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It is commonly assumed that performance is impaired by pressure and that different types of individual situational factors can produce equivalent pressure. Our aim was to explore the psychophysiological effects of pressure to test this assumption. Eighty-one novices completed a golf putting task under control and eight individual pressure conditions: time, difficulty, video, team, goal, fame, shame, and distraction. Performance was measured by the number of holed putts and ball-hole distance. Psychological, physiological and kinematic measures were collected. Performance was impaired by time and difficulty conditions but improved by team, goal and shame conditions compared to control. Perceived pressure and effort were higher than control in all conditions except distraction. Conscious processing was greater than control in all conditions except distraction and time constraint. Heart rate was faster with time, team, fame and shame. Heart rate variability and muscle activity were largely unaffected. Putter kinematics provided evidence of swing profiles slowing and/or becoming constrained in conditions where conscious processing increased, while the swing became faster in the time-pressure condition where conscious processing was decreased. Taken together, these results reveal heterogenous effects of pressure on performance, with performance impaired, unaffected, and improved by individual pressure situations. Similarly, heterogeneity characterized the effects of pressure on psychological, physiological and kinematic responses associated with task performance. In sum, the evidence challenges the standard tacit assumptions about the pressure-performance relationship in sport. • Many assume that performance is always and equally impaired by pressure. • Examined effects of eight individual pressure conditions on performance. • Performance impaired by 2, improved by 3, and unaffected by 3 pressure conditions. • Evidence challenges tacit assumptions about the pressure-performance relationship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Running is a popular form of physical activity yet discontinuation is common. Interventions targeting physical activity adoption have shown modest effects, often with little translation into long-term participation, which may limit the health benefits available to the wider community. This paper details the development of a new online running intervention (Just Run) aimed at improving continuation of running activity in new runners through a motivational and psychological lens, including aspects of design, content, refinement, and usability testing. A six-step intervention mapping process was used to develop a theory-based online intervention using a mix of research designs. Key stakeholders including runners, coaches and relevant experts in physical activity and behavior change provided valuable insight, feedback and refinement of the education to be delivered. The final Just Run intervention included ten modules delivered online over twelve weeks to promote ongoing running participation through videos, testimonials, and activities. Key themes identified through the literature and stakeholder engagement process related to goal setting, self-efficacy, intrinsic motivation, social support and overcoming barriers to running participation. Usability testing confirmed the quality and suitability of the education to the target population. Just Run has been developed with a range of stakeholders to address an area of unmet need in the adoption and promotion of running. Just Run is a robust online intervention that has been designed and pre-tested with positive feedback and unique insights from key stakeholders. Further investigation is required to support its implementation to the wider community. • A six-step intervention mapping process informed the design of Just Run. • Key stakeholders contributed to the design of this motivational running intervention. • Goal setting and social support were key topics included in the designed material. • Positive usability testing confirmed the aptness of the education to runners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study was to develop a grounded theory of how to promote personal development in high-performance sport environments. Individual interviews were conducted with 32 members of the Canadian junior and senior national biathlon teams, including 18 athletes (9 women, 9 men, M age = 20.8 years, SD = 2.9), 5 coaches (1 woman, 4 men), 3 technical leaders (2 women, 1 man), and 6 parents (3 mothers, 3 fathers). Follow-up interviews were conducted with five key participants. Straussian grounded theory methodology was used. Analytic techniques included open coding, constant comparison, questioning, memoing, diagramming, and theoretical integration. The grounded theory is based on the core category that personal development is a continual and individualized process. Three propositions represent how to promote athletes' personal development process. Proposition 1: Athletes use realistic self-evaluation and goal setting. Proposition 2: Athletes experience different situations and reflect on their areas for personal development. Proposition 3: Athletes perceive and receive social support. The grounded theory portrays propositions that can be used to promote athletes' personal development in high-performance sport environments. It may inform future applied research and the delivery of sport psychology support to high-performance athletes. • We developed a grounded theory of how to promote personal development in high-performance sport environments. • The grounded theory is based on a core category and three propositions that represent how to promote athletes' personal development process. • Proposition 1: Athletes use realistic self-evaluation and goal setting to promote their personal development. • Proposition 2: Athletes experience different situations and reflect on their areas for personal development. • Proposition 3: Athletes perceive and receive social support that benefit their personal development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Goal setting can improve endurance performance, yet how endurance performers maintain goal striving and bring it to a successful close has received limited attention. In this study, we investigated the self-regulatory processes employed by long-distance runners during goal striving in excellent competitive performances. Through in-depth, event-focused interviews, we explored 21 long-distance runners' experiences of goal striving in excellent competitive performances (M = 77.43 h post-race). Furthermore, we recruited 10 additional participants with relevant experiences (runner n = 7, coach n = 2; sport psychologist n = 1) for external member-reflection interviews. Through our matrix analysis, we interpreted that by contrasting their current and future goal status periodically throughout their excellent performances, using a process called mental contrasting with implementation intentions (MCII), this helped the runners to make decisions about whether to persist with a goal, or disengage from a goal and reengage with an alternative. Furthermore, our findings depict how these goal decisions unfolded when runners perceived they were behind, equalling, or exceeding their goal(s). We also illustrate how goal revision was used as an adaptive process to maximise performance, and to avert or manage action crises. Our findings extend theoretical understandings of goal striving and the self-regulatory processes endurance performers employ to attain and/or adapt their goals. Psychological support provided for athletes should go beyond simply setting goals, but also include training on mental frameworks such as MCII to manage goal-striving challenges and decisional conflict encountered during performances. • New insights offered into the dynamics of goal striving and goal revision in running. • Contrasting current and future goal status aided goal-striving decisions. • Goal revision can be an adaptive process to aid performance. • Mental contrasting with implementation intentions could help to avert and manage action crises. • Education for runners on flexible goal-revision processes could enhance interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While the sport of basketball is usually characterized by a non-segmented and mostly uninterrupted play, the stoppage of the time due to time-outs (TOs) is widespread when the game is on the line. In the current investigation, we studied the effects of TOs on free-throw performance when NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) games were close and time was winding down (n = 99,026 combined sample). We generally found that time extension before execution undermined performance but not in the last minute of play when performance deteriorated altogether. In line, traditional icing when TOs were called by opposing coaches specifically to undermine performance in the last minute of play failed to exact the intended goal of lowering free-throw performance. • We analyzed whether time-outs affected free-throw shooting in close NCAA game s nearing their end. • Free throw shooting subsequent to time-outs was lower in the last 5 minutes excluding the last minute regardless of who initiated the time-out. • There was no effect of time-outs on free-throw performance in the last minute of play. • 'Icing' strategies hence do not seem to work in collegiate basketball. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Clutch performance refers to positive performance under pressure. Definitions of clutch performance, however, differ on the performance level required to constitute this phenomenon. This definitional divergence centres on whether clutch performance requires increased, or maintained, performance. Further, it is unclear what performance benchmark (e.g., season average) clutch performances should be compared against. Accordingly, this study aimed to explore athletes' perceptions of what performance level is required for clutch performance, and what performance benchmarks clutch performances are compared against. Twenty-four athletes (M age = 27.13 years) participated in event-focused, semi-structured interviews soon after a positive performance under pressure (M = 93 h later). Data were analysed utilising reflexive thematic analysis. Three themes were generated: (1) clutch performance is assessed against goal achievement , suggesting that the achievement of self-referenced goals is the primary indicator athletes' use to assess clutch performance; (2) clutch performance exists on a performance spectrum , suggesting that the performance level required for clutch performance differs due to the appraisal of pressure and the athletes' own goals; and (3) different benchmarks are used to assess clutch performance , suggesting that athletes' may draw on both previous performances, and the performance itself, to assess clutch performance. This study suggested that clutch performance is a situational and context-dependent phenomenon. Specifically, athletes assessed clutch performance on the extent to which they perceived achievement of self-referenced goals. Defining clutch performance in this manner may resolve tensions between existing definitions, and further, may facilitate development of a measure of clutch performance. • Twenty-four athletes were interviewed within four days of performing under pressure. • Athletes use self-referenced goal achievement to assess clutch performance. • Clutch performance may be situational and context-dependent. • A refined definition of clutch performance is provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When evaluating one's own or others' performances, there is a strong tendency to rely on social comparison information. Remarkably, however, the extant achievement goal research suggests that the prevalence of other-based goals is very low, also in sport contexts. In the present research, we argue and demonstrate that in the context of a sports match: (1) most athletes' overarching achievement goal is an other-based approach goal (i.e., the goal to win), and (2) athletes with an overarching other-based approach goal also rely on self-based criteria (referring to one's personal performance trajectory) and task-based criteria (referring to the absolute demands of the task). Survey data was collected among 647 competitive korfball players (69.4% women), ranging in age from 16 to 56 years. As expected, for most athletes (51.6%), to win matches was their overarching achievement goal, and pursuing self-based and task-based approach goals added to their competence satisfaction. In such a hierarchical achievement goal system, subordinate goals likely help athletes to increase their awareness of what actions and means facilitate their focal objective: Coming out victorious. • Athletes' achievement goals can be structured into a hierarchical goal system. • In the context of a sports match, the overarching goal is an other-approach goal. • Athletes' competence satisfaction is also a function of other achievement goals. • Making goal systems visible likely helps athletes to self-regulate effectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current study examined the personal strivings of mentally tough Australian Rules footballers. Data collection occurred in two phases. Phase one included conducting two focus groups with coaches and performance staff from an Australian Football League (AFL) club/franchise, to gain a culturally-specific mental toughness (MT) conceptualisation. This conceptualisation was used to identify mentally tough footballers (n = 7) from the club's playing group. In phase two, the selected footballers completed a personal goal strivings exercise (e.g., listing strivings, rating their commitment to them), which was subsequently coded for general and motivational themes, through nomothetic and idiographic lenses. Nomothetic analysis revealed broad trends consistent with previous MT research. Key themes included a high commitment to goals, high confidence, and achievement orientation. Focusing on four specific players, an idiographic analysis revealed different motivational agendas, including characteristically mentally tough motives, narcissistic motives, communion and growth motives, and vulnerable/anxious motives. In conclusion, despite broad themes aligning with current perspectives of MT, on an individual level, mentally tough athletes' motivational concerns may vary. These findings stress the potential importance of examining goals as a central construct in conceptualising MT. Moreover, they challenge a universal assumption that MT operates in the same way across all performers, highlighting the need for greater idiographic analysis in MT research. • This paper assessed mentally tough athletes at layer two of McAdams' model of personality (characteristic adaptations). • Findings show that mentally tough athletes are similar in how they pursue their goals but display individualised motives. • This research acknowledges the importance of examining mental toughness at both nomothetic and idiographic levels. • It also identifies the potential importance of coherence in personality for understanding mental toughness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There exists a wealth of evidence that athletes must regulate their emotions for optimal performance and wellbeing. In addition to athletes' attempts to regulate their own emotions, they may also attempt to regulate each other's emotions (interpersonal emotion regulation). Though self- and interpersonal emotion regulation likely co-occur, previous research has not explored how these strategies concurrently impact athletes' emotions and performance outcomes. In the current study, we examined whether athletes' emotional self-regulation and the receipt of interpersonal emotion regulation from their teammates were related to their anxiety and goal achievement during competition. Quantitative, cross-sectional retrospective survey design. Data were gathered following sport competitions from 509 participants from 50 interdependent sport teams from Canada and the UK (M age = 19.0, SD = 3.1). Analysis of the data using structural equation modeling revealed that after accounting for pre-competition anxiety, received interpersonal emotion regulation was not associated with anxiety during competition, though affect-worsening self-regulation was positively associated with anxiety during competition. Received interpersonal emotion regulation was also not associated with goal achievement, yet affect-improving and affect-worsening self-regulation were associated with goal achievement. Nevertheless, when the influence of emotional self-regulation on anxiety and goal achievement was set to zero, affect-improving and affect-worsening interpersonal emotion regulation were associated with anxiety during competition and affect-improving interpersonal emotion regulation was associated with goal achievement. These data can be interpreted as evidence that emotion regulation actions between teammates are important for anxiety and performance outcomes, albeit this effect is attenuated in the presence of athletes' own emotional self-regulation. These results extend the extant research on self- and interpersonal emotion regulation in sport, and in line with these observations, we highlight a number of future research opportunities for researchers examining emotion regulation in performance contexts. • We examined athletes' self- and interpersonal emotion regulation concurrently in competition • Athletes' affect-improving self-regulation was positively related to athletes' goal achievement in competition • Affect-worsening emotional self-regulation was negatively associated with goal achievement • Receiving interpersonal emotion regulation only accounted for goal achievement in the absence of emotional self-regulation • Emotional self-regulation may occur more frequently or have a stronger impact during competition • Interpersonal emotion regulation may occur more outside of competition (e.g., during practices, training) [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]