What you'll learn
Sports psychology is the study of how the mind affects learning and performance in sport, including how skills are classified, how goals are set, how information is processed, how performers are guided and given feedback, and how arousal, aggression, personality and motivation shape what they do. In AQA GCSE Physical Education (8582) it is part of Paper 2: Socio-cultural influences and well-being in physical activity and sport (1 hour 15 minutes, 78 marks, 30% of the GCSE). This guide covers skill and ability, the four skill classifications, performance and outcome goals and SMART targets, the basic information processing model, the four types of guidance and the types of feedback, the inverted-U theory of arousal, stress management techniques, direct and indirect aggression, introvert and extrovert personalities, and intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. Note that AQA's version of SMART uses Accepted, not "Achievable".
Key terms and definitions
Skill — A learned action, or learned behaviour, with the intention of bringing about pre-determined results, with maximum certainty and minimum outlay of time and energy.
Ability — An inherited, stable trait that determines an individual's potential to learn or acquire a skill.
Performance goal — A goal based on personal improvement, judged against your own previous performance, with no comparison with others.
Outcome goal — A goal focused on the end result, such as winning.
Selective attention — Focusing on the relevant information and ignoring what is irrelevant.
Guidance — Information given to help a performer learn or improve a skill.
Feedback — Information a performer receives about their performance, during or after it.
Arousal — A physical and mental (physiological and psychological) state of alertness or readiness, varying from deep sleep to intense excitement.
Direct aggression — Aggression that involves physical contact with others, such as a tackle in rugby or a punch in boxing.
Indirect aggression — Aggression that does not involve physical contact; it is taken out on an object to gain an advantage, such as hitting a ball hard in tennis.
Introvert — A personality type that is shy, quiet and thoughtful, and enjoys being alone.
Extrovert — A personality type that is sociable, enthusiastic, talkative and prefers interaction with others.
Intrinsic motivation — The drive from within, such as pride, satisfaction and a sense of achievement.
Extrinsic motivation — The drive to perform well or to win in order to gain external rewards.
Core concepts
Skill and ability
Skills are learned through practice, whereas abilities are largely inherited. Abilities such as balance, coordination and reaction time underpin skills: a gymnast needs good balance to learn a handstand, and a goalkeeper needs quick reactions to learn to save penalties.
Classifying skills
Skills are placed on continua (scales) because few skills are completely one thing or the other.
- Basic (simple) to complex — basic skills need few decisions, such as running; complex skills need many decisions and a high level of coordination, such as a somersault or a pass in a fast-moving game.
- Open to closed — open skills are affected by the environment and must be adapted, such as a pass in football; closed skills are not affected by the environment and are performed the same way each time, such as a basketball free throw.
- Self-paced to externally paced — the performer controls the start and speed of a self-paced skill, such as a tennis serve; an externally paced skill is started and controlled by something outside the performer, such as receiving a serve or reacting to a starting gun.
- Gross to fine — gross skills use large muscle groups for powerful movements, such as a shot put; fine skills use small muscle groups for precise movements, such as throwing a dart or putting in golf.
You must be able to classify a skill and justify your choice with reference to the sporting example.
Goals and SMART targets
Performance goals compare a performer against their own standards; outcome goals focus on winning or the result. Beginners should mainly use performance goals, because outcome goals rely on factors outside their control, such as the strength of the opposition, and repeated failure to win can demotivate them. Elite performers often use both.
Goals should be SMART:
- Specific — clear and precise.
- Measurable — it must be possible to measure whether the goal has been met.
- Accepted — agreed by the performer and others involved, such as the coach.
- Realistic — challenging but achievable.
- Time-bound — with a set deadline.
Basic information processing
The basic information processing model has four stages:
- Input — information is taken in from the environment through the senses, and selective attention filters out what is irrelevant.
- Decision making — the performer selects a response, using memory. The short-term memory holds information briefly; the long-term memory stores learned skills and past experiences that are recalled to help choose the response.
- Output — the brain sends messages to the muscles to carry out the response.
- Feedback — the performer receives information about the action, which feeds back into the input stage.
You may be asked to draw this as four boxes in sequence, with an arrow from feedback back to input.
Guidance
- Visual guidance uses demonstrations, videos or diagrams. It suits beginners, who need a clear picture of the skill, but the demonstration must be accurate.
- Verbal guidance uses spoken explanation. It suits elite performers, who understand technical language, but too much information can overload a beginner.
- Manual guidance involves physically moving or supporting the performer's body, such as a coach holding a gymnast. It builds confidence and safety.
- Mechanical guidance uses equipment or aids, such as a float in swimming or a harness in trampolining. It helps beginners and makes dangerous skills safer, but the performer may come to rely on it.
Feedback
- Positive feedback tells the performer what they did well; it motivates beginners. Negative feedback points out what was wrong; it is more useful for elite performers, who can act on it.
- Knowledge of results is information about the outcome, such as whether a shot scored; knowledge of performance is information about the quality of the technique.
- Intrinsic feedback comes from within the performer, from the feel of the movement; extrinsic feedback comes from others, such as a coach or teammate.
Beginners benefit most from positive, extrinsic feedback and knowledge of results; elite performers use intrinsic feedback, knowledge of performance and negative feedback to refine skills.
Arousal and the inverted-U theory
The inverted-U theory shows that performance improves as arousal increases, up to an optimal (moderate) level; beyond this, performance gets worse. A correctly labelled graph has arousal on the x-axis and performance on the y-axis. Under-arousal leads to a lack of focus and effort; over-arousal leads to anxiety, poor decisions and mistakes.
The optimal level depends on the skill. Gross skills such as a rugby tackle or weightlifting benefit from higher arousal; fine skills such as archery, snooker or putting need lower arousal.
Stress management techniques
- Deep breathing — slow, deep breaths in through the nose and out through the mouth, focusing on each breath, to lower heart rate and calm the performer.
- Mental rehearsal, visualisation or imagery — picturing the skill being performed successfully before doing it, such as a high jumper imagining a clean clearance.
- Positive self-talk — replacing negative thoughts with encouraging statements, such as "I have practised this, I can do it".
Aggression
Direct aggression involves physical contact with an opponent, such as a tackle in rugby. Indirect aggression is taken out on an object, such as smashing a shuttlecock in badminton. Aggression can be within the rules, as in a legal rugby tackle.
Personality
Introverts tend to prefer individual sports that need concentration, precision, fine skills and low arousal, such as archery or golf. Extroverts tend to prefer team sports with a fast pace, low concentration demands and gross skills, such as rugby or football.
Motivation
Intrinsic motivation comes from within: pride, satisfaction and a sense of achievement. Extrinsic motivation comes from external rewards, which can be tangible (certificates, trophies, medals) or intangible (praise, feedback, applause). Intrinsic motivation is generally deemed more effective, because it is more likely to lead to continued effort and participation. Overusing extrinsic rewards can undermine intrinsic motivation and make performers depend on rewards.
Worked examples
Example 1: Classifying a skill
Question: Classify a penalty kick in football on the open–closed continuum and justify your answer. A penalty kick is towards the closed end, because the ball is stationary, the distance is fixed and the kicker can perform it the same way each time. It is not fully closed, because the kicker may adapt to the goalkeeper's position.
Example 2: Setting a SMART target
A swimmer's current 50 m freestyle time is 32.5 seconds. A SMART target would be: "Reduce my 50 m freestyle time to 31.8 seconds by the county gala in eight weeks, agreed with my coach." It is specific (50 m freestyle), measurable (31.8 seconds), accepted (agreed with the coach), realistic (a small improvement) and time-bound (eight weeks).
Example 3: Choosing guidance
A beginner learning to swim front crawl would benefit from visual guidance (a demonstration) and mechanical guidance (a float). An elite swimmer refining their stroke would benefit more from detailed verbal guidance and video analysis.
Example 4: Applying the inverted-U theory
Before a penalty shoot-out, a footballer's heart is racing and their hands are shaking: they are over-aroused, past the optimal level, so performance is likely to fall. Deep breathing and positive self-talk would lower arousal back towards the optimal point.
Common mistakes and how to avoid them
Do not write "Achievable" for the A in SMART. AQA uses Accepted.
Do not confuse knowledge of results (outcome) with knowledge of performance (technique).
Do not describe aggression as "hostile" or "assertive" in AQA answers. Use direct and indirect.
Do not say high arousal is always bad. The optimal level is higher for gross skills and lower for fine skills.
Do not list tangible and intangible rewards the wrong way round. Tangible rewards can be held (medals); intangible rewards cannot (praise).
Exam technique for "Sports psychology"
Always apply your answer to the sporting example in the question. When classifying skills, state where the skill sits on the continuum and justify it. For guidance and feedback, say whether it suits a beginner or an elite performer and explain why. For the inverted-U theory, be ready to draw and label the graph: arousal on the x-axis, performance on the y-axis, with the optimal point at the top of the curve.
Quick revision summary
- Skill is learned; ability is inherited.
- Classifications: basic–complex, open–closed, self-paced–externally paced, gross–fine.
- Beginners should use performance goals; SMART = Specific, Measurable, Accepted, Realistic, Time-bound.
- Information processing: input (selective attention), decision making (memory), output, feedback.
- Guidance: visual, verbal, manual, mechanical.
- Feedback: positive/negative, knowledge of results/performance, intrinsic/extrinsic.
- Inverted-U: performance peaks at optimal arousal; gross skills need higher arousal, fine skills lower.
- Stress management: deep breathing, mental rehearsal, positive self-talk.
- Aggression: direct (contact) and indirect (via an object).
- Motivation: intrinsic is generally more effective than extrinsic.