MENTAL SKILLS
- Assessment of mental skills
For this research paper, a basketball team was to evaluate mental abilities. The profiling scale selected is the Likert scale. A Likert scale is a rating scale that gauges opinions or attitudes. Respondents rate items according to their level of agreement. According to Bertram (2007), the five-point range is the most common type of Likert scale, and each has a numerical figure assigned to it as shown below;
- Strongly agree
- Agree
- Not sure/ do not know
- Disagree
- Strongly agree
The relative clarity obtained from the answers influenced the choice of the Likert scale in collecting quantitative data. the responses give varying degrees of intensity of opinion on the subject at hand.it also offers security to respondents through anonymity and resultant confidentiality associated with it. (McLeod, 2019)
The mental skills that will be evaluated include imagery, attitude, managing anxiety, goal-setting, motivation, and concentration. These skills are critical influences on team performances and results. Off the Liker scale, the team was fragile in imagery and visualization, as evidenced by the results strongly disagreed that the team’s creativity was enough. Most players felt overwhelmed by the requirements the game put on them during some attacking phases of play.
Imagery involves a player formulating a mental picture of, say, an offensive position on the court as it happens. Visualization, on the other hand, goes beyond the normal vision. It encompasses the player visualizing and almost predicting what will happen during the next pattern of play.
- Interventions for improving imagery skills
Compelling imagery involves generating clear, vivid images. It can extend to sounds and kinaesthetic sensations. Researchers have identified imaging ability as varying from individual to individual. Various interventions can be applied to enhance a player’s visualization ability.
Continuous improvement initiative is one of the interventions this team could use toimprove its performances steadily. It aims at enhancing imagery techniques to facilitate the output of each player on the court. This process involves small scale improvements in imagery techniques over a long duration (Singh & Singh). Performances of players will improve over time if the initiatives that cause the growth are done repeatedly (Schweitzer and Zurich, 2010). Incorporating this skill into the teams’ mental space will guarantee improvement. It will also motivate and inspire the team to train harder and with a collective goal (Singh & Singh,2015). The manager has to develop a play concept that facilitates the player’s improvement in a particular skill or skillset. Visualization and imagery techniques can be improved gradually using continuous improvement techniques on a large scale. Another skill worked can show considerable progress in real match situations in the current set up.. Don't use plagiarised sources.Get your custom essay just from $11/page
Another tool is creative visualization, which focuses on building visual images of a play and implementing them in real-time on the court. Creative visualization aims at forming mental photos regardless of whether your eyes are shut or open(Isaac & Marks, 1994). It works best when the eyes are kept open, and a player is forced to create conceptual pictures of the actions happening around them.this will assist them in preparing for the multiple actions of a match time court by developing an instinct for these actions. According to Zatorre et al. (2010), it is possible to create visual images without keeping your eyes open. This tool is essential for any team that wishes to improve not only visualization but also creativity and eventually performances on the court.
An additional technique integrates Relaxation, Realism, Regularity, and Reinforcement (The 4Rs) (Hale, 1998). Prior relaxation is essential to having your senses ready during a match. The imagery should be realistic and should stick within the parameters defined by the contest at hand. To create a most graphic representation, incorporate; action, emotion, detail, definition, and a positive outcome (Murphy, 1990). Reinforcement involves writing ‘imagery scripts’ to help plan the details of your imagery. To create a script, document the vital content of the technique. The second step is to add particulars such as play patterns and kinaesthetic feeling. Thirdly, refine the script by trying to visualize yourself performing themethod. Lastly, tape yourself performing the skill according to the content of your imagery script for future use as a visual aid.
(c) Lesson Plan
| *30 minutes session | |||
| No. | Phase | Strategy | Duration |
| 1 | Promoting of Imagery skills | – Brief imagery introduction to students | 7 mins |
| 2 | – Display to the students the PowerPoint presentation showing famous sporting athletes who often use imagery. – Is to increase the student’s interest in how they can apply imagery. | ||
| 3 | – Give a short definition of what imagery is to students. | ||
| 4 | – Give a short definition on how the skill of imagery works and how it helps enhance performance. (Illustrate with a specific example) | ||
| 5 | Survey and evaluation of Imagery skills | – Conduct a questionnaire on basic imagery on students. (Imagery Evaluation) | 8mins |
| 6 | – The teacher explains to students the various dimensions of imagery. They include visual, auditory, kinesthetics, emotion, internal perspective, external perspective, and controllability. | ||
| 7 | – Explain to the students the scales provided and how they can rate their imagery. | ||
| 8 | – Describe to students on the backgrounds which they are required to evaluate, solo practice, team practice, playing in a competitive match, and recalling peak performances. | ||
| 9 | – Encourage students to be frank when answering the questions. | ||
| 10 | Teaching Imagery skills and debriefing | – The teacher debriefs students. | 10 mins |
| 11 | – Outline steps to be followed by students and how to rehearse mentally on their performance. | ||
| 12 | – Explain the use of imagery during training sessions and in competitive matches. | ||
(d) Evaluation of perceived effectiveness of the psychology skill taught
The researcher assessed the effectiveness of the imagery shown by conducting a quantitative survey. They investigated by handing out questionnaires to the squad members where they needed to suggest how useful the imagery lessons and practice has been. By administering different questions answered on a scale of 1-5, the researcher was able to assess the various views of the team members. These questions tend to avoid indulging in personal information, and all the treatment of respondents with anonymity. The sample size was twenty-three players.
The results of the survey illustrated below
- How important do you think creating more chances is to a performance in a match?
Out of the twenty-three players, 91% of them (twenty-one players), agreed that creating chances is very important (1) in a match situation. Only 9% (two) argued that it was just important (2), as indicated in figure 1 below.
Figure 1: Importance of creating more chances in a match.
- How important is the team’s creativity in creating more chances in a match?
This question wanted to determine how creative the players felt their team was at that moment. Out of the twenty-three players surveyed, 83% (nineteen) felt that creativity is essential. 13% (three) responded with important, and 4% (one) responded with not sure. These results indicated in Table 1 below.
| Importance of creativity in creating chances | Percentage |
| Very important | 83% |
| Important | 13% |
| Not sure | 4% |
| Less important | 0% |
| Not important | 0% |
- How can you rate the effectiveness of imagery/visualization in your team’s performances?
In this section, only 4% (one) of players said that imagery and visualization were important. The other 86% (twenty-two) argued that it was very important. These results are in figure 2 below.
Figure 2. The effectiveness of imagery/visualization
- How important do you think visualization and imagery training activities are towards improving team performance?
The team voted unanimously here. All the players said that visualization and imagery training activities were Very important in enhancing team performance, as illustrated in Figure 3 below.
Figure 3: Importance of visualization and imagery training activities.
According to this data, the conclusion that imagery and visualization were vital in improving the team’s performance. This skill was crucial because it enhances creativity among the players. Enhanced creativity helps in enhancing the number of chances created in a basketball match; this increases the probability of scoring goals and winning games.
This session was excellent, albeit a few limitations. One of the limitations comes in the research survey adopted. According to Mcleod (2019), one of the limitations of a Likert scale is that it is a subject of bias because there is no way of controlling or knowing what members think. Responders can fill the wrong information.
In conclusion, this research paper has expounded on the numerous importance of mental skills. The study has found that mental skills require consistent practice and focus on being mastered. The mental abilities strive for improvement during every session and identifying areas that need improvement. After conducting the survey, results show the team had a generally positive attitude toward imagery and to bettering themselves.
References
Bertram, D. (2007). Likert scales.
Brenner, A. (2016). The Benefits of Creative Visualization: How practice (in your mind) makes perfect. Psychology Today. Available online: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/in-flux/201606/the-benefits-creative-visualization
Isaac, A. R., & Marks, D. F. (1994). Individual differences in mental imagery experience: developmental changes and specialization. British Journal of Psychology, 85(4), 479-500.
Hale, B. (1998). Imagery training. London. National Coaching Foundation.
McLeod, S. A. (2019). Likert scale. Simply psychology. Available:https://www.simplypsychology.org/likert-scale.html
Schweitzer, E., & Aurich, J. C. (2010). Continuous improvement of industrial product-service systems. CIRP Journal of Manufacturing Science and Technology, 3(2), 158-164.
Singh, J., & Singh, H. (2015). Continuous improvement philosophy–literature review and directions. Benchmarking: An International Journal.
Zatorre, R. J., Halpern, A. R., & Bouffard, M. (2010). Mental reversal of imagined melodies: a role for the posterior parietal cortex. Journal of cognitive neuroscience, 22(4), 775-789.