The ego phenomenon and the doping problem in sport : a historical conceptual analysis

The concept of ego has various meanings in the field of psychology, depending on the paradigmatic and theoretical framework point of departure. The ego phenomenon as operationalized and measured in the theoretical framework of goal orientation will be the contextual framework for a historical conceptual analysis. In the past three decades, research in the theoretical framework of goal orientation has revealed a positive relationship between ego involvement and the tendency to use the prohibited substances to enhance performance in sport. The concept of the ego phenomenon as operationalized within goal orientation theory and meanings attached to the concept can be connected to the historic oriental writings that were written 2,500 years ago. These attached meanings to the ego phenomenon include elements of extreme competitiveness and outcome orientation, as well as social comparisons and the external norms for the measurement of success and failure. These meanings can be traced back to the classical works involving the Bhagavad Gita, the Tao Te Ching, and the Eastern Origins ofMindfulness that are part of the broader Buddhist philosophical system.Meister Eckhart, a 12th century German theologian, in his significant contribution on the analysis of the having mode as opposed to the being mode also provides insight into the ego phenomenon that can explain why the ego phenomenon can be linked to some of the deeper psychological motives of using the prohibited substances. The researchers in psychology do not yet have a full understanding of why certain athletes dope or have a susceptibility to use the prohibited substances or performance enhancing drugs (PEDs) and thus the motivation for this historical conceptual analysis of the ego phenomenon. Therefore, this article aimed to deepen the understanding of psychological motives of the athletes who exhibit tendencies toward cheating in general and the proclivity to use the prohibited substances.https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/sports-and-active-livingam2022Biokinetics, Sport and Leisure SciencesPhysiologyPsycholog

Managing psycho-social factors to develop junior golf players

PURPOSE OF THE STUDY : Golf has evolved into a professional sport, which places greater demands on golf coaches and managers to deliver players with high skill levels. There is a paucity of research regarding the developmental pathway for junior golf players to reach professional level. The purpose of this study was to determine how to effectively manage the transition of junior golf players to a professional level. DESIGN/METHODOLOGY/APPROACH : Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 17 former or current Sunshine Tour players, Professional Golfers Association of South Africa (PGA of SA) members, PGA of SA teaching professionals and/or golf administrators. FINDINGS : The Professional Golfers Development Framework (PGDF) for junior golfers in the South African context was developed. RECOMMENDATIONS/VALUE : The PGDF suggests that social support, coaching, specialisation, financing, psychology, lifestyle and branding are aspects that have a significant influence on golf player development. MANAGERIAL IMPLICATIONS : By utilising the PGDF, junior golf players may achieve greater success in their transition to become a professional golfer through developmental programmes.https://www.jcman.co.za/#/homeam2023Psycholog

Enhancing performance in cricket by using South African cricket coaches’ experiences in an ecological intervention

Sport psychology in South Africa has for many years been characterised by the deficit perspective on human nature focusing on “what is wrong with sports people”. Psychological Skills Training (PST) programmes have been used to correct these deficits until optimal performance can happen in the “absence of discomfort.” In this study, an asset perspective to performance enhancement was employed, i.e. the Mindfulness-Acceptance-Commitment (MAC) approach which views optimal performance as happening “despite discomfort”. Sport psychologists present these interventions (PST and MAC) predominantly to cricket players, often neglecting other important role-players such as coaches. The aim of this study was to move away from the deficit perspective and individualistic interventions to an asset perspective with an ecological intervention. This was attained by using South African cricket coaches’ experiences of the MAC programme in an experiential learning context. The extent to which experiential learning occurred was established through analyzing 18 individual in-depth, semi-structured interviews with coaches using Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis (IPA). The major findings were that coaches experienced the MAC programme as flexible, accessible and a developmental psychological tool, which increased their knowledge of sport psychology. Coaches enjoyed the MAC programme and found the experiential learning and accompanying manual valuable.http://www.journals.co.za/content/journal/ajpherd1am2017Biokinetics, Sport and Leisure SciencesPsycholog

The relationship between mental skills and level of cricket participation

The purpose of this study was to compare the mental-skills differences at participatory level among three progressive levels of cricket participation recognised by the Northerns Cricket Union (NCU) in the Pretoria Gauteng region of South Africa. The study sample included 39 junior academy players, 68 premier league club/senior academy players and 20 first-class senior provincial players (N=127). Mental skills were assessed by means of the Athletic Coping Skills Inventory-28 (ACSI-28) (Smith et al., 1995) and the Bull’s Mental Skills Questionnaire (Bull et al., 1996). One-way analysis of variance (one-way Anova) indicated that there were no differences between the respondents in the three levels of participation as regards their performance on the various mental-skills subscales. A definite psychological-skills profile did come to the fore, indicating that successful cricket participants, regardless of their level of participation, expressed high proficiencies in motivation, self-confidence, concentration ability, imagery ability, coachability and peaking under pressure. The essential conclusion was that there are no mental-skills differences between the various levels of cricket-playing performances in the one-day cricket format. However the study did reveal that mental skills are key antecedents of successful cricket participation and development.http://www.ajol.info/journal_index.php?jid=153&ab=ajpherd2015-03am201

Termination of sporting careers among South African sportswomen

The primary aim of this study was to determine the reasons why sportswomen compete at a high level in sport but terminate their sporting careers soon after school during the tertiary phase and prior to reaching their full potential. The second aim was to explore the impact of gender stereotyping in conjunction with the role of the media on the sportswomen in sport. A qualitative approach was utilized where 40 high level sportswomen completed a questionnaire that was specifically developed to identify the reasons why sportswomen terminate their sporting careers and to explore the role of gender stereotyping and the media. Results indicated that five of the most important reasons for sportswomen terminating their sporting careers are decreased motivation and interest in sport, coaching problems, academic pressure, injuries and politics in sport. A significant number of the subjects agreed that gender stereotyping in sport does exist and that the media contribute to gender inequalities in sport.http://www.ajol.info/journal_index.php?jid=153&ab=ajpherd2015-03am201

Psychological skills, playing positions and performance of African youth soccer teams

The purpose of this study was to investigate the psychological skills of African youth soccer players in different playing positions. The role of psychological skills and overall team performance was also determined. The sample consisted of male soccer players (N=152) between the ages of 14 and 18 years from 10 African countries competing in the 2010 Copa Coca-Cola soccer tournament. A cross-sectional survey design was used to determine the players’ psychological skills by means of the Bull’s Mental Skills Questionnaire and the Athletic Coping Skills Inventory-28 (ACSI-28). Results yielded insignificant differences between the subscale scores of the players in different playing positions. Concentration was the only psychological variable associated with performance. The middle four-ranked teams outscored the most successful and least successful teams in relaxation. Findings from this study could not confirm the widely acclaimed research assumption that psychological skill demands differ among players in different playing positions, nor the positive correlation between psychological skills and team success. Future research should investigate the perceptions and extent of psychological skills training among African youth soccer players, as well as the efficiency of psychological skills interventions aimed at enhancing overall team performance.http://academic.sun.ac.za/sajrsper/am201

The relationship between psychological skills and specialised role in cricket

Psychological skills related to positional play are evident in sport. It is believed that specific demands associated with playing position or role within a team sport require a unique set of psychological skills. This study examined the relationship between psychological skills and specialised role amongst 127 South African cricket players. The subjects were divided into 4 primary role groupings namely batsman (n=30), bowler (n=32), all-rounder (n=61) and wicket keeper (n=4). The wicket keeper group’s results were excluded from the analysis due to an underrepresentation of wicketkeepers in the sample. Psychological skills were assessed by means of the Athletic Coping Skills Inventory-28 (Smith et al., 1995) and Bull’s Mental Skills Questionnaire (Bull et al., 1996). One-way analysis of variance (one-way ANOVA) indicated no significant differences between the psychological skills of the various role groupings. However, there were tendencies for all-rounders to be more psychologically skilled than bowlers and batsmen. It was concluded that there is no distinctive psychological profile for classifying cricket players into performing specialised roles in the sport.http://www.ajol.info/journal_index.php?jid=153&ab=ajpherd2016-03-30am201

Psychological skills and mindfulness training effects on the psychological wellbeing of undergraduate music students : an exploratory study

This study explored the efficacy of psychological skills and mindfulness training intervention on the psychological well-being of undergraduate music students. Participants were undergraduate music students (n = 36) from the Department of Music at a South African university, 21 of whom were elected to take the psychological skills and mindfulness training intervention. Data on their self-reported psychological well-being, psychological skills, mindfulness and performance anxiety levels were collected pre- and post-intervention. The analysis applied non-parametric procedures to determine changes in students’ psychological well-being after the seven-week intervention program. Findings suggest improvements in psychological well-being, psychological skills, mindfulness and performance anxiety with training. Psychological skills and mindfulness training may have benefits to the psychological well-being of music students.http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/rpia202017-04-30hb2016Biokinetics, Sport and Leisure SciencesMusicPsycholog

A cross-over from sport psychology to the psychology of music : an intervention study on undergraduate music students

The primary aim of this research was to evaluate whether the cross-over from Sport Psychology to the Psychology of Music in terms of the knowledge base, intervention Psychological Skills Training (PST) protocols and psychometric measurements was meaningful. A second aim was to ascertain whether the psychological skills levels and mindfulness levels per se have improved amongst the undergraduate students. Extensive research on psychological benefits of PST in sport has been conducted in Sport Psychology, with unambiguously positive results. Mindfulness training, and specifically the mindfulness-acceptance-commitment (MAC) approach have been applied in sport and as in the case of PST, it has not yet been fully utilized in the context of music. This specific combination of PST and the MAC approach were tested on undergraduate music students in a seven-week intervention program. A quasi-experimental design was implemented in this research. Voluntary participation was adopted to ensure that the participants were fully engaged in and committed to this study. A convenience sample of 36 undergraduate music students from the Department of Music at the University of Pretoria was selected. The experimental group consisted of 21 students, and the remaining 15 students composed of the control group. Within the experimental group significant improvements in performance anxiety, psychological skills and mindfulness indicated that the cross-over from the performanceevaluative context of sport to music was meaningful and partially successful.http://www.ajol.info/journal_index.php?jid=153&ab=ajpherd2017-06-30am201

The effect of SHIP® (spontaneous healing intrasystemic process) on adolescent tennis players

The core problem statement of this study is that SHIP® as a psychotherapeutic intervention has never been tested in a sport psychological context. The study on which this article is based attempted to address this specific lack of research in Sport Psychology. SHIP®focuses mainly on psychological processes such as healing and growth. Experts emphasize that research on psychological processes in sport is very important for the future of Sport Psychology. With the above considerations in mind, a study was done with two groups of adolescent tennis players (an experimental group and a control group). While the experimental group took part in the intervention the control group did not receive any intervention. Both groups were evaluated before, during and after the intervention using the Competitive State Anxiety Inventory-2 (CSAI- 2), the Profile of Mood States (POMS) and Ryff’s psychological well-being scale as measuring instruments. The results within the groups and between the groups were statistically analysed. The results indicated that the experimental group improved significantly in their ability to cope with competition stress, mood states and psychological well-being, while the control group remained almost unchanged on the above-mentioned attributes. The study found that SHIP® not only has therapeutic value, but can also impact positively on the potential and mental capacities of adolescent tennis players. It is concluded that SHIP® has definite value in the field of Sport Psychology