in this case because the data were assessed purely for research purposes and did not include any interventions. The knowledge gained, however, could be used in adjusting the training in future training camps.

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Fig. 6-1: RES STQ-Sport proffile of a cyclist at a the beginningg of and during g a training camp (adopteed from Katscheemba, 2003, p. 43).

Advvantages fo or the coach h RESTQ--Sport monitooring has further advantagees that are heelpful for coaches andd athletes. Keellmann and Beckmann B (20003) describee them in the followinng example:

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Practical example Decision on the use of a replacement rower One of the rowers in a coxed four could not compete because of an illness that she had developed shortly before the Junior World Championships. The coach had to decide who he would use as a replacement rower and where he would position the other rowers in the boat. The coach wanted to set the replacement rower directly at the stroke because he believed that she had all the necessary requirements. The question of whether or not the coach’s decision was right or wrong could be answered with the aid of the data that had been collected. In the training camp, the replacement rower, in comparison to the other replacement rowers, displayed a stable recovery-stress balance, especially on the scales for self-regulation and self-confidence. She was thus suitable to take over the responsibility. The data clearly supported the coach’s decision. As the example shows, the sport psychologist can have an important supportive function for the coach in decision making through psychological measures. Often the psychological evaluation can provide the coach with trust in the decisions he or she has already made. In Fig. 6-2, the RESTQ profiles of two golfers are contrasted with one another. The question the coach had was in regard to who he should allow to play at a 3-day competition to take place on the coming weekend. At first glance, it appears as if the decision is easy to make. After all, the player on the left demonstrates moderate stress and moderate recovery levels. The profile on the right, on the other hand, shows little stress and good recovery. However, it is not easy for the coach to make a decision merely on the basis of these two profiles. As mentioned earlier, the values assessed with the RESTQ profile are specific to the individual. An athlete can chronically report lower recovery values than those of another athlete, although both of them might have the same degree of recovery. As a consequence, it is not fair to use a single measurement of an athlete’s recovery-stress state to make a decision. If one were to use additional RESTQ profiles from these two golfers, one would see that the golfer on the left always reports comparably high stress values and comparably low recovery values. For the golfer on the right, it is exactly the opposite. For a meaningful evaluation, it is therefore always necessary to observe the development of individual profiles and their changes.

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Fig. 6-2: RE ESTQ profile foor two golfers at a tournameent held on thee previous weekend.

Under-reecovery and d overtrain ning as a con nsequence of lack of reco overy If athletees fall short of o the perform mances expectted from them m or even experience a decrease in performance, p burnout or ovvertraining cou uld be the reason. Oveertraining is described as an n imbalance bbetween trainiing stress and recoverry (Kuipers & Keizer, 19 988) and/or aan imbalance between stress and reecovery (Lehm mann et al., 19 999). Experienncing stress caan, on the one hand, bee caused by trraining, but sttressors outsidde of training may also be involvedd, for examplee, in private and/or a professsional life, paarticularly during comppetitions. Thee complexity of fine-tuninng the training g process can be show wn when connsidering the influencing i fa factors both in nside and outside of thhe sport domaain, such as traaining (e.g. exxtent, intensity y, training techniques),, lifestyle (e.gg. sleep, nutrittion, recreatioonal activities)), state of health (e.g. a cold, infectiions) or enviro onment (e.g. ffamily, team members, m school/univeersity/professiion). Consequ uently, coachees and athletees should

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acknowledge the significance of integrating recovery activities in both their athletic and their non-athletic lives. Overtraining is suspected when the athlete demonstrates fatigue over a longer period of time, which can no longer be compensated for with a normal recovery period. The condition of overtraining should not be mistaken for passing fatigue following strenuous training units. Performance decrements should not be attributed to overtraining until a period of at least 2 weeks has passed, a persistent drop in performance occurs despite regeneration and this drop in performance cannot be explained by an illness (Urhausen & Kindermann, 2002). Overtraining occurs if (too) many intensive training units are performed, along with insufficient recovery periods in between. Recovery from overtraining may take a number of weeks or even months (Meeusen et al., 2006). Therefore, it really pays to prevent it by keeping an eye on athletes’ recovery-stress balance.

Causes The causes for overtraining are multiple. According to Norris and Smith (2002), predominantly responsible are mistakes in the design of training and practice, which lead to the development of recovery deficits. Risk factors in training and the planning of competition with regard to overtraining x x x x x x x

Monotonous training design, which is brought about by monotonous and repetitive training methods and content More than 3 hours of training/practice per day Too rapid an increase in training intensity (e.g. more than a 30% increase in training volume per week) No periodisation of training and/or no recovery weeks after 2-3 weeks of training No training/practice days off No alternation between harder and easier training days Frequent competitions with insufficient recovery intervals

Symptoms In the phase of overtraining, athletes find themselves on a persistent performance plateau that cannot be influenced positively through shortterm phases of rest. When athletes reach a performance plateau, they

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frequently resort to increasing their activity and train even more (Counsilman, 1971) instead of spending more time on recovery. This leads to a further increase in the recovery deficit (Kellmann & Kallus, 2000). Further symptoms are disturbances in mood, insomnia, loss of appetite, weight loss and decrease of body fat, reduced libido, chronic muscular tensions and/or pain and a lack of energy, changes in hormone levels, more frequent occurrence of colds and respiratory illnesses, increasing signs of diseases and of injuries, and depression-like symptoms. An important clinical indicator for overtraining syndrome is increased susceptibility to infections (especially respiratory illnesses), which indicates a weakened immune system (as summarised by Kellmann, 2002a). Additionally, overtrained athletes spend a lot time ruminating about dropping out and/or they perceive great aversion to training.

Intervention As previously described, recovery is a crucial component in both the athletic and the non-athletic domain for restoring and/or maintaining an individual’s capacity to perform. It is the central component for counteracting the state of stress, as well as for preventing burnout and overtraining. The principle of less is more is often ignored in day-to-day training. In order to optimise training, the focus should be directed more at the quality and less at the quantity of the training. At the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, South Korea’s female ice speed skater Lee Sang-hwa won a gold medal over 500 m in new Olympic record time. Her coach, Canadian-born Kevin Crockett, is said to have reduced her training load instead of increasing it in preparation for the 2014 Olympics. In its lighter form, overtraining leads to stagnation in the training process, which can be dealt with comparatively easily. With a light degree of overtraining, the condition should pass within 5-10 days. The athlete must feel that the pleasure to train has returned. With this feeling of pleasure, performance ability and a feeling of vigour should return. The advanced stage of overtraining leads to performance decrements that can last from several months up to 1 year. There is no specific therapy for overtraining. The only option is to reduce the intensity and quantity of training, possibly even completely interrupting it. Furthermore, competitions should be called off and stress should be avoided. The athlete should obtain sufficient rest and sleep and should also strive to find other diversions and interact socially. The sooner overtraining is recognised, the better the chances of handling its consequences.

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Recovery, stress and personality factors Not all athletes are equally susceptible to an imbalance of stress and recovery (and as a final consequence, overtraining). Experienced coaches know that some athletes can bear much more than others. This is also verified by scientific research. Personality factors play a role. These factors can be determined through systematic and targeted diagnostics. As shown in Fig. 6-3, athletes with a disposition towards state orientation, that is, those who tend to ruminate over a past, present or future situation (see also chapter 3), are more susceptible to higher stress and lower recovery values (Beckmann & Kellmann, 2004). The susceptibility of state-oriented individuals to an imbalance in stress and recovery is mediated through a shortcoming in adequate selfregulation strategies. State-oriented individuals often use self-control, which involves self-discipline, motivation through negative stimuli and avoidance behaviour (Beckmann & Kellmann, 2004). This self-control or self-discipline, however, means that individual needs and preferences are ignored or suppressed in order to carry out what is expected of these athletes. This orientation can lead to increasing stress and insufficient coping with stress. Action-oriented individuals, in contrast, more often act in line with their individual needs and preferences and show effective selfregulation strategies, which support recovery: self-determination, positive self-motivation, emotional control, self-relaxation. A consequence of these findings is that state-oriented athletes are assumed to have a less favourable balance of recovery and stress. The conclusion from these findings is that regular monitoring with the RESTQ-Sport is especially recommended for state-oriented athletes. For these athletes, training stressors must be designed carefully. In addition to using the RESTQ-Sport to assess state and action orientation, these athletes should also complete the VCQ-Sport in order to assess their selfregulatory skills (see chapter 3). With this tool, one can identify the specific self-regulatory deficits in state-oriented individuals. The sport psychologist can then, along with the athlete, develop suitable selfregulatory strategies to reduce the experienced stress and to optimise recovery. This should also include strengthening of the perception of selfdetermination and volitional self-confidence (self-efficacy), improvement of positive self-motivation and development of initiative.

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Fig. 6-3: Diffferences in recoovery and stress in rowers whho are action oriented and state orientedd (Beckmann & Kellmann, 200 04).

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Further reading Kellmann, M. (Ed.). (2002). Enhancing recovery: underperformance. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.

Preventing

CHAPTER SEVEN CRISIS INTERVENTION

Introduction This chapter discusses the third level of our model for systematic sport psychological training. Unlike the first two levels—basic training and, which are more systematic and more continuous in nature—the timing of crisis intervention cannot be planned, nor is it predictable. On the one hand, crisis intervention frequently occurs at the start of collaboration between a sport psychologist and an athlete or team and is often the reason for the first contact. When sport psychological support in terms of mental training is the original request, crisis intervention might not become an issue until later on. In rare cases, there may not even be a need for crisis intervention at all. When we talk about crisis, we mean occurrences that disrupt the regular course of training, practice and competition such as an injury, conflicts between coach and athletes or among team members, and psychological problems such as burnout and depression. A crisis can lead to a problematic turning point in the career of an athlete. Here, sport psychological support is required to solve the situation or the problem. Unfortunately, the potential of crisis intervention is often not fully exploited. Athletes often feel as if they are left alone with their problems and this is de facto often the case. Crisis intervention can also be necessary in cases involving problems that exceed the competency of most sport psychologists who do not have an education in clinical psychology. This includes, for instance, depression, eating disorders, fear of flying, anxiety disorder, psychosomatic disorders or even personality disorders. In these cases, a referral to a psychological psychotherapist, a physician or a nutritionist is indispensable (also see in this regard the description of professional ethical principles in the section "Basic Prerequisites" in chapter 1). Ideally, it is best to have a network of support personnel available. The most common causes for a crisis, in the field of competitive sports and elsewhere, are miscommunications and conflicts. Thus, these issues are covered first. The focus is on the interventional aspect so that these problems can be prevented and crises do not occur. In the second part of

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the chapter, sport injuries are discussed, which represent a crisis that may ultimately lead to career termination. Here, sport psychologists can intervene in a variety of ways. Finally, in the third section, crises are described that generally exceed the competency of a sport psychologist and that make it necessary to contact other experts. Since these crises are not normally an integral part of an applied sport psychologists’ work in professional and competitive sport, only the causes and the diagnosis of these crises are described. We also recommend not confounding the roles of a team sport psychologist with the role of a psychotherapist, even if the sport psychologist has an education in psychotherapy.

Disturbances in communication What is communication? Communication is central to nearly all areas of human life. Since athletes must communicate with a number of people in order to develop their performance, communication is an important aspect for optimising athletic performance. Communication with the coach is most important. Can the coach make it clear to the athlete what is expected during training, as well as which techniques he or she would like to change and why? Do athletes feel understood by their coach? A classic example of communication is what the coach says to a team during halftime break in sport games or when coaching from outside the pitch. "How" the coach communicates with the athletes in those situations is critical. Even during a direct competitive situation, where the athlete and coach may not even be able to speak with one another, communicating with one another can be essential. This means that communication not only involves the spoken word, but it can also involve non-verbal communication, that is, body language and facial expressions (cf. the section "Embodiment" in chapter 5). According to the technical definition from informational theory, communication is a process in which a sender must transform (encode) information into a medium, for example, speech, which is to be sent to a receiver. The receiver must be able to decipher (decode) this message. Nevertheless, a large discrepancy can occur between what the sender intended to send and what the receiver decodes. For all further actions of the receiver, how he or she understands the message is critical. This message, however, can deviate from what the sender intended to send.

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Internal code The first requirement for the proper understanding of a message is that one speaks "the same language". This means, for example, that if the skiing coach instructs the slalom skier to "take the gate from higher up", the skier should understood this as "set the apex of the curve higher above the gate" and not as having a higher body position when skiing around this gate. The same is true for sign language. If, for instance, a beginner in scuba-diving wants to indicate that everything is okay by showing the thumbs-up sign, that individual will be surprised when the diving instructor immediately returns to the surface with him or her, because under water, the sign means "I want to go up," whereas "okay" is indicated by forming a ring with the thumb and index finger. The importance of understanding words or signs becomes obvious when coaches who were not previously included in team training come to a competition and want to participate in coaching. Well-meant advice may lead to misunderstandings. Athletes and coaches must work together on developing a mutual understanding of words and signals, and only those coaches who have mastered and can understand the "internal code" should take part in coaching in a competitive situation. If the sport psychologist is included in the team of coaches, he or she also needs to master this internal code. The sport psychologist does not have to be an expert in the respective sport, but should at least make an effort to learn the code during the initial trust-building phase and before beginning to express him- or herself regarding sport-specific matters. It is hard for sport psychologists to be accepted, for instance, when working with professional golfers, if they talk about a "driving ranch" instead of a "driving range" or of a one-stroke over par as a "boogie" rather than correctly as a "bogey".

Four-ears model and communication barriers A commonly shared misunderstanding is that verbal communication mainly deals with the transmission of factual information. The communication scientist Schulz von Thun (1997) points out that a receiver of a message is susceptible to four aspects of the message. He also calls his communication model the "4-ears model", in which a verbal message has the following content:

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Factual information Self-revelation Appeal Statement of sender about his relationship to receiver

This model also illustrates why, when sending a message, so much can go wrong and disturbances in communication can occur. When one concentrates too extensively on the appeal or assumed aspect of a relationship in a message one receives, and ignores the factual information, this especially can lead to miscommunication. If the person in the passenger seat of a car tells the driver when approaching a traffic light that "it’s green", the driver may interpret the message as meaning something about their relationship: "He believes he is the better driver and can give me orders". This interpretation often causes friction between husband and wife when driving in a car together. In competitive sports, a number of environmental factors can negatively impact communication. Among these communication barriers are not only the usual aspects such as deadline pressure, stress, selective perception or a negative attitude, but often also language barriers, for example, between players of a team, or between players and coaches with different nationalities. In addition to these internal team barriers, there are also external elements, such as spectators, referees, opponents and noise. The external elements can also cause problems in the communication process between coaches and an athlete (Laios, 2005).

The basics of effective communication Unfortunately, the importance of communication is often neglected. According to an investigation by Haselwood et al. (2005), coaches consider their communication competency to be higher than it is perceived by the athletes. On one team that the first author worked with, one of the key players did not consider himself to be understood correctly by the coach. The coach himself felt he could not talk to this athlete. The underlying reason for the problem was that the coach had a different expectation for the personality of an athlete in this sport than was portrayed by the athlete. Consequently, the coach was unable to fully accept the athlete and deal with him in the same way he did with the other athletes. The athlete noticed this when the coach communicated with him with a subliminal message of "You are not okay". A first step in improving communication was to teach the coach to have the basic principles of transaction analysis (Berne, 1973) in mind when communicating with the

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athlete. This basic orientation is as follows: "I’m okay, you’re okay". The expressed acceptance of one’s own position, as well as an appreciation of the other’s position, changes the climate of the communication from the start. It is a good exercise in communication training to have people approach a conversation with "I’m okay, you’re okay" and then change it to "I’m okay, you’re not okay" to experience how different it feels from the perspective of the sender and of the recipient. Appreciation and acceptance of the other’s personality, with its individual peculiarities, is frequently lacking, particularly in competitive sports. It should be the coach’s goal to develop an athlete’s strengths and to make use of an athlete’s entire potential. However, when the athlete says, "That doesn’t suit me", this means that one might have to question one’s own position and perhaps even oneself. In order to do this, a coach must feel confident and understand his or her role as being an "advisor for a self-determined athlete". If the individual personality is not taken into consideration, athletic talent can easily be wasted. In addition, the athlete as a human being might be burned up. Depending on the personality, the athlete might be susceptible to depression, as was seen in Germany’s football "talent of the century", Sebastian Deisler, who ended his career at its peak because of depression. Many examples illustrate how important it is to discuss the basics of communication with the coach and to give the coach suggestions on how to improve communication skills. The following recommendations can support the communication process and contribute to developing open and trustful communication. Guidelines for "good" communication x x x x x x x x

Basic orientation: "I’m okay, you’re okay" Be authentic and show your feelings Pay attention to all four aspects of a message Ask whether or not everything has been understood Give everyone a chance to ask questions or to make comments Put yourself in the position of the other individual and, if necessary, also paraphrase (use your own words) Clearly express yourself (Fig. 7-1) Make sure that the spoken word and body language are in agreement

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Effective communication is based on an appreciation of the recipient, but that does not mean that everything has to be presented only in a positive light. It may also require the expression of criticism. Smith, Smoll and Curtis (1979) propose that a "sandwich approach" or a "feedback burger" be used when expressing criticism. Here, the critical message is packed between a positive statement and a final compliment. An example from golf illustrates this. The player’s ball always made a curve from left to right (a so-called slice in right-handed players, a hook in left-handed players). After changing his grip on the club, the player is able to hit the ball straight, but it does not go far. The coach tells him, "Of course you are able to play a beautifully, straight ball. If you now bring your hip forward earlier and then swing your arms forward like snapping a whip, the ball will also travel far. Because of your great feeling for movement, you will manage to accomplish this quickly." The criticism is wrapped into positive statements about the athlete’s ability and is formulated in a positive way, specifically telling the athlete what to change and how to change it.

Fig. 7-1: Clear communication between athletes and trainers is an important prerequisite for performance. Photo: Christopher Loch.

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Criticism is easier to digest if it is served in an appreciative feedback burger. The athlete will not react with a defensive attitude and is even more willing to accept the criticism and be open to change. Communication competencies prevent misunderstandings and thereby prevent conflicts from occurring. The causes for conflicts, however, do not have to lie in "poor" communication. This is topic of the next section.

Conflicts Conflicts develop when incompatible action intentions confront one another. There are many reasons for this in competitive sports. As previously stated, conflicts can result from poor communication, stress or deadline pressure. Frustration over failure can spark conflicts. In addition, insufficient group cohesion, a poor team climate or the exclusion of team members can incite conflict. A conflict can end in different ways. One can distinguish between the following perspectives: x x x x

I win, you lose You win, I lose Everyone wins Going down together

Most people approach a conflict with one of these orientations. The "everyone wins" perspective, which is also known as a win-win orientation, should of course always be preferred (cf. Glasl, 1994). With this perspective of conflict orientation, all parties involved in the conflict can emerge as winners, no one loses face and no one has to make more concessions than the other. The best possibility for win-win results is cooperation because here both sides bring their position forward in full and a result can be worked out. Unresolved conflicts have a tendency to escalate. Of importance for success and for achieving a win-win situation is to intervene as early as possible. Glasl (1994) describes nine steps for this in his model of conflict de-escalation. The longer the conflict has been going on, the more extensive the necessary interventions will be. If the conflict is not solved in time, there is the danger that no solution can be achieved and all parties together will steer toward the abyss. A win-win solution to a conflict is only feasible until escalation in step 3.

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Conflict solution A certain form of dialogue has been shown to promise the best results when attempting to solve a conflict. The dialogue should begin with describing the problem as neutrally as possible. Thereupon, suggestions for possible solutions are collected from all involved parties. These suggestions should then be rated by the participants so that a mutual decision can be made about the best solution. Guidelines or rules for the realisation of the solution should be established (in handwritten form). A further method for solving conflict involves making rules, for instance, making clear agreements about certain things (e.g. regarding punctuality, absence from training; cf. Linz, 2004). If the root of the conflict is that the team does not see itself as a unit, or if subgroups (cliques) have developed, commonalities among the individual team members must be developed. In addition, team-building measures need to be conducted (cf. chapter 4). Most advantageous are team-building measures in which all involved parties have to cooperate to be successful. A further technique used for the reduction of conflicts is confrontation. The practical example that follows illustrates this technique. The strategy of confrontation, however, is not always crowned by success and can even have the opposite effect. Deeper lying problems can surface during confrontation that no one suspected beforehand. A thorough diagnosis is therefore an important requirement of using the confrontation technique. This technique should always be used in a targeted fashion. In addition, confrontation should not be used too often; otherwise, members of the team will no longer take it seriously and the technique will lose its effectiveness. When using the confrontation technique, one must pay attention to further basic conditions. The time must be chosen correctly, for example, not directly following a lost game, although neither should too much time pass. One should have a room available in which everyone can exchange ideas without any disturbance. The room should also be large enough so that everyone can see one another. Naturally, a confrontation discussion only works if all persons affected are present and a large part of the team is not absent.

Practical example Conflict in the boat A rowing team’s group climate was not good and cohesion was lacking. The training was not successful, the mood got worse and worse,

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and more and more quarrels developed. This situation negatively impacted performance in the next training session. The sport psychologist’s task was to find out why cohesion was suffering. Conversations with the members of the team and an observation of their behaviour showed that the cause lay in the stroker’s behaviour. He was annoyed that the others no longer supported him. In other words, they no longer followed his pace. The boat did not glide smoothly through the water, which resulted in poor performance. During a team talk, the sport psychologist initiated a controlled conflict. An atmosphere developed at this meeting that forced all of the oarsmen to comment on the situation. During the course of the meeting, they did not become friends, but they could at least all agree to focus on the common goal.

Psychological skills training after injuries According to the authors’ experience, injury is the most frequent sport crisis, and it is most likely to strike every athlete at some point in her or his career. Studies investigating the frequency of sport injuries show that elite gymnasts, for example, have an annual injury rate of 70%-80% (Kerr & Minden, 1988). Finnish and British studies involving top-level football players report injury rates between 65% and 91% (Lewin, 1989; Lüthje et al., 1996). Leddy, Lambert and Ogles (1994) showed that injured athletes demonstrated higher depression and anxiety scores directly after their injury, as well as 2 months later. In addition, athletes showed lower selfconfidence in comparison to healthy athletes. The authors concluded that emotional stress is high after an injury and psychological interventions are required. Sport psychological training can be used effectively and successfully for dealing with the crisis of a sport injury. It can support the healing process, as well as help the athlete keep up with training through the use of mental training (see chapter 5). Ievleva and Orlick (1991) showed that the use of psychological techniques following a knee or ankle injury led to quicker recovery. Athletes who have a quick convalescence especially profit from goal setting and positive self-talk. Mental training also demonstrates verifiable effects during pauses that are necessitated because of an injury. In the following sections, we present how the healing process can be supported through sport psychological training. We begin by presenting measures that support convalescence on an individual level.

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Figure 7.2. Photo: Christopher Loch

Goal setting Athletes rate goal-setting training as the most effective technique after a sport injury (Brewer et al., 1994) and it in fact leads to faster healing, as described earlier. A side effect of goal setting is the maintenance of rehabilitation training. Furthermore, goal-setting training has a positive influence on the injured athlete’s self-efficacy (Evans & Hardy, 2002) and supports motivation for active recovery. The bottom line is that athletes must not be left alone after an injury, but should be supported by a sport psychologist as well as the coach. It is helpful if the injured athlete, together with the coach and sport psychologist, develops goals for rehabilitation training (e.g. frequency of rehabilitation sessions, number and repetitions of different exercises). Sometimes an athlete’s "overmotivation" for a fast recovery may be a problem, as it would result in a higher training load than is medically advisable. A first step to counteract this is to explain the potential negative effects of trying to recover too much and too early. Which goals are realistic and what can be done to reach them can next be discussed. The

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goals related to the content of rehabilitation training should be set in collaboration with medical personnel. Goals can be set for other areas as well. For instance, a goal can be set to reduce the number of negative thoughts about the injury. Mental tasks should be given to the athlete in order to leave no room for negative thoughts and to focus on things that increase optimism.

Imagery and mental training Cancer therapy has shown just how effective imagining the healing process ("healing imagery") can be (Klein, 2001). During this training, cancer patients imagine their cancer cells dying off and their body healing itself, or they imagine that they are happy and healthy. The imagery must, however, be in line with reality. Injured athletes use this strategy in a variety of ways, for example, to regulate pain, to distract themselves, to correctly execute rehabilitation exercises or to maintain a positive outlook (Driediger, Hall & Callow, 2006). The images used should always be detailed, as close to reality as possible and positive. Incorrect assumptions about an injury, in contrast, can negatively impact the healing process and can lead to cramping and pain (Kleinert, 2003). In addition to imagining the healing process, mental training, the mental execution of one’s sport, can be used. Some athletes enjoy performing this training during injury time because it gives them the feeling of practising and they maintain an image of the upright movement. Others, in contrast, do not find mental training during injury to be attractive at all. Because of their physical impairments, they cannot imagine the movement or they find the imagined performance of movements to be unrealistic. Mental imagery will only have the desired effects if the athletes have the right attitude. It is therefore important to ensure that the athlete is ready for it. It has been proven that the imagination of a movement activates the same regions of the brain that are activated during the actual movement. Mental training conducted with stroke victims restored some of their movement (Liu et al., 2004). Athletes who cannot practise because of illness or injury, can, at least in part, compensate for this with mental training, as shown in the following example.

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Practical example Mental training for a golfer with an injured shoulder A professional golfer hurt himself when falling onto his shoulder in October and was not able to hit any balls for 3 months. He had already learned mental training while working with a sport psychologist and applied this technique during the months of forced abstinence from physical practice. During the autumn and winter months, while his injury was healing, he often walked the championship course of his home club, in part accompanied by the sport psychologist. At the tee, he teed his ball and ran through his pre-shot routine, but refrained from doing the practice swings. Instead of actually making a drive, he imagined taking the shot, saw the ball fly before his inner eye, land and roll out. He then went, as he would in an actual competition, to the place where the ball would have landed. Here, he considered which shot he would now have to take and with which club. He then examined the position of the ball and the wind— just as he would have done under the actual conditions of his performance. He continued to carry out his routine and imagined the shot he had decided on. In this manner, he "played" nine holes at least three times a week. After he went back to playing the course again after 3 months, it did not feel as though he had paused for a quarter of a year. With a great deal of confidence in his capabilities, he played a round and achieved a score that he would not have imagined possible after a 3-month break.

Positive self-talk As mentioned earlier, positive self-talk has been proven to play a crucial role in the healing process. Since this technique is described in chapters 5 and 9, we will not go into it in more detail here.

Modelling (orientating yourself to models) Modelling has also proven to be a successful interventional measure for injured athletes (Weiss & Troxel, 1986). A distinction is made between informal and formal modelling (Flint, 1999). Informal modelling is more or less automatic. It occurs when doctors or sport psychologists report other athletes who successfully overcame their sport injury. In formal modelling, the athlete is referred to a suitable model. This could be another athlete who successfully dealt with injury. The injured athlete may talk to this athlete and learn from his or her experiences. Video recordings

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of another athlete as a role model could also be used. The benefits of formal modelling are assumed to be greater than those of informal modelling.

Relaxation procedures The relaxation procedures described in chapter 4 can be used after a sport injury to reduce muscular tensions and negative thoughts. In addition, some athletes complain about problems associated with sleeping after a sport injury. Both falling asleep and sleeping through the night can be positively supported by relaxation exercises.

Communication skills and social support Communication skills are especially important during the rehabilitation phase so that injured athletes can discuss their worries about their injury, as well as their rehabilitation process, with the medical personnel. In addition, social support for the athlete must be maximised during this phase. This means that the coach and the team, in particular, as well as family and friends, are included in the rehabilitation process. Physiotherapists also play an important role in the support of an injured athlete. Close cooperation with the physiotherapist has proven to be instrumental in our practice. In part, elements of mental training can also be integrated in physiotherapy. Social support can be provided in one of three ways: emotional, material and informational (Hardy & Grace, 1993). Emotional support is provided through active listening and empathy; it appears to be the most important form directly after the injury. Material support means, for instance, driving the athlete to rehabilitation training and picking him or her up again, or covering the costs for additional treatments. Informational support provides the athlete with all of the information needed to fully understand his or her injury. This can be provided in particular by the medical personnel if they take enough time to clearly explain the injury and the healing process. How the injured athlete explains the reasons for and the occurrence of the injury also plays a role. If the athlete has not received a good explanation and constantly asks himor herself, "Why did this happen to me?" "Why me?", this is unfavourable for the rehabilitation process and for the athlete’s confidence when returning to active practice (cf. Rogner, Frey & Havemann, 1987).

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The fear of a renewed injury can be reduced if the athlete either accepts the risk of injury ("I know of the risk and I voluntarily accept it") or knows how to avoid renewed injuries. The athlete should receive the greatest possible support in all three forms of social support. In order to maintain the athlete’s self-efficacy, possibilities must be found for integrating him or her into the team practice. In this way, the athlete can still be part of the practice, participate in team meetings or possibly take over tasks for the team (for instance, organisational jobs). Some injuries are, however, so severe that they lead to career termination. In such a case, support personnel for career development should be consulted as soon as possible to discuss the athlete’s postathletic career and to identify different options for positively mastering the future. In addition, measures should be taken in general during the development of a talent to provide the person with alternative sources of meaning in life other than just his or her sport, so that if one source, the sport, is lost, others can compensate for it.

Doping controls Doping controls are a key component of the World Anti-Doping Agency’s fight against doping, and elite athletes are obliged to attend doping tests at any time. The collection of urine samples is the most common procedure and must follow a strict, standardised procedure during which the athlete must remove all clothing between waist and midthigh so that the personnel who witness the sample collection have an unobstructed view of sample provision. Several recent studies have indicated that a large number of athletes have negative experiences regarding doping controls. This pertains to difficulties urinating; feelings of one’s freedom being infringed upon; impaired recovery following a stressful doping control that can negatively impact future performance; or an unpleasant experience of urine control, triggering the clinical disorder paruresis in which the individual is unable to urinate in the presence of others (Elbe and Overbye, in press).

Causes The reasons for an inability to urinate during a doping control test, which causes delays and negative effects on the controls, are manifold and are both physiological and psychological in nature. Physiological causes are, for example, that the athlete has just been to the toilet or is too

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dehydrated from sport, whereas psychological causes refer to reasons such as "I cannot pee while others are watching or while others can hear me". Studies conducted with both doping control officers (Strahler & Elbe, 2007) and athletes (Strahler & Elbe, 2009) on questions related to psychogenic urine retention during doping controls (PURD) indicate that factors such as gender; age; number of previous doping controls; and whether the control is being performed at home, at training or after a competition have no influence on the phenomenon. This means that PURD appears regardless of individual or environmental differences. Elbe and Brand (2014) further identified that athletes who show low oppositional potential (low reactance) and want to conform to the doping control procedure are those who experience the most difficulties during testing.

Interventions It is crucial to provide young athletes with detailed information about what to expect during their first doping control in order to prevent PURD, or in the worst case, the onset of paruresis. If, however, athletes regularly encounter problems during controls, seeking support from a sport psychologist can be recommended. The sport psychologist can teach athletes techniques to relax both their mind and their body during the control. Different relaxation techniques might be effective, for example, breathing and progressive muscle relaxation. However, learning to relax in a situation in which you need to urinate while someone else is staring at your genitals is not an easy task. Cognitive-behavioral therapy, in which psychotherapeutic dialogue and in vivo desensitisation meet to create the best combination of talk and action, is also a professional and feasible intervention for athletes with PURD. For the cognitive part, recent research of Boschen (2008) shows that, first and foremost, the unrealistic beliefs about negative evaluation must be resolved. In cognitive therapy, these irrational patterns of thinking are discussed; new cognitions are shaped such as "It is irrational of me to be in a hurry" and "It is the doping control officer’s job to wait as long as it takes"; and strategies are discussed to deal with the problem or even to get rid of it. For the behavioural part, the affected individual has to practise the situation, changing the difficulty by, for example, starting alone and ending up, for example, urinating under supervision.

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Career transition: From junior to senior athlete Moving from being a junior to a senior athlete can represent a critical transition in the career of an athlete. Withdrawal from a professional sport career takes place most frequently during this phase. Vanden Auweele et al. (2004) investigated the career development paths of 167 Belgian track and field athletes and discovered that only 17% of the junior athletes were successfully able to master the transition to the senior squad. One reason for this is that the transitional phase is characterised by a number of challenges, both in athletic and in non-athletic domains. In comparison to the junior level, the senior squad requires an increased volume and intensity of training, accompanied by higher expectations for athletic performance. In addition, a transition to the senior level can involve a change in coach or training group or both, and it frequently also demands the relocation of the athlete. Demands in the nonathletic area, involving a job or occupational training, increase in this phase of life as well. But at the same time, this phase requires a total focus on professional sports in order to achieve top performances. In consequence, the risks of injury, burnout and overtraining are increased. Beckmann et al. (2006) indeed found junior athletes to have the lowest feelings of self-determination prior to this point of transition. Stambulova (2009) identified five challenges that athletes face in this phase, which should be taken into consideration when working with them. Athletes should receive support in order to be able to master the following: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

Finding a balance between sport and other areas of life Finding their own way in sport Handling the pressure during selection Obtaining recognition from others in the same age group, referees, etc. Handling relationship problems

Tasks of the sport psychologist In contrast to a sport injury, the transition from junior to senior level is predictable. Therefore, the athlete can be well prepared for this transition. Skills that make this transition easier and help to provide support during this phase should be taught as early as possible. Recommendations include supporting the athlete in finding a balance between athletic and nonathletic demands, in setting priorities and in acquiring skills that can be transferred to different domains. Skills such as goal setting, time

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management and stress regulation, for example, serve as resources during transitional phases both within and outside of sport. Furthermore, those people closest to the athlete should support him or her in both athletic and non-athletic interests, as well as with the athlete’s identity formation. During this phase, it is helpful to ensure that the athlete has a strong network of social support (e.g. coach, family and friends). Furthermore, the athlete should focus on avoiding injuries and on ensuring sufficient recovery. The RESTQ-Sport (see chapter 6) can be used for this. Consulting with a career advisor, who can be found at most Olympic training centres, is recommended in order to establish an optimal balance between the demands of professional and competitive sports and vocational training.

Psychological problems In the course of working with athletes, occasionally sport psychologists encounter problems that require psychotherapeutic or medical treatment. Sometimes the best skill training does not result in successful performance because the athlete’s problem lies within a completely different domain. A professional golfer who was said to have the best swing and longest drive of his age group learned all the necessary psychological skills for a golf tournament perfectly, yet never finished in top place. Eventually, he disclosed that he was playing golf because he hoped it would attract the attention of his parents, who had abandoned him as a young child to live with his grandparents. What was needed here (and is needed in other clinical problem situations) exceeds most sport psychologists’ area of competence. Our emphasis, therefore, does not lie in the description of interventional measures. Instead, we present clinical disorders, their causes and the accompanying symptoms. The objective for sport psychologists without any clinical education should be to recognise the clinical disorder and refer the athlete to a specialist. No treatment attempts should be undertaken by a sport psychologist who is not educated in clinical or therapeutic psychology.

Burnout Burnout has been receiving more and more attention in stress research. Sarah Hammer, considered the world’s most promising track cyclist in the first decade of the 21st century, quit her sport before the 2004 Athens Olympics. At age 20, she was burned out. Although there is no uniform definition, burnout is seen as a reaction to chronic stress (as summarised

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by Kallus & Kellmann, 2000). Burnout represents a negative individual experience that includes problems, stress, a negative state, a dysfunctional condition and negative consequences. Some clinical psychologists maintain that untreated burnout will eventually lead to depression. Not only athletes, but also coaches (e.g. Dale & Weinberg, 1989) and referees (Rainey, 1999) are affected by burnout. Caccese and Mayerberg (1984) found that the head coaches of university teams demonstrated clear gender-specific differences in their levels of burnout. Female trainers, in comparison to their male counterparts, displayed significantly higher emotional exhaustion and reduced personal fulfilment.

Causes Burnout is called the stress disease. The imbalance of stress and available resources (skills) leads to long-term or repeated mental overload or underload. Sometimes this is described as "my batteries ran out". The situation can then lead to an athlete denigrating his or her own abilities, a feeling of helplessness, or mental overload. The interplay of numerous stressors in today’s elite sports can result in insufficient recovery and frustration. This is, in part, brought about by unfulfilled expectations that are, in turn, caused by negative perfectionism and goals that are too ambitious. Perfectionism is indeed a personality factor that strongly contributes to the development of burnout. Being perfect is emphasised in sports to a high degree. In order to defeat opponents who are world class, an athlete needs to be perfect or at least next to perfect—to be just good is not good enough. Golf pro legend David Leadbetter is said to have stated that if there actually were a perfect golf swing, he had never seen it. Such a statement underlines that perfectionism in sport demands something that is completely unattainable. The perfectionist may realise this consciously but cannot help striving for perfectionism. Accordingly, Shafran, Egan and Wade (2010, p. 9) describe perfectionism as "the setting of, and striving to meet, very demanding standards that are self-imposed and relentlessly pursued despite this causing problems". We mentioned in chapter 6 that burnout might be the result of insufficient recovery. Too much training or too many competitions, the absence of joy, and too much pressure from oneself or from others are the primary causes of this phenomenon (Cohn, 1990). During an intensive season with frequent training sessions and competitions, it is impossible for the athlete to recover to a sufficient degree, either physically or psychologically. Furthermore, if stress is associated with injuries and the return to training, the risks for dropping out and for burnout increase.

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Overtraining, routines, monotony, boredom and lack of variety in training further promote this effect (cf. Robinson & Carron, 1982). In fact, a study by Nixdorf et al. (2013) found recovery-stress imbalance to be a core element in the development of depression that can be a consequence of burnout.

Symptoms The burnout syndrome is characterised by emotional exhaustion, depersonalisation and the absence of personal fulfilment (Maslach, Jackson & Leiter, 1996). This may not only result in a performance decline, but it can also lead to complete withdrawal from certain activities (Maslach et al., 1996). Psychological reactions such as tension, anger, fear or insomnia lead to rigid, inappropriate behaviour; a drop in performance; and a reduction in activities. Nevertheless, not all athletes who suffer from burnout discontinue their activities. Some athletes remain active despite burnout. They believe that they cannot give up the sport for various reasons (e.g. pressure from the family) and describe a feeling of being locked in. This forced participation is marked by low motivation, emotional dullness, reduced satisfaction and poor performance (Raedeke, 1997). Burnout is the result of chronic overloading stress and results in a decline in the athlete’s participation in sports. Burned-out athletes have few training sessions and training days, and they demonstrate motivational deficits and poor coping abilities (Gould et al., 1997). With an increasing level of burnout, the athlete’s performance becomes inconsistent and declines (Kallus & Kellmann, 2000).

Intervention Burnout needs to be treated through psychotherapy. In severe cases of burnout, a stay of at least 6 weeks at a psychosomatic clinic is required. Some clinics offer preventive stays: Business companies make use of this to avoid longer absences of employees affected by burnout. The same should apply to athletes. As described in chapter 6 with regard to overtraining, athletes with burnout need longer breaks or a longer interruption in participation in their sport (Henschen, 1993). This might help to prevent them from terminating their career prematurely. Attention should be paid to behavioural patterns. Taking into account not only the athlete, but also his or her interaction system, is recommended. One thing to consider is whether there is a recovery-stress imbalance and how this

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imbalance developed. In addition, the personality trait of perfectionism should be approached through psychotherapeutic interventions. Shafran et al. (2010) wrote a self-help guide that could be a first step, but usually professional help should be sought. US cyclist Sarah Hammer consequently quit her sport when she was burnt out. But after half a year of complete absence from cycling, she returned to the sport with a renewed sense of motivation. Since Sarah's recovery, she set two world records, became the first US woman to win three medals at the track world championships in 2011, and won several world championships and Olympic medals since. Sarah is a good role model who showed that when there is a suitable response to burnout, the athlete can return.

Depression The stress of a career in professional sports and the subsequent longterm imbalance of recovery and stress that leads to burnout can also become the trigger for a depressive disorder (Thase, Jindal & Howland, 2002). The suicide of the goalie of the German national football squad, Robert Enke, in 2009 was a great shock. Enke had been suffering from depression for a long time. In sport and especially in football, depression had not been a topic to be discussed. However, according to a study performed by the World Health Organization in 2004, depression can be expected to develop in up to 11.1% of men and up to 23.3% of women (see Brhlikova, Pollock & Manners, 2011). The projection for newly occurring cases of depression is between 2 and 8 persons for every 100 persons yearly, and the tendency is increasing. Nixdorf et al. (2013) found a prevalence of depressive symptoms in 15% of their sample of German elite athletes. The prevalence for junior athletes was close to 20%. Little more than a year after the death of Gary Speed, the coach of the Welsh national football team who suffered from depression and committed suicide in November 2011, a survey of 100 players by FourFourTwo magazine showed that the condition is a problem for many. According to the WHO study, depression most frequently occurs for the first time between the ages of 18 and 25 years (see Brhlikova et al., 2011). This corresponds to the age range of the majority of top athletes. Given the few reported incidences in high achievement sports, it may well be that affected athletes avoid going public because of the fear of being stigmatised as mentally ill. It could also be that depression is not fully recognised as an illness or that those affected simply deny its existence. In fact, even in the general population, people with depressive symptoms

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prefer to be diagnosed with a somatic illness, reporting chest pain or back pain as dominant symptoms. Depression, however, is a serious psychological illness. It can lead to an inability to work and can destroy family life. Approximately 15% of people with depression are estimated to commit suicide, a level that is substantially higher than that observed in the normal population. Depression that has not been treated (i.e. insufficient dose of antidepressants and psychotherapy) is consequently likely to return after a symptom-free phase. The already high risk of suicide is then significantly increased. In addition, the mortality rate in individuals with depression, in comparison to those without, is higher because of the physical disturbances accompanying it (e.g. cardiovascular illness, diabetes) (cf. Hautzinger, 2010).

Symptoms Depression is more severe than feeling sad or a normal degree of grief. The primary symptoms include a subdued mood, lack of interest and energy, and joylessness with strong feelings of guilt. A sign in oneself is a longer period of sadness that is increasingly accompanied by listlessness and the loss of zest for life. The individual also experiences an increasing feeling of emotional emptiness. One is no longer able to be happy about successes. Individuals with depression frequently complain of indistinct physical symptoms such as dizziness, headaches, a perception of a lump in the throat and undefined chest pain. It is an adjustment disorder in perceptual reactions. A major depression in the normal population involves massive feelings of guilt. However, in sport, it appears that guilt is not the primary factor, as a recovery-stress imbalance seems to play an extraordinary high role (Nixdorf et al., 2013). Depression is an illness that has become more accepted by the general public, but people still attempt to conceal the fact that they are suffering from a psychological illness. In part, the physical complaints are placed in the foreground in a selfdeceitful manner and the actual ailment is masked. A German professional football player who dared to publicly disclose that he suffered from depression after the November 2009 memorial service for Robert Enke, and who made statements to football officials to take depression more seriously and help the athletes, was confronted with the reality of no longer receiving a contract.

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Causes Is a competitive athlete particularly prone to this illness? There is no special personality feature in competitive athletes that makes the development of depression more likely to occur in them than in the normal population. The personality of the competitive athlete does not differ substantially from that of normal citizens, aside from perhaps achievement motivation that incorporates perfectionism and willpower (see also chapter 3). It is less the personality of a competitive athlete, but far more the reality of modern life and the reality of competitive sports—permanent stress, loss of privacy, physical and psychological overload—that can lead to the development of illness if athletes have no adequate means to cope with these stressors. For example, one of the most successful ski jumpers, Sven Hannawald, was affected by depression. He stated in an interview with news.de, "The illness appeared and there are a number of reasons for this. Somehow one also has to be the type for this. Others endure the same kind of pressure, but they handle it differently" When using the term "type", Hannawald probably meant the personality characteristics observed in persons who are affected. Apparently there are people who are susceptible (vulnerable) to stress, while others appear to be invulnerable (resilient). In part, the causes for this lie in the individual and are part of the person’s biological makeup. In part, a vulnerability or resilience is also based on past experiences, which can even go as far back as childhood. After all, learned behavioural styles (e.g. perfectionism), as well as the manner in which one handles stress or pressure situations (coping strategies), play a role in the development of a depressive disorder. Competitive and professional athletes are naturally under intense pressure to perform and are frequently in the public eye. This situation is associated with a fear of failure, which can naturally lead to actual failure and subsequently result in an extensive need to justify it. Adequate coping strategies are critical in affecting the extent to which the pressure and stress experienced by athletes leads to increased vulnerability. In addition, as indicated earlier, training and competitive stress can easily lead to burnout, from which depression can develop. The afflicted professional German footballer, Sebastian Deisler, described the condition in which he found himself: "I was empty, I was tired, and I wasn’t there anymore" (Rosentritt, 2009). Outsiders are frequently unable to understand how a successful athlete can be depressed. The naïve expectation is that, in general, sport is healthy and being so successful should make a person happy. Sometimes all too simple advice is given to depressed athletes: "Once you are successful again, you will feel better". This advice, however, only shows a major

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misunderstanding of people outside psychology. A depression is an illness that does not simply vanish because of success in competitions. As an illness, it must be treated appropriately and it takes time to improve. If the depressed individual follows the so-called advice described earlier, this athlete will consequently put him- or herself under additional pressure, inevitably fail and sink deeper into depression. The belief that one can get better is then lost. Because of an unfavourable interpretation pattern, success has no enduring positive effect on those suffering from depression. The longer the depression persists and the more deeply depressed individuals become, the fewer emotions are experienced at all. Depression is frequently genetically determined. Such a disposition, however, does not inevitably lead to a depressive disorder. On the one hand, factors such as current problems in the life of the individual can trigger it. Such a factor can be the stress that a competitive athlete experiences. On the other hand, the learned, cognitive coping pattern for such problems plays an important role: The patients consider themselves to be failures, exaggerate small errors and have a pessimistic outlook on the future. They tend to brood. They generally see themselves in a negative light. Depression is also frequently associated with anxiety. As mentioned earlier, burnout and exhaustion frequently pave the way for depression. In the brain of depressed individuals, there is a disturbance in the messenger substances, the so-called neurotransmitters and neuromodulators, especially serotonin and norepinephrine, which function in reciprocity with other disturbed hormonal and neurophysiological systems, as well as biological (circadian) rhythms (e.g. sleep) (Garlow & Nemeroff, 2003). As Sven Hannawald correctly assumed, a series of personality characteristics are related to the development of depression. Among these are high fear of failure, state orientation and perfectionism (cf. chapter 2). Because of the fear of possible failure caused by nagging doubts about whether one is as good as the others, training is intensified to achieve perfection. This can subsequently contribute to the development of burnout. State-oriented athletes are especially vulnerable because they tend to get caught in negative self-evaluation loops. These individuals can demonstrate exceptional performances if the climate of the team is good, they consider themselves to be accepted and well regarded both inside and outside the team, and they are able to go into a game in a relaxed manner. However, they get lost in a downward spiral of self-doubt when things go wrong, when injuries occur more frequently and when success is lacking. Highly vulnerable athletes are especially in danger of developing depression in the system of modern competitive sport. The playmaker

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Sebastian Deisler was called the "talent of the century in German football". In his biography, written by Michael Rosentritt (2009), there are indications of an intensive fear of failure and a state orientation. Sebastian Deisler ended his football career because of his depression. In order to avoid losing such "talents of the century", athletes must receive targeted support starting at an early age. The support should consist of teaching them how to cope with stress (e.g. stress inoculation training) and how to develop positive attribution patterns, for example, attributing success to one’s ability and effort, if that applies, instead of to pure luck, and not wrongly attributing failures to a lack of ability, but instead to a lack of effort, too difficult a task, or, indeed, bad luck. In the development of young athletes, there should also be appreciation and room left for individuality and an understanding of this individuality as a strength. Such support deals with laying the groundwork, something that Sebastian Deisler, as he himself claims, never received. It is also sensible to keep an eye out for a balanced recovery-stress relationship in order to avoid the development of burnout. This requires an understanding that there are things besides football that can sustain an athlete. Finally, from youth onward, stress immunisation training should be included in practice so that athletes can learn how to handle athletic pressure and how to deal with pressure from the media. This training also entails that the athlete not be perceived as weak when speaking with others about his or her problems. Perhaps this training will go so far as to mean that one cannot always be strong and does not even have to be. For some sports, this attitude might require a change in culture.

Intervention Depression must be treated by either a psychiatrist or a psychotherapist. As a person of trust, a sport psychologist is frequently the first point of contact for an athlete afflicted by depression. A sport psychologist who is not suitably trained for this must see that the afflicted individual immediately attains appropriate therapy. Depending on the severity of the depression, it must be treated over a shorter or longer period of time with appropriately dosed medication (among other things, antidepressants) in combination with psychotherapy. With lighter levels of depression, hypnotherapy can be sufficient. With a major depression, medication in combination with hypnotherapy is mandatory. Hautzinger (2010) estimates that about one-half to two-thirds of patients achieve improvement through therapy and are able to attain their previous performance level and become themselves again. Nevertheless, individual

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complaints frequently remain. Recidivism is always possible, although the likelihood of reoccurrence can be reduced through routine therapy sessions. Therapy needs time, which can also mean taking a time-out from competitive sports. With an initial clinical interview, the sport psychologist can establish and mediate motivation for therapy and change so that the client accepts such therapy. How can one proceed in such an initial interview? x x x x x

Take the problems seriously and make it clear that a depressive illness requires treatment. By no means trivialise depression as being a passing state of sadness. Speak openly about possible thoughts of suicide. Try to help (e.g. through the mediation of a therapist) but do not patronise (do not give words of advice). Remain genuine and also permit negative feelings.

It is of utmost importance to assess the risk of suicide. Questionnaires are available that help assess this risk. If the screening reveals that there is substantial risk, the client should immediately be taken to a psychiatric hospital, if necessary by means of the police.

Eating disorders Eating disorders are increasingly observed, particularly in disciplines where low weight is necessary for aesthetic, physiological and biomechanical reasons (Platen, Lebenstedt & Bußmann, 2004). These sports include gymnastics, figure skating, long-distance running, boxing, wrestling, judo, horse racing, ski jumping and high jumping. No exact numbers regarding the frequency with which these disorders occur in competitive sport are available but, according to a Scandinavian study, the risk of falling ill with an eating disorder is as high as 40% in certain sports (Sundgot-Borgen, 1993). The two classic eating disorders are anorexia (anorexia nervosa) and bulimia (bulimia nervosa). Anorexia is accompanied by visible weight loss brought about by the person and intentionally kept that way. Afflicted persons have a great fear of gaining weight, despite their already reduced weight, and a distorted perception of their body. Despite their low weight, they consider themselves to be too fat. Anorexic women do not

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menstruate. Weight loss occurs through greatly reduced intake of food, vomiting and/or abuse of laxatives. In contrast to anorexia, bulimia is more of a hidden disease because it entails no clear weight loss and therefore frequently remains unnoticed by outsiders. Physical features of bulimia include glassy teeth and skin changes on the hands. This illness is characterised by repeated episodes of binge eating, which are compensated for by self-induced vomiting or excessive athletic activity. Anorexia athletica is primarily a sport-induced eating disorder, which differs from the other two forms and is specific for competitive sport. It is primarily related to a reduction in weight in order to achieve better athletic performance, for example, in ski jumping. The consequences of eating disorders are deficiency symptoms, for example, regarding nutrients (carbohydrates, fats, proteins), minerals and vitamins. Furthermore, hormonal disturbances develop that primarily involve sexual, adrenocortical and thyroid hormones, as well as the autonomic nervous system. The consequences of continuous vomiting are damage to the stomach and oesophagus as well as to the teeth. Furthermore, there are numerous psychological and social consequences of eating disorders. Individuals with eating disorders lose their joie de vivre and their self-confidence. Their interest in their environment decreases. They are permanently under stress and fearful that their conduct might be discovered. Competitive athletes with eating disorders experience intense stress, particularly during training camps. In addition, the emotional pressure rises. Longer term implications, aside from the damage to health, are depression, insomnia and poor athletic performance.

Causes Eating disorders are mainly caused by a combination of factors. Explanations for eating disorders therefore cannot be unidimensional (Barb-Priebe, 1998). These factors can be biological, psychological or of a cultural nature, and they may also be related to the conditions that prevail in competitive sport. Investigations suggest a genetic predisposition to anorexia. In addition, certain personality characteristics (e.g. perfectionism, lack of self-confidence, obsession, performance orientation), as well as bad childhood experiences and current conflicts, contribute to the development of eating disorders in competitive athletes. Furthermore, certain beauty ideals are intensified through the conditions seen in competitive sport. Anorexia athletica is caused by the motivation to excel in a sport in which each gram of body weight counts, for instance, in ski jumping. Frequently,

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athletes believe that after ending their career, they can easily return to normal weight. But after years of self-inflicted starving, professional help may be needed to return to normal eating and weight.

Intervention When treating eating disorders, Platen et al. (2004) recommend a multidisciplinary support team made up of psychologists, physicians and nutritionists. In most cases, outpatient or even inpatient psychotherapeutic treatment is necessary, which is supplemented by medical nutritional therapy. De Bruin, Bakker and Oudejans (2009) further point out the importance of a task-oriented motivational climate in the training group, where focus is placed on the orientation to individual reference standards (see also chapter 5). When an eating disorder is suspected in a professional or competitive athlete, the first contact person is naturally the sport psychologist, as would occur with other psychological problems. It is important that the sport psychologist has established a support network so that he or she can refer the athlete to an expert in the field of eating disorders. Potential indicators for the existence of an eating disorder Remarks from the persons affected x Dissatisfaction with their figure and remarks about being too fat x Afraid of getting fat x Feelings of guilt after a meal x Continuous occupation with weight, meals, calories Visible features x Large weight loss x Wearing loose clothing x Swelling of the salivary glands through vomiting, with so-called hamster cheeks x Discrepancies between amount of nutrition taken in and current weight x Reddened eyes after visiting the toilet x Water retention x Absence of menstruation

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Changes in behaviour x Obsessional training, even beyond regular training x Going to the toilet shortly after a meal x Secretiveness x Preference for "light/non-fat" products; often chewing gum

Sport addiction Obsessive participation in sport can result in a specific kind of addiction that affects an estimated 3%-6% of the sporting population (Lichtenstein et al., 2014). "Sport addiction" is a substance-independent addiction that is also called behavioural addiction. No psychotropic substances are taken in this addiction, but endogenous biochemical alterations occur through behaviour; in the case of sport addiction, this behaviour is mostly shown as excessive endurance training (Grüsser et al., 2007). According to Glasser (1976), there is a positive and a negative form of addiction. In a positive addiction, the realisation that a certain need is lacking leads to psychological or physiological uneasiness. A positive addiction is fun, but does not dominate the life of the affected person, as is the case with a negative addiction. According to Morgan (1979), however, a positive addiction can also be problematic because it can result in negative health consequences. According to Morgan, a sport addiction exists if x the afflicted person has a feeling that sport is necessary in order to come to grips with the daily demands of life; x the afflicted person suffers from withdrawal symptoms (anxiety, uneasiness, irritation, discontent) when they are unable to participate in sport. Furthermore, an individual with a sport addiction also continues to pursue sport excessively, even when other aspects of life (profession, relationship, health) are negatively affected. Characteristically, sport addiction, like other addictions, develops from the attempt to cope with psychological problems (life crises, fears, internal imbalance).The problem with sport is that it represents a highly accepted social activity and is also a tool for dealing with problems. The fact that normal sport participation has turned into an addiction is often overseen or neglected, both by the individual athletes and by those in their environment. It is often stated that this person just needs a lot of exercise. The athlete is not aware that she or

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he might need therapy. To the athlete, this idea seems to be just as ridiculous as a week without sport. However, therapy or even hospitalisation is essential. This is especially the case because sport addiction is frequently also accompanied by an eating disorder (Brewerton et al., 1995).

Symptoms For those with a sport addiction, it is difficult to go without physical activity for 24 hours. These individuals participate in sports at least once a day, even if this involves a danger to their health (e.g. through an infection). Their thoughts constantly circle around sport. According to Sachs (1981), affected individuals show withdrawal symptoms after 24-36 hours without athletic activity, symptoms that characteristically disappear when sport addicts resume training (Veale, 1987). It is easy to see that some of the criteria cited are also applicable to competitive athletes. Are competitive athletes to some extent sport addicted? According to Biddle and Mutrie (2002), problems in competitive athletes first arise when sports lead to a depletion of the body’s resources. This is the case, for example, when the sport addiction is accompanied by an eating disorder (weakening of the immune system, muscle atrophy). This is also the case when the aim of training is to reduce weight and achieve a certain ideal figure. A sport addiction also exists if the athlete continues to train despite physical exhaustion, injuries, pain or medical advice to stop. In these cases, the afflicted athlete ignores the body’s warning signals. According to Bamber et al. (2003), a decisive criterion for sport addiction in competitive sport is that training is continued although the athlete has the desire to reduce it or has already unsuccessfully attempted to reduce it. Fatigue, chronic injuries, relationship problems and eating disorders are problems that can emerge from a sport addiction in competitive and professional sport (Veale & Le Fevre, 1988). As stated earlier, addiction is usually meant to solve a psychological problem of the addict. This is typically not the case with the high-volume training of high-achievement athletes. Professional athletes generally do not develop a sport addiction if they have a sensible training plan and stick to it. Sensible training plans include breaks and regeneration phases.

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Causes Generally, it is assumed that physical activity is rewarding as a result of improved mood, better health and increased possibilities for social interaction (Pierce, McGowan & Lynn, 1993). Sport participation can also have an anxiety-reducing or distracting effect. All of these factors can contribute to improving one’s situation, for instance, after a critical life event, without conducting cognitive coping measures. Thus, participating in sport leads to an improvement in current well-being, but not in actual coping. The acute improvement, however, is nevertheless rewarding, which leads to frequent repetition of this behaviour. From a physiological perspective, frequent, intensive endurance training also leads to a reduction in catecholamine concentrations and a reduced sensitivity to opioids in the brain. The latter, in particular, according to Hamer and Karageorghis (2007), leads to an ever greater dose of endurance training being necessary to attain the same rewarding effect. In this way, addictive behaviour is promoted through endurance training. Initially, the cause for a sport addiction was assumed to be the "runner’s high", that is, striving for an endorphin rush, which is brought on by increased effort. However, a number of related biopsychosocial factors are now thought to be responsible for such a development. Hence, genetic elements, personality characteristics (e.g. perfectionism) and the competitive sport environment also play a role.

Intervention The persons affected can contact a psychological support centre. If it is clear that the athlete is dealing with an addiction, then an addiction support centre should be contacted. Most commonly, outpatient psychotherapy with a cognitive approach will be initiated. In the first conversation, an attempt is made to understand the addictive behaviour and to dissolve the dependency. If the afflicted athlete has serious physical symptoms, however, hospitalisation may be necessary. This is particularly the case when the sport addiction is also associated with an eating disorder.

Career termination Blinde and Stratta (1992) asked athletes to write down the feelings they experienced during career termination and to compare them with feelings during other phases of life. The researchers could identify strong parallels to feelings that were related to dying and death. It is therefore not

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surprising that career termination is considered to be a critical life event that one needs to cope with (Alfermann, 2006). A study involving gymnasts showed that they primarily had to cope with a loss of identity in addition to strong physical changes after ending their career (Warriner & Lavallee, 2008). Whether the end of a career leads to a crisis or not strongly depends on whether the termination took place voluntarily or not. Study results show that an involuntary career end can have devastating consequences for the adaptation process that follows (e.g. Wheeler et al., 1996). Furthermore, involuntary career termination differs extensively from voluntary career termination and requires more intensive emotional and social adjustment processes (Lavallee, Grove & Gordon, 1997). Overall, women appear to suffer somewhat less intensely from negative emotions following the end of a career than men (Alfermann, Stambulova & Zemaityte, 2004). Taylor and Ogilvie (1998) list four main reasons for ending an athletic career: age, not being chosen for the team, injury or voluntary withdrawal. The first three reasons indicate that the athlete had to terminate the sport career because of a decline in athletic performance and that the withdrawal was involuntary and more or less forced. Athletes who withdraw involuntarily from sport often react with anger, which is directed either at themselves personally, possibly leading to alcohol or drug abuse, or against family, friends or the sport environment (Pankey, 1993). Wippert et al. (2006) could show that the way in which associations manage their athletes’ career termination has an influence on the athletes’ stress response. Athletes who were informed in detail by the association about why they were no longer chosen for the team displayed a weaker stress response after their career end than did athletes who were not well informed by their associations or who found out about not being selected from the media. Planning career termination beforehand, resigning voluntarily and having adequate social support leads to a less critical transition (Lavallee et al., 1997). Furthermore, Alfermann et al. (2004) recommend that, if possible, athletes take part in a timely training programme that prepares them for career termination before the end of their career. This training programme can mobilise the resources needed for the transition and can develop a readiness for this phase. This training programme should include the following elements.

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Contents of a training programme to prepare for career termination x x x x

Precise reasons for terminating the career Best time point for the career end Plans for life after the career in professional sports Resources available for the athlete in the transitional phase

In addition, receiving mentoring from retired athletes, as well as conversational therapy, in which fears and worries are addressed, can prove to be meaningful. Athletes have expressed the need for this. In a study performed with college athletes, Storch et al. (2005) found that they needed counselling regarding time management, stress, burnout, fear of failure and depression after the end of their career. In the long term, one should also investigate the extent to which athletes can be integrated into the existing sport system after their withdrawal, for example, as coaches or functionaries. This could facilitate their transition and the sport system could profit from their experience and expertise as top athletes.

Parent coaching Why should a chapter on crisis intervention include a section on parent coaching? As has been stated in the previous sections of this chapter, parental support is a major factor in helping athletes to cope with a crisis. But parents may also be part of what causes a crisis in the development of a young athlete. For some coaches, parents are nothing but trouble and sometimes they come up with easy "solutions". A football coach said that the best way to deal with parents was to have a gate and a large lock and just lock them out. However, parents have important and multiple roles in the development of junior athletes. Without parents, young underage athletes might have problems commuting to the training facilities. Parents also buy sport equipment and ideally, give emotional support. Most parents try their best to help their children. But sometimes what they do is not appropriate, just because they do not know better. The authors of this book have seen some young athletes chuck their career because of their parents. Parent coaching is a way to help parents understand what young athletes need and what their roles in development could be. Fredricks and Eccles (2004) postulate three important roles of parents: 1.

They are role models—children copy behaviour and act in similar ways to their parents.

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2. 3.

Parents have a big influence on how performance outcomes will be interpreted (influence on attribution styles, values, selfefficacy, competence expectations, etc.). They are service providers (provide social, emotional and financial support; take on organisational tasks; etc.).

Parents normally intend to support the athletic development of their children, but, paradoxically, their behaviour can sometimes be detrimental. Sources of parental disturbance include inflated expectations of their child, inadequate praise, or extrinsic rewards that undermine intrinsic motivation. Many studies have shown the enormous importance and influence of parents’ behaviour on the development of young athletes’ motivation or psychological skills, as well as on the dropout rate (e.g. Fraser-Thomas & Côté, 2009). Parents are—especially until their child reaches the age of 10 years—the most important role models for goal orientation (setting specific and demanding goals) and the development of motivation skills (e.g. Ullrich-French & Smith, 2006). However, often parents’ behaviours and young athletes’ expectations differ. Knight, Boden and Holt (2010) conducted a survey in which they asked junior tennis players (mean age = 13.5 years) about what they want their parents to do and not to do during a tennis match: x Refrain from giving technical and tactical advice. x Make comments about attitude and effort—not about the performance. x Supply practical support (hints about clothing, nutrition, etc.). x Be respectful about tennis etiquette. x Communicate clearly (gesture and facial expression should fit with verbal comments). Most parents are well meaning, but have only limited knowledge about child psychology and children’s capacities at different ages. A parent coaching programme could improve communication and coping styles, or could mediate conflicts, and should involve the following: -

Clarification of responsibilities Setting of common goals Information on cognitive development Information on motivation Information on the organisation of training Mediation of conflict

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Practical example The father of a 14-year-old golfer brought his son to the sport psychologist. He complained that the boy was lazy, untidy and irresponsible. He said that his son preferred to sleep in on weekends instead of being on the range early to practice as much as he could. If he, the father, did not take care of the son’s equipment, the clubs would not be cleaned, the cleats1 on the son’s shoes would not be replaced and the boy would not have enough golf balls in his bag for a tournament. He continued that before or during tournaments, his son would frequently complain about headaches and use this as an excuse for playing badly. When trailing behind the leaders, his son lacked the competitive fire to fight back. The father concluded that if he had had all the support from his parents that he gives to his son, he would be in the tennis hall of fame today. But his son just did not appreciate all he was doing for him. Now the psychologist should set him right. The sport psychologist responded that he would like to hear the son’s view first and suggested meeting the boy without the father being present. This was agreed upon. In his meeting with the son, the sport psychologist confronted him with what the father had said. The young golfer responded that his father had never played golf and did not understand the differences between tennis and golf. Regarding the accusation of being lazy and irresponsible about his equipment, he said that he never had a chance to take care of that himself, because whenever he wanted to clean the clubs or change the spikes on his golf shoes, his father had already done it. He attributed the headaches prior to and during tournaments to all the pressure his father put on him, robbing him of almost all his motivation, because golf did not seem to be "his sport" anymore. The next step was that the psychologist asked father and son to separately write down what they thought the responsibilities of father and son could be in pursuing the boy’s golf career. It turned out that father and son to a large degree wrote down an identical list of responsibilities for each of them. In conversation, an agreement was reached about the responsibilities for which they had had different views on their lists. The sport psychologist prepared a written contract listing the responsibilities of the father and those of the son. The contract included a statement that said each of them would stick to their listed responsibilities and not meddle with the other person’s responsibilities. Father and son signed copies of the contract for the father, the son and the psychologist. After a couple of months, the sport psychologist received a call from the father. The father said that it was unbelievable, but his son had changed completely. He said that the boy was neat and orderly regarding his equipment, no longer complained about headaches and was playing a successful season. 1 Cleats are on football boots. Golf shoes have spikes.

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Some teams have formulated guidelines concerning responsibilities for persons, as in the practical example above. Sometimes circles are defined regarding who may enter which circle. Like officials, parents usually have no access to the innermost circle, but serve supportive functions in the more peripheral circles. As one does not want to affront and alienate parents, such a measure has to be explained to them in an open discussion.

Further reading Gardener, F. L., & Moore, Z. E. (2006). Clinical sport psychology. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.

CHAPTER EIGHT IMPACT INTERVENTIONS

Introduction Whereas chapter 5 deals with psychological skills that should be learned by athletes to expand their self-regulatory skills, this chapter presents techniques that have an impact on an athlete’s current status to initiate change in conscious and unconscious processes that burden the athlete. After having learned the skills acquired by following the recommendations given in chapter 5, the athlete executes them. The impact techniques described in this chapter are primarily guided by the sport psychologist. In 1994, Ed Jacobs published a book called Impact Therapy. In this book, Jacobs integrated insights from different models of psychotherapy. Impact techniques can be characterised as a type of communication affecting all senses through holistic experiences. These techniques do not merely focus on listening, but also refer to visual and kinaesthetic experiences. These experiences should activate conscious and unconscious memories and thereby help the individual to better understand a given problem situation and possibly find solutions through this insight. In this chapter, we use the term more broadly to include using music and humour to affect athletes’ mood and self-confidence, as well as techniques adopted from clinical hypnosis. The range of specific impact interventions is broad. We will focus on selected examples that have been proven to be helpful in our own applied work.

Impact techniques After a series of defeats, a bad performance on the team, or being excluded from the starting line-up, for example, athletes may start to develop self-doubts and question how much they are actually worth. Instead of asking them why a series of defeats should indicate that they have lost all the ability they had shown earlier, the following impact technique can be used to challenge the athletes’ pessimistic view and have

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them reinstate their worth rather than being talked into it by another person.

Banknote technique A 14-year-old tennis player came to the first author because, after losing a couple of matches, he said he had lost his courage almost completely. I asked him if he had a 20 euro note that he could give me. He in fact had a 20 euro note, which he handed over to me. After receiving the note, I horrified its owner by starting to crumple it up. When the note was completely crunched, I asked the 14-year-old what the value of the note was now, after what I had done to it. He responded with some astonishment: "20 euros, of course". Then I threw the note onto the floor, walked on it and then asked: "How much is it worth now?" With a smile on his face, he answered: "Still 20 euros". There is another impact technique that can help an athlete to find ways out of a depressing situation and to regain optimism.

Sculpture technique An 18-year-old alpine skier consulted the first author after having had several injuries and surgery, which caused her to doubt whether she would manage to return to competition. In fact, she said that she was feeling depressed, demotivated and helpless. I asked her to imagine herself as a sculptor who wanted to express what she currently felt by creating a sculpture. In my consultation room, I usually have material such as furniture, books, sports equipment, stacks of paper, poster containers, and so forth. I told her that she could use whatever she needed from what was in the room. She picked up a poster container, walked to a corner of the room, got into that corner with her back to it, put the poster container over her shoulders, and holding it with both hands, squatted down. I asked her: "Does this describe how you are currently feeling?" She responded, "Yes, exactly". I then asked to her to rate her current feeling on a scale from 1 to 10, with 1 being "very happy" and 10 being "deeply depressed". She responded: "8". My next question was: "Now what can you do to make yourself feel better?".

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Figure 8.1. Photo: Das Büro for Team Danmark

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Music What would a Hollywood movie be without music? Music not only enhances the emotion expressed in the pictures, but sometimes it also creates the emotional reaction to seeing, for example, a beautiful landscape. Fox and Embry (1972) showed that background music during the performance of repetitive work increased the efficiency of performing the task. Choosing music that motivates you will make it easier to start moving, walking, dancing or any other type of exercise that you enjoy. Research has shown music to increase well-being in a number of areas, such as sleep quality (Harmat, Takács & Bódizs, 2008), stress (Labbé et al., 2007) and treatment of depression (Maratos et al., 2008). Music can make exercise feel more like recreation and less like work (Copeland & Franks, 1991). How does music produce these psychological effects? Research suggests that the effects of music on these psychological processes are based on the following: x x x x x

Reduction in the feeling of fatigue Increase in levels of psychological activation and invigoration Physiological relaxation response Improvement in motor coordination Elation of mood

Associations between a certain piece of music and former success Music can be used to enhance athletic performance. Karageorghis (2008) conducted differentiated analyses on which elements of music have what effects. He differentiated internal factors, namely, rhythmic responses and musicality (melody and harmony), from external factors, that is, the cultural impact and extra-musical associations. The latter are associated with the listeners’ interpretation of the music and their personal musical experiences. According to Karageorghis and Terry (2014): x x

Listening to upbeat music functions as a stimulant. Listening to slow, quiet music functions as a sedative.

Athletes can use the kind of music that they find suitable in their immediate preparation for a competition. An athlete who needs to calm

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down may listen to slow, quiet music over earphones before the start, whereas another athlete may need upbeat music to get psyched up. Music may also help distract athletes from focussing on the crowd so that they can instead focus on what they should be paying attention to. Music may also increase vigour and self-confidence if the athlete listens to a piece of music that incorporates this. In addition to these basic statements, Karageorghis and Terry (2014) point out that one should find music that is personally best suited and then optimally synchronise it with the specific activity to be performed, that is, adjust the rhythm and tempo. For assessing the personally best fitting music to motivate an athlete for a specific activity, the Brunel Music Rating Inventory-3 (Karageorghis, Terry & Lane, 1999) is helpful. In order to start this assessment, the athlete needs a list of music titles, and then has to rate each piece of music for how it would motivate him or her for the specified activity. After having selected music that best fits, it needs to be coordinated with the specific activity. In order to do that, movement patterns, intensity and movement duration all need to be assessed. Whereas a piece of music in 4/4 time might support walking, cycling and running, 3/4 time best suits a golf swing, rowing and triple jumping. In addition, the tempo of the music can be synchronised with the desired speed of the movement. This means that the tempo of the music has to fit the intended speed of the activity. In a dragon boat race, the drummers seated at the bow facing the paddlers should indicate the rate of strokes through their drumming. The leading pair of paddlers should synchronise their paddling with the drumming. In most competitions, the use of music is not permitted. Imagination—playing the music in one’s head—can, however, be used to synchronise running speed. In preparation for a competition, getting psyched up and finding confidence may be the most important details. In order to achieve them, on the basis of personal preferences and associations, a boxer might select the title piece from Rocky as preparation for his fight. It is more difficult to find the right music for a whole team. Certainly, nobody should dislike the music and be "turned off" by it. A professional football team with whom the first author was working discussed for a while what they would all like to hear and eventually chose the theme song from the movie Pirates of the Caribbean, which was played over the stadium speakers when they walked onto the pitch. They all liked the movie and the song and "He’s a Pirate" put them into a self-confident fighting mood.

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Humour "I have seen what a laugh can do. It can transform almost unbearable tears into something bearable, even hopeful". (Bob Hope) It is a widespread habit in football to slam a team after a disastrous defeat. In fact, a lot of so-called supporters expect the coach to read the players the riot act during half-time break if the team is trailing. Supporters and a number of coaches believe that if hell is given to the players, motivational fire will be ignited. Arousal can in fact be increased through such a measure. But increased arousal does not necessarily entail success. Instead, nervousness, loss of confidence and especially risk avoidance may result. In his theory of action control, Kuhl (Kuhl, Kazén & Koole, 2006) describes the effects of positive and negative affect on information processing and performance. Negative affect indicates that something must be wrong. Therefore, it is wise not to be daring, not to enact what you would like to do and would be able to do, but rather to wait and see what the situational demands are in order to avoid damage. A person high in negative affect will react rather than act. Positive affect symbolises that everything is in order and you may proceed with enacting your intentions and plans. Thus, positive affect supports initiating activity and trying something out in order to be creative. More general research has shown that positive affect, or the extent to which a person feels enthusiastic, active and alert (Watson, Clark & Tellegen, 1988), promotes flexible, creative and receptive thought patterns (Isen, Daubman & Nowicki, 1987) and broadens attention and cognition to improve emotional well-being (Fredrickson, 1998). Humour can be seen as a way to decrease negative affect and increase positive affect. Humour research indicates that it has many positive effects. Several studies show positive effects of humour on relationship building (Weaver & Cotrell, 1988), student outcomes and teaching evaluations (Burke, Peterson & Nix, 1995). Burke et al. (1995) also found positive correlations between athletes’ evaluations of their coaches and their coaches’ use of humour. Of course, just telling jokes all the time would not be effective. It is important to use humour at the proper time and in the right way. If a coach or sport psychologist is able to do that, a number of positive outcomes can be expected: x x x

Positive affect is increased in the athlete. A playful atmosphere is created instead of a fearful and stressful atmosphere. One’s potential can be accessed and creativity is stimulated.

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More ideas are implemented. It becomes easier to bear the demands of training and competition.

When using humour as an intervention technique, the coach has to make sure that it does not become artificial. The humour has to fit the personality of the coach. At the same time, the coach has to pay attention that his or her sense of humour is shared by the athletes with whom the coach is working. There are also some clear "don’ts" such as sarcasm and ethnic- or gender-based jokes. What kind of humour can be used to create positive affect? Use the positive experiences that athletes or teams have had that they felt were fun and joyous and perhaps contributed to team spirit. Training camps and team-building measures can be excellent opportunities for collecting memories of situations with positive affect. Then, in a negative competition situation, such as a half-time break when down 0:3, these memories can be triggered. For example, as a team-building measure, one team went canoeing in the Everglades. Everyone was excited and a little scared. A canoe with three players tipped over, and the three fell in the water. When they got back into the canoe, they noticed that it was full of water and so they had to get out again and empty it. As they rushed to get back in as quickly as possible, one player was facing the wrong direction. He said, "Wow, when you are in that water you are dead within 5 seconds". When the team was back on firm land again later on, every team member was trying to outdo the others in reporting his heroic deeds. At the top of the charts, however, was the comment, "Wow, you are dead within 5 seconds". This phrase would immediately evoke laughter when expressed on later occasions. During half-time after playing a bad first half later on in the season, the coach said, "Boys, that wasn’t us. What’s us? Wow, you are dead in 5 seconds". This resulted in liberating laughter and lifted the team spirit. During the second half, the players were not playing like a whipped dog, but more like the confident and creative team they had been in victorious games earlier on. x x x x x

Cultivate a playful attitude Laugh more often and more heartily Look for humour in everyday life Take yourself lightly—laugh at yourself Find humour in the midst of stress

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Figure 8.2. Photo: Christopher Loch

In his book The 7 Humor Habits Program, Paul McGhee (2010) gives some basic orientations that can be useful in high-achievement sports, as in other areas of life: Sometimes, a joke at the right point may just clear the atmosphere.

Clinical hypnosis Hypnosis is an old intervention technique to access the unconscious. Through hypnosis, feelings, perceptions, beliefs and behavioural patterns that are executed without conscious control can be changed. There is nothing mysterious about hypnosis. What you see in shows has nothing to do with a professionally conducted clinical hypnosis by a psychologist or a physician who has been trained in this field. Basically, hypnosis induces a state of trance that does not greatly differ from the trance brought about by autogenous training. Thus, hypnotic inductions are primarily associated with relaxation, sedation and well-being. A first step in hypnosis is pacing. It consists of closely observing the client and giving feedback regarding his or her reactions and experiences. The hypnotherapist might pick up the client’s breathing rhythm and synchronise his or her own breathing rhythm with that of the client. In a next step, the hypnotherapist can start to lead, that is, change the breathing rhythm from, for example, fast and flat breathing to calmer and deeper

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breathing. If the hypnotherapist has managed to establish rapport with the client, the client will change his or her breathing rhythm in accordance with the hypnotherapist’s changed breathing rhythm. The hypnotherapist will address the person: "As you sit here, and as you, despite the environment or just because of the noise you hear, focus more and more on the words you hear, you perhaps notice that you would like to close your eyes …" This is a way of inducing a state of trance, which might be deepened by saying, "With each exhalation you become more relaxed, with each breath you get deeper into trance". Liggett (2000) advocates self-hypnosis in sports. We would recommend this only after several sessions with a professional hypnotherapist because in trance, psychological problems that were well suppressed until now might enter consciousness and the athlete might not be able to handle this. However, if after a number of sessions with a hypnotherapist, the likelihood of those problems turning up is considerably low, self-hypnosis may be an option. One trance induction technique that could be used is the 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 technique. It is a type of meditative technique. The technique is described below, with a practical example in which a professional golfer was coached by the first author.

Practical example: 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 trance induction technique A couple of days before the start of the Bavarian Open in golf, the sport psychologist accompanied a professional golfer onto the golf course that he was going to play in a tournament. The golfer selected a 166 yard, par 3 hole, where he feared that he would have concentration problems. The golfer and the sport psychologist sat down on a bench next to the tee of that hole. The psychologist instructed the golfer to focus on the flagpole on the green of the hole and to maintain that focus all the time. Then the golfer had to state five things that he saw in his peripheral vision: "I see a golf bag. I see a red flower. I see …" Next, he had to state five things he heard: "I hear the birds singing. I hear a lawn mower. I hear …" Then he was to state five things he sensed: "I feel the sun on my arms. I feel my feet on the ground. I feel…" In the next round, the golfer was asked to state four things he saw, four things he heard and four things he sensed. With every round, the number of things to state was reduced by one. After having stated only one thing seen, one thing heard and one thing felt, usually a state of trance is reached. The client now closed his eyes. Then he imagined himself walking onto the tee, teeing up the ball, checking the wind, selecting a club and starting his pre-shot routine. He imagined being completely focussed on the spot on the flagpole that he had focussed on in

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the trance induction. He imagined being fully concentrated, feeling completely self-confident and enjoying being there. Then he imagined himself swinging, feeling a smooth swing and hitting the ball with the sweet spot of his club. He saw the ball flying, landing on the green and rolling into the hole. He experienced the joy that caused in him and the feeling of being strong and ready. He was asked to bask in that feeling for some time before returning to the here and now. In the actual tournament, the golfer shot a hole-in-one at that particular hole.

Finding rest and building confidence One problem that sport psychologists are frequently asked to address is low self-confidence, which causes fear of failure and stress. Hypnosis is an excellent means to address this problem, especially because these problems to a large degree deal with unconscious processes. An intervention that can, on the one hand, help the athlete to settle down, quickly building up well-being and a feeling of competence, and, on the other hand, provide the athlete with cues to activate self-confidence when it counts, is a hypnosis intervention called "three magical words". The intervention aims, step by step, to revive three personal experiences in which the client perceived strength, competence, love and personal appreciation. For each of those experiences, the client has to find a "magical word" describing and labelling that experience for later recall when needed.

Three magical words After an induction of trance through one of the methods described earlier, the hypnotherapist will ask the client to imagine a situation in which he or she felt relaxed and stable on a somatic level, a situation in which the body felt vital, resilient and fully comfortable. The client is instructed to indulge completely in this situation, to feel it in every cell of the body and to fully revive the positive feelings. While the client basks in the situation, the hypnotherapist asks him or her to find a word symbolising this situation. Usually such a word should come up spontaneously without thinking much about it. Once the client has found a word, he or she should give a bodily sign, such as lifting one finger, and then pronounce the word. The hypnotherapist will repeat this magical word, strongly accentuating it and stressing the associations: "Strength is your magical word that is associated with a situation in which you felt

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vital and resilient. ‘Strength’ stands for a situation in which your body felt absolutely comfortable …" After having found the magical word for the somatic level, the same procedure is repeated for the mental level by searching for a situation in which the client experienced a clear and insightful mind with self-appreciation and self-respect. After finding the second magical word, the third one should symbolise the emotional level with feelings of love and happiness, the experience of being loved, and feeling safe and secure. After having revived these three situations and after having found magical words symbolising the person’s feelings in these situations, the hypnotherapist will deepen the trance and repeat the client’s three magical words in a pronounced and rather solemn way. Posthypnotic suggestions transform the three words into "inner companions" that can be called for when needed.

Mental training through hypnosis The "three magical words" technique shows that hypnosis is in fact close to imagery training. In fact, many of the objectives to be achieved through imagery can also be addressed through hypnosis. The difference for mental skill training lies in the induction of a state of trance in hypnosis that attempts to arrive at changes at the level of unconsciousness. Because many actions, reactions and skills in competitive sport are too fast for conscious processes, unconscious processes play an especially important role. Hypnosis is therefore most appropriate for "programming" or a "programme change" in competitive sports. Next, we give a practical example of how hypnosis was used to change the tactical behaviour of a professional football player on the pitch.

Practical example A professional football player had transferred from one club to another. In his former club, he had played a centre midfield position. In his new club, he was to play a right forward position. The coach became upset when during almost every game, the player left his position on the right side as the game progressed to play at the centre of the field. Attempts to self-regulate through verbal prompts by the player had no significant effect. Obviously, the years of playing centre midfield were deeply ingrained in his unconsciousness. Thus, clinical hypnosis appeared to be an applicable approach to change the unconscious programme. Trance was induced with the 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 technique. The player was instructed to imagine being on the pitch one yard left of the white sideline on the green

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grass. He should imagine that here, next to the right white sideline was his zone of comfort, making him feel completely well, strong and confident. He then should imagine moving towards the centre of the pitch. With every stride, he notices how the comfortable feeling diminishes. He turns around to approach the right sideline again. With every stride, the comfortable feeling increases. At the right sideline, he feels completely well again, full of strength and confidence. In his imagination, the athlete strides away from the sideline and back to it several times and notices the changes in his feelings. Then he returns to the here and now. After the game on the following Saturday, the player came to the sport psychologist and said: "In the 70th minute of the game I suddenly realised that all the time I had stayed in my position at the right sideline of the pitch".

Pain management through hypnosis Hypnosis can be used to reduce pain and pain-related distress (Chen, Joseph & Zeltzer, 2000). When queues associated with past trauma maintain pain symptoms, a so-called affect bridge may be used to reduce the experience of pain. Reassociating these symptoms with positive images can result in symptom reduction or alleviation (Burte, Burte & Araoz, 1994). When the affect bridge is used for pain reduction, after induction of trance, a pain bridge is constructed, with one bridgehead located where the pain is felt. Next the person is asked to search for a part of his or her body that feels completely well. Then the bridge is seen to connect the pain bridgehead with the comfortable bridgehead. In trance, the pain-affected person walks the bridge to the pain bridgehead and feels the pain. He or she turns around and walks the bridge to the comfort bridgehead. As the person walks, he or she notices how the pain decreases step by step. Having reached the comfort bridgehead, the person turns and walks back to the pain bridgehead, on the way noticing the change in feelings of pain. This walking back and forth is repeated several times. After the hypnosis, a significant reduction in feelings of pain is experienced. Sport psychologist Denise Beckmann-Waldenmayer used the pain bridge with an ice speed skater who had strong pain in the right thigh on the day before the World Cup. When Denise asked the athlete after the race if the pain had been a problem, the skater responded that he had no longer felt any pain on the morning of the competition.

Impact Interventions

Figure 8.3. Photo: Jürgen Beckmann

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Further reading Beaulieu, D. (2006). Impact techniques for therapists. New York, NY: Routledge. Karageorghis, C. (2008). The scientific application of music in sport and exercise. In A.M. Lane (Ed.), Sport and exercise psychology: Topics in applied psychology (pp. 109-138). London, England: Holder Education. Liggett, D. R. (2000). Sport hypnosis. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.

CHAPTER NINE MENTAL TOOLBOX

Introduction In this chapter, some prototypical problem situations in competitive and professional sport, as well as special mental techniques, are presented in an alphabetically ordered glossary. Frequently used mental techniques are concisely presented. Problems are addressed systematically starting with a description of the problem and followed by its typical causes. Lastly, recommendations for possible solutions are suggested. As a rule, there are several possible solutions to a given problem. In a real counselling situation, the solutions always need to be highly specific to the situation and to the individual. An adequate, individually fitting solution must be found for each athlete, with the athlete contributing to finding a solution based on prior experiences and preferences. What we provide here are merely orientations and suggestions that always need to be individually adjusted. Repetitions occur among the problems described here because we would like this chapter to be used as a toolbox from which you choose the tool you currently need.

Anchoring The successful performance of a skill or an action should be stored in one’s memory. This is where self-confidence comes from, and these memories need to be recalled when self-doubt occurs. The recall of these self-confidence-building successes can be supported by anchoring the experience of them. Such an anchor can be a physical signal, a so-called somatic marker. The golfer can, for instance, grip the club with his left hand after an excellent shot. This sets, to a certain extent, a memory marker for the action. Setting an anchor for a successfully executed skill can be part of a post-routine. If this anchor is then adopted in a preroutine, for example, before a golf shot, this increases the probability that the successful motor programme can be retrieved again.

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Anxiety One of the major problems with anxiety is "imagination". Whereas imagination can be used to conjure a perfectly executed activity as a skill in preparing for competition, anxiety, in contrast, induces negative imagination. We have previously mentioned that using imagery without prior relaxation entails the risk that something we are afraid of happening during the execution of the action might intrude into our imagery. Anxiety leads to imagining all the bad things that we fear could happen: "I see myself hooking the gate, falling and rupturing my cruciate ligament, which will end my career", or "I see myself crashing my head into a rock and dying …" Of course, a personality trait (trait anxiety) determines how strong these reactions will be. After several severe injuries, even an athlete with low state anxiety may become anxious. There are different types of anxiety, some of which are addressed below. Several strategies can be used to deal with it. Problem. Anxiety is a negative emotional condition with undirected activation, a situation one would like to escape from. Consequences. The consequences include imagination of negative occurrences; tensing up so that skill execution suffers, especially regarding coordination and concentration; a frequent reduction in the quality of decision making due to tunnel vision; interference with attuning to a subsequent task; and impaired learning. Cause. The source of danger or its actual appearance cannot be identified; thus, one does not know what to do. Solution. Transform anxiety into fear, since fear is contrasted to anxiety as an emotional reaction to concrete, easily identifiable stimuli. Accordingly, fear can be channelled into specific avoidance reactions or coping strategies for dangerous stimuli. A downhill ski run can be scary. In a first step, the downhill ski racer is instructed to identify the individual segments of the slope that she or he considers to be especially dangerous. By doing this, anxiety is transformed into fear. When working with the athlete, one would, however, avoid saying that these segments are scary. Rather, one would say that these segments are parts of the course for which one must have a deep respect. It would be irresponsible not to have this respect and to refrain from preparing oneself for these segments.

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Depending on how strong dispositional anxiety is in the athlete, one might additionally ask, "What would be the worst thing that could happen? How could you ensure that it won’t happen?" In a second step, the racer has to develop concrete instructions for how she or he can safely deal with these segments. The coping strategies developed during this second step can subsequently be directly implemented into the training runs.

Possible other interventions Systematic desensitisation is an intervention effectively used in behaviour therapy to eliminate, for example, fear of heights (acrophobia) or fear of spiders (arachnophobia). Systematic desensitisation can be used in sports, for example, if a gymnast is afraid of practice on a gymnastic apparatus after injuring himself painfully on the high bar. Step by step, from just watching the high bar from a safe distance to seeing himself actually perform, the athlete will be brought back to the high bar. An important element is that each step is preceded by the induction of a relaxed and comfortable state. Personalisation. Personalising anxiety has also proven to be helpful if the preceding approaches do not work. The athlete can be asked to describe his or her anxiety in terms of something concrete, a fictitious person or animal, or a substance. Questions are asked about how big this thing is, what colour it is, and so forth in order to make this thing a little more tangible. Then the athlete should give this thing a name. In the next step, it is possible to address and talk, for example, to the "red dragon Jeremy" so that one may learn to accept him and perhaps even find something positive about him. One could then find ways to close him off. See also "Fear".

Breathing freely to clear your head Concentration on breathing, particularly on prolonged exhalation, can effectively eliminate disturbing thoughts. If concentration is disturbed and negative thoughts appear, it is helpful to consciously control breathing and to concentrate particularly on exhaling. Inhaling occurs automatically, but exhaling is actively prolonged. Exhaling relaxes and clears one’s head. While breathing, one can imagine that inhaling takes in fresh energy and that exhaling gives away everything that is used and burdensome. By breathing in this way, the head is cleared of disturbing thoughts and doubts. Breathing can also be used to initiate an athletic movement (e.g. a

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serve in tennis) if one has problems getting started. This can be done by focussing on "inhale – exhale – go".

Burnout Problem. Athletes show reduced productivity, decreased performance, lack of energy, feelings of helplessness and hopelessness; they become increasingly cynical and resentful. Causes. Burnout can be caused by perfectionism, performance stress or recovery-stress imbalance. Possible solutions. A prolonged rest period, increased understanding of the necessity of recovery, augmented quantity and quality of recovery, and psychotherapy can help athletes with burnout. See also "Overtraining".

Cloak of invisibility Problem. For some athletes, audiences distract them and disturb their concentration. Their attention drifts off again and again. Causes. Fear of evaluation creates insecurity. Possible solution. Imagine standing within a protective glass hood. The glass hood has two halves that can be opened and closed. Before beginning the athletic action, the hood is still open, but at the start of activity, the two halves are drawn together so that the hood is completely closed. Because the hood is made of glass, it is still possible to look outside, but nothing can come in. Everything that could somehow be disturbing remains outside and nothing can penetrate the glass hood. The athlete is completely by him- or herself. The glass hood can be associated with an undisturbed situation in practice, where the athlete feels secure, undisturbed and self-confident. The athlete can fully concentrate on the action to be executed.

Complaints box See "External Memory".

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Concentration, difficulties concentrating Problem. Unrestricted attention for a task is lost when one has difficulties concentrating. Instead of concentrating exclusively on the picture of how the ball sinks into the basket when making a basketball free throw, for example, one’s thoughts wander to the audience or to the noises the other players are making. This impairs one’s ability to concentrate on task-related sensory stimuli and to use organised thinking. Causes. Concentration disorders can be caused by current physical conditions such as fatigue, exhaustion, or lack of sufficient fluid or nutrient intake. These causes should be ruled out before attributing the concentration problems to psychological causes. The latter could be negative affective states such as anxiety or lack of motivation. Possible solutions. Breathing relaxation and routines can help. Check incentives for engagement in the particular sport.

Coping with failure See "Positive Thinking"; "Reset"; "Self-confidence, Lacking"; and "Self-talk, Problematic".

Emotion regulation Problem. "Emotional roller coaster rides" can unsettle athletes; that is, first they feel exuberant joy and pride after a successful action, but the fall afterwards is even harsher when the athlete experiences a failure. Causes. Strong emotional reactions cause a "physiological whirlwind" in the brain, which can impair concentration and decision making for up to 20 minutes (these functions are controlled by the cerebrum). Through this exuberant joy, expectations can become unrealistically high (on the aspiration level) and a "normal performance" then appears to be a failure. Strong anger about a failure not only impairs concentration and decisionmaking skills, but also blocks access to one’s own strengths and nourishes self-doubt. Solution. A combination of cognitive and physical measures. There are no general, physical all-round solutions, since these can be different from individual to individual. Basic elements: Remain upright (embodiment); turn fast breathing into deep, quiet breathing (extended

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exhalation); keep your head upright; use a broad focus of attention; stretch your arms; mobilise your body (eliminate any tension). This is immediately followed by a cognitive evaluation, whereby the negative feelings need to be accepted and more extensive analysis needs to follow (How did the burdensome situation and/or failure come about? What went wrong?). In addition, it is especially important to determine which actions need to be taken to solve the situation. In the event of more extensive frustration (anger, rage), catecholamine levels (adrenalin, norepinephrine, cortisol) can be decreased through simple, physically strenuous activities, especially with targeted movements (e.g. practice swings in golf).

External memory Some people tie a knot in their handkerchief in order to remember something. In the language of psychology, this knot takes over the function of an "external memory". The thing one wants to remember must no longer constantly be held present in one’s consciousness if it is placed into external memory. A note on a file card can also function as an external memory. The external memory can, of course, relieve our memory, but under certain conditions, it can also lead to forgetting when we are distracted. This might be helpful in relation to stressful events. Artistically gifted people can relieve their soul by writing a poem when they are lovesick. The musician Eric Clapton supposedly overcame mourning his son’s death by composing the song "Tears in Heaven". Problem. Problems outside of sport trouble the athlete and time and again intrude into consciousness before a competition, impairing concentration and possibly reducing individual energy. Causes. This intrusion is caused by unresolved conflicts, incomplete intentions or unfinished business. Possible solutions. In this case, the athlete writes the problem down on a sheet paper and places it into his or her "complaints box" right before the competition so that it can be dealt with after the competition. This leaves the athlete with the feeling that the problem has not been neglected. The problem should not plague the athlete after it has been placed in the complaints box, which serves as an external memory store. For this measure to remain effective, however, the problem must be dealt with after the competition; otherwise, the technique loses its credibility.

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Therefore, athletes should be advised to return to their complaints box, to read what they wrote and to find solutions after the competition is over.

Fear We define fear, in contrast to anxiety, as an emotional reaction to concrete, easily identifiable stimuli. Accordingly, fear can be channelled into specific avoidance reactions or coping strategies for dangerous stimuli. As fear is specific, we provide the following two example situations in which fear may be a problem.

Fear at the start of a competition Problem. Fear directs attention toward the stimuli that trigger the fear. This disturbs the inner dialogue so that relaxation and creativity are lost. Learning is impaired. Frequently no decisions can be made that are appropriate for the situation. Coordinated skill execution suffers. Cause. High disposition to (test) anxiety, fear of failure, or both cause this type of fear. Self-confidence (self-assuredness, self-efficacy) is lacking about how to adequately deal with the situation in question. The situation is interpreted as a threat rather than as a challenge. Signs of physical arousal are interpreted as nervousness and thereby as uncertainty. Possible solutions. Self-talk: Understand that increased arousal, a weak feeling in the stomach and an increased heart rate are normal before a competition—just as in situations that might be critical in sports such as a serve in tennis, a free throw in basketball or a penalty kick in football. According to psychological research, physical arousal as such has no systematic relationship to the performance. Rather, the athlete’s thoughts or, more precisely, the type of thoughts the athlete has when talking to him- or herself, are crucial in these situations. If the athlete is high in fear of failure, imagines failing and envisions the consequences of that, it might lead to a self-fulfilling prophecy. Thoughts circle around what is at risk, how the athlete can embarrass her- or himself, and the possibility of being thrown off the team in case of failure. Or, out of fear of failure, the athlete may want all of his or her performances to be technically correct and may therefore concentrate on single parts of the movement as instructed by the coach. The athlete assumes, from feeling nervous alone, that he or she is uncertain, resulting in decreased self-confidence. The athlete should learn to rephrase her or his self-talk in such a way that

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physical arousal is not perceived as anxiety or nervousness, but rather as being a sign of being ready for the competition and that the body is prepared for the challenge: "This is important and I am ready!" Athletes are recommended to become as accustomed to the competition situation and site as they can, especially those athletes who are high in fear of failure. In golf, for example, athletes should go to the first tee of the course on which the championship will be played, stand on the tee and imagine themselves teeing off. Athletes participating in the Olympics are often shown pictures and videos of the competition sites a long time beforehand so that they can become familiar with the sites even if they cannot visit them in person.

Fearing specific problem situations Problem. The perception of something inciting fear can fully block appropriate reactions (and, in extreme cases, leads precisely to what should have been avoided). Cause. Anxiety binds thoughts. One’s thoughts circle again and again around what should be avoided. To some extent, "negative mental imagery" is being performed, programming exactly what one fears to have happen. Possible solutions. Self-talk, breathing and goal setting: It is counterproductive to tell oneself not to think of what should not happen. The (self-) instruction "Don’t think about hitting the golf ball into the water hazard!" will keep this very thought alive and will result in the athlete constantly thinking about it. What does the trick is not to focus on the threat, but on a specific goal. One should, first, consciously accept that there are hazards that appear threatening (e.g. the water hazard) but then face them. In golf, one could reframe the water simply to an element that makes the course more interesting and adds to the beautiful scenery. After reframing, as shown in the section "Breathing Freely to Clear Your Head", attention should be focussed on breathing and especially on exhaling "to clear your head". Subsequently, a positive goal should be envisioned. Positive goal setting is essential—for example: "I will hit the ball with the 8-iron onto the green"—and not avoidance goal setting—for example, "I must avoid hitting it into the water". Even a phrase such as "I have to get it over the water" must be avoided, since it arises from the goal that is to be avoided

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(the water hazard) and contains some apprehension and doubts. It should therefore be replaced by a positive goal.

Habituation If the athlete predominantly trains in a familiar environment, each environmental change for a competition will demand an orientation phase. The athlete may become distracted by the unknown stimuli. The unfamiliar place may create uncertainty or even fear. This is one of the reasons for the so-called home advantage. In order to reduce disadvantages in away games, the athlete must always familiarise her- or himself with the competitive sites (e.g. new stadium, swimming pools, golf courses) to become habituated to them. After becoming familiar with the new environment, the athlete will be less nervous before the competition. In addition, a competition is not generally completed with members of one’s own training group. In training, one should therefore try, again and again, to play against unknown or even disagreeable opponents. Parts of the training should always be as close as possible to the actual competition and should also include the less pleasant aspects. Unfamiliar situations and people are especially troublesome for athletes with a strong fear of failure.

Internal dialogue See "Self-talk, Problematic".

Overtraining Problem. Overtraining results in a long-term performance decline with or without psychological or physical symptoms. Cause. Recovery-stress imbalance: The athlete does not take sufficient time for recovery or does not possess efficient recovery strategies. Possible solutions. The most sensible solution is to avoid overtraining through the use of a good training plan and suitable recovery. The athlete’s recovery-stress balance can be assessed and continuously monitored by using the Recovery-Stress Questionnaire for Athletes (RESTQ-Sport). In the event of overtraining, restoring full productive power can take weeks, months or even a year. Thus, all factors should be switched off that might contribute further to overtraining (making changes such as less training

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load, less monotonous training and more efficiently used pauses). The use of psycho-regulative processes (relaxation procedures) supports regeneration and recovery.

Positive thinking See also "Self-talk, Problematic". Positive thinking is not self-deception. There are always two sides to a coin. Why should one consider only the negative side? One can consider a glass to be half-empty or half-full. The different perspectives have a different influence on one’s mood. Either one is sad or one is happy, depending on how the glass is perceived. First, the athlete needs to become aware of his or her self-talk, for example, after a bad run in slalom, a bad hit or a bad hole in golf. The athlete should write down his or her typical phrases, try to take another viewpoint of the situation and then formulate a positive statement instead of a negative one.

Pressure situations, handling pressure Problem. Some athletes become so nervous in critical, competitive situations that they can no longer concentrate. The execution of their movements is impaired; their spatial orientation, "touch for the ball" and creativity are lost. Causes. There are multiple causes. One example is described in the section "Fear at the Start of a Competition". Anxiety and fear are involved in many situations. They can concern misjudging the situation, a "threat" for which one has no coping strategies available. This can lead to a lack of trust in one’s own skills (see "Self-confidence, Lacking"). It can also be that an athlete wants to perform especially well and dissects the movement into its individual parts just as it was acquired during technical training. By doing this, the natural flow of an automatically mastered movement is lost. Possible solutions. The aim of the following training measures is to achieve familiarisation with the pressure situation.

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Immunisation training: By creating pressure situations during training, athletes become familiar with them (habituate themselves) and thereby eliminate the possibility of impairing their concentration. For instance, in order to learn to deal with the pressure of putting, a golfer can place 10 balls in a circle around a hole on the putting green; the distance from the hole depends on the skills of the player. The ball in the easiest position is putted first, after which all 10 balls must be holed in; otherwise, one has to start over. The pressure increases with each holed ball. To increase the difficulty, one can put five balls on a line each 50 cm farther from the hole: for example, at 50 cm, 1 m, 1.50 m, and so forth. The golfer starts with the longest putt. If it is put in the hole, he or she moves to the next closer ball, and so on. Paradoxically, the pressure increases even more, although with each putt, the difficulty decreases: After being successful on the difficult putts, the golfer does not want to have to go back to them because an easy putt was missed. This is similar to golfers’ experience in real tournaments where the short putts can be— psychologically—the hardest. Prognostic training: The athlete sets a concrete goal, announces this to the training partners and then tries to achieve it. For instance, a player announces that he will hit his drive on the driving range between 240 and 260 m in a corridor with a width of 20 m. Causes for potentially not achieving the goal, but also for achieving it, should be analysed in detail. Good performance should be anchored. For bad performance, measures for correction should be considered or the prognosis adjusted if necessary. This method is also suitable as an intervention for athletes who set their goals unrealistically high. Uniqueness training: Here, for example, at the end of the training, each player gets precisely one attempt to reach a goal that has been predetermined by the coach; in a slalom course, for instance, the trainer sets a target time that the athlete needs to stay below. It is essential that the target time for this attempt is not set by the athlete, but instead set externally (by the coach). This reflects the situation in actual competitions. If this exercise is performed at the end of training, the athlete can experience the positive consequences of a success and the negative consequences of a failure more intensely and learn how to handle them better. If the athlete fails, it is important to make sure that the failure is analysed properly and that conclusions are derived on what to practise in order to improve. Prepare for the unexpected: Some athletes are afraid of unforeseen things that might happen during a competition. Making a list of these unforeseen events can be recommended, along with practising how to

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react to them. This could, for example, be to turn off all electricity for 10 minutes during a basketball training match to see how players react when they are in the dark and their game is interrupted for an undefined period. For a long jumper, it could be helpful to practise on a track that has been soaked in water in order to know what it feels like to compete in the rain.

Reset If the computer "crashes", one presses the reset button. If golfers are, for example, "not themselves anymore" after several bad shots, they should also be able to press a reset button. In golf, for instance, one can turn away from the tee (or fairway or green) and look at the landscape, fix a point on the horizon, concentrate on prolonged exhalation, pack everything negative into an extended exhalation and blow it away, think about one’s own strengths in golf, or imagine a good shot (or putt). After restoring one’s self-confidence, one can then turn and go back to the ball, or, on the way to the ball, if necessary, count backwards: 999, 996, 993. The same intervention can be adjusted to suit other sports. Recent EEG findings also suggest that clenching the left fist can bring about a reset of the cortex.

Routines and rituals A ritual is understood to be an established, unchanging sequence of actions. The term "routine", which is more commonly used in Englishspeaking countries, is applied in the field of golf in particular (pre- and post-shot routines). "To have a routine in something" means that one can do this reliably without having to think about it. People with a routine are difficult to disturb or distract. Routines are used in competitive sport precisely for that reason. Rituals are mostly fixed and contain no functionally significant elements. The gold necklace that the runner wears at all competitions might increase his feeling of security and his self-confidence. However, since the necklace has no real functional meaning, it loses its value after he has been defeated, although he wore it. Relaxation breathing in a routine, however, clears the head perceptibly and increases concentration. Routines serve to build up concentration and to avoid diversion. Characteristic for the routine is that it is, ideally, carried out without much change, although the situational circumstances may also be adjusted if necessary. One runs through a sequence of actions, each of which may be useful in itself, for instance, for the start

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preparations (for more detail, see chapter 5). Routines are always highly specific to the individual and therefore have to be designed by the athlete. On the basis of the athlete’s knowledge about psychological processes, the sport psychologist can support the athlete in designing the best routine.

Self-confidence, lacking Problem. After several failures or problems in competition, negative affect dominates, self-confidence is diminished and creativity is lost. Causes. Failure-related pathways in memory are activated. Athletes’ thoughts constantly revolve around failure and negative attributions occur (internal stable: "I am not good enough"); with this perspective, no solutions can be found. By focussing on the failure and the negative emotions, the athlete blocks access to his or her own strengths. Possible solutions. One can apply the reset technique described above. It is also helpful to recall a successful event (using imagery). Embodiment techniques such as clenching the left fist or taking a positive body posture can be helpful (see "Embodiment" in chapter 5): Consciously and "proudly extending one’s chest", with one’s eyes focussed on the treetops, one proceeds proudly into the arena with the "gait of the matadors". The second author worked with a 400 m runner. She described herself as wanting to run as fast and elegantly as a panther. Just thinking of the panther before a race changed her body posture and the way she thought about herself with regard to the race. Converting negative affect to positive affect through humour or music can also be instrumental.

Self-talk, problematic Problem. A competition is frequently lost when the inner dialogue fails. According to Gallwey, the "self 1 or ego-mind", the negative thinker, who constantly analyses what is wrong with him and his game, takes the upper hand with negative messages such as, "I can’t make any long passes today" or "My serve simply doesn’t work today". Frequently this is also accompanied by self-talk characterised by helplessness: "I do not know what is wrong" or "Why am I doing so poorly?" Causes. Basically, one creates a self-fulfilling prophecy or programmes oneself for further failure through these negative thoughts. Negative self-talk also blocks access to one’s own strengths and nourishes self-doubt. High fear of failure is a risk factor.

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Possible solutions. In golf, we introduced the concept of an "internal caddy". The caddy not only carries the golf bag and hands over the clubs, but he also provides advice. What would one think of a caddy who says to the player, "You can’t make that shot anyway." Instead of that, a player rightfully expects to receive supporting words. To orient self-talk in a positive direction, one could ask: "What would my supportive caddy say?" When training self-talk, typical negative remarks are transformed into positive remarks. The athletes must first write down all of the negative phrases that they frequently think on the left side of a sheet of paper. Subsequently, each of these negative sentences is replaced with positive, confidence-expressing sentences on the right side of the page. See also "Positive Thinking".

Start preparations See "Routines and Rituals".

Stop-to-go technique A failure is experienced during the competition, which leads to concentration disorders. The athlete can no longer find the right attitude. It is not possible for her or him to stop brooding about the failure and to get rid of the paralysing negative emotions. This is referred to as "paralysis by analysis". Thus, the analysis has to be brought to an end. One should visualise a large red stop sign and thereby stop all the unproductive ruminations. After stopping the analysis, the athlete is ready to go in the right direction, that is, to focus on thoughts that are directed at the future. These thoughts should include concrete instructions for future actions, for example, in basketball: Turn around – run back – defend.

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INDEX

Achievement Motives Scale-Sport (AMS-Sport) 15, 35, 52 Action Control Scale-Sport (ACSSport) 15, 35,52 Action research 43-44 Activation 68-70, 79-82 Affect, positive 180-181 Affect bridge 186 Activities for strengthening cohesion 71-73 Anchoring 189 Anorexia nervosa 164 Anorexia athletica 165 Anxiety 49 -51, 190-191 Attention regulation 101 Attribution 88-91 Autogenous training (AT) 67-68 Banknote technique 176 Basic training 17-18, 58-77 Big Five Personality Characteristics 22 Break-Behaviour Questionnaire 53 Breathing Relaxation 63-65 Brunel music rating inventory 179 Bulimia 164, 165 Burnout 156-159, 192 Career termination 169-171 Career transition 155-156 Centring 101 Cloak of invisibility 192 Cohesion 71-74 Communication 141-146, 152 Communication barriers 142-143 Competitive State Anxiety 49 Competitive State of Anxiety Inventory (CSAI-2) 49 Competitive Trait Anxiety 49-51 Complaints box 192, 194-195 Concentration 97-103

Concentration difficulties, disorders 51,193 Concentration training 97-103 Confidence builder 119 Conflict solution 147 Conflicts 146-148 Confrontation 147 Coping with failure 193 Cooling down activities 124 Cooperation 45-47 Crisis Intervention 18, 140-174 Debriefing 124-125 Depression 159-164 Diagnostics 15-16, 34-56 Disturbances in Communication 141 Doping control 153-154 Eating disorders 164-169 EEG biofeedback training 8,81 Embodiment 103-104 Emotion regulation 193 External memory 194 Fear 109, 190-191, 195-196 Fear at the start of a competition 195-196 Fear of failure 26, 52, 90-91 Fearing specific problem situations 196 Goal setting 82-91, 149-150, 196 Habituation 197 Hypnosis 12, 182-186 Hypnosis induction: 5,4,3,2,1 technique 183 Imagery 107-113 Imagination 67-68, 107-113 Impact technique 175-176 Individual Zone of Optimal Functioning (IZOF) 8, 80-81 Injury 148-153 Inner dialogue 93-95 Inner caddy 96-97

Sport Psychological Interventions in Competitive Sports Leadership Scale Sport 53 Magical words 184-185 Mental toolbox 189-202 Mental toughness 2-3 Mental training 108-111, 150-151, 185 Mindfulness 10-12 Modelling 151-152 Monitoring 18, 129-132 Motivation 7, 38-39,51,79,84,88 Nodal points 111-112 Neuroscience 6-8 Overtraining 121, 134-136, 197 Pain management 186 Paruresis 153-154 Perceived Motivational Climate in Sports 53 Personality 21-33, 39, 137, 161 Personality Development 21-33 Positive thinking 94, 198 Pressure 104-105, 161, 198-199 Pressure situations 104-105, 198199 Progressive muscle relaxation (PMR) 65 Psyching up 82 Psychological skills training after injury 148-153 Psychological tests 15, 40-41 Psycho-regulation 59 Quality Management 13 Recovery 48-49, 54-55, 121-139 Recovery strategies 123 Recovery Stress Questionnaire for Athletes (RESTQ -Sport) 48-49, 127-128 Recovery-Cue 128-129 Recovery-Stress Questionnaire for Coaches 54

227

Relaxation techniques 59, 154 Reset 103, 200 Rituals 114-115, 200 Routines 114-119, 200-201 Sculpture technique 176 Selection hypothesis 25-26 Self-regulation 3, 7, 137 Self-regulatory skills 18, 28, 137 Self-confidence 91-92, 184 Self-confidence, lacking 93, 201 Self-esteem 91-92 Self-serving bias 89-90 Self-talk 93-95 Self-talk, problematic 201-202 Skill training 18, 78-120 Socialisation hypothesis 25-28 Sport addiction 167-169 Sport Anxiety Scale 49 Sport Orientation Questionnaire (SOQ) 52 Standardised Tests 40-42 Start preparations 202 Stop-to-go technique 202 Strengths and weaknesses profile 14-16, 58 Stress 18, 121-139, 157-163 Systemic approach 11-12 Task and Ego Orientation in Sport Questionnaire (TEOSQ) 53 Team building 70-75 Team goals 87 Team rituals 71 Test of Performance Strategies (TOPS) 48 Under-recovery 139 Volition 28-30, 51 Volitional Components Questionnaire-Sport (VCQSport) 51