Counselling the Athlete in a University Setting

The rudiments of sports skills by the athlete during the early years of schooling can be developed further and improved upon during the university education period. The university setting can offer the athlete opportunity to excel in sport participation and in academics. Apart from the cognitive development of the athlete during university education, there is the possibility of exposure of the athlete to better equipment, good training facilities and services that can enhance the athlete 's performance in sportsThe university athlete needs to sustain high performance in sports and maintain adequate academic performance as well. The athlete needs to know how to utilise the resources available, to make him or her a top athlete, a successful and adjusted student. Ability to manage time adequately can ensure not only his/her active and adequate participation in sports but also his/her effective academic planning, in order to ensure success in both areas. Through counselling, the university athlete can develop awareness of what job opportunities his/her participation in sports can offer. The athlete can be assisted to recognise those social-psychological factors than can enhance performance and how his/her needs and special interest can be met. The athlete can also be assisted to learn about sports inspite of competing academic and other university demands

Perceptions of the coach-athlete relationship predict the attainment of mastery achievement goals six months later : a two-wave longitudinal study among F.A. Premier League academy soccer players

All football teams that compete within the F. A. Premier League possess an academy, whose objective is to produce more and better home-grown players that are capable of playing professionally. These young players spend a large amount of time with their coach, but little is known about player’s perception of the coach-athlete relationship within F.A. Premier League Academies. The objectives of this study were to examine whether perceptions of the coach-athlete relationship changed over six months and if the coach-athlete relationship predicted self-reported goal achievement among F. A. Premier League academy players. This study included cross-sectional (n = 104) and longitudinal (n = 52) assessments, in which academy soccer players completed a measure of the coach-athlete relationship and goal achievement across either one or two time periods. The cross-sectional data were subjected to bivariate correlations, whereas the longitudinal data were analyzed using multiple regressions. Perceptions of the coach-athlete relationship remained stable over time. The coach-athlete relationship predicted the achievement of mastery goals six months later. Enhancing the quality of the coach-athlete relationship among elite adolescent athletes appears to be a suitable way of maximizing mastery achievement goals, particularly among developmental athletes who participate in team sports

The influence of gender on perceptions of coaches’ relationships with their athletes:a novel video-based methodology

The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of coach and athlete gender on perceptions of a coach through the use of a novel video-based method. Forty-one participants (16 males, 25 females, Mage=32.76 SD= ± 11.57) watched four videos depicting a coach and an athlete having a conversation about the athlete’s de-selection from a squad. Each video featuring different gender combinations of the coach and athlete. Participants rated the coach on perceived relationship quality and perceived empathy. Analysis showed a main effect for coach gender with female coaches being rated higher than male coaches for relationship quality and empathy, and a main effect for athlete gender with all coaches perceived as displaying a greater level of affective empathy when paired with a female athlete. Coaches need to be aware that their actions may be interpreted differently based on their gender and that of the athletes they are working with. This could potentially impact on coach effectiveness and the outcomes of their behaviours

Perfectionism and burnout in junior athletes: A three-month longitudinal study

Perfectionism in sports has been shown to be associated with burnout in athletes. Whether perfectionism predicts longitudinal changes in athlete burnout, however, is still unclear. Using a two-wave cross-lagged panel design, the present study examined perfectionistic strivings, perfectionistic concerns, and athlete burnout in 101 junior athletes (mean age 17.7 years) over 3 months of active training. When structural equation modeling was employed to test a series of competing models, the best-fitting model showed opposite patterns for perfectionistic strivings and perfectionistic concerns. Whereas perfectionistic concerns predicted increases in athlete burnout over the 3 months, perfectionistic strivings predicted decreases. The present findings suggest that perfectionistic concerns are a risk factor for junior athletes contributing to the development of athlete burnout whereas perfectionistic strivings appear to be a protective factor

Bike Athlete Performance

Faculty reflection on VCU Great Bike Race Book course. Course Description: This track will focus on nutritional and training practices of cyclists competing in the UCI Worlds. YouTube Videos referenced in reflection: VCU Exercise Science: Christian Vande Velde Interview VCU Exercise Science - Sports Nutritionist Dr Janet Rankin Interview Fuel for a 5 Hour Ride Assignment 3: My Musette Assignment 4: Bike Athlete Performance VCU Exercise Science: Professional Cyclist Evie Stevens Intervie

Kinesthetic imagery: does it exist and how can we measure it?

[Introduction]: The emergence of sport psychology has influenced how athletes train and compete. Increasingly, coaches and athletes are incorporating mental as well as physical skills into their training programs and competition routines. Imagery is one such mental skill. To develop an imagery program tailored to the athlete three pieces of information are vital: the imagery ability of the athlete; the effect of imagery on performance; and the motive for using imagery. This paper explores measurement of the imagery ability of the athlete. Specifically, the aim was to create new and valid measures of kinaesthetic imagery and examine the relationship these measures share with existing measures of imagery

Rogue Athlete Endorsers: Using Social Identity Theory to Assess Brand Fit

Athlete endorsement deals typically assume that the brand will benefit from an association with the celebrity athlete\u27s public persona. When athletes find themselves in trouble with the law, spouses or frustrated fans, brands like Nike, Reebok, Buick, Wrangler and others must ask, \u27Can these rogue sports celebrity endorsers resurrect their image and their endorsement power? Are there certain rebellious products that may be better suited for endorsement from such rogue celebrities? These are the key questions addressed in this research. Survey results asking respondents to assess real athlete endorsers with either a \u27rebel\u27 or benign brand show that matching rebel endorsers with rebel brands can lead to positive brand attitudes and purchase intentions. Social identity theory, which shows how consumers identify with the athlete, and how that rubs off on the brand, is sued to explain the effects found in the study. Implications are addressed for marketers considering athletes are endorsers

A unified model for the long and high jump

A simple model based on the maximum energy that an athlete can produce in a small time interval is used to describe the high and long jump. Conservation of angular momentum is used to explain why an athlete should run horizontally to perform a vertical jump. Our results agree with world records.Comment: Accepted for publication in Am. J. Phy

An intuitive user interface for visual sports coaching

This paper describes a dynamic multi-video user interface for sports coaching. It is intended that sports coaches could use this split screen to minimise and maximise multiple video streams of an athlete on one side of the split screen, while playing an additional video source on the other side of the split screen, such as a clip from a professional athlete. This split screen approach allows users to contrast movements in the athletes videos, with that of a professional. Users can also avail of the ability to use video overlays, text input and can also use screen capture technology to record the application display, so that an athlete can review a coaching session at later date

The Role of Athlete Narcissism in Moderating the Relationship Between Coaches’ Transformational Leader Behaviors and Athlete Motivation

Leadership research that examines follower characteristics as a potential moderator of leadership effectiveness is lacking. Within Bass’s (1985) transformational lead­ership framework, we examined follower narcissism as a moderator of the coach behavior–coach effectiveness relationship. Youth athletes (male = 103, female = 106) from the Singapore Sports Academy (mean age = 14.28, SD = 1.40 years) completed the Differentiated Transformational Leadership Inventory (Callow, Smith, Hardy, Arthur, & Hardy, 2009), the Narcissistic Personality Inventory (Raskin & Terry, 1988), and indices of follower effort. Multilevel analyses revealed that athlete narcissism moderated the relationship between fostering acceptance of group goals and athlete effort and between high performance expectations and athlete effort. All the other transformational leader behaviors demonstrated main effects on follower effort, except for inspirational motivatio