Taking The 'Sport' Out of Sports Parenting: Toward A Theory of Sport Related Parent-Child Communication Competency

Research has shown that over-emphasis on winning is the number one reason why approximately seventy percent of the forty million children who participate in youth sports will quit by age 13. This study utilized a constructivist grounded theory approach to investigate the role of parent-child communication within the context of youth sports. A total of 22 athletes and 20 parents were recruited through a Western university to discuss messages exchanged during youth sport participation. The results suggest that the delineation between messages of support and pressure is largely dependent on discursive work done by both parent and child. Parents who employed competent communicative strategies to avoid miscommunications regarding participation and sports goals were able to provide support and strengthen the relationship despite pressurized situations. The present study frames the youth sport dilemma within a developing conceptualization of communicative (in)competence and offers theoretical implications for sport related parent-child communication competency (SRPCCC).

Expert Approaches to Mental Toughness Development in the High Risk Sport of Diving

Research focusing on mental toughness development and high risk sport is limited to one examination of elite gymnasts' perceptions. Coaches have acknowledged that mental toughness is important to performance success, while admitting they do not know effective development strategies. The aim of the current research is to address both these concerns by employing a grounded theory approach to ascertain elite diving coaches perceptions of mental toughness development and what mental toughness is. Seven diving coaches volunteered and were interviewed for an average of 49 minutes. They all coached an athlete that participated either in the world championships or Olympic games since 2008. Participants reported that mental toughness was the ability of a diver to perform a movement in a crucial moment that requires focus, extending beyond their comfort zone, overcoming fear, and never giving up. Mentaltoughness may not be the appropriate term due to its lack of multicultural sensitivity. Participants felt that dealing with adversity was something divers would have to constantly process. Mental toughness can be developed by the coach, the environment, or individual athlete. Unique attributes specific to divers were an awareness of self and a distinct level of knowing what the athlete was going to do. More research needs to be conducted to determine if these concepts can be generalized to other high risk sports. Future research could help establish a valid quantitative measure of mental toughness development.

An Evaluation of Sport Psychology Service Delivery in Collegiate Athletics

Sport and Performance Psychology is an ever-evolving specialty. While its development continues, it has not been without its challenges. Sport and performance psychologists work in a variety of settings and often come from similar, yet inherently different, training backgrounds. Individuals from both sport sciences and psychology have made compelling arguments as to which approach provides quality services to their respective clients. The question that remains, however, is what are these quality services? Who are the clients and what do they need from professionals in the field?Collegiate student athletes inherently face a number of typical issues related to their age and development. They also face a number of atypical difficulties as a result of their status as student athletes. As such, they provide an adequate sample of potential presenting issues for sport and performance psychologists. This current study utilized a qualitative, exploratory method to evaluate the presenting issues that brought clients to seek services from professionals.This paper seeks to establish a foundation for the development of a theoretical basis of the psychology of human performance, including both performance and general mental health concerns, and how sport and performance psychologists can most effectively intervene in this process. This paper is based on an analysis of seven years of service delivery within a NCAA Division I athletic department.Results indicate that collegiate student athletes seek services related to performance enhancement and general mental health at relative equal frequency. As such, training and service delivery in both areas would be most beneficial and best serve this population.  

Exploring Existentially-Based Interventions For Career Transitions in Sport

From Introduction: Career transition issues have become of increasing interest in the field of sport psychology. Confronting the end of an athletic career is an inevitable reality that every athlete will confront in his or her lifetime (Baillie, 1993), regardless of level of competition (Kerr & Dacyshyn, 2000) or the amount of free choice related to the transition. Many athletes are able to cope with the effects of the transition process effectively, and see retirement as an opportunity to pursue new ventures and identity roles in life. However, retirement from sport can be an event that often results in various adjustment difficulties for an athlete involving emotional, social, financial, and vocational conflicts. Some athletes have reported experiencing effects such as depression, eating disorders, decreased self-esteem, increased suicidality, and substance abuse (Kerr and Dacyshyn, 2000). These types of distress can be exacerbated by the fact that many athletes fail to adequately anticipate and prepare for their impending transition (Baillie, 1993), and often embark on the retirement process without any formalized support (Stier, 2007).Typically, the role of a sport psychologist has been to assist in maximizing an athlete's competitive performance during the course of their career. However, as a sport psychologist's primary responsibility is to serve active competitors and athletic organizations, this tends to come at the expense of failing to provide follow-up care for the athlete as he or she retires from sport (Taylor, Ogilvie, and Lavallee, 2006). Since the 1970's, when the efforts of professionals in European sports organizations first received attention, there has been growing interest in academic circles about career transition

A Student's Perspective on Graduate Training in Sport Psychology

This article aims to add to the limited literature related to graduate training in applied sport psychology – specifically from the perspective of a current graduate student. The paper begins with a discussion about the evolving definitions of sport psychology and applied sport psychology as well as a brief history of sport psychology. Next, reasons why graduate students pursue the fields of sport psychology and applied sport psychology along with how this impacts their decisions related to graduate training are examined. Then, literature as well as personal experiences from the author related to education, supervision, practica and internships, mentorship, and certification are explored. Finally, recommendations are provided for students considering graduate training in applied sport psychology.

Women sport injuries: a retrospective study of elite windsurfers

This study was designed to identify the injuries of professional women windsurfers, from their anatomical location, type of sport, context when they occurred, type of injury, the time of inactivity as a result of the same, the type of health care received and the relationship between the number of injuries and the position in the final classification of professional windsurfing competitions. We gave a retrospective questionnaire to 18 women elite windsurfers, who took part in the World Cup competition held in Fuerteventura (2008). Women are injured more frequently during training than competition (77.8%; p<0.05 vs. 20.5%). Women suffer leg injuries more than men (83.3%; p<0.05 vs. 14.3%) in freestyle. Serious injuries were more frequent for women (66.7%; p<0.05 vs. 28.2%) and the time of inactivity due to the injury was shorter for women (50%; p<0.05 vs. 20.5%). These results indicate that female windsurfers are more liable to suffer injuries, generally serious, during training sessions. Freestyle involves a greater risk of leg injuries for women. The knee is the area where most injuries occur, both for men and women, followed by the legs.

Sighted volunteers’ motivations to assist people with visual impairments in freetime sport activities

Since the changing of the political and economic system in 1989-1990 in Hungary, volunteer movements have appeared all over the country. Volunteers of different ages and socioeconomic backgrounds are engaged in a wide range of activities, wishing to add values to the lives of others in need, hoping to improve their micro or/and macro environment. Volunteering has also appeared in the field of sport, and the work of a large number of nongovernmental sport organisations is strongly dependent on volunteers’ participation. In the socialist era disability sports were neglected by the state. The new democratic state has been paying increasing attention to disability sports and volunteers have been a great asset in improving the accessibility of spare time sport activities. The present empirical research investigates which factors motivate sighted volunteers to join Hungarian Sports and Leisure Association for the Visually Impaired (Látássérültek Szabadidős Sportegyesülete, LÁSS). Results confirm that joining LÁSS was in few cases (N=3) attributed to having parental or other family relations with blind or partially sighted people. Respondents unanimously admit to have a wish to share the joy of physical activity with their visually impaired peers.

Profiling in sport using momentum and perturbations

Examining a team’s performance from a physical point of view their momentum might indicate unexpected turning points in defeat or success. Physicists describe this value as to require some effort to be started, but also that it is relatively easy to keep it going once a sufficient level is reached (Reed and Hughes, 2006). Unlike football, rugby, handball and many more sports, a regular volleyball match is not limited by time but by points that need to be gathered. Every minute more than one point is won by either one team or the other. That means a series of successive points enlarges the gap between the teams making it more and more difficult to catch up with the leading one. This concept of gathering momentum, or the reverse in a performance, can give the coaches, athletes and sports scientists further insights into winning and losing performances. Momentum investigations also contain dependencies between performances or questions if future performances are reliant upon past streaks. Squash and volleyball share the characteristic of being played up to a certain amount of points. Squash was examined according to the momentum of players by Hughes et al. (2006). The initial aim was to expand normative profiles of elite squash players using momentum graphs of winners and errors to explore ‘turning points’ in a performance. Dynamic systems theory has enabled the definition of perturbations in sports exhibiting rhythms (Hughes et al., 2000; McGarry et al., 2002; Murray et al., 2008), and how players and teams cause these disruptions of rhythm can inform on the way they play, these techniques also contribute to profiling methods. Together with the analysis of one’s own performance it is essential to have an understanding of your oppositions’ tactical strengths and weaknesses. By modelling the oppositions’ performance it is possible to predict certain outcomes and patterns, and therefore intervene or change tactics before the critical incident occurs. The modelling of competitive sport is an informative analytic technique as it directs the attention of the modeller to the critical aspects of data that delineate successful performance (McGarry & Franks, 1996). Using tactical performance profiles to pull out and visualise these critical aspects of performance, players can build justified and sophisticated tactical plans. The area is discussed and reviewed, critically appraising the research completed in this element of Performance Analysis.

Community Size in Youth Sport Settings: Examining Developmental Assets and Sport Withdrawal

Despite the popularity of youth sport programs, little research has examined the psychosocial benefits assumed to stem from involvement. Some studies suggest birthplace influences the development of elite athletes, but little work has examined other influences of community contexts. The purpose of this study was to examine relationships between young athletes’ community size, developmental assets, and sport involvement. Current and recently withdrawn competitive swimmers (N = 181) completed the Developmental Assets Profile (Search Institute, 2004). Athletes from smaller cities had significantly higher developmental asset scores for support, commitment to learning, and boundaries/expectations. Further, community size was a significant predictor of withdrawal. Findings suggest community context should be given additional attention in youth sport literature.

An Evaluation of Personal and Contextual Factors in Competitive Youth Sport

Because millions of youth are involved in sport, the sport context is important to consider in advancing the growth experiences of young people (Cˆot´e et al., 2007; Fraser-Thomas et al., 2005). Furthermore, research in developmental psychology has highlighted the value of structured programs, including sport, in helping to promote positive youth development (Fredricks & Eccles, 2006). Youth sport involvement has been linked to high levels of enjoyment (Scanlan et al., 1989), however, negative outcomes, such as burnout, have also been reported (Gould et al., 1996). In the present study, the Developmental Assets Profile (Search Institute, 2004) was used to explore personal (internal assets) and contextual (external assets) outcomes associated with youth sport. Results suggest that three particular assets (positive identity, empowerment, and support) are important to focus on in youth sport programs to decrease burnout symptoms and enhance enjoyment. Path analyses were also conducted to test a proposed model and exploratory results confirmed links of particular assets to sport outcomes. The results are discussed in terms of integration with Bronfenbrenner’s ecological theory (1999) and recommendations are suggested for sport programmers to consider to develop these assets within youth sport.

ISSP Position Stand: To Test or Not to Test? The Use of Physical Skill Tests in Early Phases of Sport Development

A Searching for talent and the assessing ability in young prospects from individual and team sports often include measurement, analysis, and evaluation of physical and motor skills. The use of these tests in early stages of talent development has been widely observed in both female and male prospects. The purpose of this paper is to review a series of studies conducted on talented and less-talented athletes/ players that were aimed at distinguishing between the two groups and at predicting the athletes’/players’ future achievements/success. Thirteen studies examining the use of physical and motor skill tests in young prospects are reviewed. Based on this review, four main observations are highlighted and a number of benefits and limitations associated with the use of such tests are discussed. It is recommended that (1) coaches reduce the number of batteries of physical and motor skill tests used in early phases of talent development and (2) coaches and sport scientists specializing in measurement and evaluation cooperate in order to improve the effectiveness of the application and interpretation of physical skill tests given to prospects at early stages of talent development.

Tracing the Origins of Athlete Development Models in Sport: a Citation Path Analysis

Reviews of the sport psychology literature have identified a number of models of athlete development in sport (Alfermann & Stambulova, 2007; Durand-Bush &Salmela, 2001). However, minimal research has investigated the origins of knowledge from which each model was developed. The purpose of this study was to systematically examine the influential texts responsible for providing the basis of athlete development models in sport. A citation path analysis of the sport psychology literature was used to generate a knowledge development path of seven athlete development models in sport. The analysis identified influential texts and authors in the conceptualization of athlete development. The popula-tion of 229 texts (articles, books, book chapters) was selected in two phases. Phase1 texts were articles citing seven articles depicting models of athlete development(n  75). Phase 2 included texts cited three or more times by Phase 1 articles (n  154). The analysis revealed how the scholarship of Benjamin Bloom (1985) has been integrated into the field of sport psychology, and how two articles appearing in 1993 and 2003 helped shape present conceptualizations of athlete development

Examining Adolescent Sport Dropout and Prolonged Engagement from a Developmental Perspective

This study examined youth sport dropout and prolonged engagement from a developmental perspective focusing on physical and psychosocial factors. Twenty-five dropout and 25 engaged adolescent swimmers, matched on key demographic variables, participated in a retrospective interview. Results indicated that dropouts were involved in fewer extra-curricular activities, less unstructured swimming play, and received less one-on-one coaching throughout development. Dropouts reached several developmental milestones (i.e., started training camps, started dry land training, and were top in club) earlier than engaged athletes. Dropouts were more likely to have had parents who were high-level athletes in their youth, were more likely to be the youngest in their training group, and were less likely to have a best friend at swimming. Findings are discussed in relation to past research; future directions and implications for researchers, sport programmers, coaches, and parents are suggested.

Understanding Dropout and Prolonged Engagement in Adolescent Competitive Sport

Objectives: The purpose of this study is to gain understanding of training patterns and roles of significant others (i.e. coaches, parents, peers, and siblings) in adolescent swimmers’ sport participation patterns. Design: The developmental model of sport participation [Côté, J., Baker, J., & Abernethy, B. (2003). From play to practice: A developmental framework for the acquisition of expertise in team sport. In J. Starkes, & K. A. Ericsson (Eds.), Recent advances in research on sport expertise (pp. 89–114). Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics; Côté, J., & Fraser-Thomas, J. (2007). Youth involvement in sport. In P. R. E. Crocker (Ed.), Introduction to sport psychology: A Canadian perspective (pp. 266–294). Toronto: Pearson Prentice Hall] was used as a framework. Method: Ten dropout and 10 engaged swimmers, matched on key demographic variables participated in a semi-structured qualitative interview. Results: Groups had many similar experiences (e.g. early training, supportive and unsupportive coaches, involved parents). However, only dropouts spoke of early peak performances, limited one-on-one coaching, pressuring parents during adolescence, lack of swimming peers during adolescence, and sibling rivalries. In contrast, only engaged athletes spoke of clubs’ developmental philosophies, coaches’ and parents’ open communication, school friends’ support, and siblings’ general positive influences. Conclusions: Findings highlight the importance of appropriately structured programs and the fragility of athletes’ relationships with significant others during the adolescent years. Implications for sport programmers, coaches, and parents are discussed.

Involving Immigrants in Youth Sport Coaching: Part 1. A Literature Review and Quantitative Profile

Little, if any, previous research has investigated the involvement of immigrants in sport coaching. This is the first of a series of two articles that focus on this issue. In this article, following a general literature review, structured retrospective interviews (n = 29) are used to construct a profile of immigrant youth sport coaches. Two distinct profiles were identified: (a) leisure-oriented coaches, who had not coached prior to immigration; and (b) career-oriented coaches, who had coached prior to immigration Statistically significant differences (p < .05) were found between groups relating to athletic experience, sport-related education, time between immigration and initiation of coaching, and coaching of their own children Separate pathways to coaching involvement after immigration were identified for both profiles.