Welcome
to the February 2005 Coaching & Sports section!
This issue is the third in a series featuring original articles
prepared by graduate students in the Kinesiology department at California
State University, Fresno. As part of a graduate course assignment,
the students were asked to select a coaching or sport topic, and
provide an overview and practical suggestions. The students were
challenged to integrate the latest scientific findings with their
personal experiences as coaches, teachers, administrators, athletes,
consultants, and/or officials.
In this month’s issue, we are proud to feature two original
and thought-provoking articles focused around this month’s
PELINKS4U theme of ‘healthy hearts’. In the first article
Virginia Jenkins presents evidence for how the mind can be used
to heal the body and prevent athletic injuries. In the second article
Amy McRae discusses strategies for combating steroid use in high
school athletics.
We hope you enjoy these feature articles. Several announcements
related to coaching science and coach development are also posted
in this issue. Please don’t hesitate to contact us if you
would like to comment on these articles, or submit your own ideas
for publication.
Wade Gilbert and Jenelle N. Gilbert
Coaching & Sports Section Editors
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Changing
Injury Rate by Changing the Mind
Virginia Jenkins, California State University, Fresno
As sport participation has increased, injuries have become a factor
in team success and athlete participation at all levels of play.
The result of this increase totals approximately 17 million sport
injuries reported annually (Cupal, 1998).
Injury prevention strategies have been implemented by coaches and
players by including warm-up, stretching, cool-down and strength
training. Although these physical interventions can greatly assist
in decreasing injury occurrence among athletes, psychological factors
also play a significant role in injury prevention.
Some of the major factors when dealing with psychological aspects
of injury prevention are stress, stress management, and personality
traits of individual athletes. A coach who is able to address these
factors, along with the physical, provides a well rounded environment
that facilitates sport skill improvement, as well as injury protection.
Psychological Factors of Injury
Among the psychological factors that affect injury rate, stress
- and specifically life event stress - has been the most widely
studied. Studies involving athletes in situations with high life-event
stress show injury occurrences to be 2-5 times that of athletes
without significant life-event stress (Williams, 2000).
Stress causes an increased level of psychological arousal, and
in turn reduced concentration leading to increased muscle tension,
poor execution of skills, and subsequent injury (Madden, 1995).
In other words, an athlete is able to maintain greater focus when
he is not experiencing stress from sources outside of the playing
field.
This greater focus allows the athlete to properly and safely execute
the moves and skills involved in competition. Improper execution
of these skills has the potential to be harmful and cause injury,
thus it is important to reduce potentially distracting stress.
One way to counteract stress is to teach the athlete how to properly
view and cope with stressors. One study has shown a 52% decrease
in injury rate when stress reduction techniques were employed (Kerr,
1996).
Athletes differ greatly in the way they view and cope with stress,
thus the personality of each athlete plays a role in their response
to stress, and injury rate in relation to stress. The perception
of whether a situation is stressful is entirely up to personal interpretation.
By understanding an athlete's personality, and tendencies in regards
to how they view themselves and stress, coaches may be able to help
an athlete learn proper ways of stress management. This may be an
effective method to reduce the risk of sustaining injury.
Psychological hardiness is a trait that is seen in some athletes,
and may display the ability to properly view and cope with stress.
This trait of hardiness involves the combination of curiosity, willingness
to commit, seeing change as a challenge, and feeling of control
over one’s life. Understanding and encouraging these traits
among young athletes may assist in resisting injury over the course
of their athletic career.
Illness occurrence had been studied along with injury rate because
of similar trends when psychological stress is considered. Individuals
that possess these traits have shown to have a decreased likelihood
of illness in response to stress in multiple studies (Anderson,
1988). Thus, athletes possessing traits related to hardiness may
have an increased ability to resist illness as well as injury.
Coping with Stress 
So, if this is all true, what are the techniques used to encourage
proper coping and stress management?
Social support may influence injury outcome by decreasing the negative
effects of life event stress, or by influencing the way an individual
responds under stressful situations (Andersen, 1988; Williams, 1991).
Since it is hard to change the social support offered to an athlete
outside of the practice and game sessions, it may be beneficial
to build social support within the team itself.
One way of improving the social support in a team atmosphere is
to build team cohesion. Cohesion is defined as "a dynamic process
which is reflected in the tendency for a group to stick together
and remain united in the pursuit of goals and objectives" (Carron,
1982, p. 124). By improving team cohesion, a coach is able to encourage
friendship and trust to be built between players. With this comes
a sense of belonging and safety within the team and gives the athletes
a group of peers to give support during hard or stressful situations.
There are many theories on what is the most effective form of team
cohesion such as, developing 'ownership,' setting team goals, learning
individual roles, and developing games that encourage cooperation
(Cox, 2002, p. 340-1).
The method I have found to be most effective is a combination of
developing games that encourage team cooperation as well as facilitating
"ownership." Teams that are challenged to complete a task,
such as climbing a 10 foot wall or leading a blindfolded player
through a rough terrain, allow individuals to work together differently
than during normal competition. These situations also encourage
leaders to rise up and take control of the group when the coach
is not able to step in.
Ownership of the team is another factor that encourages team cohesion.
Ownership is facilitated by allowing players to make decisions,
fix problems, and provide input while being guided by a positive
coach. The players will not only follow positive directional cues,
they will begin to come together to form a more unified group as
they consider decisions and outcomes together. By having a sense
of ownership, an athlete feels as if he is involved in decisions
and is able to be involved in the direction and success of the team.
Mental Imagery
Another strategy to assist athletes in coping with stress, as well
as improve performance, is mental imagery. Mental imagery is "using
all the senses to re-create or create an experience in the mind"
(Vealey & Greenleaf, 2001, p. 248). Mental imagery can enhance
an athlete’s concentration leading to enhanced performance,
as well as decrease the occurrence of injury (Nideffer, 2004). The
goal of mental imagery is to provide the brain with the experience
of competition prior to actual physical competition, as well as
allow the rehearsal of different scenarios and situations.
The brain cannot tell between an actual physical event and the
vivid imagery of the same event, thus using imagery is a productive
method of preparing for competition (Cox, 2002, p. 262). By experiencing
the situation ahead of time, the brain is better able to react quickly
and appropriately to the stimuli that will be presented in the game
or practice situation.
continued top of next column |
| If you have
ideas, comments, letters to share, or questions about particular
topics, please email one of the following Coaching Section Editors:
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| Last
month's section editor suggested that "the organization
of school sports needs rethinking." Several readers
disagreed. See their comments, and post
your own thoughts on the forum. |
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from previous column
There are many methods of practicing mental imagery. One that I
have often used, as well as encouraged others to use, is visually
"watching" myself playing the game. Many of my pre-game
routines included sitting in the empty stadium where my next soccer
game was to be played and "watching" the game. I visualized
playing in different scenarios and situations, where the ball would
be, and who was surrounding me.
The key component to this visualization is success. If an athlete
"watches" himself make a mistake, he has now practiced
a mistake and is less likely to actually make a mistake when that
situation arises. By visualizing success, he has practiced the movements
and thoughts associated with success and will be more likely to
succeed.
Facilitation of this form of mental imagery is a fairly simple
process. As a coach you may choose to walk the athletes through
a game situation, setting up the scene which will surround actual
competition by describing the field, the crowd, and the weather.
Then setting up scenarios which the athlete will participate in,
and allow him to mentally work through the situation.
I have been on both the giving and receiving end of this form
of mental imagery and have experienced the assurance that comes
from knowing that I have practiced those situations which challenge
me the most prior to competition. By practicing mental imagery the
athlete should have an extra calmness, as well as assurance for
their ability. This facilitates better movement mechanics and skill
execution, and subsequent resistance to injury as discussed previously.
The road to injury prevention does not have one path. There are
many factors that, when combined, provide athletes with a wide variety
of methods for staying injury free. Considering the psychology behind
competition is an important area that demands consideration when
striving to prevent injury. Its inclusion is also fairly easy to
incorporate into training to better enable athletes to play their
best at every practice and competition.
About the Author:
Virginia Jenkins is
a graduate student at California State University, Fresno, studying
Exercise Science. She has participated in many years of athletic
competition, including 4 years as a division 1 collegiate athlete
as well as 1 year as a semi-professional athlete. She is now a coach
assisting two teams to section championships.
Bibliography
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| Performance
Enhancing Drugs: Should We Test High School Athletes?
Amy McRae, California State University, Fresno
Although some elite athletes use performance enhancing drugs, I
am more concerned about the statistics from another demographic.
High school athletes are also using anabolic-androgenic steroids.
Anabolic refers to the increase of muscular size and strength, and
androgenic refers to the masculinizing effects on the user.
According to a recent national study by Blue Cross, steroid use
among teenage athletes is on the rise. This means that the percentages
are up from 1988 when a study involving 3,403 male high school seniors
reported that 6.6% had used anabolic-androgenic steroids, and that
over two thirds of that group had begun at age 16 or younger.
Due to the way our society honors the idea of sport, we must be
aware of the fact that some high school athletes are using performance-enhancing
drugs. School athletes have been sent the message that drugs are
an effective way to succeed in sports. Many athletes would enjoy
competition more if they knew that everyone else was starting at
the same, clean point. Unfortunately, this is not the case.
Paula Radcliffe, a British track athlete, submitted her solution
to anti-doping to the World Conference on Doping in Sport. She touched
on the uncertainty and mental struggles that athletes go through
when participating in competitions, due to the wide and undetected
use of performance-enhancing drugs. She also described how it robs
a clean winner of their victory because of suspicions.
Doping affects records, histories, the credibility of the game,
and most importantly - the health of the athlete. Due to the developing
interests of high school athletes, and their desire to succeed in
the same way as their professional sport role models, I suggest
that drug testing should begin at the high school level. If we can
squelch glorified and non-consequential ideas of performance-enhancing
drug use at a young age, we may see a decline in this harmful practice
as athletes continue on to elite levels.
I am not the only one who holds this same view. In 2002, the University
Interscholastic League (UIL) agreed to survey school districts in
Texas, asking the question of whether high school athletes should
be tested for steroids.
Attempting to "Inject" Confidence
At some time during their career, all athletes are faced with various
mental and physical challenges that affect their performance. One
of the mental struggles that each athlete deals with is confidence.
Confidence can be related to achievement and preparation. Achievement
has to do with demonstrating your ability to others, winning, mastering
and improving skills, and achieving goals. Preparation focuses on
physical and mental training, and knowing one is ready for the situation.
Whether or not the athlete views performance-enhancing drugs as
positive or negative may strongly depend on how the athlete perceives
their success in these two areas.
White and Zelner (1996) performed a study that looked at male and
female high school, intercollegiate, and college-age recreational
sport participants, and examined the link between an individual's
personal goals, general thoughts about how sport operates, and trait
anxiety level prior to or during competition. Two goal orientations,
task and ego, were also examined. A task orientation is associated
with the belief that success comes from the effort and improvement
of a skill, while ego orientation deals with the belief that success
is defined by how well a person performs in relation to others.
The results of the study revealed that sport participants higher
in ego orientation believed that taking an illegal advantage, such
as blood doping, would lead to success in sport. Overall, high school
athletes were more ego oriented than intercollegiate athletes. Further,
high school male athletes were more apt, than intercollegiate males
and all the female athletic groups, to believe using an illegal
advantage, such as performance enhancing drugs, would lead to success
in sport. This is not to suggest that high school athletes will
definitely be more drawn to drug use; however, there is a relationship
that warrants further attention and study.
What are Anabolic Steroids?
Anabolic-androgenic steroids are protein building drugs whose chemical
structures have been modified in ways that alter which tissues they
affect, and increase the time that they stay in effective bodily
circulation. These drugs enter the body orally or by injection,
and proceed to target different areas. This process results in increased
weight, enhanced strength and endurance, and may increase aggressiveness.
Usually, physicians prescribe them to men who are deficient in
normal testicular function, and also to treat a few rare medical
conditions. When I say rare, I mean that there has been no case
in six years in the NCAA of an athlete who requested an anabolic
steroid waver to treat a rare medical condition. However, not all
steroids are anabolic, and not all are bad. Other types, such as
cortisone and prednisone, are used to treat severe inflammation
and asthma.
Harms of Performance-enhancing Drug Use
As coaches, teachers, and parents, we need to be educated on
the signs, symptoms, and dangers of performance enhancing drugs.
In some cases, you may be able to detect a possible user simply
by knowing what to look for.
Men, using anabolic-androgenic steroids, usually experience increased
secretion of skin oils resulting in acne, development of breast
tissue with painful or tender swelling, reduced fertility during
use, reduction in testicular size, and increased body hair although
decreased scalp hair in men predisposed to balding.
For women, there is a general masculinization due to increased
levels of testosterone. This results is the development of a male
physique, increased body hair, failure to ovulate, deepening of
the voice, and genitalia enlargement. Continued top of next column
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from previous column
In addition to these non life-threatening symptoms, the use of
steroids may also result in increased bad cholesterol, high blood
pressure, heart attack, stroke, liver tumors, cancer and even
death. Risks associated with injection are: local abscesses, infections
and fever from contaminants, hepatitis, AIDS, and nerve damage
from improper injection into the muscle. In adolescents, steroid
use may cause premature closure of the long bones resulting in
a shorter than predicted adult height.
In addition to the physical effects of steroids, psychological
effects also exist. Due to ethical conflicts, athletes have been
known to experience extreme guilt when using performance enhancing
drugs.
Strelan and Boeckmann (2003) created "The Drugs in Sport
Deterrence Model" which lists possible material (prize money,
sponsorship, enhanced career options), social (acknowledgement
by important others), and internalized (satisfaction of high achievement)
benefits of performance enhancing drugs on the athlete. Once an
athlete has been given a taste of "what they could be"
with the help of steroids, they are more apt to become addicted
to those feelings.
Defeating Performance Related Drug Abuse
The first line of defense for deterring high school athletes
from using steroids is you. Coaches, athletic trainers, teachers,
parents, relatives, and friends all have the ability to educate
our youth on the harms and consequences of drug use. However,
by sending the message to the athlete that they must "win
at all costs," or always perform their best without any emphasis
on their ability to question this way of thinking, you are encouraging
them to find external sources of strength, power, and endurance.
You may also look into instituting a policy on anabolic steroid
use. The National Strength and Conditioning Association set up
a series of guidelines to follow. The first step in this process
is determining if the school currently has a policy on steroid
use. If not, the next step is to set up a committee consisting
of school administrators, parents, school nurse or district consultant,
coaches, athletes, and students.
To look into this further, you may visit their website at www.NSCA.com.
The site also contains a steroid information packet which includes
suggestions for further reading and examples of an athlete’s
pledge, a letter from the coach to the school administration asking
to implement the NSCA’s steroid education and intervention
program, and also a letter soliciting parent support in combating
the problem. The NSCA also provides funding for schools that are
beginning to implement an anti-steroid program.
In conclusion, I would like to state again that I believe anabolic-androgenic
drug testing at the high school level is a much needed intervention,
and will act as a deterrent to begin or continue steroid use.
If we can begin the process of halting this problem where it starts,
we may begin to see less injuries, illnesses, and deaths as athletes
progress in their sport.
About the Author:
Amy McRae is a graduate
student at California State University, Fresno, who is pursuing
her Master’s Degree in Sport Psychology. She can be reached
at amers22@csufresno.edu.
Bibliography
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New Coaching Science Publications -jump |
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The Sport Psychologist
- Special Issue Call for Papers (Coach Education) - jump |
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National Coaching Education
Conference - jump |
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Association for the Advancement
of Applied Sport Psychology - Coaching Special
Interest Group |
New Coaching Science Publications
Cassidy, T., Jones, R., & Potrac, P. (2004). Understanding
sports coaching: The social, cultural and pedagogical foundations
of coaching practice. London: Routledge. Can be found at Amazon.com
Gilbert, W. D., with Jackson, C. (2004). In search of an effective
coaching style. USOC Olympic Coach E-Magazine, Winter. Retrieved
from American
College of Sports Medicine.
Gilbert, W.D., & Trudel, P. (2004). Analysis of coaching science
research published from 1970-2001. Research Quarterly for Exercise
and Sport, 75, 388-399.
Johnson, C.A., & Gilbert, J.N. (2004). The psychological uniform:
Using mental skills in youth sport. Strategies, 18(2),
5-9.
Special Issue Call for Papers
Coach Education
The editorial board of The Sport Psychologist (TSP) recently approved
a special issue devoted to coach education in partnership with the
International Council for Coach Education (ICCE). An international
group of coach education designers and researchers first proposed
the special issue at the 2003 ICCE Global Coach Conference and General
Assembly held in Vancouver, Canada.
The objective of the special issue is to publish high quality manuscripts
that will provide an international perspective on current research
in coach education. Both applied research and professional practice
articles are appropriate for this issue. Authors are encouraged
to submit manuscripts that provide a conceptual overview of a topic,
theme, or program related to coach education supported by examples
of empirical data. Manuscripts must also clearly discuss implications
for coach education and areas for future research on this topic.
It is anticipated that the special issue will serve as a contemporary
resource for individuals involved in coach education research, development,
and implementation. Submissions must be consistent with the TSP
mission statement and will be subject to the regular review process.
Authors interested in submitting a manuscript for this special
issue must first submit a 2-page abstract to the guest editor by
February 28, 2005. Abstracts may be submitted electronically. Invitations
to submit a full-length manuscript will be sent to authors whose
abstracts most closely fit the theme and design of the special issue.
An invitation to submit a full-length manuscript does not guarantee
publication in the special issue.
Wade Gilbert, Ph.D.
TSP Guest Editor: Coach Education
Department of Kinesiology
California State University, Fresno
Fresno, CA 93740 USA
Email: wgilbert@csufresno.edu
National Coaching Education
Conference
Plan now to attend the 2005 National Coaching Education Conference
in sunny Florida June 9 - 11.
NASPE and NCACE are pleased to again partner with the USA Coaching
Coalition members (NAIA, NCAA, National Federation of High Schools,
and the United States Olympic Committee) for the annual conference
for coaching educators outlining what coaches should know and be
able to do, and how to train them through quality programming.
Conference details are now on the web at www.NCACEinfo.org
under "2005 National Coaching Education Conference", or
go directly to the conference details.
Program information will be available shortly. Please contact me
with questions in the meantime, or our Marketing (Christy Eaton
- ceaton@aahperd.org) and
Advertising (Rob Crowe - rcrowe@aahperd.org)
Department for information on how to promote your programs, products,
and services. Hope to see you in Lake Buena Vista this June!
Christine Bolger
Program Administrator for Sport
The National Association for Sport and Physical Education
1900 Association Drive
Reston, Virginia 20191
703.476.3417 phone
703/476.8316 fax
Association for the Advancement
of Applied Sport Psychology - Coaching Special Interest Group
Members of the Association for the Advancement of Applied Sport
Psychology (AAASP) are starting a coaching psychology special interest
group (SIG). Please contact Wade Gilbert (wgilbert@csufresno.edu)
if you are interested in participating in this SIG. Please note
that you must be a member of AAASP to join the SIG. Membership information
for AAASP is available at www.aaasponline.org
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