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A phrase commonly used within high school sport is “education-based athletics”; however, there is no empirical investigation on the meaning of this phrase, nor how it is specific to the high school...

Student-athletes in the United States encounter a myriad of academic, athletic, and social challenges as they transition into their first year of college sport and life. During this transition, str...

Objectives This study investigated the effects of messaging on physical activity (PA) motivation, and whether the effectiveness of messages aimed to promote either affective benefits, physical health benefits, or a combination of benefits varied based on one’s current PA status. Methods Adult participants (N = 188) completed an online survey assessing demographic information and current stage of change. They then viewed one of four randomly assigned promotional flyers for a campus PA program. The flyers mentioned either the: (a) affective benefits of participation, (b) physical health benefits, (c) a combination of affective and physical health benefits, or (d) a control message. Participants then responded to questions about the flyers, their perceived control for participating, followed by their interest, intention to participate, likelihood of participating, and whether they wanted to sign-up. Results A 2 (activity status) x 2 (affective message) x 2 (physical health message) between-subjects ANOVA found that the effectiveness of the promotional messages on overall cognitive motivation (i.e., a combination of interest, intention, and likelihood of participating) varied based on the respondents’ PA status. Simple effects showed that messages promoting affective benefits led to greater scores for those who are active. A logistic regression showed that PA status, message condition, and their interactions were non-significant predictors of participants’ agreeing to schedule a session in the program. Conclusion Using specific messages to sell PA may help increase motivation. However, the type of message that effectively promotes PA appears to vary depending on the message receiver’s current PA.

Positive youth development is one of the primary goals of high school sport participation, yet the process of how youth transfer life skills from sport to other life domains is in need of greater e...

Confidence is a well-known psychological quality that is relevant for performing at one’s best. Previous literature examined sources from which athletes derive their confidence, what behaviors coaches perceive to be the most effective at building confidence, and the level of congruence between athletes’ and coaches’ perceptions on confidence-building techniques. However, research has rarely asked athletes what they believe are the most important behaviors coaches can do to build confidence in both individuals and teams. The purpose of this study, therefore, was to explore athletes’ perceptions of what coaches can do to build confidence from the perspective of athletes. Collegiate student-athletes (n = 264) completed two open-ended questions regarding specific behaviors that coaches do to build confidence in athletes and teams. A total of 649 interpretable meaning units were analyzed into 13 lower-order themes and 5 higher-order categories. Results revealed that creating a nurturing positive environment, responding to athletes productively, developing effective practices for training, developing interpersonal relationships with athletes, and possessing effective intrapersonal qualities themselves are all behaviors identified as important for building confidence. Many of the behaviors were common to building confidence in both athletes and teams, though there were confidence-building behaviors unique to either group.

Sport psychology professionals (SPPs) are well positioned to engage and collaborate with community sporting organizations to support and enhance philosophies, policies, and programs. This case stud...

The tall poppy syndrome (TPS) is a culturally specific term defined as the “habit of denigrating or ‘cutting down’ those who are successful or who are high achievers”. The purpose of this study was to understand TPS from the perspective of elite New Zealand athletes. Specifically, this study sought to gain elite athletes’ perceptions of whether TPS exists and how it influences New Zealand sporting culture, their personal experiences of being a target of TPS, and how they personally responded to being a target of TPS. Nine current and 11 former New Zealand athletes were interviewed who had competed at Olympic, Commonwealth, or World Championship events. Athletes suggested that TPS was infused throughout society and influenced how the public celebrated winners and viewed success. Athletes believed they had been targets of TPS and viewed it both a positive and negative influence on athlete development. TPS-related criticisms were seen as providing motivation for hard work by some athletes, while others ident...

Objectives Researchers have advocated for coaches to intentionally teach life skills to their athletes given the accrued developmental benefits. The purpose of this research was to develop and offer initial evidence of validity and reliability for a measure assessing the extent to which coaches are intentional in their approaches to teaching life skills through sport. Design Using two independent samples (n = 623; n = 817), three studies were conducted to develop and initially validate the Coaching Life Skills in Sport Questionnaire (CLSS-Q). Method In study one, the scale development and content validity processes of the initial measure were conducted. In study two, the factorial validity of the CLSS-Q was tested through exploratory structural equation modeling and confirmatory factor analyses. Moreover, scale invariance, discriminant and convergent validity, and construct reliability were assessed. In study three, concurrent validity was assessed with the combined sample (N = 1440) using two theoretically linked constructs. Results The results of the three studies provide initial evidence for the validity and reliability of the 5-factor 36-item CLSS-Q. Conclusions The CLSS-Q represents a useful scale for researchers interested in examining levels of intentionality in coaches' teaching of life skills through sport. As scale development is an ongoing process, further research is needed to continue to accumulate evidence for the validity and reliability of the CLSS-Q.

There is general agreement that for collegiate student-athletes to thrive in academics and athletics these individuals must develop and maintain quality commitments to both school and sport throughout college. Yet, limited research has investigated student-athletes’ concurrent negotiation of their discrete commitments to school and sport, and its consequences for these individuals' academic, athletic, and general lives. The purpose of the present study was threefold: (a) identify distinct profiles representing collegiate students-athletes’ dual commitment to school and sport, (b) detect whether these dual commitment profiles demonstrated compatibility versus conflict, and (c) examine the relationships between dual commitment profiles and student-athletes’ academic, athletic, and general life outcomes. A sample of 248 NCAA Division I student-athletes (Mage = 19.87 years, SD = 1.33 years) completed measures of commitment, engagement, and burnout in school and sport, as well as global psychological well-being indices (i.e., life satisfaction and subjective vitality). Using latent profile analyses, results supported a four-profile solution comprising dual commitment profiles with unique configurations of enthusiastic (EC) and constrained (CC) commitment to school and sport: Weak CC-Dominant: School/Strong EC-Dominant: Sport (n = 43), Weak CC-Dominant: School/Strong CC-Dominant: Sport (n = 71), Moderate Commitment: School & Sport (n = 91), and Strong EC-Dominant: School & Sport (n = 43). Dual commitment profiles characterized by enthusiastic-dominant commitment patterns were associated with higher levels of school/sport engagement and global psychological well-being, as well as lower levels of school/sport burnout. Overall, our findings established that collegiate student-athletes are tied to school and sport for various reasons and speak to a potential need for enhanced support networks and services catered to student-athletes’ academic role in the United States.

For athletes, life skills transfer represents the vital ongoing process in their personal development whereby they internalize the skills they have learned in sport and apply them to multiple life ...

For a sport skill to be considered a life skill, it must be successfully transferred and applied beyond sport. Life skills transfer is an essential process, but it has yet to be fully delineated within the sport psychology literature. The purpose of the current paper is to present a definition and model of life skills transfer and outline future research needs. A critical review of the literature within sport psychology and other learning-based disciplines is offered to assess our current understanding of learning transfer. A definition and model of transfer are then presented, focusing on the athlete learner’s experience of life skills transfer. Within the model, we first examine how athletes bring personal assets and autobiographical experiences to sport. Second, we explore how sport is a learning environment with distinctive demands, programme designs, and coach characteristics and strategies. Third, we explain how transfer contexts provide environmental conditions, which, depending on how they...

There is a paucity of sport parenting research that specifically examines the role parents play in the introductory stages of the youth sport experience, despite the fact that this is when youth involvement is at its highest. To fill this void in the literature, this study examined expert coaches’ v

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to gain student-athlete perceptions of: (1) the definition of leadership for high school student-athletes; (2) the process of leadership development in high school sport; and (3) the factors that have helped or hindered leadership transfer between high school sport and other life domains.\ud \ud Design: This study was grounded in an interpretivist ontological perspective and used focus group interviews to gather insights of student-athletes’ leadership experiences.\ud \ud Method: Purposeful sampling identified 33 high-school student-athlete leaders who were members of student advisory councils for high school state athletic associations in the United States. The 15 females and 18 males participated in focus-group interviews. Reflexive thematic analysis of the interview data was then conducted.\ud \ud Results: Results revealed that student-athlete leadership was viewed as a skill-set and a mindset, driven by individual agency. As an on-going developmental process, student-athletes gained awareness of leadership skills, increased self-expectations and self-confidence in their use and application of leadership skills, and developed a transformational leadership mindset, as they encountered and engaged with critical learning opportunities in high school sport and gained support from coaches and peers. Leadership application outside of sport was a multidimensional psychological process, including both conscious and implicit elements, and facilitated or constrained by environmental opportunities and social influences.\ud \ud Conclusions: High school sport offers a unique context where self-agentic youth leadership development in sport and life can occur through experiential learning opportunities. To this point, future research directions and recommendations for practitioners will be provided.

For many coaches and practitioners, teaching life lessons and promoting positive youth development is their ultimate goal in sport. However, they are often challenged and conflicted by the dual goal of developing good people at the same time they are developing good athletes. This chapter seeks to help practitioners create a dedicated approach to developing youth as people, as well as developing them as athletes. Scientific research and practical approaches in sport-based positive youth development are examined and used as a guide to highlight how to effectively develop life skills in young athletes. Practitioners are first encouraged to get to know who their athletes are as individuals on and off the sports field to maximise their potential in facilitating the development of life skills. A series of strategies are then provided that are designed to explicitly and implicitly develop life skills through sport at the same time as developing skills for sport performance. Finally, practitioners are encouraged to expand their commitment to athletes to beyond the sports field by helping young people effectively transfer life skills to other areas of life.

This case study examined the coaching philosophy of J Robinson, one of the most respected and successful NCAA wrestling coaches in the United States, and the founder of J Robison Intensive Wrestling Camps. Research has that shown that his camps foster short and long term psychological development in its youth participants (Driska et al., in press; Pierce, et al., 2016). He has established a well-delineated system for developing psychological skills in young athletes. The researchers were therefore interested in understanding the link between his coaching philosophy and coaching behavior, and in identifying factors that have influenced the development of this coaching philosophy over his lifetime. Using a case study approach, in-depth interviews at several points in time with Robinson were conducted. These were supplemented with interviews with camp staff and observations of the camp and Robinson’s coaching. Results revealed that Robinson had a clearly defined philosophy, was very intentional in developing mental skills, and had clearly thought out rationales that guided his coaching actions. The coaching philosophy and approach to developing psychological skills in youth evolved over 35 years of implementing these camps and from Robinson’s own life experiences. Implications for studying coach development and delivering coaching education are provided.

The purpose of this article is to describe the phenomenon of choking in sport, and suggest a process approach to managing competitive pressure and choking (based on the sport, cognitive, and clinical psychology literature). Specific suggestions are provided for athletes to use before, during, and after competition. Athletes are encouraged to accept and acknowledge pressure and the feelings associated with choking, as opposed to attempting to avoid or get rid of these feelings. The strategy for athletes to use during competition is to ACT on it, or to follow the steps of Accept, Center, and Trust.

This study used a grounded theory methodology to understand if and how psychological development in youth athletes was facilitated by an ‘intensive’ summer wrestling camp experience. The theoretical sampling approach involved 10 athlete participants of the camp, nine parents of athletes, the director of the camp, and four camp staff members, who took part in a series of interviews before, during, and after the camp. Two researchers were also embedded in the camp and attended all sessions, took detailed notes, collected camp materials, and conducted observations. Following a grounded theory analysis approach, a model is presented that outlines how youth participants’ developed psychological qualities from the coach created hallenges and adversity that were systematically designed to facilitate sport performance enhancement and life skills. Variations emerged in psychological antecedents and characteristics, how the challenging wrestling camp environment was interpreted and experienced, and how learning was transferred to sport and life domains outside of the wrestling camp. This study provided insight into a unique youth sport context that was able to simultaneously develop psychological qualities to be used as sport performance enhancement and life skills.

The purpose of this article was to provide a substantive-methodological synergy of potential importance to future research in sport and exercise psychology. The substantive focus was to improve the measurement of coaching efficacy by developing a revised version of the coaching efficacy scale (CES) for head coaches (N = 557) of youth sport teams (CES II-YST). The methodological focus was exploratory structural equation modeling (ESEM), a methodology that integrates the advantages of exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) within the general structural equation model (SEM). The synergy was a demonstration of how ESEM (as compared with CFA) may be used, guided by content knowledge, to develop (or confirm) a measurement model for the CES II-YST. A single-group ESEM provided evidence for close model-data fit, while a single-group CFA fit significantly worse than the single-group ESEM and provided evidence for only approximate model-data fit. A multiple-group ESEM provided evidence for partial factorial invariance by coach’s gender.

Assess effectiveness of the Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program on nutrition behaviors post-education and longitudinally.Switching replications randomized experimental design. Participants randomly assigned to immediate education (IE) or delayed education (DE). Participants in IE received intervention the first 8 weeks, and those in DE the second 8 weeks, with no intervention during alternate periods. Data were collected in 3 repeated measures.Parents (n = 168 randomized; n = 134 completed) of children in 2 Head Start and 6 low-income schools.Eight weekly workshops, based on Eating Right is Basic-Enhanced adapted to incorporate dialogue approach with experiential learning.Ten-item self-reported behavior checklist on nutrition, food resource management, food safety, and food security; responses on a 5-point scale reporting frequency of behavior.Chi-square, analysis of variance, and multiple regression.Groups were demographically similar. Both groups reported improved behaviors pre- to post-education (P.05). There was no significant difference between groups at Time 1 (T1) or DE control period (T1 vs T2). Changed IE behavior was retained T2 to T3. A multiple regression model of overall change, controlling for T1 score and educator, showed significant improvement (n = 134, β = 5.72, P .001).Positive outcomes were supported by this experimental study in a usual program context, with reported behavior changes retained at least 2 months.

The Mentor Leader outlines a leadership philosophy, which Tony Dungy credits for his many individual and team successes. Authored by the successful NFL coach Dungy, and colleague Nathan Whitaker, t...

10-Minute Toughness: The Mental-Training Program for Winning Before the Game Begins provides a simple and effective mental-training program designed by a highly experienced mental coach. Jason Selk...

Response times were used to measure, in normal adults, the difficulty of discrimination between various simple geometric figures. Response times for 'rightleft' stimuli (three-sided squares with their open sides to the right or left) were not affected by vertical misalignment between the stimuli; those for 'up-down' stimuli were. Left-right discriminations were no more affected by contralateral versus ipsilateral projection than were up-down discriminations.