Global Practices and Training in Applied Sport, Exercise, and Performance Psychology

A Case Study Approach

J. Gualberto Cremades, Lauren S. Tashman

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2016
• Print ISBN: 9781138805965
• eBook ISBN: 9781317230588
• Topic: Psychology
• Subtopic: Applied Psychology
• Index: Psychology

Global Practices and Training in Applied Sport, Exercise, and Performance Psychology offers case analysis as a vehicle to address issues and experiences in the application of sport, exercise, and performance psychology (SEPP) and the supervision/training of individuals to become professionals in the field. A follow-up to Becoming a Sport, Exercise, and Performance Psychology Professional (2014), this book features a discussion of real-world case examples which highlight various aspects of professional practice as well as supervision and training. Professionals from around the world, including the United States and Canada, Europe, Asia, Africa, and Australia share diverse experiences, providing a uniquely in-depth, global perspective.

The case studies contained in the book were selected to provide insight into specific elements of applied practice and supervision/training through a global lens as well as demonstrate the value of incorporating case analysis and reflection into one's training and continued professional development. Case analysis is an essential part of learning and instruction. Beyond educating the reader about theories and research on related topics in the field, case analysis allows for more complex levels of learning, including analysis, synthesis, and evaluation of diverse scenarios. In Part I of this book, the cases focus on applied SEPP practice; Part II is comprised of cases that focus on training and supervision.

This book is essential reading for graduate students and neophyte professionals in the field for whom it is critical to learn how to effectively apply knowledge to real-world sport, exercise, and performance psychology scenarios. In addition, the book is a useful resource for seasoned and expert practitioners and supervisors who can use case analysis as a means of continuing their professional development.

Part I
The Practice of Service Delivery

2 We All Start Somewhere

The Experience of Consulting for the First Time

Maximilian H. Pollack and Marissa Norman

In this chapter, two second-year master’s students will discuss their first encounter implementing mental skills training techniques with an athletic team. The progress that was made throughout the experience will be discussed. Throughout this chapter, the reader will gain a better understanding of the experience of working with a team as a first-time consultant. Among the many points that will be presented, some include: how to approach a session; what to expect when working with a team; some of the challenges a first-time consultant may experience; and the key lessons learned by the consultants in this particular case study. Do keep in mind that this was the first experience for both consultants in training. This case study represents how each of these consultants approached their work with the team. While reading the chapter, the reader is encouraged to think about alternatives to approaching the sessions, structuring lessons, incorporating different methods of teaching, and working effectively in a group-based approach.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

The experience of providing sport psychology interventions on a regular basis as students in a master’s-level program is presented within this chapter. The sport psychology consultants, Maximilian H. Pollack and Marissa Norman, provide a firsthand account of their experience working with a collegiate tennis team. All consultations were under supervision from a certified consultant with the Association for Applied Sport Psychology (CC-AASP), who worked with the team prior to this experience. The graduate student consultants completed one year of relevant education prior to working with the team. This chapter describes the first-time consultants’ experience with their initial client. Over a seven-month period, Max and Marissa worked with the tennis team weekly. Each week a new topic was covered based on the needs of the team and suggestions from the coaching staff. The supervisor communicated with the coaches of the tennis team every week in order to ensure effective planning of meetings. These meetings were based on proper understanding of the situations the team was experiencing on the court.

Marissa Norman obtained her Bachelors of Science in Psychology at the University of Rhode Island (URI), as well as two minors in Kinesiology and Sociology. Being a former Division I track and field athlete, Marissa has practiced mental skills firsthand, but this was her first opportunity to use her knowledge of mental skills with other athletes.

Maximilian H. Pollack obtained his Bachelors of Science in Psychology at the University of Central Florida (UCF), where he played collegiate rugby as well as many other sports. His passion for helping individuals achieve their peak performance is powered by his most important goal: achieving ultimate happiness and enjoyment in life. Max uses his experiences and education with the purpose of helping others overcome any obstacle while also pursuing their ultimate goals.

DESCRIPTION OF THE CASE

The tennis team consisted of about ten female tennis players, in which a majority were international student athletes. The team played at a very high level of competition; however, the coach believed that working on the mental aspect of performance would help increase their potential. The team’s goal coming into the season was to win the women’s tennis national championship. Based on discussions with both the head coach and supervisor, the sport psychology consultants focused their early sessions on building strong relationships within the team. Helping them get to know each other was essential, knowing that team cohesion facilitates performance and productivity (Gammage, Carron, & Estabrooks, 2001). The sessions were designed to be fun and educational. All sessions were hands-on and often took place after practice, when energy levels of the athletes were usually low.

THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK/PHILOSOPHY

Each consultant and the supervisor incorporated his/her own theoretical framework and philosophical approach into the work with the team. However, it was also important for us to approach the sessions with common ground in order to work effectively as a unit in our work with the athletic team. Therefore, we worked together to mold their different frameworks and philosophies and build an approach that would suit the team best. This approach consisted of a primary focus in cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), but also included ideas and approaches related to mindfulness (being present in the here and now). CBT focuses on one’s thinking and how it is interrelated to one’s emotions and behavior. Consistent with this focus, a CBT framework emphasizes that the problem is essentially in one’s faulty thinking (Claspell, 2010). With a focus on self-awareness and attention, mindfulness is a mental state in which an individual voluntarily focuses on present involvements in a nonjudgmental way (Cottraux, 2007).

In terms of the delivery of the sessions, our teaching philosophy was very hands-on, with an emphasis on education and techniques that could be transferred from the classroom to the court with ease. In addition to education and transferability, accountability was a primary focus in the sessions. We felt that it was important to strengthen autonomy and overall focus through individual responsibilities that would be upheld by the team. Each session was approached based on the current and most relevant needs of the team at that point in time. There was constant communication between supervisor, coach, and consultants to structure the sessions effectively.

NEEDS ASSESSMENT

For this particular case, the coach identified the needs of the team and what he wanted his athletes to develop. The coach and the supervisor were in constant communication, allowing the supervisor to relay messages to the consultants in training. This was a consistent cycle. Further, a performance profile (Butler & Hardy, 1992) was also used during the work with the team to have each athlete rate where she believed her mental skills were at the time. Based on the information from the coach and the performance profiles, we reviewed the data in order to find overarching themes that appeared to be strengths and weaknesses not only for individual athletes, but also for the team as a whole. From this information, we determined what the focus would be for their upcoming sessions with the team. Team strengths and weaknesses were determined and discussed as well. The sessions were structured to strengthen the weaknesses and take advantage of the strengths the team possessed.

INTERVENTION

Preparation

Each session was planned days in advance through the collaboration of the two consultants and their supervisor. The entire process of researching literature, creating a session that would best fit the athletes’ needs, and agreeing on the session took an average of two to three hours. An hour before each session, we would meet to make sure that we had all of the necessary materials for the session and a mutual understanding of the key comments they wanted to address. The process was perfect in its imperfection. The experience involved stress, anxiety, and an unconditional commitment, while also including excitement, enjoyment, and great experiences. Creation of the activities and lesson plans were among the most difficult tasks in the process because they took a lot of planning and extra time. As full-time students in a demanding sport psychology graduate program, time was hard to come by. The delivery of the activities came easy on some days and more difficult on others. There were a lot of extraneous variables including mood of the team, recent situations the team had experienced, relationships between the coach and team, schedules of both consultants-in-training and the supervisor, along with the confidence and preparation of the consultants-in-training. The process was truly helpful for both the consultants-in-training and the supervisor as we supported and received feedback from each other.

Sessions

Altogether, there were a total of 11 sessions that took place while working with this female collegiate team. Each session generally lasted 45–90 minutes. Most of the sessions took place in the classroom with each consultant and the supervisor present, while others took place in an outside space or on the tennis court. Keeping the sessions interesting was crucial since the athletes would meet after their vigorous practices. Their energy levels were typically low at the onset of the sessions; therefore, we placed emphasis on creating fun, interesting, and educational sessions.

Based on the needs assessment and research done by the consultants, the primary emphases of the sessions were on enhancing self-talk and building team cohesion, accountability, and effective communication. Throughout working with the team, we would observe the athletes in their practices and competitions to determine their ability to incorporate what they learned in each session out on the court. We would then discuss the transferability of the mental skills with the athletes along with discussing ways in which they could be more successful when applying their mental skills on the tennis court. The coach of the team provided our supervisor with a primary focus for what he wanted his athletes to work on throughout that week based on their performances in practice and matches. It was evident that there was continual improvement in the skills discussed throughout the sessions based on feedback from the coach, actions of the athletes, and their perception of themselves. The greatest improvements were in team cohesion and accountability based on these sources.

Example Sessions

In order to illustrate the approach we utilized, a brief description of a few of the sessions with the team is provided. For example, in one of the early sessions we used an activity called “Create a Monster” in which the athletes had to work together to form a single monster that moves five feet and creates a sound. This activity was intended to illustrate the team’s current dynamic with regards to cohesion, communication, and leadership. It was intended to highlight the team’s strengths and weaknesses in these areas. The chosen activity was also designed to create an engaging and fun atmosphere, which we believed would be important for an introductory session. It was a useful approach for this session because it involved working together in groups, trusting one another, communicating, and becoming closer as a unit through collaboration. Thus, it helped us to identify how well the athletes got along, who the leaders were, and which areas of their team dynamic and individual performance might need improvement. In addition, this was an amusing activity that had the team laughing and enjoying their first session together. With the use of this simple activity, the team built a better understanding of each of their teammates and had fun in the process.

In another session we wanted to focus on the communication among the athletes. Based on varying cultural backgrounds and observations from the previous year where the team seemed to misinterpret each other, we wanted to do a session that would help the athletes understand the role perception plays in communication. Further, we wanted to highlight the impact of the nature of communication (i.e., how something is said) versus the content of communication (i.e., what is said) as well as the role of emotions. To facilitate the session on this topic we used an activity in which the athletes had to communicate while expressing various emotions. There was a box containing pieces of paper with specific emotions written on them and the box was passed around to each athlete. Each athlete would read a sentence written on the whiteboard at the front of the classroom while expressing the emotion picked from the box. The emphasis for this activity was on helping the athletes understand how to communicate effectively and increase self-awareness when communication was ineffective.

Self-talk was a primary focus in many sessions due to the team’s weakness in this area, as identified by the performance profile. Thus, a couple of activities were used specifically for increasing the athletes’ self-awareness of their self-talk and finding ways of improving it. For example, the focus of one session was to give the team a chance to practice their positive, motivational, and instructional self-talk, as well as get them to further understand the effects that negative self-talk can have on their performance. The goal of the session was to have the athletes use short and specific self-talk as well as understand what type o...

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Half Title page
• Series page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Contents
• About the Editors
• About the Contributors
• Foreword
• Preface
• Acknowledgments
• Introduction
• Part I The Practice of Service Delivery
• Part II Training, Supervision, and Mentorship in the Applied Setting
• Conclusion
• Appendix Answers to Reflective Questions
• Index