Preparing for home and away matches

Coaches, players, and certainly bookies are well aware of the fact that football teams typically perform better at home than away. The end of year statistics for various leagues during the 2002-2003 football season in the UK (see Table 1) show a remarkably consistent tendency for teams to win more games and score more goals when playing on their own pitch. Such trends occur worldwide, over many seasons, at all levels and in a wide range of team sports such as rugby, major league baseball, ice hockey, basketball and American football

Personality characteristics of UK Association Football referees

Personality has often been associated with job performance and satisfaction, particularly with regard to resilience and coping with pressure. However, the links between personality type and sports officiating performance is sparsely researched. Sports officials, notably soccer referees, come under intense public and media scrutiny for their performance, and ‘burnout’ is at a high level. Therefore, understanding how personality may influence job performance in this high-pressure role could influence the support and training of referees. The aim of this study was to explore possible relationships between individual differences and performance level in English Association Football (soccer) referees. Using an independent groups design, 185 soccer referees currently performing at 3 levels (Professional, Intermediate, and Amateur) completed measures of mental toughness, locus of control, assertiveness, and social comparison. For every scale, Professional referees scored significantly higher than the other groups, while Intermediates did not differ from Amateurs. This suggests that referees at the highest level possess critical personality characteristics the others lack. The causal direction of this relationship is uncertain, but implications for training and support of officials with regard to increasing resilience and reducing burnout are noted

Testosterone and cortisol responses in male soccer players: The effect of home and away venues

The present studies examined the influence of playing venue on psychobiological responses in male soccer players. Many studies have demonstrated the existence of a home advantage, wherein teams perform better at home than away. A recent focus has attempted to explain this advantage from a psychobiological perspective, with studies showing hormonal differences with regard to venue, game outcome, dominance and perceived stress. Two studies investigated testosterone and cortisol responses in relation to home and away venues. In an initial study of 18 male elite Premier League academy soccer players (age, 17.47, SD, 64), salivary cortisol levels were monitored in two competitive matches, both at home and away. Higher post-game cortisol levels were observed at home (p = 0.002), with the team winning all its games. In a second study involving a 12 semi-professional group of players (age, 23.17, SD, 3.8), the same post-game cortisol findings at home were replicated (p = 0.001), with this team losing all its games. No effects were observed for testosterone in either study. The results extend earlier research findings on the complex relationship which surrounds the psychobiological impact on the home advantage. The findings suggest that higher levels of stress are experienced by home players in their home matches

Home comforts : the role of hormones, territoriality and perceptions on the home advantage in football

Since the seminal work of Schwartz and Barsky (1977) detailing the notion of a home advantage, whereby teams perform consistently better at home opposed to away, there has been a plethora of research dedicated to studying this phenomenon. Many explanations for the home advantage have been proposed, including crowd support, venue familiarity, travel, rules, referee bias, and more recently, the territorial and behavioural responses elicited by a home venue. Neave and Wolfson (2003) reported that testosterone levels in male football players increased significantly at home compared to away, with defenders' levels higher than midfielders and forwards. Ice hockey players' pre-game cortisol levels have also been shown to be significantly higher at home (Carré, Muir, Belanger & Putnam, 2006). This thesis has attempted to provide a clearer understanding of the home advantage in football through both hormonal and perceptual perspectives.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

Irrational Performance Beliefs and Mental Well-Being Upon Returning to Sport During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Test of Mediation by Intolerance of Uncertainty

Purpose: This study examined the extent to which irrational performance beliefs and intolerance of uncertainty co-occur in relation to mental well-being among a sample of athletes and coaches (N = 94, M age = 31.99, SD = 12.81) upon their return to sport following COVID-19 disruptions. Methods and Results: Despite the parity in views, independent samples t-test results identified three significant differences in the tested variables between athletes and coaches, which suggested that athletes are more likely to entertain depreciative thoughts about performances and react more aversively to uncertainty, whereas coaches reported a better mental well-being state. Pearson correlation coefficient analysis confirmed a significant positive relationship between composite irrational performance beliefs and intolerance of uncertainty scores, with both these variables being inversely related to mental well-being. Results from a simple atemporal mediation analysis using the PROCESS macro verified that intolerance of uncertainty fully mediated the adverse effect irrational beliefs exert on mental well-being. Conclusion: Sports psychology practitioners within the framework of REBT are advised to explore their orientation of modifying irrational beliefs aligned to clients’ perceptions and tolerance of uncertainty in sport through the inclusion of IU-specific awareness and behavioral experiments

Affect Recognition using Psychophysiological Correlates in High Intensity VR Exergaming

User experience estimation of VR exergame players by recognising their affective state could enable us to personalise and optimise their experience. Affect recognition based on psychophysiological measurements has been successful for moderate intensity activities. High intensity VR exergames pose challenges as the effects of exercise and VR headsets interfere with those measurements. We present two experiments that investigate the use of different sensors for affect recognition in a VR exergame. The first experiment compares the impact of physical exertion and gamification on psychophysiological measurements during rest, conventional exercise, VR exergaming, and sedentary VR gaming. The second experiment compares underwhelming, overwhelming and optimal VR exergaming scenarios. We identify gaze fixations, eye blinks, pupil diameter and skin conductivity as psychophysiological measures suitable for affect recognition in VR exergaming and analyse their utility in determining affective valence and arousal. Our findings provide guidelines for researchers of affective VR exergames.This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement No 665992 </p

Coping under pressure: cognitive strategies for maintaining confidence among soccer referees

Referees are routinely subjected to a wide range of potential physical and psychological stressors, yet little is known about the extent to which these are perceived as aversive or the mechanisms which motivate officials to maintain their activities. The purpose of this study was to give experienced soccer referees the opportunity to offer explanations for and responses to criticism and abuse. A 4-page postal questionnaire was completed by 42 referees. Results indicated that an average of over 16 hours per week was spent on refereeing duties, and 71% of the respondents felt physically drained after matches. However, 100% asserted that the time and energy they put into refereeing was worthwhile. A number of strategies to cope with negative evaluations were noted. The referees expect to be the object of censure by players, coaches and spectators, but use external attributions such as people’s bias and lack of knowledge to explain dissent. While admitting to making errors, they perceive their misjudgements as representing opportunities to improve. Although respecting other referees and making use of support systems, they believe that their skills are superior to those of fellow officials. They also identify their devotion to soccer, rather than the desire for power and prestige, as the main reason for their involvement. The findings portray soccer officials as confident and resilient individuals who admit to occasional errors but interpret these are positive opportunities for self-improvement. A range of coping mechanisms serve to enhance self-esteem and help referees resolve the mismatch between their perceived competence and the criticism received from others

A qualitative analysis of perceptions of venue: Do professional soccer players and managers concur with the conceptual home advantage framework?

While a considerable amount of archival research has been dedicated to exploring the home advantage, little is known about the beliefs which key agents hold about the phenomenon. The aim of the study was to explore the cognitions of professional soccer coaches and players to ascertain their perceived reasons for why teams perform consistently better at home than away. A purposeful sample consisting of three male professional soccer players and six male professional soccer managers participated in semi-structured interviews. Framework analysis was employed to investigate consistency with Carron, Loughead and Bray's revision of Courneya and Carron's original conceptual home advantage framework. The results indicate that key stakeholders' views are in keeping with the framework, though both players and managers place a greater emphasis on the impact of the referee. These findings offer a number of insights into implications for behaviour and suggest avenues for further research