• Part 1: Personality
• Part 2: Motivation
• Part 3: Anxiety and Arousal
• Part 4: Stress and Coping

This is the final installment in my series of “Psychological Characteristics of the Elite Performer”. I hope you’ve enjoyed this oft-forgotten aspect of sports performance. While many of the concepts I’ve addressed may have seemed quite simple, its theoretical bases have been researched extensively and therefore are grounded with practicality. Therefore, here’s a little information on some interventions used by athletes for performance enhancement.

Interventions

Athletes of various abilities utilize psychological skills in their attempts to enhance performance, although the consistent practice of highly structured skills are generally displayed by higher performing athletes. These skills; goal setting, imagery, self-talk, arousal regulation, and attention control are typically more useful in enhancing performance when athletes

1. Recognize their importance;
2. Understand how to use them; and
3. Consistently practice until they become valuable in competition.

Goal setting tends to be the most common form of skill utilized by elite athletes and can be viewed as the practice of establishing desirable objectives for one’s actions. While many athletes regard this skill as being only moderately effective, those that set goals that are specific, measurable, adjustable, realistic, and timely (SMART), tend to improve their performance since their self-confidence and sense of satisfaction both become enhanced.

Athletes also utilize imagery when preparing for competition. By incorporating various senses such as sight, auditory, tactile, and kinesthetic to their visualization procedures, and practicing these on a daily basis, their confidence levels in sport tend to improve. As a result, they become better able to regulate their arousal and anxiety levels and likely, channel their energy and focus into peak performance.

The use of self-talk in athletes has also been researched extensively. What has been revealed is that this skill seems generally more advantageous when used in a positive manner (“I can”). In addition, athletes tend to be more successful with this skill when verbalizing their self-talk in an overt manner, that is, making it publicly known. Using self-talk that is perceived as very motivating (i.e. higher intensity) seems to also enhance the effectiveness of this skill in optimizing performance. As with all other skills, the more frequent this skill is used, the more successful the athlete tends to be.

Various techniques have been utilized by athletes to regulate their levels of arousal, especially in those who have learned to identify which mental and emotional states are necessary for success. Depending on the level required, arousal may be regulated via relaxation or by “psyching up”. When athletes recognize personal levels of overarousal, those athletes who seem to achieve higher success tend to be ones who are able to implement breathing and progressive relaxation strategies both prior to and during competition. Breathing techniques generally achieve deep or momentary relaxation while progressive techniques tend to facilitate immediate relaxed states (i.e. just prior to taking a penalty shot). Meditation of the mind and autogenic training of the body are also utilized to achieve deep relaxation, although these generally seem to be most successful in sports that utilize gross motor movements (i.e. running).

Also, levels of arousal often need to be increased when faced with high performance in sporting events. Generally, techniques employed to increase arousal are often used by elite athletes who recognize that they are in an underaroused state and need to psych themselves up. Such methods used by athletes, as well as coaches, include; pep talks, bulletin board postings (i.e. quotes from previous successful athletes), pre-competitive workouts to enhance activation, verbal cues to generate energy, and breathing techniques (opposite of those used for relaxation). Like those psychological characteristics previously mentioned, an athlete’s ability to effectively regulate their level of arousal may dictate whether or not they fall under the category of the elite.

Since attention is regarded as fundamental to skilled motor performance, those athletes who practice the performance of two tasks simultaneously (attention-sharing), while only focusing on relevant cues (cue-selection), tend to achieve higher levels of success and performance. In addition, practicing performance routines to be used before key sport skills (free throws) and using attentional (verbal, visual, and physical) cues on a consistent basis also have the potential to improve levels of performance. However, in order for these skills to be effective in achieving control over one’s attentional focus and consequently, enhancing performance, these tasks must be repeatedly practiced in sport-specific settings.

Well there you have it, the psychological characteristics of elite performers. Note that for the most part, I used the term “elite performers” rather than elite athletes. In my opinion, elite athletes are commonplace in sport and while I take nothing away form them, elite performers are few and far between. So while an exact template of an “elite performer” does not exist, many psychological characteristics contribute to the facilitation and development of elite performers. From personality to specific skills, superior athletes tend to display common characteristics that are in optimum balance and interaction with the external environment.

Related posts:

1. Psychological Characteristics of the Elite Performer: Its all in their head, part 3 Part 1: Personality Part 2: Motivation Part 3: ANXIETY AND...
2. Psychological Characteristics of the Elite Performer: Its all in their head, part 1 Although no exact definition of an “elite performer” exists, this...
3. Psychological Characteristics of the Elite Performer: Its all in their head, part 4 Part 1: Personality Part 2: Motivation Part 3: Anxiety and Arousal STRESS...
4. Psychological Characteristics of the Elite Performer: Its all in their head, part 2 Part 1: Personality Part 2: Motivation Motivational constructs must also...
5. High-Performance Sports Conditioning *Going back into the archives for an oldie but a...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.