Plan a Psychological Skills Training Programme to Enhance Sports Performance
Introduction
Name: Seth Moore
Age: 17
Height: 5ft 11
Weight: 68kg
Sport: College Football
Personality Test
We carried out some tests with Seth such as, SCAT Test and an Eysenck’s Personality Test.
His SCAT Test score was 17, this proved to us that his level of anxiety is on an average
rating, there will be some stages where high levels of stress and anxiety will be involved and
some where there’s minimal level of stress and anxiety involved.
The Eysenck’s Personality Test, they are categorised under 3 topics, sociability of an
individual, emotionality, and rebelliousness of an individual. In the first topic of sociability,
Seth got a high score of 79%, which highlights to us that he is a very sociable person. The
results show that he isn’t very emotional, which can be an advantage as he won’t take
losses personally and will prepare himself well for his next match. His rebelliousness is just
below 50%, which could be seen as a positive as he won’t argue with the referee very often
in his match.
In an interview understanding Seth we spoke about the psychological performance profile,
this is to gain an insight of his strengths, weaknesses and objectives.
Psychological Performance Profile
Red is the level I would expect him to be at the end of the 6 week programme.
Blue is the level he rates himself at.
Strengths and Weaknesses
Strengths
, Concentration Skills – From the table, Seth concentrates very well and this will help his
performance on the pitch, as he will be focusing most of the time. He will be able to adapt to
the match very easily by assessing his opponents weaknesses.
Relaxation Skills – This type of skill is very important as it can prepare an individual mentally
for their competition. Seth is very good at relaxing, therefore he will be able to relax before
an important match. This will clear his head from any worries and will let him play his usual
game.
Motivation Levels – His motivation levels are at a good level and this will mean that he will
keep himself in a good mind when things get tough on the pitch. Seth won’t give up as easily
as other players as he is very determined to win.
Weaknesses
Aggression Control – Controlling your aggression in sport is very important for all players.
Due to the fact that during the match you want to be fully focused just on the match and you
don’t want to be subbed off for getting booked. Doing something ridiculous in a match could
lead to a suspension that could go over 5 games therefore, we need to work with Seth to
manage his aggression.
Stress Levels – When an individual has high levels of stress they won’t compete well in big
competitions, this could be because he won’t be able to go through the pressure and will
overthink too much.
Confidence Levels – Every player should be confident in themself. If players' confidence
levels are low like Seth’s they won’t believe in themselves and will have an easy margin for
error during competitions. When you don’t believe that you will have a good touch when a
pass comes to you, it’s more likely that it will end up being a bad touch, just because you
knew that you couldn’t do it.
From this, the six week programme will focus on every aspect that is important, such as
positive thinking, PMR, self talk, goal setting, mental rehearsal and breathing control.
Goal Setting - Use of Motivation
Goal setting will use SMART Targets to successfully boost the individual’s motivation and
self-confidence. It’s important to set short, medium and long term goals. All of the goals that
will be set in the 6 week programme should be:
•Specific
•Measurable
•Achievable
•Realistic
•Timed
Setting your goals too high will mean that they are unrealistic and will be harder to achieve,
the coach and the individual will have to make goals.
Breathing Control - Arousal Control
There are 4 main breathing control techniques in order to improve arousal control.