Contemporary Sport Psychology

SPORTS AND ATHLETICS PREPARATION, PERFORMANCE, AND PSYCHOLOGY SERIES

CONTEMPORARY SPORT PSYCHOLOGY

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Contemporary Sport Psychology Robert Schinke (Editor)

2009. ISBN: 978-1-60876-150-0


CONTEMPORARY SPORT PSYCHOLOGY

ROBERT SCHINKE EDITOR

Nova Science Publishers, Inc. New York

Copyright 2009 by Nova Science Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means: electronic, electrostatic, magnetic, tape, mechanical photocopying, recording or otherwise without the written permission of the Publisher. For permission to use material from this book please contact us: Telephone 631-231-7269; Fax 631-231-8175 Web Site: http://www.novapublishers.com

NOTICE TO THE READER The Publisher has taken reasonable care in the preparation of this book, but makes no expressed or implied warranty of any kind and assumes no responsibility for any errors or omissions. No liability is assumed for incidental or consequential damages in connection with or arising out of information contained in this book. The Publisher shall not be liable for any special, consequential, or exemplary damages resulting, in whole or in part, from the readers use of, or reliance upon, this material. Independent verification should be sought for any data, advice or recommendations contained in this book. In addition, no responsibility is assumed by the publisher for any injury and/or damage to persons or property arising from any methods, products, instructions, ideas or otherwise contained in this publication. This publication is designed to provide accurate and authoritative information with regard to the subject matter covered herein. It is sold with the clear understanding that the Publisher is not engaged in rendering legal or any other professional services. If legal or any other expert assistance is required, the services of a competent person should be sought. FROM A DECLARATION OF PARTICIPANTS JOINTLY ADOPTED BY A COMMITTEE OF THE AMERICAN BAR ASSOCIATION AND A COMMITTEE OF PUBLISHERS. LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA Contemporary sport psychology / editor, Robert Schinke. p. cm. Includes index. ISBN 978-1-61324-124-0 (eBook) 1. Sports--Psychological aspects. 2. Sports--Social aspects. I. Schinke, Robert, 1966- GV706.4.C658 2009 796'.01--dc22 2009028878

Published by Nova Science Publishers, Inc. New York

This book is dedicated to my wife Erin and new son Harrison. I love them both very much. Many thanks also to my family of origin and also the family I married into.

I would also like to thank Mr. Frank Columbus for his support of the present compilation from the very beginning.

RS

CONTENTS

Introduction to the Compilation ix Chapter 1 The Contextual Side of Professional Boxing Re-Visited 1

Robert J. Schinke Chapter 2 Preparing Professional Hockey Players for Playoff Performance 11

Wayne Halliwell Chapter 3 A Case for a New Sport Psychology: Applied Psychophysiology

and Fmri Neuroscience 21 Leonard Zaichkowsky

Chapter 4 The Psychology of Being an Olympic Favorite 33 Peter Haberl

Chapter 5 Psychological Preparation of Athletes for the Olympic Context: Team Culture and Team-Building 55 Ken Hodge and Gary Hermansson

Chapter 6 From one Olympics to the Next: A Four-Year Psychological Preparation Program 71 Ronnie Lidor and Boris Blumenstein

Chapter 7 Introduction to Cultural Sport Psychology Revisited 89 Amy T. Blodgett, Hope E. Yungblut, Robert J. Schinke, and Stephanie J. Hanrahan

Chapter 8 Revisiting Diversity and Politics in Sport Psychology Through Cultural Studies: Where are we Five Years Later? 105 Leslee A. Fisher, Emily A. Roperand Ted Butryn

Chapter 9 Sport Psychology as Cultural Praxis 121 Tatiana V. Ryba

Chapter 10 Theoretical Approaches to Cultural Sport Psychology 137 Peter Catina

Contents viii

Chapter 11 Through the Funhouse Mirror: Understanding Access and (Un)Expected Selves Through Confessional Tales 153 Kerry R. McGannon and Jennifer L Metz

Chapter 12 Using Psychological Skills Training from Sport Psychology to Enhance the Life Satisfaction of Adolescent Mexican Orphans 171 Stephanie J. Hanrahan

Chapter 13 Sport Psychology Consulting with Latin American Athletes 181 Anthony P. Kontos and Erick Arguello

Chapter 14 A Model for Supervision of Applied Sport Psychology Consultations in Division I College Sports 197 Linda A. Keeler and Sam Zizzi

Chapter 15 Ethical Decision-Making in Sport Psychology: Issues and Implications for Professional Practice 217 Brandonn S. Harris, Amanda J. Visek and Jack C. Watson

Chapter 16 Sport Psychology Consulting with Canadian Olympic Athletes and Coaches: Values and Ethical Considerations 233 Penny Werthner and John Coleman

Chapter 17 A Profession of Violence or a High Contact Sport? Ethical Issues Working in Professional Boxing 253 Andrew M. Lane

Chapter 18 Commentary 263 Mary Pritchard and Sandy Kimbrough

Biographies 271 Authors Addresses 279 Index 285

INTRODUCTION TO THE COMPILATION The development of this book began late in 2003. At the time I was co-editing Athletic

Insight with my colleague and friend Miguel Humara. Miguel had conceived of Athletic Insight in 1998 and by 1999 the journal was being offered as a free access journal for sport psychology enthusiasts. The readership was comprised of developing academics, applied practitioners, and also coaches and athletes. Five years into the journals existence we thought it time to push the journal forward through the creation of an annual special edition. The intent was to make space each year for one entire installment as a devoted special topics release. When I approached the first list of authors in 2004 they were enthusiastic. Each year that followed we made space for a new topic. The intent was to encourage discussion either in relation to applied practice or a conceptual topic that was timelyfor the field (at least in our views). Some of the years were devoted to applied practice such as 2004 when professional sport practice was considered and 2007 when the focus was placed on working with Olympic athletes from different countries in preparation for Beijing. Other installments were intended as catalysts to further discussions among academics and practitioners alike, such as in 2005 when the installment pertained to Cultural Sport Psychology and in 2008 with a focus on the intersection ofsport psychology and ethics. The 2009 special edition of Athletic Insight is already solidified, and rest assured the topic matter will berelevant among our international readership.

In retrospect, Miguel and I had little understanding where the development of an annual special edition would take us. With each years installment we were able to secure strong contributors, which in turn has leveraged the quality of the journal upward to its present status as a hard copy release published by Nova Science. Through our new partnership with Nova Science the intent is now to have three releases each year in place of the original four, with one devoted entirely to special topics. The chapters that follow are a compilation of invited papers, building on earlier special topics compilations. Many of the papers are original works that are heavily modified from earlier special edition releases. Others reflect new work that has been invited on as part of the installment. The chapters forthcoming are unique contributions and they are original work. The goal was not to provide a slightly re-drafted version of earlier submissions. Rather, in the academy peoples thoughts change and evolve with time as does the literature meant to inform our thinking. The intent then is for the present work to provide current thoughts and ideas pertaining to research and / or practice, authored

Robert Schinke x

by well-respected members of the sport psychology field.What follows is a description of the books structure.

The present book is divided into three general sections. Section one has been titled Sport Psychology in Practice. Chapter One provides an overview of work done with professional boxing. Within, I share my experiences working with highly successful professional boxers and their support systems over the course of 10 years amassed experience. Chapter Two is authored by Wayne Halliwell an eminent practitioner with extensive background experience working in the National Hockey League. Wayne was asked to unpack how to effectively prepare NHL athletes for a successful playoff run. Next, in Chapter Three Len Zaichkowsky was asked to consider based on his work with professional soccer (European football) some of the technological techniques he employs. Len has worked for several years with Spanish athletes through the World Cup series and also through affiliation with a professional soccer team in the same country. Adding to the section, Peter Haberl (Chapter Four) works with American Olympians through his appointment to the United States Olympic Committee. He considered work on-site with Olympic favorites. Ken Hodge and Gary Hermansson have worked with Winter and Summer Olympians for their home nation of New Zealand. For Chapter Five they were asked to consider how they motivate athletes from their country. Finally, RoniLidor and Boris Blumenstein from Israel work with Israeli Olympians through a systematic quadrennial plan that they describe in great detail in Chapter Six. Combined, the authors have provided a wonderful cross-section of applied practice with elite populations.

Section Two is devoted to Cultural Sport Psychology. The term CSP was first used in the Autumn, 2005 Athletic Insight Special Edition. Since then, CSP has gained considerable credence in the scholarly literature. For example, this Autumn there will be an entire installment of the International Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology devoted to the topic, where I have co-edited with one of the invited authors in the present book, Tatiana Ryba. Within Section Two of the present book, there are seven contributions that address aspects of CSP. In Chapter Seven Amy Blodgett and her colleagues provide an overview of the field. The intent is to provide a road map for the chapters that follow in the same section. Chapter Eight features the work of Leslee Fisher, Emily Roper and Ted Butryn. Leslee and her colleagues are among the pioneers in the field, and their initial work was among the first to forefront culture and raise questions pertaining to whiteness among other possible spaces in the literature. In Chapter Nine Tatiana Ryba was asked to provide her most current thoughts on the intersection of CSP and cultural praxis. The intent is to convey how research and culturally informed practices can spur effective and meaningful engagement in the field. Within Chapter Ten Peter Catinahas provided a cross-cultural overview of CSP. His intent is to convey how constructs from social cognition might also intersect with CSP. Chapter Eleven features the work of Kerry McGannon and Jennifer Metz, two researchers who employ cultural studies perspectives in their own research. Kerry and Jennifer provide a few examples of how one might proceed with culturally sensitive and reflexive research methods. In Chapter Twelve, Stephanie Hanrahan was asked to update research she has been engaged in with Mexican Orphans over the course of 6-7 years, and in so doing provide one example of cross-cultural research. Her work shifts the focus from conceptual and aspects of CSP toward research. Finally,Chapter Thirteen was authored by Anthony Kontos and Eric Arguello. The focus of their work is on CSP practice with Latin American athletes. Anthony provides a fine example how application in the field canbe modified in relation to the

Introduction to the Compilation xi

intended client. It is hoped that several of these contributions will be of interest, thus pushing forward CSP as a trajectory.

Section Three is comprised of Fourpapers pertaining to sport psychology and ethics. Chapter Fourteen is co-authored by Linda Keeler and Samuel Zizzi. Within the chapter, the authors were asked to consider many of the ethical challenges associated with graduate student supervision.Chapter Fifteen is authored by Brandon Harris, Amanda Visek and Jack Watson II. Within their contribution, Harris and colleagues looked closely at the intersection between the conceptual tenets of ethics and sport psychology practice, framing their discussion in relation to AASPs Ethics Guidelines, presently in revision.For Chapter Sixteen Penny Werthner and John Coleman unpack the ethical challenges they have encountered when working with Canadian Olympic athletes. The installment ends with work from Andy Lane, a researcher and applied practitioner with background in professional boxing working with World Champions. Andy illustrates in Chapter Seventeen the ethical dilemma working with professional boxing when one knows that injury to the athlete / client and his opponent are a part of sport pursuit.

The book is concluded with a commentary chapter, Chapter Eighteen, authored by Mary Pritchard and Sandy Kimbrough. Mary and Sandy are Associate Editors for Athletic Insight, each having worked as part of the AI staff from the point of the earliest special edition onward to the present. As such, their views of the chapters and book provide closure to the compilation.

In closing, it is my hope that the present book is resourced by those interested in learning more about with special topics in sport psychology. Each section contains chapters that are theoretical, research-oriented, and applied, providing a balance to the compilation. Finally, many thanks to the authors of the present installment for their patience throughout the project.

Robert Schinke, EdD, CSPA - Editor

In: Contemporary Sport Psychology ISBN: 978-1-60876-150-0 Editor: Robert Schinke 2009 Nova Science Publishers, Inc.

Chapter 1

THE CONTEXTUAL SIDE OF PROFESSIONAL BOXING RE-VISITED

Robert J. Schinke* Laurentian University, Canada

CHAPTER SUMMARY Five years ago, an installment of Athletic Insight was devoted to applied practice in

professional sport contexts. One of the manuscripts published as part of the installment pertained to professional boxing practice. The work reflected five years of contextual experience in the field, and the experiences conveyed were those of the mental training consultant. The present chapter is a re-visiting of the earlier work in several ways. First, five additional years in the field have been garnered by the sport practitioner. Also, the present work speaks toa collaboration with an elite professional boxing coach. The coach, though not directly part of this chapter, has been a highly successful professional boxing coach for more than a decade, and his accomplishments have included working with world championship athletes in various weight divisions of the World Boxing Council, the World Boxing Association, and the International Boxing Federation. His athletes have also been ranked overall among the most successful in the world by Ring Magazine, a high impact professional resource to boxing practitioners. Within the chapter, the author will re-visit the process of working with professional boxersand their coaching staff as the athletes progress in careers. In addition, several of the contextual challenges posed through high profile applied work will be considered.

Five years ago, the author considered his experiences working with professional boxers, over the course of five years. The focal point through the contribution was the contextual side of boxing (see Schinke, 2004). Included within the writing was an overview of the following: initial meetings and barriers to athlete practitioner rapport, the achievement of solid

*Robert J. Schinke, EdD, CSPA, B-241 Ben Avery Building, School of Human Kinetics, 935 Ramsey Lake Rd.,

Laurentian University, Sudbury, Ontario, Canada, P3E 2C6, Email: [email protected], Telephone: (705) 675-1151 ext. 1045, Fax: (705) 675-4845

Robert J. Schinke 2

relational footing (i.e., interpersonal relations), preparing athletes for critical bouts, the bi-directional relationship between the media and athlete performance, and the chronology of athlete achievement throughout a successful sport career. Herein, the very same aspects of applied practice are considered, though after five additional years of experience within the same context. The author has considered his experiences working with professional athletes. Narrowing the discussion, the paper is focused solely on our work with athletes ranked within the top 15 of world ranking systems. Myauthors is that there are many approaches to elite professional boxing within management teams. The present work only reflects one such view. Forthcoming, the author considers his experiences working in professional boxing.

SETTING THE STAGE Ten years ago, the author began working with professional boxers. At the time, he was

the sport psychology consultant (SPC) to the Canadian National Boxing Team. During a training camp where the coach was working with two of the athletes, the two began to speak. The coach was intrigued by the tangible nature of sport psychology, and how matters pertaining to control and the monitoring of effective explanatory patterns could intersect with pre-competition and competition planning. At the time, the SPC was engaged in post-doctoral studies, and the option that arose was whether to remain in formal studies or to begin applied practice as a full-time staff member in the management team. Though the initial invite was rescinded because the management group and student resided several thousand miles apart, the discussions from that weekend continued sporadically as the first author was completing his studies.

Two years later, the first author began working formally as part of the management team, after relocating to the same general region. The management group was in its third year of existence, and several athletes were becoming well known internationally due to their world rankings. The athletes and staff had over the three-year span enlisted the work (albeit in short durations) of a few SPCs, though the fit was not correct. The athletes did not feel a connection with the consultants, and the lack of connection manifested in distrust, a lack of athlete SPC rapport, and consequently, ineffective work. Consequently, when the author re-approached the head coach with a proposal to begin work, there was some initial concern regarding the viability of services, meaning whether the services would meet the expectations of the athletes and staff alike. Through several phone calls and some persistence on the part of the SPC, the head coach agreed to meet with the author, and to subsequently introduce him to a few athletes. The ongoing experience resembles at least in terms of rapport building, encounters with the Canadian National Boxing Team (See Schinke, 2007). Precisely, early mistrust evolved into a long-term relationship that continues to present day. What follows is the chronology of experiences working with professional boxers from first encounters, onward to (and through) ongoing world titles.

The Contextual Side of Professional Boxing Re-Visited 3

INITIAL MEETINGS = INITIAL BARRIERS Boxing is a fascinating context in which to do work. For a layperson, the sport of boxing

might conjure up a context where the athletes are poorly educated, from the street, difficult to gain the trust of, and perhaps closed to the concept of sport psychology. From the authors vantage, there is only some truth to boxing stereotypes. Granted there is often some trepidation among the athletes to speak openly with a SPC. To be a professional boxer, one must be mentally and physically tough, and disclosing ones thoughts and feelings to a SPC can be misconstrued among some athletes as being soft (instead of hardened and mentally tough). Compounding the challenges he encountered in employing effective sport psychology work are the negative experiences several of the athletes recounted to the author prior to their decisions to engage. Negative initial experiences included several foreign athletes confiding personal experiences about a SPC, who breached confidentially and disclosed personal information to the coaching staff. Among other athletes were initial observations during their amateur careers of one particular SPC who spent an entire training camp taking the sun at poolside, without a single athlete meeting. Finally, there were others who viewed the domain as esoteric, intangible, and therefore its services as a waste of time. The authors view is that athletes have many reasons when they are initially guarded, and a good starting point is to identify and understand where trepidations originate. It would be a mistake to assume when an athlete is initially closed off from the consultant, that the athlete will never engage in collaboration. With patience and a willingness to allow the athlete SPC relationship to develop naturally, there will be ample opportunity for work.

First appointments with athletes always seem to resemble a bout, believe it or not. There is a short feeling out process, followed by a first blink impression, and then a decision of how to engage. From his experiences the author recognizes that for the first meeting to happen, the athlete and SPC require support from the coach. The head coach is the gatekeeper to his athletes, though one might propose that he is also the gatekeeper to the SPC. To facilitate the SPC athlete relationship, the head coach proposes the idea to the athlete and then supports the suggestion with some effective support so that the athlete engages in the first meeting. Concurrently, by providing positive ongoing support to the SPC regarding how best to proceed with each athlete, the head coach serves to present the SPC in a manner that is enticing, and hopefully promising of further athlete development. When the author and coach began to work together, the two leading athletes they spent much of their time working with were prospective world champions. One of the athletes was Canadian by nationality, and his skepticism of sport psychology was based upon earlier encounters as a professional athlete with other consultants. The second athlete held an illustrious amateur career before he embarked on his professional career. His initial encounters with SPCs were instances when he chose not to answer truthfully, and so he told the SPC what he thought was being hoped for as an answer (i.e., that everything was always fine). Both athletes were the first high standard professional boxing clients the SPC worked with, and both became world champions in short order, mostly because of the high quality coaching and management they received, which complimented their desire to succeed.

First encounters felt stilted, undoubtedly to the athletes and SPC alike. One of the athletes was slightly more receptive than the other, primarily because by the time work began, he had challenged for a world title three times, always unsuccessfully. Consequently, that client was

Robert J. Schinke 4

looking for any additional edge he could gain, and perhaps a last ditch effort at sport psychology was worth the risk. The second athlete was encouraged a little more actively by the second author to meet with the SPC. He at first spoke of his family during meetings, and there was very little said pertaining to sport, other than his initial negative encounter with a SPC, while he was a national team athlete. Within a short time, both athletes were engaged in the process, and the overarching ambition in the partnership was to debrief previous performances, glean a better understanding of why performances unfolded as they did, and subsequently from increased understanding, the goal was to enhance performance through knowledge of what does and does not work. It should be noted that since the initial contribution by Schinke (2004), the author with academic and applied colleagues has developed a theoretical framework upon which to expedite elite amateur and professional athlete adaptation (see Schinke, Battochio, Dubuc, Swords, Apolloni, &Tenenbaum, 2008; Schinke, Gauthier, Dubuc, & Crowder, 2007). Interestingly, the theoretical framework delineated through systematic research uncovered athlete understanding as the most critical step, contributing to effective athlete adaptation (as opposed to athlete mal-adaptation, leading to stagnation). Consequently, though athlete understanding is a topic matter pursued with the boxers from the outset, it is also an ongoing pursuit throughout relations, leading to athlete evolution throughout the span of a career.

ACHIEVING SOLID RELATIONAL FOOTING The author found that relations with athletes tend to develop quickly when the focus is

placed squarely on athlete evolution. Every athlete seeks to understand what works well for him in performance, and therefore what to systematize as part of a bout (competition) plan. Debriefings of previous bouts are a critical part of what we do, and sometimes those debriefings must be used to track experiences as far in the past as 7-8 years ago. One of the athletes he worked with in the past viewed himself as someone who always underachieved in critical bouts. When the coach insisted that the athlete meet with the SPC, it was found inside the first meeting that such concerns stemmed from two consecutive amateur tournaments when the athlete was expected to win, and in thecrucial bouts, he was unable to execute his plan. The deeply held belief by the athlete was that he choked during the tournaments to the point where his talents could not be employed. Consequently, during the critical first meeting, discussions began with trepidations working with SPCs (based on negative formative experiences in an amateur career). Once the SPC was made aware by the athlete of his concerns with SPCs, the discussion turned to fears that he would underachieve during a forthcoming world title bout. Through discussions, earlier amateur experiences were recounted and thoroughly debriefed. Precisely, the question became what decisions the athlete made during his first negative amateur experience (followed by the second) that manifested in each of the subpar tournament outcomes. When the athlete became aware of omissions in his bout plans, hisemotional response was immediate. The pessimistic attribution of being someone who can choke was re-conceptualized into poor organizational decisions. Re-attributing mistakes from uncontrollable to controllable fostered a level of understanding that in turn contributed to better planning decisions and subsequently, a dramatic world championship success. From the aforementioned story, the athlete became immediately


receptive to sport psychology services as part of his training. Consequently, with the initial support from the coach and a subsequent effective intervention, the SPC and athlete were on solid relational footing. Though manifestations of trust have varied with every athlete based on his individual personality, experiences, and cultural background, each athlete in his own way articulated when he trusted the services. The SPCs task was to listen carefully and to know when the relationship was forged, and also in a few cases, when more patience was (and in a few cases still is) required.

WORKING WITH ATHLETES THROUGHOUT THEIR CAREERS Every professional boxer has a lifespan for his career. We have found that the length of

an athletes career varies with each athlete. Part of what accounts for the discrepancies in career spans from one athlete to the next is a matter of athlete resilience. Additionally, though equally salient is the matter of effective athlete management. Each aspect unto itself is necessary though insufficient if the goal is to retain professional boxers in successful careers over the long-term. The starting point is to work with athletes who are resilient. Athlete resilience does not just happen (see Retew&Reivich, 1995). Rather, there are indications of athlete resilience that stem from earlier amateur careers. Precisely, several of the athletes the author has worked with did not have illustrious amateur careers, though earlier careers were marked with instances where the athletes responded adaptively to setbacks, including de-selection from a national team or from skills that did not fully match with amateur boxing. However, what was consistent among the most resilient athletes worked with is their ongoing choice to persist after setbacks immediately as opposed to months of inactivity and rumination (e.g., negative reflection, externalizing negative outcomes, holding negative and distrusting thoughts of coaching staff) (for a review see Schinke &da Costa, 2001, Seligman, 1991).

Though resilience for the highprofile professional boxer is an innate characteristic, it must also be monitored throughout his athletic career. The intent is to ensure that after successes, lessons are gleaned in terms of why successes are successes. Also, even when the athlete wins a critical bout, the athlete and his coaching staff must always seek out aspects to improve forthcoming. The objective, even one working with world champions, is to ensure that there is always a sense of forward progression. Successful boxers are not only meant to maintain unblemished records. They are also supposed to grow within their success to the point where successful outcomes are also opportunities for learning. When setbacks are encountered, within such outcomes again there are lessons to learn, and such lessons are meant to be addressed sooner instead of later. The author has found that his athletes replay negative outcomes time and again in their minds. The re-visiting of such experiences is the consequence of a search for understanding on the part of the athlete. So long as the athlete does not fully understand why the performance manifested in a negative outcome, the experience will be considered unaddressed. The longer the span of time from the experience to the debriefing, the more times the athlete re-visits the negative outcome without a full appreciation of how behaviors / decisions connected with the outcome. The goal is to expedite the debriefing process so as to decrease the number of times that the athlete re-visits negative experiences, and thus the possibility of negative rumination as a habit.

Robert J. Schinke 6

Consequently, the goal is to be efficient, and also to debrief performances quickly, always ensuring that the debriefing process is extensive, and sufficient in the mind of the athlete and his coaching staff. In so doing, each experience becomes a learning opportunity, one that is understood, facilitative of future plans, and then put to rest. Therein, through effective debriefings, the coaching staff plays their part ensuring that the athlete recovers mentally from each bout, thus re-affirming and building upon the athletes resilience with each bout.

Finally, a caveat must be made in terms of athlete resilience. The reader might anticipate from what has been written thus far that resilience is in part intertwined with outcome. Precisely, it might be assumed that from successes, enhanced resilience is a foregone conclusion. However, the author hasobserved bouts second hand where successes have eroded at resilience, and also examples when negative outcomes have enhanced the same skill. Taking the example of positive outcomes undermining resilience, recently he witnessed bouts where athletes at the highest level won their bouts, though experienced a loss in positive mindedness. During one example, the athlete won 11 of 12 rounds of a critical bout, though barely managed to escape a knockout in the final round. The second athlete also won his critical bout, though in the bout, the win was not as definitely in terms of point differentials as compared to the firstcase. What both athletes shared was an emotional response post-bout that indicated relief in place of joy and excitement. The critical aspect in the effective tracking of professional boxing post-bout is their immediate post-bout emotional response. In keeping with well-documented literature on attributions such as the seminal work of Weiner (1985, 1986) and then transferred into a resilience framework through the work of Rettew and Reivich (1995), emotional responses are critical. Only some emotional responses are facilitative of resilience such as happiness and guilt, though not relief.

THE ROLE OF THE MEDIA Within the earlier work of Schinke (2004) there was a section devoted to the relationship

between (and sometimes amongst) the media and athletes and their respective management groups. We have both found that athletes tend to track the information about them in newspapers, on web sites, and in daily blogs. One athlete that the SPC recently worked with spent much of his time prior to a critical bout tracking the commentary made by his opponent. In addition, the athlete was aware of and concerned by the predictions for the fight made by the pundits. There is an extensive body of literature pertaining to social support and also self-confidence where there is strong indication that athletes do not prepare nor perform in a vacuum. Rather, they are influenced by the feedback and words provided by others, in some cases through media outlets. Some athletes are less concerned about the views of others, and some track and pay credence to external feedback. Consequently, the role of media is a matter of more and less, though media does play a role in boxer performance.

Within professional sport, you will find that athletes are sometimes trained regarding how to conduct themselves with the media. There are patent responses that some athletes learn to provide during interviews. Examples might include a focus on personal performance and how coaching staff and family have been supportive in preparation for the bout. Though responses are typically attempts at professionalism, regardless of what response is provided, it is constructed in language. The moment athletes are asked to consider their performances, and


they respond, the words they select conjure up images. Each year, the author delivers a days workshop to Canadian elite coaches on the effect of language use when working with aspiring athletes. The moment an athlete is asked any question, and it is often hard to predict what questions might be asked by a reporter, the athlete must reflect over his response. The critical point is that thoughts constructed in language are thoughts nonetheless. From a press columnists questions, the athlete can embark on a trajectory of thinking that is either facilitative or debilitative of his performance. Further, when the words of the athlete are served up in printed form, they might range from a correct depiction of the athletes thoughts to a complete misinterpretation. If the athlete then reads the column out of curiosity prior to the bout, the words fed back to him can be a cause of positive or negative emotions. Consequently, when coaches and sport science staff are asked to provide interviews, our thought is to remain mindful that our athletes might be part of the readership. Hence, the media can be an opportunity for staff to deliver an effective message to the athlete, assuming that the responses we provide are resilience producing or affirming.

In addition, the author has worked positively with a few athletes in the past regarding how best to employ the media as a performance enhancement strategy. For example, with one athlete recently, short sport psychology sessions were held before critical media interviews and press conferences. The athlete was an aficionado of the media. He loves the media, and he follows media releases closely. Hence, the question has become how to respond to the media so as to enhance resilience while also potentially parting messages to the opponent. Some opponents also track the media, and one particular opponent the consultant helped an athlete prepare for, seemed to download the most recent news / information about my client daily onto his website. Through simple observation it became evident that we could deliver messages to the opponent through the media, and the question became what messages might be effective for both parties? Any source of information that reflects back to the athlete can be employed as an effective way to send a message, and hopefully that message will be a positive and effective one for the intended client.

CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS The present work is not intended is a definitive guide of how one might work with

successful professional boxers, successfully. Further, it should be noted that there is considerably more to working with professional boxers and their management groups than has been considered herein. For example, there is pre-bout management, matters of travel away from home, how to work effectively with sport agents, how to support athletes before and during press conferences, and also how to work with boxers onsite. Such topics are matters for another submission, and were not discussed as part of the present contribution. Herein, the author provided a few considerations that we believe can enhance athlete performance through a systematic approach to athlete management. He considered what was discussed within the present installment as part of the contextual side of what we do with the boxers we work with effectively. The SPC does not do all of the strategies with every athlete, and so the headings reflect a composite of parts, written together as part of an overarching approach. Within the present chapter he has considered some of the initial challenges an SPC might encounter when working with aspiring boxers. Afterward, considerations included how

Robert J. Schinke 8

an SPC might forge a relationship with an athlete, how one might work with athletes throughout their careers, and also how we at times have worked effectively with the media. It is hoped that our words encourage others to also contribute in print, aspects to their respective approaches as consultants in professional sport. Forthcoming are a few suggestions we propose for those interested in working with professional boxers.

Relationships with athletes take some time to develop. An effective strategy toward

the beginning of the relationship is to focus (should the athlete be comfortable) on debriefings of previous amateur and professional bouts. From such discussions that consultant will learn some of the patterns of the athlete, thus familiarizing him/herself with the individual case. As well, debriefings are a good opportunity for athletes to learn about their previous performances, and employ such lessons in their future strategies.

There are cases when boxers are reluctant initially to engage in work with a SPC. Trepidation might be a matter of previous negative experiences or a lack of belief in sport psychology / mental training service provisions. Our suggestion is to gain an initial understanding of how the athlete regards such services, and then to approach the athlete as the athlete is ready, not before.

Boxers learn their varying amounts of resilience directly through past encounters, though also from the supportive resources that surround them. We have proposed that the very best of athletes from those we have worked with were naturally resilient. Precisely, the resilient athletes were resilient long before we ever began working with them. A strong base line of resilience is necessary for world-class athletes to become and remain successful over the long-term. We seek out such athletes, and then subsequently try as best we can to track their resilience through their explanations and emotional responses within and shortly after crucial bouts. We propose that the more efficient the debriefing process after bouts, the better when the objective is to push athletes in their ongoing evolution.

REFERENCES

Bandura, A. (1997). Self-efficacy: The exercise of control. New York: W.H. Freeman. Lane, A.M. (2006) Reflections of professional boxing consultancy: A response to Schinke

(2004). Athletic Insight, 6. Retrieved December 20, 2006, from URL: http:// www.athleticinsight.com/Vol8Iss3/Reflections.htm

Rettew, D.,&Reivich, K. (1995) Sports explanatory style. In G. McClellan Buchanan & M.E.P. Seligman (Eds.),Explanatory style (pp. 173-186). NJ: Erlbaum.

Schinke, R.J. (2007). A four-year chronology with national team boxing in Canada.Journal of Sport Science and Medicine, 6 (CSSI 2), 1-5.

Schinke, R.J. (September, 2004). The contextual side of professional sport.Athletic Insight, 6.Retrieved December 20, 2006, from URL: http://www.athleticinsight.com/Vol6Iss2 /ProfessionalBoxing.htm


Schinke, R.J., Battochio, R.C., Dubuc, N.G., Swords, S., Appoloni, G., &Tennenbaum, G. (2008). Adaptation attempts of Canadian Olympians using archival data.Journal of Clinical Sport Psychology, 2, 1-21.

Schinke, R.J., &da Costa, J. (2001). Understanding the development of major-games competitors' explanations and behaviors from a contextual viewpoint. Athletic Insight, Available on the World Wide Web: http://www.athleticinsight.com/Vol3Iss3 /ExplanationDevelopment.htm

Schinke, R.J., Gauthier, A.P., Dubuc, N.G., & Crowder, T. (2007). Understanding athlete adaptation in the National Hockey League through an archival data source. The SportPsychologist,21, 277287.

Schinke, R.J., Peltier, D., Hanrahan, S.J., Eys, M.A., Yungblut, H., Ritchie, S., et al (in press). The progressive move toward indigenous strategies among a Canadian multicultural research team.International Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 5.

Seligman, M.E.P. (1991).Learned optimism: How to change your mind and your life. NY: Pocket Books.

Skinner, E.A. (1995). Perceived control, motivation, and coping. London, UK: Sage. Weiner, B. (1985). An attribution theory of achievement motivation and emotion.

Psychological Review,92, 548-573. Weiner, B. (1986). Attribution, emotion, and action.In R. M. Sorrentino& E. T. Higgins

(Eds.), Handbook of motivation and cognition Vol. #1 (pp. 281-311). NJ: Erlbaum.


Chapter 2

PREPARING PROFESSIONAL HOCKEY PLAYERS FOR PLAYOFF PERFORMANCE

Wayne Halliwell* University of Montreal, Canada

CHAPTER SUMMARY Working with professional hockey teams in the playoffs is a unique consulting

experience. I have been privileged to work behind the scenes on a number of occasions with both National Hockey League (NHL) and American Hockey League (AHL) teams during their long, intense playoff runs. In this chapter I will describe some of the strategies that we have used to help the players, the coaches and the teams get mentally and emotionally ready for the challenges of playoff hockey. I will also discuss the differences that I have observed between providing sport psychology consulting services to professional hockey teams in the playoffs and working with our Canadian national hockey teams in short-term events such as the Winter Olympics and the World Hockey Championships.

THE CONSULTING APPROACH I use an interactionist approach (Miner, 2005 ) when consulting with both the Canadian

national hockey teams and the professional hockey teams. In this regard, my interventions can be categorized as being player-related (Person), or related to the surrounding social and physical environments (Situation). It should be noted, however, that interactionism is a word that never comes up in my conversations with professional hockey players and their coaches. In addition to considering social and physical environmental factors which affect the players, it is also important as a consultant to be aware of the unique hockey culture which

*Wayne Halliwell, Ph.D., CSPA, Department of Kinesiology, University of Montreal, 2100 Edouard Montpetit.

Montreal, Quebec H9W3N9, e-mail address [email protected], Phone : 514-343-7008, Fax : 514-343-2181

Wayne Halliwell 12

exists in professional hockey (Botterill, 2004; Halliwell, 1990, 2004). Throughout the chapter I will discuss the role of the interaction between certain personal factors and a number of physical, social and cultural factors.

In addition to having a sound conceptual framework to guide the delivery of sport psychology consulting services to professional hockey teams, I feel that it is very important to adopt a low profile. By maintaining a low- key, behind the scenes approach, especially when dealing with the increased media presence during the playoffs, both players and coaches will respect your professionalism (Halliwell, Orlick, Ravizza & Rotella, 1999). The last thing they want to see is the sport psychology consultant doing a lot of television, radio or newspaper interviews. I like to follow the motto high input low profile.

THE UNIQUE TASK DEMANDS OF PROFESSIONAL HOCKEY PLAYOFFS As a consultant working with professional hockey teams during various playoff series,

what have really struck me are the length and the intensity of the playoff competition. In contrast to the Winter Olympics or the World Hockey Championships which last two weeks and have teams playing seven or eight games (including preliminary and medal round games), professional hockey playoffs in North America begin during the second week in April and dont end until the second week in June. The drained and battle-scarred faces of the players during television interviews in the NHL playoffs is a testament to the gruelling nature of the Stanley Cup journey with teams playing two months of extremely intense, emotional, and physically draining hockey. The Stanley Cup Champion may be required to play as many as 28 games during four seven games series. In addition, the teams travel across several time zones in short periods of time and the players may have to cope with playing at a high altitude in cities like Denver and Calgary. Some players can be seen getting supplementary oxygen on the bench between shifts during games which are played at altitude. Given the special task demands of professional hockey playoffs (see also Battochio, Schinke, Battochio, Eys, Halliwell & Tenenbaum, submitted for publication), there are a number of areas where the sport psychology consultant can help the players and the coaches cope with the mental and emotional demands of this two month marathon of games. In the next section I will identify some of the areas that we focus on to help these professional athletes master the mental and emotional side of their game.

MENTAL AND EMOTIONAL SKILLS FOR PROFESSIONAL HOCKEY PLAYERS

Whenever I talk to professional hockey players about mental and emotional skills I

always remind them that what we are talking about is not exactly rocket science. I like to keep things simple and emphasize a lot of C words such as control, composure,

concentration, commitment, confidence and consistency. Specific examples of areas that we work on include:

Preparing Professional Hockey Players for Playoff Performance 13

helping players get focused and stay focused so they can stay in the moment and focus on playing one shift at a time for the entire length of the game. In the playoffs, some games can last over 120 minutes with 60 minutes of regulation time and another two or three periods of sudden-death overtime hockey.

helping players regroup and refocus if they get distracted and frustrated during the game because of missed scoring opportunities, bad plays, bad bounces, questionable calls by the officials helping players control their emotions and not get frustrated by things like: opponents stifling, close-checking defensive tactics opposition goalies playing out of their minds inconsistent refereeing decisions helping players control their emotions, maintain their composure and not retaliate to opponents aggressive, intimidating actions and verbal comments also known as chirping helping players develop the resiliency and mental toughness to bounce back and re-energize themselves after tough losses helping players deal with playoff pressure and media and fans expectations helping players stay loose and play with intensity helping players cope with the mental, emotional and physical fatigue of the long playoff grind helping players play with a high level of confidence and consistency helping players develop a selfless team first attitude with a total commitment to doing whatever it takes to win (e.g., blocking shots, playing through nagging injuries, playing fewer minutes per game)

DELIVERING THE MENTAL AND EMOTIONAL SKILLS INFORMATION Having identified some of the mental and emotional challenges of playoff hockey at the

professional level, we can now take a look at some of the strategies that have proven to be effective in delivering the mental and emotional skills information. However, before we examine the what and the how of the delivery of this information, it is important to consider who we are delivering this information to. On every professional hockey team there is a mix of young players, mid-career players and older experienced veteran players. The players on an NHL team could range in age from 18 to over 40 years old. The veteran players prefer to be called 40 years young!

In terms of their ability to deal with the mental and emotional aspects of playoff hockey at the professional level I like to classify the players in three groups based on their years of playoff experience:

Wayne Halliwell 14

Inexperienced Players These are players who have no NHL playoff experience so they Dont know what to

expect and Dont know how to respond.

Players with Some Playoff Experience These are players who have limited playoff experience and they Know what to expect

but still Dont know how to respond

Experienced, Veteran Players These players have years of playoff experience so they Know what to expect and Know

how to respond. Players in this category include Steve Yzerman, captain of the Detroit Red Wings, Scott Stevens, captain of the New Jersey Devils and Joe Sakic, captain of the Colorado Avalanche. Each one of these players has won multiple Stanley Cups and they have figured out how to get focused, stay focused and if needed - refocus. They also know how to control their thoughts and their emotions and create a mindset which enables them to elevate their games and play with both confidence and consistency in pressure-filled playoff games. These players truly enjoy the challenge of competing and playing hard every second night for two months and getting the opportunity to lead their teammates to victory.

In an interview late in his illustrious 22 year, three Stanley Cup career with the Detroit Red Wings, captain Steve Yzerman said I really enjoy the atmosphere now, the emotional highs and lows of the playoffs. Thats the thing that, ironically, as you get older, you get more comfortable with. You get less scared of it. (Detroit Free Press, 2006. p.88).

KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE In this broad classification of playoff performers it is clear that knowledge and

experience are two key factors which enable the top players to perform to their potential. From a conceptual perspective, it can be said that this knowledge consists of what a player knows about himself and what he knows about dealing with various situations (Interactionism once again jumps into the picture). Veteran players, with their years of experience, have acquired this knowledge and as a result they know what to expect in the playoffs and they know how to respond. In their words, they have figured things out.

To help younger players acquire this knowledge and figure out the mental and emotional side of playoff hockey, I like to show them video clips of experienced playoff performers and top athletes from other sports discussing topics such as focusing, visualizing, breathing, dealing with pressure, and dealing with frustration.

Professional hockey players do not like to sit through long meetings with a sport psychology consultant discussing mental training techniques, however they love to watch short video clips of other world-class athletes talking about their experiences and their mental


approach to major competitions. As Malcolm Gladwell (2002) vividly states in his brilliant book The Tipping Point, packaging information in the right way is the key to getting it to stick in peoples minds.

A recent television interview with one of the worlds top golfers, Tiger Woods, provides a good example of an effective video clip which can help hockey players grasp the concept of staying in the present and playing one shift at a time. In this interview, when asked a question about his mental approach to each shot, Tiger Woods states You have to make a commitment to each shot. At that moment in time, that shot is the most important thing in your life. You have to stay in the moment and be totally focused. This is exactly what coaches want their players to do every shift during the game and because NHL players have such great respect for Tiger Woods they will listen to his words and apply them to their sport.

On the topic of dealing with frustration, during the 2003 Stanley Cup playoffs there was a great interview after the first period of the seventh game final with New Jersey Devils forward John Madden. His team was completely outplaying their opponent, the Anaheim Mighty Ducks, but the game was still tied 0-0 because of the terrific goaltending of the Mighty Ducks goalie Jean- Sebastien Giguere. When asked if it was frustrating to be totally outplaying and outshooting the opposition and not being able to score, Madden replied No, its not frustrating. It would be frustrating if we werent getting scoring chances. The second period is always our best period and Im sure well be okay.

In discussing this interview with players I like to point out that John Madden never mentioned the opposing goalie and he focused on three positives. His team was dominating the game, they were getting scoring chances, and they always play well in the second period. History will note that John Maddens team, the New Jersey Devils, went on to win that game and win the Stanley Cup. It should also be noted that the opposition goalie, Jean-Sebastien Giguere, won the trophy for the Most Valuable Player in the playoffs. During the same intermission of this game another veteran player Steve Thomas was interviewed and when asked how that he dealt with the pressure of playing in a seventh game Stanley Cup Final, he replied We just try to keep things simple - get pucks in, get pucks out, and take deep breaths. These short video clips from experienced professional athletes provide a nice way of communicating information on topics such as focusing, motivation, dealing with frustration and dealing with pressure.

On the subject of dealing with pressure, during the 2004 NHL playoff finals the players on the Stanley Cup Champion Tampa Bay Lightning received some unexpected and highly appreciated advice from a former Stanley Cup winner and Hall of Fame player Raymond Bourque. Before game five of the finals one of the Tampa Bay players Tim Taylor received a telephone message from his former teammate Raymond Bourque with a reminder to enjoy this great opportunity to be battling for the Stanley Cup. Taylor played this voice message for his teammates on the speaker system in the Lightning locker room. In television interviews a number of the players talked about how much they appreciated this great former player taking the time to share his experiences and how the words enjoy and opportunity really helped them approach the final games with a healthy, positive perspective.

The experienced, respected professional athletes that I have mentioned in the aforementioned examples all have years of experience playing in pressure-filled situations and they all know how to embrace the pressure and let their training and talent come out. Quotes from these athletes are readily available in television interviews and in the sports pages of newspapers, magazines, and books. By preparing video clips and posting the

Wayne Halliwell 16

comments of high profile professional athletes in the locker room we can help young professional athletes access this timeless wisdom and they can use this information to improve their mental and emotional skills.

One of the excerpts that I like to share with teams in playoff situations is the following observation from Wayne Gretzky after his young talented Edmonton Oilers team was defeated by the three-time defending champion New York Islanders in the Stanley Cup final. He relates an unforgettable experience that he and his teammate Kevin Lowe had to endure after their losing to the Islanders:

Kevin and I loaded up our troubles and our junk and made our way to the bus. We both knew that we were going to have to walk by the Islanders locker room and we were dreading it: having to see all the happy faces, the champagne shampoos, the girlfriends kisses, the whole scene we both wanted so much. But as we walked by, we didnt see any of that. The girlfriends and the coaches and the staff people were living it up, but the players werent. Trottier was icing what looked like a painful knee. Potvin was getting stuff rubbed on his shoulder. Guys were limping around with black eyes and bloody mouths. It looked more like a morgue than a locker room. And we were perfectly fine and healthy. Thats why they won and we lost. They took more punishment than we did. They dove into more boards, stuck their faces in front of more pucks, threw their bodies into more pileups. They sacrificed everything they had. And thats when Kevin said something that Ill never forget. He said: Thats how you win championships (Gretzky & Reilly, 1990, p.69).

PROCESS ORIENTED FOCUS THOUGHTS Due to the importance of each playoff game, players have a natural tendency to focus on

the outcome of the games instead of focusing on the process of winning. To get players focused on doing what it takes to win, instead of focusing on having to win, I like to get players forwards and defencemen to use action-oriented key words which we also refer to as trigger words: Move your feet, Drive the net, Speed wide, Win the battles, Track back hard, Finish your checks, and Head on a swivel. For goalies I like to use key words such as: alert, big, calm, square, challenge, solid and fluid. Players have found that these process-oriented key words help them focus on things that they can control and when combined with visualization techniques in their pre-game routine, players are able to create a confident mindset which enables to see and feel themselves playing with confidence and consistency. Experienced players have already figured out how to program their computers with positive images and words, so in sport psych terminology they know how to combine positive self-talk with visualization.

PLAYOFF TEAM THEMES Another area where I have really enjoyed contributing to professional hockey teams in

their playoff preparation is the development of specific team themes and slogans. These themes evolve from discussions with the coaching staff and with input from the players. Once a playoff theme has been identified we print up T-shirts for all the players, coaches and


support staff and these T-shirts are handed out at the first team playoff meeting. Examples of themes that we have used include: Pay the Price, Discipline Over Emotion, Whatever it Takes, Short Shift Hockey, Will Beats Skill, Push the Pace, No Regrets, Each Other and Team First.

When the Colorado Avalanche won the Stanley Cup in 2001 their playoff theme was Its All About Commitment. This reminder was painted in big letters on the dressing room wall and it appeared in the teams playoff motivational videos. Working with the team video coordinator to produce highlight videos is an enjoyable project and we get the players involved by asking them to supply suggestions for the music they like. A pre-playoff motivational video is prepared and then follow-up videos are produced with highlights from each playoff round that we win. One of the keys in preparing these videos is to ensure every player appears in the video so it is not just a series of highlights of a few of the more high-profile players on the team. Also, these videos should not just show great plays by individual players. Instead, they should also show little things like players displaying discipline, winning loose puck battles, blocking shots, back checking hard, and showing extra effort in skating hard to the net and getting to rebounds.

In the 2004 NHL playoffs, the eventual Stanley Cup champion Tampa Bay Lightning team used an interesting theme - Safe Is Death. One of the assistant coaches came up with this team theme because the coaches did not want the team to sit back and play too safely when they had a lead in a game. The theme apparently had an effect on the Tampa Bay players as they often extended the lead by continuing to push the pace instead of playing cautiously and trying to protect the lead. Boston Bruins coach Claude Julien also uses the team theme Push the Pace as he finds that it helps his players focus on applying the pressure instead of feeling the pressure and squeezing their sticks. Players like this aggressive, pursuit approach as it helps them get up their toes, get pucks deep, and take the play to the opposition by applying puck pressure both all over the ice. From these examples it can be seen how playoff themes can influence a players mindset and it is an area where a consultant can provide creative input by developing team themes which stick with the players and provide a constant reminder for the way they want to think and play.

PLAYOFF SITUATIONAL FACTORS During a two month playoff journey there are many situational factors that can be

potential distractions to players. The coaches and team management of NHL teams do a great job of organizing travel, lodging and meals. Teams travel on charter flights, stay in first class hotels, and have team meals at excellent restaurants. However, due to the magnitude of the Stanley Cup playoffs, more demands are placed on the players as media coverage increases and players families and friends fly in to visit and share the Stanley Cup experience. Thus, players find themselves doing things such as scrambling to find extra tickets for games and making sure that their families and friends are looked after. These extra social demands can affect the players normal game day routine, as a result, many teams have their players check into hotels the night before home games. This allows the coaches to organize a team meal and a team meeting and it is a great time for the sport psychology consultant to find time for informal consulting moments with players. When working with hockey teams at the

Wayne Halliwell 18

Olympic Games or at World Championships, players and coaches do not have these distractions as they are living in the Olympic Village or in a hotel. At these major international competitions it is much easier to put a family plan and a media plan in place and to develop distraction control and focus plans such as those described in Terry Orlicks excellent book In Pursuit of Excellence (Orlick, 2000).

Another unique social factor in the playoffs is the increased number of players on the team as NHL teams call up extra players from their farm team and there can be as many as 30 players available to play. Since only 20 players dress for each game, the extra players have to do extra on-ice and off-ice training to stay in shape and be ready to play in case of injuries. This group of reserve players develops an identity and they are referred to as the Black Aces because they wear black jerseys in practice. As the legendary UCLA basketball coach John Wooden points out in his wonderful memoirs (Wooden & Jamieson, 1997), spending time with the reserve players and recognizing their efforts is one of the keys to any teams playoff success as these players must have a positive influence on the team and be ready to contribute. The coaches that I have worked with have taken the time to build a positive attitude in the reserve group and the regular players also take time to mention the importance of the depth of their team when talking to the media. Spending time with these players is also an important role for the sport psychology consultant and I have thoroughly enjoyed chatting with these reserve players and helping them stay mentally and emotionally fit.

SUMMARY Professional hockey players face many mental, emotional and physical challenges during

the long, gruelling playoff journeys. Working with these world-class athletes and seeing the passion they demonstrate in working together, growing together and winning together is a very rewarding consulting experience. Hopefully the experiences that I have shared in this chapter provide some insight into the uniqueness of the professional hockey playoffs and shed light on ways that consultants can deliver sport psychology services to professional hockey players and coaches in the playoffs.

REFERENCES

Battochio, R. C., Schinke, R. J., Battochio, D., Eys, M. A., Halliwell, W., & Tenenbaum, G. The contextual challenges of ice-hockey players in the National Hockey League. Submitted for publication.

Botterill, C. (2004). The psychology of professional hockey. Retrieved January 15th, 2009, from http://www.athleticinsight.com/Vol6Iss2/ProfessionalHockey.htm

Gladwell, M. (2002). The tipping point. New York, NY: Little, Brown & Company. Gretzky, W., & Reilly, R. (1990). Gretzky : An Autobiography. Toronto: Harper Collins. Halliwell, W. (1990). Delivering sport psychology services in professional hockey. The Sport

Psychologist, 4, 369-377.


Halliwell, W. (2004). Preparing professional hockey players for playoff performance, Retrieved December 10th, 2008 from http://www.athleticinsight.com/Vol6Iss2 /ProfessionalHockeyPlayoffPerformance.htm

Halliwell, W., Orlick, T., Ravizza K., & Rotella, R. (1999 ) Consultants guide to excellence. Chelsea, CAN: Baird, OKeefe Publishing.

Miner, J.B. ( 2005 ). Organizational behaviour 1 Essential theories of motivation and leadership. Armonk.NY: M.E.Sharpe

Orlick, T. In pursuit of excellence. (2000) Champaign. IL: Human Kinetics. Wooden, J., & Jamieson, S. (1997). Wooden: A lifetime of observations and reflections on

and off the court. Lincolnwood, ILL: Contemporary Books. Yzerman, S. (2006). The Captain: 22 Seasons, 3 Cups, 1 Team. Detroit: Detroit Free Press.


Chapter 3

A CASE FOR A NEW SPORT PSYCHOLOGY: APPLIED PSYCHOPHYSIOLOGY AND FMRI NEUROSCIENCE

Leonard Zaichkowsky Boston University, Massachusetts,USA

CHAPTER SUMMARY In this chapter I present the argument that the profession of sport psychology has failed to

convince coaches, athletes and sport governing body administrators that sport psychology is a critical and essential sport science. A number of reasons contribute to this skepticism, however the major reason, in my opinion, is our inability to quantify changes in human performance that is a result of specific mental skill training. The neuroscience techniques of biofeedback, neurofeedback and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) provide sport psychologists with a methodology to quantify baseline abilities in mental skills, monitor changes, and enable sport psychologists to train athletes to self-regulate their thoughts, feelings and actions. Biofeedback, neurofeedback and fMRI methodology are briefly explained along with evidence suggesting applied psychophysiology and neuroscience serve as the foundation for research and practice in sport psychology.

Four decades of scientific research and practical use of psychological intervention with athletes still has many coaches and athletes skeptical about the value of sport psychology/mental training even though they readily acknowledge the importance of the mind in performance. There are three major reasons for this skepticism: First, there is the misguided belief by coaches that champion athletes are born with talent and athletes either have it or dont have it when a championship is on the line. Apparently the decade old research by eminent psychologist Anders Ericsson (1993) and sport psychology researchers (e.g., Durand-Bush & Salmela, 1996; Starkes 1996) has not reached or convinced the coaching population. It is quite clear from this research that deliberate and continued practice is what explains championship behavior and not talent or genetics. The second reason coaches have not embraced the profession of sport psychology is that many coaches believe the mental preparation of athletes is their responsibility. Having consulting sport psychologists intervening is something many coaches are not comfortable with, although they

Leonard Zaichkowsky 22

are quite comfortable with nutrition and strength and conditioning consultants. The third reason for skepticism on the part of coaches, is not knowing whether psychological training makes a difference in the development of optimal performance because, unlike physiological training, it is difficult to see or measure quantitative differences in psychological development. However, the good news is that now we have sophisticated technology enabling us to determine what happens in the central nervous system (including the brain) and the autonomic nervous system during training and high level performance. This helps us better understand how athletes think, feel, and react prior to and during competition. These technological advances, based on neuroscience, include biofeedback / neurofeedback, and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). In my opinion these two areas are the next frontier for sport science and sport psychology in particular. In this chapter, I will first describe biofeedback / neurofeedback methodology and its potential for being the foundation of sport psychology practice in the future. Specifically, I will provide a brief history of biofeedback and applied psychophysiology, followed by a description of the different modalities and protocols used in sport for assessment and training, and finally evidence of recent successful application of biofeedback to sport. In the last section of the paper I will discuss the exciting new method for scientifically investigating what happens in the brain of athletes during performance-the method of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).

A BRIEF HISTORY OF BIOFEEDBACK AND APPLIED PSYCHOPHYSIOLOGY

The field of biofeedback first appeared in the literature in the 1960s when biofeedback

pioneers such as John Basmajian, Barbara Brown, Elmer Green, Joe Kamiya, and Neal Miller published studies that demonstrated humans could self regulate physiological functions that were long thought to be under the control of the autonomic nervous system and as such not controllable by thought processes. Basmajian (1972) demonstrated, using an operant conditioning paradigm that subjects could learn to control single-motor units and thus electromyography (EMG) biofeedback was born. Around the same time, and working independently, Barbara Brown (1970) and Joe Kamiya (1968) demonstrated that brainwaves could be regulated by subjects if they were given brainwave feedback in real time. Elmer Green (1973) demonstrated that peripheral skin temperature could be controlled with temperature feedback and Miller demonstrated that rats could self-regulate heart rate and blood pressure, again using an operant conditioning paradigm. Barbara Brown (1977) is credited with coining the term biofeedback. For an excellent review of this early research refer to Brown (1977), and Shapiro et al. (1973). These early findings resulted in the formation of The Biofeedback Research Society, which later became the Biofeedback Society of America. More recently another name change took place and the current professional society for biofeedback is called the Association for Applied Psychophysiology and Biofeedback (AAPB).

I first proposed the use of biofeedback in sport in 1975 (Zaichkowsky, 1975) and two years later presented a research paper on the topic at the Fourth Congress of the International Society of Sport Psychology in Prague (Zaichkowsky, Dorsey & Mulholland, 1977). A third paper was published a year later (Zaichkowsky & Kamen, 1978). Since that time I have used

A Case for a New Sport Psychology 23

biofeedback technology to help athletes learn self-regulation of their thoughts, emotions, and action. Unfortunately, biofeedback gained little traction in sport science over the past 30 years, in part because the hardware and technology was bulky and not well developed, the equipment was expensive, and few practitioners were trained in the theory and practice of biofeedback. It is true that studies examining the efficacy of biofeedback were published in the 1980s, 1990s, and early 2000s (e.g., Peper & Schmid, 1983) and several reviews of this work were also published (e.g., Leonards, 2003; Zaichkowsky, 1994; Zaichkowsky & Fuchs, 1988), but they were few in number. It would be accurate to say that although the techniques of biofeedback have been around since the late 1960s, the application of biofeedback to sport has been minimal.

However, a dramatic change occurred in 2006 when Italy defeated France in the World Cup of Soccer. The press reported that several Italian players who played for AC Milan used biofeedback to help them with their mental preparation. AC Milan Team psychologist Dr. Bruno DeMichelis used biofeedback equipment manufactured by Montreal-based Thought Technology Ltd., and created what he called the MindRoom. In the AC Milan MindRoom, football players were taught to relax and recover from fatigue as well as control physiological reactions to pressure situations. In order to control physiological reactions under pressure the football players viewed short video clips of successful and unsuccessful performance while receiving feedback about brainwaves, cardiovascular, and electrodermal activity. The success of AC Milan and Italian football in general resulted in much of the sporting world wanting to know how to develop their own version of the MindRoom for teaching athletes mental self-regulation.

WHAT IS BIOFEEDBACK? Both beginning and experienced athletes often fail to perform optimally or be in the

zone, because of self-induced pressure. As such, their minds and bodies are in a state of disequilibrium, and at critical moments an athlete may not know how to self-regulate his/her thoughts, feelings/emotions, physiological reactions, and motor responses. Biofeedback technology is the single most efficient way to teach self-regulation. Perhaps the greatest feature of biofeedback instrumentation is that in recent years most manufacturing companies have developed software that allows for two separate operations: (1) assessment and (2) training. First, we can measure, assess, and profile baseline psycho-physiological activity in athletes under conditions of rest, competition, and recovery. Secondly, the technology allows us to train athletes using software screens to self-regulate specific biological functions (e.g., excessive muscle tension) that tend to interfere with performance.

Through Biofeedback one uses sophisticated electrodes and sensors as well as computer driven encoders to measure the mind-body activity of an athlete. Today it is possible to measure modalities such as skin temperature, heart rate, sweat gland activity, respiration, and brainwave activity (now called neurofeedback). What is important is that sensors feedback information to the subject in real time so that the feedback is rapid, meaningful, precise, and consistent. With feedback and the other essential ingredient for learning, practice, athletes can learn to control or self-regulate biological functions that are related to essential mental skills such as muscle tension, heart rate, respiration rate, skin conductance, and brain activity-


all factors that impact on human performance. Mental skills crucial to successful performance such as self-regulating stress reactions, controlling fear, relaxation, maintaining activation, focus, imagery and performance planning can be accurately quantified and useful for rapidly training athletes.

THE MODALITIES OF BIOFEEDBACK What follows in the present section are the modalities of biofeedback. Forthcoming each

modality is described through a working definition. [1] Electroencephalography (EEG), also recently known as Neurofeedback (NF): EEG

measurement and training is one of the original biofeedback modalities and has been a primary treatment for ADHD; however, its application to sport has been quite recent. Technological advances have resulted in its application to archery (Landers et al, 1991), golf and equestrian (Sime et al, 2001), and is a central modality in the AC Milan MindRoom. EEG is used to measure brain activity and it can be used to determine if appropriate parts of the brain (those regulating coordination, or spatial awareness, for example) are active during peak performance or inappropriate parts are active such as language production, and negative self-talk. Multi-channel recording can be used to determine what brain activity is associated with successful performance and what brain activity is associated with unsuccessful performance. Also, EEG or Neurofeedback enables researchers to examine the athletes attentional abilities, problem-solving abilities, and imagery abilities.

[2] Electromyography (sEMG): sEMG refers to surface electromyography and measures specific muscle activity in microvolts. This form of feedback allows us to determine if muscles not involved in a particular skill need to be relaxed, and those muscles involved in a skill need to fire (i.e., respond) in the right sequence and with the right amplitude. In addition to using sEMG feedback for training specific skills such as the golf swing, EMG information can also provide insight into the athletes strength and conditioning or effects of an injury rehabilitation program.

[3] Heart Rate (HR): HR is typically measured by standard EKG electrodes or a photoelectric plethysmography (PPG) sensor attached to a finger. Usually heart rate is a measure of exercise demands, however it can also reflect mental load as well as emotions. Heart rate and a more recent measure, heart rate variability, play a large role in the psychophysiological training of athletes.

[4] Heart Rate Variability (HRV): Heart Rate Variability or HRV is the most recent form of cardiovascular feedback. HRV looks at the interbeat interval (IBI) which is the time between one heart beat and the next in milliseconds. It is currently being applied to a number of medical conditions including: anger management, anxiety disorders, asthma, cardiovascular conditions, chronic fatigue, and chronic pain. Through HRV training the patient is taught to increase the percentage of HRV to specific frequency ranges. Golf professionals Lynn Marriott and Pia Nilsson popularized the use of HRV for teaching emotional self-regulation among golfers using instrumentation developed by Heart Math, now called em-Wave (HeartMath, 2003). Marriott and

A Case for a New Sport Psychology 25

Nilsson claim HRV training improves concentration and motor coordination, maximizes emotional calmness and mental focus, and prevents anxiety (www.coachingforthefuture.com).

[5] Respiration: Respiration rate and amplitude is usually measured by a strain gauge placed in the thoracic or abdominal region (or both). Respiration rate and amplitude reflects response to the stress of exercise, psychological distress, or poorly learned breathing mechanics.

[6] Respiratory Sinus Arrhythmia (RSA): RSA is a measure of the synchrony between heart rate and respiration. When an athlete is in a calm and alert state, the heart-rate rises and falls with each inhalation and expiration.

[7] Skin Conductance (SC): Skin conductance is measured by placing electrodes on the fingertips and measuring sweat gland activity. In the literature it is also referred to as either electrodermal response (EDR), skin conductance (SC), or galvanic skin response (GSR). Low stable skin conductivity is an indicator of strong autonomic nervous system function.

[8] Skin Temperature (Temp): Skin temperature is another measure of autonomic nervous system function and reflects athlete somatic relaxation (warmth of blood flow and hence vasodilation) or stress (vasoconstriction and cold hands). Electrodes are typically placed on the fingers or toes to measure the temperature of the skin.

PSYCHOPHYSIOLOGICAL ASSESSMENT AND TRAINING PROTOCOLS USED IN SPORT

Sport scientists and sport psychologists using biofeedback assessment and training

typically start by getting baseline measures of the athlete using a standard protocol of: rest (2 minutes), psychological stress (2 minutes), and recovery (2 minutes). The stressor usually involves the use of a standardized test such as the Wisconsin Card Sort Test, Stroop Test, serial 7s, or a sport video of performance stress. These measures create a psychophysiological profile that enables the sport scientist to design a training program that helps the athlete to cope with pressure and maintain an optimal psychophysiological state. Should lack of attention, or cognitive disruption manifest in incorrect decision-making, leading to disregulation, then the focus of training might be on neurofeedback (EEG). EEG assessment usually involves conditions of eyes closed, and eyes open during responses to stressful stimuli. In many cases however, lack of self-regulation skills is demonstrated in all the modalities, thus training will be necessary for all modalities such as EDR, HRV, and EMG.

Training self-regulation using neurofeedback or biofeedback usually begins in the laboratory in a reclining chair. Here assessment/profiling is the essential first step prior to training self-regulation. After obtaining baseline information the process of training begins. The athlete attempts to self-regulate specific physiological functions either by using animation software provided by the biofeedback manufacturer or by reviewing DVDs of successful and unsuccessful performance. The goal is to become aware of specific biological reactivity to pressure and learn what optimal values are when the mind and body are in the zone. For example, athletes quickly learn about what happens to their physiology when


they slow their respiration to 6-8 respirations per minute. They can also become aware of what happens when they view anger being displayed in a DVD video clip, or when they simply image an emotional/traumatic reaction. In all cases, each modality is quantified using statistical values. After training in the laboratory or clinic, the athlete attempts to replicate these ideal performance states on the playing field while executing specific motor skills. Wireless technology enables psychophysiological signals to be monitored and presented as feedback to both the athlete and sport scientist. Self-regulation training is learned through this real-time feedback and continued deliberate or intentional practice as well as through coaching from the sport psychologist/scientist. With quality deliberate practice in self-regulation training the athlete will be better able to perform under pressure, thus maintaining composure and staying focused.

RECENT EVIDENCE OF BIOFEEDBACK / NEUROFEEDBACK APPLICATIONS IN SPORT

Scholarly reviews of the efficacy of biofeedback applications in sport and exercise have

been published (Aubert, Seps & Beckers, 2003; Zaichkowsky & Fuchs, 1988; Zaichkowsky & Fuchs, 1989; Zaichkowsky, 1995, and Leonards, 2003). Additionally, empirical investigations have also been published in the last decade (e.g. Blumenstein & Bar-Eli, 1998; Bar-Eli, Dreshman, Blumenstein, & Weinstein, 2002; Lagos, Vaschillo, Vaschillo, Lehrer, Bates & Pandina, 2008). However it is the reporting of successful clinical applications in recent years that have propelled biofeedback and neurofeedback back in the headlines of applied sport science. It is unfortunate that quantitative sport psychology/science does not always allow rigorous scientific examination in elite sport. For example, Olympic and professional teams have as their primary goal the winning of championships. Scientific validation of sport science interventions is rarely a goal; however changes are currently taking place such as the recent research collaboration between Real Madrid football, Boston University, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (http://w

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Contemporary Sport Psychology