Psychological Characteristics of Peak Performance Vikki Krane & Jean Williams Chapter 9 “Trying to articulate the zone is not easy because it’s such an.
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Psychological Characteristics of Peak Performance
Vikki Krane & Jean Williams
Chapter 9
“Trying to articulate the zone is not easy because it’s such an indescribable feeling….you feel like you’re playing out of your head. You aren’t feeling any tension or any pressure and physically your strokes are just flowing, every ball you hit is going in. Emotionally you’re really calm. There’s not strain involved. It’s a euphoric feeling….Whatever you do, whatever decision you make on the court, whatever stroke or shot you try, you know it’s going to work.”
• Beyond ordinary levels of play• It all comes together – physically and mentally• An athlete’s personal best• It is a consequence of both physical and mental factors• Varies from athlete to athlete• Most likely to occur when skill level matches demands
How Does the Mind Work With the Body to Produce Performance?
• 40-90% of success in sport is due to mental factors• skill level, mental aspects
• Can train the ideal body/mind state that underlies peak performance
• “The state in which people are so involved in an activity that nothing else seems to matter.” (Csikszentmihalyi, 1990)• Flow may be the psychological process underlying
9 Dimensions of Flow1. Situation challenge matches skills2. Awareness and action merge3. Clear goals4. Feedback indicating correctness 5. Total concentration on task at hand6. Complete control without actively
attempting to be in control7. No self-consciousness or self-evaluation8. Time seems to speed up or slow down9. Enjoyable -- participation its own reward
FACILITATES FLOW• Appropriate focus• Mental and physical prep• Motivation• Arousal• Positive thoughts• Positive emotions• Confidence • Positive feedback• Good team play• Optimal environmental and
situational conditions
DISRUPTS FLOW
Opposite of what facilitates flow:• Inappropriate focus• Unmotivated• Disconnected• Negative thoughts• Negative emotions• Unconfident• Negative feedback• Poor team play
“Athletes who believe in their capabilities are probably more likely to experience a balance between challenge and skills, even when the challenge of a specific sport
competition is relatively high” (Jackson, Kimiecik, Ford, & Marsh, 1998)
• Attempts to identify emotional patterns (positive and negative) associated with individual athletes’ successful performances• 4 groups of emotional states:• Performance-enhancing positive emotions• Performance-enhancing negative emotions• Performance-impairing positive emotions • Performance-impairing negative emotions
IZOF (cont.)
• Athletes assess and identify emotions related to successful and unsuccessful performances• Different athletes may include different emotions• There are a range of optimal and dysfunctional
Successful Psychological Skills in Successful Elite Athletes• High self-confidence• Total commitment• Strong performance focus• Ability to cope well with
stress/distractions• Good attention-focusing and
refocusing skills• Ability to rebound from
mistakes• Positive attitude
• High personal standards• Well-developed
precompetition and competitive plans• Ability to control emotions• A view of anxiety as
beneficial• Use of performance goals• Use of imagery
• An “unshakable belief” (i.e. knowing that they can do anything they set their minds to do)• Stay focused• Regulate performance (i.e. increase effort)• Cope well with pressure• Are aware of, and control, their thoughts and
feelings• Control the environment (i.e. are not affected by
How Others* Facilitate Peak Performance • *Teammates, coaches, family members,
and administrators• High team cohesion• Positive/strong team leader• Committed coaching• Clear coach performance plans • Emotional and social support from
• Lacking trust/confidence in teammates• Poor coach-athlete communication• Negative attitude toward coach• Coach can’t deal with crises• Unrealistic expectations from coach• Over coaching/excessive interactions• Coach’s inability to “keep it simple”