Pre-competition achievement goals within young sports performers

This thesis attempted to develop a clearer understanding of the pre-competition achievement goal perspectives that are held by young performers. The programme of research moves through three transitional stages incorporating three different methodologies. Specifically, the first two investigations which comprised Study 1 adopted a quantitative research methodology; Study 2 incorporated qualitative techniques; and the final investigation addressed the research question on an idiographic basis via a single subject design study. Firstly, an attempt is made to identify the major antecedents or precursors to states of goal involvement prior to a specific competitive situation. The first study examined the antecedents of pre-competition state goals within adolescent swimmers from an interactionist perspective. Results showed how levels of task and ego involvement prior to a specific race were related to both dispositional tendencies and situational factors within the race context. However, task orientation appeared to play a more powerful role than ego orientation in predicting their respective goal states. Furthermore, ego involvement was more strongly predicted by situational factors. The second investigation extended this question by investigating a sample of elite junior tennis players prior to a competitive match at the National Championships. In this way, the nature of the competitive context, with respect to goal or reward structure, changed from being more task-involving (individualistic-focused) to being more ego-involving (competitive-focused). Results showed how the players' goal states were related much more to perceptions of the context than to their reported goal orientation. Furthermore, task orientation did not emerge as a significant predictor of goal involvement. With these results in mind, the second stage of the thesis involved investigating, to a much greater depth, the motivational criteria which appeared to contribute to the development of goal orientation and the activation of goal involvement in the context of competition. For this purpose, qualitative interview techniques and an inductive content analysis were applied to a sample of seventeen elite junior tennis players. The findings suggested that the development of goal orientation and activation of pre-competition goal involvement rested on a complex interaction of internal and environmental factors. Specific general dimensions of influence included cognitive-developmental skills and experience, the motivational climate conveyed by significant others, the social and structural nature of tennis, and the match context. The information gathered from this study provided the impetus, rationale and theoretical foundation for the final study in this thesis. Employing a single subject multiple baseline across subjects design, the study investigated the effects of a structured environmental and task-based intervention programme which sought to influence precompetition goal involvement and related competitive cognitions within a small sample of adolescent national standard tennis players. Following a three month intervention period, the three targeted players reported pre-competition goal states which showed increased activation of the self-referent conception of achievement. Furthermore, each player fostered an attitude which valued the challenge of winning matches for internal reasons, as opposed to reasons associated with favourable social approval. These findings reinforced the practicability of educationlaction-based interventions designed to develop more adaptive motivational responses to competitive situations. The programme of research conducted in this thesis, therefore, highlights how precompetition achievement goal perspectives within young performers may be influenced, provided that one has a detailed understanding of the antecedents of this process. In so doing, this thesis alerts future research to the importance of working within an interactionist paradigm and with a measurement technology which can accurately assess goal states in a diverse number of sporting situations. In this way, our understanding of goal involvement, as an important achievement-related attentional state, may be greatly facilitated

Toward an understanding of players' perceptions of talent development environments in UK female football

This study explored UK female football players' perceptions of their talent development environments using the Talent Development Environment Questionnaire. Participants were 137 UK-based female football players (M age = 16.06, SD = 1.90) from Football Association Girls' Centres of Excellence and Football Association Women's Super League Development Squads. Players had most positive perceptions of long-term development focus and support network, whereas the least positive perceptions were of communication and understanding the athlete. Sport psychologists could offer significant support in (a) planning for football-specific development and career progression, (b) communication with key social agents, and (c) holistic player development and well-being

Do titles matter in sport psychology? Performer attitudes toward professional titles and the effect of a brief intervention

Understanding the practitioner attributes that influence consumers’ preferences is of vital importance to licensing organizations and individual practitioners in the field of sport psychology (Hamberger & Iso-Ahola, 2006; Van Raalte, Brewer, Matheson & Brewer, 1996). This study examined consumer preferences towards three professional titles (sport psychologist, life coach, and neuro-linguistic programming practitioner) and a range of other practitioner characteristics, as well as the extent to which a brief intervention impacted these preferences. Following an assessment of current preferences amongst athletes (N = 229), researchers presented brief, educational vignettes formed of enhanced information regarding the three professions. Conjoint analysis was used to determine the relative importance of practitioner attributes pre- and post-intervention. Interpersonal skills emerged as the most important attribute prior to intervention. Several significant, post-intervention changes emerged in consumer preferences for practitioners, including an increased salience of professional title. The findings are discussed with an emphasis on implications for the training, professional development, and marketing of practitioners to potential clients

Understanding parental stressors: an investigation of British tennis-parents

In this study, we examined the stressors experienced by British tennis-parents. The parents (n¼123) completed an extensive survey focused on the internal and external demands that they had encountered through having a child compete in the sport. The survey consisted of open-ended questions related to competition, coaching, organizational, personal, and developmental issues. Inductive and deductive content analysis resulted in the development of seven core themes of tennis-parental stressor: competition, coaches, finance, time, siblings, organization-related, and developmental. Parents experienced a diverse number of competitive stressors indicating the particular difficulties they faced before, during, and after matches involving their child, opponents, other parents, and officials. They also reported a wide range of organizational stressors that paralleled the financial, social, and personal investments that accompanied their support roles. The results of this research reinforce the importance of parents possessing the necessary skills to cope with the psychological, developmental, and logistical demands of competitive tennis. Implications with respect to induction workshops and education for coaches and parents are presented, as well as consideration for governing bodies to enhance their communication channels and logistical support. Future research recommendations are posed to build upon the study of this domain in youth sport

Parenting in youth sport: a position paper on parenting expertise

Objectives: In line with the aims of this special issue, the purpose of this paper is to forward a position on the concept of sport parenting expertise through the presentation of six key postulates. Design: Literature review and position statement. Method: By adopting methods associated with an academic position paper, a statement is presented that we believe encapsulates sport parenting expertise. Six key postulates of parenting expertise, formulated from critically reviewing and interpreting relevant literature, are then presented. Results: We propose that sport parenting expertise is dependent on the degree to which parents demonstrate a range of competencies; namely that parents, (a) select appropriate sporting opportunities and provide necessary types of support, (b) understand and apply appropriate parenting styles, (c) manage the emotional demands of competitions, (d) foster healthy relationships with significant others, (e) manage organizational and developmental demands associated with sport participation, and, (f) adapt their involvement to different stages of their child's athletic career. Conclusion: Expertise in sport parenting requires parents to develop knowledge and utilize a range of intrapersonal, interpersonal, and organizational skills in order to support their child, manage themselves, and operate effectively in the wider youth sport environment. Recommendations for applied researchers to further investigate these postulates and substantiate the components of sport parenting expertise are offered

No place to hide: Football players' and coaches' perceptions of the psychological factors influencing video feedback

2017 © Association for Applied Sport PsychologyThe purpose of this two-part study was to examine the role of psychological factors within the delivery of video feedback in elite youth football. Interviews were conducted with 11 coaches and 12 players. A thematic content analysis yielded data relating to three general dimensions: (a) the psychological responses engaged during delivery; (b) the impact of using a range of delivery strategies; and (c) the impact of the delivery climate surrounding practice. The findings suggest that a greater appreciation of these factors would add significant value to the way coaches, sport scientists, and athletes currently use video technology for performance enhancement

Stress in youth sport: a developmental investigation of tennis parents

Objective: This study investigated the stage-specific stressors experienced by British tennis parents whose children were situated either in the sampling, specializing or investment stages of participation in the sport [Côtè, J. (1999). The influence of the family in the development of talent in sport. The Sport Psychologist, 13, 395–417]. Design and method: A qualitative design was employed with semi-structured interviews conducted with twenty two British tennis parents; six parents representing each of the first two stages of sports participation and ten representing the investment stage. Data was analyzed through a process of inductive content analysis following the method proposed by Miles and Huberman [Miles, M. B., & Huberman, A. M. (1994). Qualitative data analysis. London: Sage]. Data matrices were developed for each category of parent to allow for the comparison of the data between themes. Results and conclusion: Three general dimensions of parental stressor emerged: Organizational, Competitive and Developmental. Organizational stressors included demands related to finance, time, training and coaching, and governing body systems; competitive stressors related to behavior, performance and morality-related issues associated with their child’s matches; and developmental stressors centered on educational issues, uncertainty of tennis transitions, and future decision making. While sampling stage parents encountered few developmental stressors compared to later stage parents, a range of competitive stressors were highly prominent. Organizational stressors were particularly foremost for specializing and investment stage parents. Implications are discussed with reference to further research into the parental stress process and to the importance of stage-specific parent education initiatives

Managing conflict in coach-athlete relationships

This study investigated coach-athlete conflict and focused on conflict management approaches used to minimize dysfunctional and maximize functional outcomes of interpersonal conflict. A qualitative approach to data collection enabled the researchers to explore various conflict management strategies used by the participants. Within the scope of the current study, 22 high-performance coaches and athletes took part in semistructured interviews. A thorough review of the recent literature (Wachsmuth, Jowett, & Harwood, 2017) informed the interview guide that consisted of 26 questions. A cross-case content analysis revealed that coaches and athletes prevent the onset of conflict by (a) facilitating good-quality relationships and optimal working environments (implicit conflict prevention) and (b) engaging in active conflict prevention strategies (explicit conflict prevention). Further, athletes and coaches appeared to manage conflict by using intra- and interpersonal strategies, as well as by seeking out external help. These strategies were found to be challenged by a range of conflict management barriers and associated with functional or dysfunctional performance and intra- and interpersonal outcomes. Overall, the role of the coach was central to managing conflict effectively

On understanding the nature of interpersonal conflict between coaches and athletes

Conflict is a part of coach-athlete relationships and should be carefully considered as it can have effects on the quality of coaching and the level of performance. Despite its practical relevance, there is a dearth of research around coach-athlete conflict. Therefore, the current study aimed to explore the characteristics and topics of conflict, as well as coaches and athletes’ emotional, cognitive and behavioural experiences during conflict. A total of 22 independent coaches and athletes participated in semi-structured interviews evolving around the nature of interpersonal conflict. After all interviews were transcribed, a deductive-inductive content analysis was conducted. This was guided by the interview schedule as well as the by the conceptual framework of conflict in sport relationships (Wachsmuth, Jowett, & Harwood, 2017). Data were divided into five main categories: Conflict characteristics and conflict topics, as well as conflict cognitions, emotions, and behaviours. Findings highlighted the variety of ways in which participants understood and interpreted interpersonal conflict and how their impressions of conflict influenced its evolving process. Considering the participants’ cognitive, emotional and behavioural expressions of conflict, it became apparent that conflict can be described through uncertain, escalating and problem-orientated responses. Practical applications concerning (mal-) adaptive responses to conflict are discussed. (199/200

Conflict among athletes and their coaches: What is the theory and research so far?

© 2016 The Author(s).Although social and personal relationships are vital for productivity, health and wellbeing, conflict is inevitable and is likely to cause upset and hurt feelings as well as anxiety and distrust. Despite the potentially central role of interpersonal conflict in sport, researchers have yet to pay concerted attention to exploring the nature of conflict, its antecedents and consequences. Following a thorough literature search 80 research papers were identified, of which only a small number (6) studied interpersonal conflict directly, most captured dysfunctional interpersonal processes such as breakdown of communication. The current review aims to provide a critical summary of the existing literature around the psychological construct of interpersonal conflict, including its antecedents, management strategies and outcomes within the context of coach–athlete relationships as well as other relational contexts in sport. Based on the relevant literature, a framework of interpersonal conflict is proposed, which includes a specific focus on a key dyad within sport coaching – namely the coach–athlete dyad. Future research directions and potential practical implications for sport psychology consultants, coach educators, coaches and athletes as well as other stakeholders are discussed