What is flow
- > magical moment where everything seems to go right
- > state of consciousness where you become absorbed in what you’re doing and exclude everything else
- > harmonious experience between mind and body
Characteristics of flow
- > not easily experienced, happens by chance
- > associated with peak performance, not necessarily about winning
- > flow is not related to ability
- > also about enjoyment
What are the basic requirements of flow
- > that your strike a balance with the challenge you face and the skills you have
- > the task can’t be too hard; be within your abilities
i. e. you won’t experience flow playing hockey against Sidney Crosby, he’s too good
How is flow never static
as you participate in sport you (should) get better and as you get better your “in the zone” feeling (flow) changes and adapts with your increasing skill so the search for flow is never ending
Why do people like flow?
- > people like to do things they are completely absorbed in
- > can’t be too hard or too easy or else they can’t fine the “in the zone” feeling because they’re not challenged or the become frustrated because they can’t do the skill.
Perceived Exertion
- > as exercise intensifies, so does the possibility that physiological responses will receive more conscious attention
- > a subjective intensity of effort, discomfort and/or fatigue that is experienced during exercise
Exercise Tolerance
the ability to sustain and cope with the exertion of an action
What are the psychological variables that determine exercise tolerance and perceived exertion
Augmentation/Augmenters
- > some people will exaggerate their feelings of exertion or add/augment to them (i.e. dad colds are a big deal and it’s no big deal when mom gets sick)
Reducers
- > opposite of augmentation, some people will reduce/bottle up how they’re feeling
- The more people who want to impress others tend to report lower perceived pain and a higher pain tolerance *
Link Augmenter and reducers to introverts and extroverts
Extroverts tend to be reducers
Introverts tend to be augmentors
How do we measure Perceived Exertion
With the Borg Scale - > asked to do an exercise (i.e. wall sits) and then asked to give a number based on how they feel as time went on 1 - 4 = Light exercise 5 - 8 = somewhat hard 9 - 12 = unpleasant 13 - 16 = hard 17 - 19 = extremely hard 20 = absolutely and completely exhausting
Positive outcomes of being physically active when you’re older
- > improved physical and mental health
- > increased autonomy and independence
- > decreases chances of disease
- > enhanced emotional and social well-being
Physical activity with old people has to be ___________
current and continuous
What happens to physical activity levels as you get older
levels decline; people/society does not expect elderly people to be active
i.e. if an old and young person climbs Everest, the news will probably only report the old person
Benefits of good mental heath in elderly people caused by physical activity
- > have greater levels of self-efficacy and self esteem
- > increases volunteering
- > have better mental health because they don’t feel like a caretaker burden
People who are physically active have a greater chance to be _______________
independent and self sufficient
categories of sport
- opened skill sports
(feedback loop is open; most team sports; the game is never the same twice so you need to anticipate - closed skill sports (it’s always the same; height, length, etc. trying to replicate what you did in practice)
why can anticipation be risky
because if you’er wrong then you’re taking yourself out of the play and there are several negative consequences if you anticipate incorrectly
Who are the two major researchers in anticipation in sport
- Barb and Fleury
2. Bob Abernathy
explain Barb and Fleury’s research
- > they argued that certain people are able to anticipate better than others because they look at different things
i. e. one player watches the ball and one watches the other player and adapts - > concluded that pro squash players have different scan paths than novices
explain Abernathy’s research
- > suggested that information processing speed is a factor of anticipation speed/effectiveness
i. e. if multiple people knew Scotty’s finger cue but player A always wins, they have a faster information processing speed - > argued that anticipation is looking at the right cues but also processing the information quickly
how can you improve anticipation in sport
you need to know the game and understand all the cues
- >pro sports introduce faking/manipulating cues
According to John Hopkins Hosp. the #1 factor affecting living a long time
Genetics
Deliberate Practice
- > developed by Anders Ericson
• argued that nature played no role (with few exceptions) in determining elite performance - > before you turn 18 and you put in 10 000 hours, you will become a pro
- > fun does not matter when it comes to performance
Theory of Behaviourism
- > developed by John Watson
• said “give me a four year old and I can turn them into anything (like pro athlete or doctor)” - > environment influences all and shapes the individual
- > if you have certain basic requirements, you can do anything
• just need to be the right thing
ALL BEHAVIOURS ARE ACQUIRED THROUGH CONDITIONING
