The Effect of Motivational Highlight DVDs on State Self‐Confidence in Elite Female Hockey Players

Recent technological developments in applied sport psychology utilising video-taping and playback techniques to enhance athletic performance have become increasingly attractive to coaches, athletes, and sport psychologists (Ives et al., 2002: Journal of Applied S84 Abstracts Downloaded By: [Bournemouth University] At: 12:29 15 October 2009 Sport Psychology, 14, 237 – 245). This study aimed to examine the effectiveness of two types of highlight peak performance digital versatile discs (DVDs); peer-modelling and self-modelling, on state selfconfidence of elite female hockey players. It further addressed the issue of whether the experience of watching yourself versus observing peers differentially affects state self-confidence. The volunteer participants comprised 15 members of a female National League hockey squad located in the South of England (mean age 24.53, s¼4.94). DVDs incorporating highlight play were supplemented with inspirational music and viewed by the athletes at two stages in the competitive season (midseason and end of season). At both stages, the athletes were exposed to a peer modelling, selfmodelling, and control video during separate testing sessions. Athletes completed the State Sport- Confidence Inventory (Vealey, 1986: Journal of Sport Psychology, 8, 221 – 246) prior to and after viewing the highlight DVDs. The data were subjected to two 362 RM ANOVAs to determine if the self-modelling, peer-modelling, and control DVDs affected state self-confidence. An RM ANOVA was performed on data collected at the two stages of the competitive season. To determine the nature of change in state self-confidence in relation to type of DVD watched follow-up univariate ANOVAs were carried out on the dataset. Semi-structured interviews were also conducted to explore participants’ perceptions of how the intervention affected their cognition, affect, and behaviour. Interviews were transcribed ad verbatim and analysed using inductive content analysis. Findings support and further encourage the use of motivational highlight DVDs in sport. Both the self-modelling and peer-modelling DVDs had a significant (P50.01) effect on state self-confidence at both stages in the competitive season. No differences were found between the effects of the self-modelling and peer-modelling DVDs during the mid season testing phase. At the end of season testing phase, the self modelling DVD proved to be superior in enhancing state self-confidence. This finding was supported through the results of the qualitative analysis. The results of this study provide empirical support for the use of motivational highlight DVDs as a pre-performance strategy in athletic situations

Twitter, Team GB and the Australian Olympic Team: representations of gender in social media spaces.

Twitter is used by athletes, sporting teams and sports media to provide updates on the results of sporting events as they happen. Unlike traditional forms of sports media, online sports media offers the potential for diverse representations of athletes. The current study examined gender in social media coverage of the 2016 Olympic Games using a third wave feminist lens. The analysis focused on the Twitter pages of ‘Team GB’ and the ‘Australian Olympic team’ and the sports stories and images posted during the Rio Olympic Games. Despite a number of traditional differences in the ways that male and females were represented being present, such as the presence of ‘active’ images of male athletes accompanying sports stories and the presence of infantalization in the language used to represent female performers, this analysis demonstrated significant strides forward in terms of the quantity of coverage received by women in online spaces. It further highlights virtual platforms as dynamic spaces for the representation of women athletes

Sporting women and social media: sexualization, misogyny and gender based violence in online spaces.

This study investigated gender based violence targeted at high profile women in virtual environments through presenting the case of women’s tennis. Using a netnographic approach and third wave feminist lens, an analysis of two popular social media platforms (Facebook and Twitter) was conducted to examine the social commentary and fan interaction surrounding the top five seeded female tennis players during the Wimbledon Tennis Championships. Athletes were exposed to violent interactions in a number of ways. Four themes were identified through analysis of data: threats of physical violence; sexualisation that focussed on the female physical appearance; sexualisation that expressed desire and/or proposed physical or sexual contact; and sexualisation that was vile, explicit and threateningly violent in a sexual or misogynistic manner. Findings demonstrate how social media provides a space for unregulated gender-based cyberhate targeting high profile women while in their workplace in a way that traditional sports media does not

Virtual technologies as tools of maltreatment: safeguarding in digital spaces

Digital technologies have become an essential component in the navigation of everyday tasks and activities. In the midst of a technological zeitgeist, our ‘real’ lives have become intimately entangled with new media and ‘virtual’ environments. Virtual platforms and technologies have proven to be valuable to athletes, coaches and fans, but with increased connection comes the potential for misuse and abuse within these spaces. The chapter demonstrates how virtual settings can create potentially perilous spaces which can easily lead to the abuse of athletes and other key stakeholders in sport. This is particularly due to the largely unregulated nature of these spaces which allow for varied forms of maltreatment to take place. The chapter considers some of the dangers of negative behaviours within online environments and reinforces the importance of safeguarding individuals in such spaces

Coping related variables, cardiac vagal activity and working memory performance under pressure

The aim of this study was to assess the predictive role of coping related variables (trait emotional intelligence and reinvestment, challenge and threat appraisals and cardiac vagal activity) on cardiac vagal activity and working memory under low pressure (LP) and high pressure (HP) conditions. Participants (n = 49) completed trait questionnaires, the Decision Specific Reinvestment Scale, the Movement Specific Reinvestment Scale and Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire. They realized the automated span task, which tests working memory, under counterbalanced LP and HP conditions. Cardiac vagal activity measurements were taken at rest, task and post task for 5 min, along with self-reported ratings of stress. Upon completion of the task, self-report measures of motivation, stress appraisal, attention and perceived pressure were completed. Current findings suggest cardiac vagal activity at rest can predict cardiac vagal activity under pressure, decision reinvestment influences cardiac vagal activity in cognitive tasks under LP and working memory performance is predicted by task cardiac vagal activity in HP only. These results show the importance of combining both subjective and objective psychophysiological variables in performance prediction and strengthen the need for this approach to be adopted across samples

The Dark side of sport: athlete narratives on maltreatment in high performance environments.

This study provides a unique insight into the impact and experience of maltreatment in elite adult sport, which to date has had limited consideration within the sporting literature. The evidence suggests that elite adult athletes can experience maltreatment in high performance environments and such treatment has the potential to have long-term negative effects on athlete wellbeing and continued participation in sport. However, to date, much of the guidance on protecting and supporting athletes has been directed toward child athletes or those under the age of 18. There remains much to be understood about the experience of maltreatment into adulthood if adult safeguarding and protection in sport are to be enhanced. The aim of this study is to explore elite adult athletes’ experiences of maltreatment in high performance sport. In order to meet the aim of this research, athlete narratives of maltreatment gained through in-depth interviews were completed in order to capture the experiences of both male and female elite athletes. The participants of this study were 12 elite athletes between the ages of 19 and 35 years (mean = 27 years), who had competed in the United Kingdom and had represented England, Wales and/or Great Britain within their chosen sport. A variety of sports and sports types were included within the sample with participants from eleven different sports (hockey, volleyball, archery, rugby, cricket, football, eventing, handball, beach volleyball, taekwondo and tennis), and both team and individual sports were represented. Five main themes were identified: becoming an athlete, being an athlete, being maltreated, the perceived impact of maltreatment and coping with maltreatment. The findings suggest that maltreatment in sport is complex and multifaceted, and has the potential to pose a significant threat to athlete wellbeing. Prior to this study, existing research had failed to explore maltreatment as an overarching phenomenon and instead sought to examine individual types of maltreatment. While this has increased understanding, the complexity of experience is lost when individual maltreatment types are explored in isolation. This study underlines the co-occurring nature of maltreatment as well as the diverse nature of the experience of maltreatment. In addition, taking a broader approach has enabled an understanding of maltreatment types that have not previously been systematically explored. This study therefore extends knowledge about and understanding of the experience of maltreatment in high performance environments. A conceptual framework is presented to demonstrate how athletes experience maltreatment in sport. This study supports the need to further explore the impact on and consequences of maltreatment for athletic experience. Implications for practice and future research directions are outlined in order to identify the scope of work yet to be explored in this area. This study makes an important contribution to knowledge as the first piece of research that seeks to illuminate the experience of maltreatment in high performance sport

Virtual Technology as Tools of Athlete Maltreatment: safeguarding in online spaces

Digital technologies have become an essential component in the navigation of everyday tasks and activities. In the process of consuming and engaging in online environments, our ‘real’ lives have become intimately entangled with new media and ‘virtual’ environments. Virtual platforms and technologies have proven to be valuable to athletes, coaches and fans, yet with increased connection comes the potential for misuse and abuse within these spaces. This presentation will consider how virtual spaces can be adopted as tools of maltreatment. The types of abuse that can be experienced, alongside (risk) factors that promote or enable abuse to occur online will be explored. It will consider power in virtual spaces as a critical frame of reference for understanding virtual interactions and para-social relationships. Finally, there will be discussion of the importance of safeguarding individuals online and suggestions made for further research in this area

Virtual Maltreatment: Sexualisation and Social Media Abuse in Sport.

Virtual maltreatment is a rapidly emerging and highly significant issue within contemporary sport. This study examines such behaviour by exploring the negative social media attention that tennis player Maria Sharapova received during the 2015 Wimbledon tennis championships. Using a netnographic approach, an analysis of two popular social media platforms (Facebook and Twitter) was conducted to examine the social commentary surrounding this athlete during the event. Three primary themes emerged from the analysis of data on these platforms: ‘admiration of her physical beauty and/or sexualisation’; ‘threatening physical and/or sexual contact’ and ‘emotionally ridiculing and/or criticising’. These findings demonstrate how social media provides a space for unregulated physical and sexual abuse of female athletes in a way that traditional sports media does not. Virtual abuse and maltreatment is identified as a significant social problem which requires further consideration in academic literature