Sport Psychology Essay -- Papers

Sport Psychology In earlier days sports psychology was mostly concerned with developing assessment methods that would identify those people with the potential to become serious superior athletes. Today the focus is on psychological training, exercises that strengthen the mental skills that will help athletic performances on the path to excellence. These skills include mental imagery and focus training. If an athlete is serious about becoming the best he or she can possibly be, the most essential ingredient is commitment to practice the right things. It takes incredible commitment to reach the top: a commitment to rest and train the body so it can perform under the most demanding conditions and a commitment to train the mind to focus totally on executing your best performance skills under the most stressful circumstances. (Tutko,T 1976 pg.5) To excel in a sport is a contest with yourself, to call upon the natural abilities within you own mind and body. Each person begins at a different location menta lly, physically and with respect to the support we are given. An athlete quest for personal excellence requires the most of what you have- whatever that may be. Mental Imagery "Your images lead your reality" One of the best practice fields for peak performance is the mind. Many athletes use mental imagery for quick rehearsal before an event: A diver, for instance, might perform a double somersault with a half twist one final time in his mind as he readies himself on the board. Mental imagery can also help people prepare for possible hazards. A squash player might run through a difficult back court return in his or her mind to rehearse the various options that might be necessary in case of a delayed reaction. Psychologists s... ...equence, from mind (mental imagery) to body, from target to performance. Each step eliminates nonessentials so that the single focus or vision can fully absorb the performer's awareness. (Barrington.J,1987.61.53) Developing an ability to directly focus on critical performance cues and hold it there until the body is free to follow the visions of the mind is crucial to high level performance. The principles of sport psychology are helping athletes succeed far beyond just body strength but past their mind barriers. An achievement that can only be attained with dedication and a will to let your mind explore the all possibilities no matter how extravagant. Thanks to the extensive coverage of psychological training, the sports enthusiast can understand the need for an benefits of sport psychology. Bibliography: Tutko,T 1976 Barrington, J.1987

Wisdom: Virtue and People

My friend Lili is probably the only person who I could really turn to for advice and her wisdom and knowledge has always helped me through the rough times and the good times. I remember meeting Lili one day at school and asked if I could borrow a pencil from her during math class. When I returned it back she said I could have it but to try not to lose it since it is an obvious writing instrument to have. Well, after a few days I noticed she would sit alone during lunch time so I asked her if she wanted to join my friends and I for lunch, ever since we have been best of friends.According to my reading in my Positive Psychology books in Ch. 10 Table 10. 2 Classification of virtues and character strengths wisdom and knowledge is cognitive strengths that entail the acquisition and use of knowledge. The defining strengths describe her or what she possesses: creativity, curiosity, open-mindedness, love of learning, and perspective. She has always been creative since day one when I asked to borrow a pencil. During that time we were learning how to make a cube out of paper and Lili knew how to do the cube without even asking how to make it. She could make things to be productive.I could recall during a camp out with a bunch of girls how to make things out of sticks with leaves and such. It was amazing on how much she knew without really knowing how to do it in the beginning. Her open-mindedness was well respected in our little time of knowing each other. One of the attributes I think I develop most was learning to give good advice to those who come to me to talk about anything. She taught me how to give the best advice, but to give the advice I would give myself. Listening to people is a way to open your heart and let the people you love in. I think there are many reasons why she is wise.For example, the way she talks and gives advice to other people and also the attitude she has it's so passionate and loving. I don't know what it is about her that people go up to her and trust her with everything I find it amazing. Another example would be the past she has been through has made her smart about life and about people. Going through bad and good times and taught her a lesson about life and about everything. She didn't have a life like every child had, she had a difficult life that made her suffer a lot. So I look up to her because I know she knows what she is talking about and how she deals with life.Also she does not depend on any one with anything, she has always done things on her own. I think that the one attribute that I need to learn the most is listening to people before giving them my opinion because I have this habit that I usually make assumptions before hearing or knowing what the person is going through. This is the one that I need to gain so I can be there for people like my best friend has been there for people. Knowing what people have been through will help me be there for people and also help them out through the good and bad times .I am the type of person that I love being there for people even if I am struggling with my own problems because seeing how people deals with there problem helps me gain confidence about myself and solving other peoples problems as well. I can't say I'm good at giving advice but I know that I could at least give someone a good advice or even I could take some one's opinion to learn. So seeing my friend and the way she is there and how she helps me, the love she gives and how she gives company when I need someone makes me want to be that person as well. I know by this I will become a better person.

Attachment Is A Lasting And Profound Emotional Bond

Attachment is a lasting and profound emotional bond that attaches one individual to another across space and time (Bowlby, 1969; Ainsworth, 1973). Attachment does not have to be a mutual thing; one individual may have an attachment to another person however he or she may not feel the same way. Attachment is considered by the way children behave, for example seeking closeness with the attachment figure when they are endangered or in distress (Bowlby, 1969). Bowlby’s (1951) ethological theory of attachment began with the ‘asocial’ phase, where the child non-discriminatingly socially responds to his guardians. This progresses later into an ‘indiscriminate attachments’ phase; this is when the child begins to restrict their responses to only†¦show more content†¦Other attachments are formed, they are called ‘subsidiary attachments’ however they do not have the same effect on the baby’s development (Prior, 2006, P63). This then lead to Bowlby’s maternal deprivation theory; if there is a malfunction of the maternal attachment or the maternal attachment was never formed, it could lead to severe negative consequences such as a lack of emotional, intellectual and social development of the child, this could perhaps lead to affectionless psychopathy (McLeod, 2007). This theory was based on the study of 44 juvenile thieves and the study of children who were brought up in residenti al nurseries and orphanages (Davenport, 1992, P56). On the other hand, Feminists disagreed with Bowlby’s theory of maternal deprivation as it seems to contribute in confirming that women’s responsibilities are only meant to be in the home, this lead to several nurseries closing down, causing women to go back to their homes and becoming housewives again after employment throughout the World War II (Burman, 1994). Rutter’s (1981) also disagrees with Bowlby, he believes that affectionless psychopathy is not due to maternal deprivation but other aspects, for instance, social experiences, conflict and tension in the home and intellectual stimulation, which may lead to disorderly behaviour. He also mentions that children disapprove separation from various attachment