Social Persuasion In Sports Psychology

Sport psychology involves many professions including researchers, teachers and consultants (Weinberg and Gould, 2011). The European Federation of Sport Psychology (1996) defines it as ‘the study of the psychological basis, processes and effects of sport’. Sport psychologists help athletes overcome problems hindering their performance (American Psychological Association, 2017). Demands for psychologists have increased over the years and will continue to rise (British Association of Sport and Exercise Sciences (BASES), 2017b; Tod, 2010). Nicholls and Callard (2012) identified the two goals of sport psychology as; ensuring psychological well-being of athletes and maximising sporting performance. Sport psychology is not an instant fix for problems

Social persuasion is associated with confidence, because this will increase the likelihood of good feedback (Mind Tools, 2017b). Getting the client to watch other people’s jumps that closely match the abilities and qualities of the client can help boost her confidence levels as motivation (Bandura, 1997). Using vicarious experiences are a powerful source of self-efficacy to allow the client to find her own strategies to attain desired goals (Wise and Trunnell, 2001). When used as an intervention it has been very effective in enhancing behaviour-specific self-efficacy (Ashford, Edmunds and French, 2010). Confidence is classed as an emotional state, therefore if the client becomes anxious about a jump, due to her injury, her confidence will also deteriorate (Karageorghis and Terry,

Therefore, this could cause anxiety. Once the client has manifested (paid to jump), she should start preparing with vicarious experiences (Wise and Trunnell, 2001). This would be a good time for the client to read over the six most important things she needs to be successful. This would include practicing her exit from the plane, freefall routine, reserve drills and checking the wind directions so she knows the landing pattern.

Due to the skydiver returning from injury, she should start building up to her original abilities again. This needs to be done slowly, to allow her to be more confident about simpler jumps, possibly making it easier for her to execute tougher jumps. Fear of physical injury, disappointing others and spectators are three main threats that can affect the client’s self-confidence (Karageorghis and Priest, 2011). To combat this, the client needs to focus primarily on her performance and not what others