Week 6

This was the final meeting during the 6 week period. This session took place in the clients home as the original session took place. The session was just me and the client as it was only to discuss the previous weeks. It lasted around 30 minutes. The outcome of the meeting was to talk about what went well and what needed to be improved. After the interview the client mentioned a few things; 

• During the first week I didn't feel as though this programme was going to benefit me because of my lack of knowledge in the different areas. I didn't realise that setting goals could actually benefit my sport as it seemed a lot of work prior to this in order to set up a goal. 
• Setting goals I feel benefited my sport the most and made me feel more motivated 
• Watching videos really helped me to understand the different methods, especially filling in worksheets alongside 
• Having the meetings in my house made me feel at ease and felt like I could talk about anything and feel comfortable. 
• I feel like I have the ability to set my goals myself now and create new music playlist to ensure that I don't get bored of the original one. 

The athlete felt like they had improved from week 1 - 6 after trying out the new techniques. Goal setting gave them the motivation that they lacked, allowing them to believe in them-self that they are able to achieve goals that they thought they couldn't before. I can tell the the athlete has improved due to looking back at the questionnaire that they filled in in the consultation; 

Compared to the questionnaire completed in the review; 

Comparing the two questionnaires the second one shows that the athlete felt more comfortable in every aspect of their sport whilst filling it out looking on the answers, whereas if you look back at the first questionnaire the athlete filled in it shows that they were not very confident in their sport. The athlete was bothered about their family/coach not approving with their sports performance within the first questionnaire whereas in the second one it shows that they are not bothered by this and it also says that they are only somewhat nervous before a competition. This is important to see as it shows that the athlete has improved within their sport and also in themselves. From a psychologists point of view it is necessary to know that goal setting and music in sport both increase confidence and motivation in an athlete, which can be seen in the questionnaires. 

Recommendations include different things throughout the weeks such as;

• Making more than one goal as the athlete progresses achieving the build up goals. This prevents them from getting bored and ensures an increase in motivation levels. 
• Use BPM finders to search for different music with different beats per minute to get the athlete ready for different types of competitions and putting them in different moods. 
• The client should also you self talk in the future as this is easy and simple to do and doesn't involve and preparation whereas goal setting and music in sport. I suggested that they watch a video of Floyd May-weather who uses self talk for himself and to intimidate his opponent before a boxing match.  

Week 5

This is the practice phase; 
This session lasted an hour and a half and took place in my office. This gave myself and the athlete enough time to make a playlist to listen to prior training. The psychological strategy that was used was music in sport. 

I gave the athlete a worksheet that listed numbers 1-10 and asked them to fill it in with their favourite songs. 

Music in Sport Name of Song Song Duration 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10	This table allows the athlete up to 10 songs, this is important as the playlist needed to be roughly 30 mins to listen to whilst training.  I also asked the client to fill in the song duration so that we could add up how long the playlist lasted.  I chose the activity to fill in the sheet so that the athlete can fill in the sheet them-self and see what songs they had chose. This then makes it easier if the songs they chose didn't benefit them during training they can easily change it or swap it for another song.  This benefits the athlete as they are able to look at the variety of music that they have chosen and can therefore look at the different genres and song durations which makes it easier to adapt.  After we completed the table the athlete then created the playlist on their phone to so that they could listen to it in the evenings training session. This enabled the athlete to decide if the playlist was suitable to them and in fact increased motivation or not.

Week 4

This is the practice phase;
During week 4 I met athlete A at their home, this was because they feel comforted being at home and therefore are willing to speak. It was just myself and athlete A at the meeting, this is because I wanted the athlete to choose goals they want to achieve by themselves.

During this week we look at goal setting. I showed athlete A an presentation on goal setting in order for them to get a feel of what they were doing.

The video described thoroughly what the athlete needed to know in order to set their own smart target. At this stage we only set one target for athlete A to work towards whilst they got use to it and understood what they needed to do. I gave the athlete a worksheet that described the SMART targets and what they needed to do. We had a conversation about what a SMART target consists off (specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, time). It was important for me to go through this with the athlete so that they had a clear understanding of what they needed to do before they set their own targets.

After they had watched the presentation the athlete asked me if the target could be set to be achieved within 4 months. This was ok as long as the target was realistic. I showed the athlete a SMART target sheet;



Doing this with the athlete meant that they were clearly able to see their target and had it too look at in the future if they forget the specific points within the target. It means that the athlete can be as detailed as possible in setting a SMART target due to the fact its on a sheet and they have watched a video that gives them an understanding of what needs to be done. Making their target more advanced at this stage was important as it makes it more achievable and gives the athlete motivation to achieve the goal. 

If I re did this session again with an athlete, I would get them to make more than one SMART target. This is important as just one main target is not as easy to achieve as a few small ones that lead up to the end goal. Having small targets increase motivation levels as they can see themselves improving as they progress upwards. Therefore next time I would make different SMART target sheets that give the athlete a chance to create smaller targets that are relevant to the end target. 

Week 2

This is the Acquisition phase; 
Goal setting is a motivational technique that is based on the concept of practice in setting specific goals that will enhance your performance, the difficult goals result in higher performance than setting easier goals. 

During week 2 the consultation lasted roughly an 1 hour 30 mins, due to the fact that a lot of information and detail had to be put into the setting of a basic goal. During this session we re watched the motivational goal setting video to recap on what was needed to be done. This was done in my office as it is easier with the facilities to watch videos. After watching this video the athlete used the notes from the previous week to set a SMART target. The target had to fit into the SMART concept (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic,Time). The psychological issue that we were resolving was to prevent motivational levels from decreasing, therefore the target that we set was; to be rewarded after every win in any 1500m race they compete in for 1 month in order to reduce their PB by 1 second in the 1500m.

This goal was set by athlete A on their own accord. This means that athlete A will be more motivated to train and win in order to reduce their time. In order to work out this goal the athlete filled in a SMART table, this was beneficial as it allowed the athlete to narrow it down into one final goal. 

The athlete filled in one of the SMART worksheets and made one goal, this goal will be worked on throughout the six week PST. The athletes outcome of the session was one goal that they had chosen;

1. To be rewarded after every win in any 1500m race they compete in for 1 month in order to reduce their PB by  second in the 1500m.

This goal was good to start with as it is basic whilst the athlete gets to learn about goal setting and actually do it for the first time. As the weeks go on the goals can progress as the athlete does. The session took place in my office again to allow for a quiet area to concentrate and the video to be re watched on the board. The psychological strategy that was and is continually being used was goal setting. Completing a sheet meant that the athlete can have a record of the goal which makes it easy to look back at if they are struggling at any point.The benefits of this mean that the athlete can use this again and again throughout their sporting career to set them self goals that will continue to progress the athlete as well as maintain sports performance.  

If I re did this task with an athlete then I would get the athlete to fill in two goals so that they can compare them both. I would make them fill in two goals one being a SMART target and one just being a target, this could then give the athlete an opportunity to see the difference between the two and how a SMART target improves performance compared to a normal target. 

Week 3

This is the Acquisition phase; 
music in sport is effective due to the fact that psychologically the music reflects how you are feeling, your mood, emotion, attitudes and behaviour. The psychological effects of music involve sensory responses to psychologically process it. The music can have an affect on the heart and respiration rate, and can delay fatigue or increasing work capacity. 

During week 3 I discussed music taste with athlete A. We listened to a variety of music genres; indie, rock, pop, R&B and Jazz. This gave the athlete an idea of the different types of genres and what music they were associated with. After we wrote a list of athlete A's favourite music with the genres next to the song, we took songs from the athletes spotify account. Overall the athlete liked pop and R&B music the most. This was important as it gave me a rough idea of what the athlete liked.

We discussed how the athlete felt before a race, I did this by asking athlete A a list of questions: 

1. Before a race how do you feel?

Athlete A: I feel nervous and anxious wanting my race to start so that it can be over and done with and I don't have to wait around any longer.

2. What do you do before the race to calm your nerves?

Athlete A: Nothing I warm up for a long period of time and try not to think about the race, I can't seem to take my mind of it to control my nerves prior to the race. 

After I had asked the athlete these questions it was important to discuss what type of music they would like to listen to before a race. The athlete decided that they wanted to listen to upbeat fast music to make them feel motivational and ready to race, they also said that this would act as a distraction from the race itself when warming up which could help with nerves. Many of the athletes songs on spotify were upbeat meaning they had a selection of songs to choose from.

This session took place at the athletes home where they felt comfortable, I felt it was easier for the athlete to answer the questions this is because they were in their own surroundings which makes people feel more at ease than if they were somewhere they are unfamiliar with. The session lasted an hour, this gave us time to have a thorough look through athlete A's songs and making sure that the music choice was right for them. I chose to do this activity because it's personal to the athlete and therefore makes them feel more interested. 

Using music in sport will benefit athlete A by motivating them before they race. It is important that the athlete is motivated in their sport in order to give them the confidence that they need to benefit themselves. Being motivated in sport means that they are willing to competed and confident in them self that they can succeed and compete to a high ability level. 

I showed athlete A a you-tube video on ' can music help motivation in sport?'. I decided to show them this in order to give an idea of how music can benefit a sports performer. This is necessary as it is important that the athlete believes music will help their sport in order for it to work. Negative thinking about music improving sport can have a bad impact on the way music in sport works. Next time I do this I will get the athlete to fill in a questionnaire whilst watching the you-tube video, this will consist of questions that relate to the video along with relating to the athlete. By doing this it ensures that the athlete is concentrating and relating the video to them self. 

Week 1

This is the educational phase where I showed Athlete A a presentation on the different strategies that we used. The strategies that we did use were goal setting and music. Showing Athlete A presentations on these allowed for them to have an understanding on the different strategies that we were using and they way that they effect sport. Within the presentations the athlete and coach were present. It was important for the coach to be there as they need to be educated on how the strategies are going to help the athlete as well, this is because they are going to be working with the athlete to help them develop as well. I worked with the athlete to improve their motivation in sport. I then chose goal setting and music in sport as they are both motivational strategies to help motivate the athlete.

I showed the athlete this video on goal setting:

After showing the athlete and coach this video i then got them to fill in a worksheet answering questions on goals they wanted to set and how this would help them improve their motivation levels in sport. The athlete could watch the video and understand how making SMART goals would improve their performance and how they need to be detailed and realistic.

I then showed the athlete a presentation that explained different ways of setting goals and different types of goals that can be set to help them to achieve a greater motivation in their sport. It was important to show the athlete the different types of goals so that they have a variety to chose from. 

I then showed the athlete a video on music in sport:



 

After showing athlete A this video i then got them to fill out a worksheet on how music affects sports performance and motivational levels. This allowed the athlete to see that music will benefit their sport and will help with their motivational. It showed that different types of music affects different types of people and means that they are able to suit the music to their taste which will benefit their sport. 

This session lasted an hour, this was because watching videos and filling in worksheets I was wary of the athlete becoming bored and not concentrating. The session took place in my office as there was a whiteboard facility and computers to allow the videos to be watched. The psychological strategy being used was goal setting and music in sport, both specific to my athlete who loves listening to music and needs an increase in motivation. I chose the activity of filling in worksheets after each video to ensure that the athlete was concentration when watching the video and making sure that they understood it. The benefits of using these techniques will mean that the athlete can use them for however long they need to or for the rest of their sporting career. They are simple and easy strategies to follow once you get used to them and therefore can benefit sports performance in a positive way. 

Consultation

A psychological training programme is defined as ' Psychological skills training (PST) is an individually designed combination of methods selected to attain psychological skill needs ' (Gill,2000) It is proven that a PST programme will be ineffective if the athlete can not see the effects psychology will have on performance. This shows that it is important for the athlete to understand the effects psychology has on sports performance in order for the PST to be effective. Each programme has to be designed specifically to the performers psychological state.

Whilst undertaking the consultation phase it gave me a chance to meet the athlete for the first time and learn more about them as a person. The consultation was done before the 6 week training plan so that i got to know the athlete making it easier for me to design at training plan specific to there needs. The consultation took place in the athletes home to ensure that they felt comfortable and relaxed. I only met with the athlete on an individual basis rather than including the coach and parents, I thought this would be better for the athlete and myself as it made them feel more comfortable in answering the questions.

1. During the consultation I asked athlete A a number of questions to get to know them better and understand their psychological state.

2. What level of sport do you play?

Athlete A: I play at a national level competing roughly every other week in my sport.

3. How did you get involved in the sport?

Athlete A: I started playing the sport whilst attending primary school. When I was 5 years old I first competed in a primary schools race.

4. How long have you participated in the sport for?

Athlete A: I have participated in the sport since I was 5 years old.

5. What inclined you to participate in the sport for the first time?

Athlete A: My parents influenced me to take part in the sport as my mum used to run when she was younger.

6. What interests you?

Athlete A: I am interested in sport and the gym, I like to keep fit and make sure that I stay healthy. I am also interested in nutrition and how it affects sports performance, only because I feel like this plays a major part in sports performance.

7.Is there anybody who inspires you?

Athlete A: Jessica Ennis is a massive inspiration of mine how she went from not being known by anybody to become worldwide famous with numerous sponsors.

8. How do you deal with setbacks and disappointments?

Athlete A: I deal with setbacks by keeping quiet and mentally analysing what I could have done better. I feel like this is important as I am not bringing anyone else down I am just keeping it to myself and dealing with it individually.

9. Is there anything you struggle with?

Athlete A: I struggle with keeping my motivation levels high, at the start of a race I get so nervous that I find it hard to be motivated to compete and perform at my best.

10. If you struggle to stay motivated what is it that makes you determined to win and carry on competing in your sport?

Athlete A: I feel like if I don't compete to the best of my ability I will let down myself and my family. It is important for me to do my best to make sure that nobody is let down.

During the consultation I created a SWOT analysis with the athlete to allow myself and them to see their strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. This was useful as it gives the athlete a conclusion of the different sectors relating to their sport.

Strength	Weaknesses
· Being determined in the sport to perform at their best. · Dedicated to training and diet to maintain healthy.	· Staying motivated in the sport · Becoming nervous before a race/competition
Opportunities	Threats
· To use psychological skills to develop weaknesses into strengths. · Get to learn more about yourself in order to help you increase your sports performance.	· Injuries · Other athletes abilities

This session last roughly an hour, long enough to inform the athlete but not so long that they got bored of the information that was being given and stopped listening. The psychological strategy was a questionnaire that let athlete A understand more about them self as well as giving me an understanding. I chose the activity of doing a SWOT analysis to let the athlete understand they way that I was looking at the questionnaire answers, this would make the athlete feel like they are being included and know what is going on as well as having an understanding of their strengths and weaknesses that they may not have acknowledge before. This will specifically bring benefits to the performer as they are learning about their psychological state which they probably would not have looked into before, especially having it written down using a SWOT analysis it is there to look back on when needed.