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Back to the future: Three myths

about applied consultancy work.
ARTICLE SEPTEMBER 2012
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Division of Sport and Exercise Psychology
Sport & Exercise

Psychology Review
Volume 8 No. 2 September 2012
ISSN: 1745-4980
Sport & Exercise Psychology Review

Editor
Iain Greenlees, University of Chichester
Associate Editor
Marc Jones, Staffordshire University
Founding Editor
David Lavallee, University of Stirling
Editorial Board
Mark Beauchamp, University of British Columbia
Amanda Daley, University of Birmingham
Martin Hagger, University of Nottingham
Robin Jackson, Brunel University
Sophia Jowett, Loughborough University
John Kremer, Queens University Belfast
Andrew Manley, Leeds Metropolitan University
Paul McCarthy, Glasgow Caledonian University

Aidan Moran, University College, Dublin
Ailsa Niven, Heriot-Watt University
Nikos Ntoumanis, University of Birmingham
Tim Rees, Exeter University
Joanne Thatcher, Aberystwyth University
David Tod, Aberystwyth University
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Contents
2
Editorial Iain Greenlees
Original Articles
3
Back to the future: Three myths about applied consultancy work
Paul McCarthy, Mark Wilson, Richard Keegan & Dave Smith
17
Comment Lew Hardy
23
Decision making and decision communications in elite rugby union referees:
An inductive investigation
Ian Cunningham, Mikel Mellick, Duncan Mascarenhas & Scott Fleming
Applied & Pedagogical Reflections
35
Practice and the process of critical learning: Reflections of an early stage practitioner
working in elite youth level rugby league
Chris Rowley, Keith Earle & David Gilbourne
51
Comment Robert Morris
52
Comment David Tod
54
I cant lose this match!: CBT and the sport psychologist Juliette Puig & Beth Pummell
63
Comment Jamie Barker & Martin Turner
65
The challenges and opportunities of teaching sport and exercise psychology at a distance
Caroline Heaney & Natalie Walker
Miscellaneous
72
One-on-One withLew Hardy
Lew Hardy
Student Members (Editor: Matt Slater)
75
Managing transitions Part 2: From MSc to PhD student Nick Caddick & Hamish Cox
Conference Reports
80
DSEP 2012 Conference Karen Howells & Anna Ross
83
3rd Annual Meeting of the Expertise and Skill Acquisition Network Phil Kearney
Workshop Reviews
86
Caring and sharing: Continuity of care in the pursuit of excellence
Paul Cummins & Kiaran Kelly
90
A Case-Based Workshop in Sport and Exercise Psychology - Northern Ireland Branch
Kelley Fay
Book Reviews
Sport and exercise psychology: A critical introduction (Aidan P. Moran).
92
Reviewed by Douglas MacDonald
Key concepts in sport psychology (John M.D. Kremer, Aidan P. Moran, Graham Walker &
94
Cathy Craig). Reviewed by Scott Bradley
Peak performance every time (Simon Hartley). Reviewed by John Parker
96
98
Division of Sport and Exercise Psychology Update Ian Maynard
100 Qualifications Board Update Joanne Hudson
102 Officers and Committee Members
104 Bulletin Board
107 Notes for Contributors
Sport & Exercise Psychology Review, Vol. 8 No. 2
The British Psychological Society 2012
Editorial
Iain Greenlees
ELL, I hope you enjoyed it! By the

time that you read this, the London
Olympics will be but a memory and
the summer of 2012 will be over. However,
heres hoping that the legacy of the Games is
everything that you hoped for and you are
still flushed with the success of the athletes
that you are involved with, encouraged by
the enthusiasm for sport and physical activity
that the events of the summer have inspired,
or you are just overwhelmed with a rich bag
of anecdotal evidence to support your
lectures, workshops and research. Needless
to say, if the Games have inspired you to
write a reflection of your experiences then
please feel free to send your work to the
SEPR!
Once again, I hope that this issue of the
SEPR provides something for everyone. The
thing that has struck me the most whilst
putting this issue together has been the
immense diversity that we have in the division. We see diversity in terms of broad areas
of interest in sport and exercise psychology
(consultancy, teaching or research), we see
diversity in terms of specific populations of
interest (youth sport performers, officials,
elite performers, distance learners) and we
see diversity in terms of the career stages of
our contributors (from neophyte practitioners and researchers to people whose
careers we celebrate). The SEPR is aimed at
providing something for all in the division
and I think we manage to achieve this
(having said that, we do tend to have more
sport-based submissions than exercise-based
ones so please feel free to rectify this with
your submissions).
We kick off this issue with an article that

recognises and celebrates the contribution
to our field of Professor Lew Hardy. Lew
received the Divisions Distinguished Contribution Award at the Annual Conference this
year and it seemed appropriate to acknowledge this contribution further. To do this,
Paul McCarthy, Mark Wilson, Dave Smith
and Rich Keegan revisit the points made in
Lews classic 1997 Three myths paper and
consider the extent to which this article has
stimulated research and enhanced our
understanding of important topics within
sport psychology. Later in the issue, Lew also
provides the responses to our new One-onOne with My thanks go to Paul McCarthy
for delivering such an interesting article and
for Lew to agreeing to comment on the
article and to answering the one-on-one
questions.
In addition to these contributions, the
current issue includes articles on decision
making and decision communication in
rugby officiating, the use of cognitive behavioural therapy techniques in sport
psychology, reflections of a neophyte practitioner in an elite youth sport setting,
managing the transition from MSc study to
PhD research and numerous conference,
workshop and book reviews. I am also
pleased to include a pedagogical reflection.
In an earlier editorial, I asked for contributions that discuss issues concerned with the
teaching of sport and exercise psychology
and Caroline Heaney and Natalie Walker
took up this challenge to provide an article
that reflects on the experiences of setting up
and delivering a distance-learning course.
Enjoy
Iain Greenlees

Original Article
Back to the future: Three myths about

applied consultancy work
Somebody has to have the last word. Otherwise, every reason can be met with another
one and there would never be an end to it.
(Albert Camus, Jean-Baptiste Clamance in the Fall, 1956)
HEN LEW HARDY delivered the

1996 Coleman Roberts Griffith
Address, the FA Premiership
Champions came from Manchester, the
Cheltenham Gold Cup was won by a horse
from Ireland and England bowed out of the
European Football Championship with a
penalty shoot-out defeat. Sixteen years later
and you could be forgiven for thinking that
some things never change. But if we reposition our lens, we can trace remarkable
advances in science (e.g. mapping the
human genome), technology (e.g. MP3,
Wi-Fi) and social networking (e.g. Facebook,
Twitter) that have transformed our social,
economic and political lives. Borrowing this
yardstick to measure advances in applied
sport psychology (ASP), we question: How
has our knowledge and understanding of
ASP fared in the intervening years? We
wanted to know if we could add more grist to
the ASP mill by examining the literature
related to the three myths about applied
consultancy work since 1996.
In 1997, the Journal of Applied Sport
Psychology published Lew Hardys contribution alongside three rejoinders one for
each myth. The first myth stated that cognitive anxiety is always detrimental to performance and should, therefore, be reduced
whenever possible. The second myth
explained that outcome goals and ego orientations have a detrimental effect on a
number of performance-related variables so
that performers should be encouraged to set

performance rather than outcome goals.
The final myth stated that internal visual
imagery is more beneficial to performance
than external visual imagery, so performers
should always be encouraged to use visual
imagery from an internal perspective. For
the present article, three authors were
invited to re-examine these myths in light of
the published literature over the past 15
years. The contributions are presented next.
Finally, Professor Lew Hardy reflects upon
these commentaries, his current position
about the three myths and the lessons we
have learned about applied sport psychology
practice from this endeavour.

Myth 1. Cognitive anxiety is always

detrimental to performance
(Dr Mark Wilson)
In his 1997 Coleman Roberts Griffith
Address and subsequent article, Professor
Hardy admitted to feeling somewhat anxious
about how the audience would respond to
his provocative three myths (Hardy, 1997).
It is with equal trepidation that I attempt to
re-examine his first myth, and discuss it in
the context of what we know now; 15 years
after Professor Hardys thought-provoking
suggestions. The literature on the influence
of cognitive anxiety on performance has
continued to grow and it is now arguably one
of the largest fields of enquiry in sport
psychology (Wilson, 2012). Much of this

research has focused on explanations for
choking under pressure; a pejorative colloquial term used to describe sub-optimal
sporting performance under stressful conditions (Hill et al., 2010).
While famous examples of choking
provide great media interest, for every
example of a performer who did not cope
with the pressures of performance (e.g. Rory
McIlroy in the 2011 Masters) there are many
who did (e.g. Rory McIlroy in the 2011 US
Open). Notwithstanding the support for
various explanations of choking (e.g. Beilock
& Gray, 2007), the predicted negative influence of anxiety on sporting performance is
less than would be expected. Indeed, as
Hardy (1997) alluded to, it is notable that
many athletes not only do not choke, but
actually tend to perform better than usual
under pressure (Otten, 2009). Otten defines
such clutch performances as, any performance increment or superior performance
that occurs under pressure circumstances
(p.584).
Hardy (1997) discussed two theoretical
frameworks to explain these equivocal
effects of anxiety on performance; the directional perspective (Jones, 1991) and
processing efficiency theory (Eysenck &
Calvo, 1992). The next section will briefly
summarise these theories and discuss how
research testing their predictions has
progressed in the last 15 years. Finally, a
recent theoretical development by Hardy
and his colleagues; the three-dimensional
model (Cheng et al., 2009) will be discussed,
as it also focuses on the potentially adaptive
impact of anxiety.
Potential theoretical explanations for

Clutch or Choke
in terms of intensity (how anxious one feels)

and suggested that it was more important to
consider whether the intensity of symptoms
experienced were interpreted as positive or
negative towards upcoming performance
(see Jones, 1995, for an early review). Jones
(1995) further explained his notion of facilitative and debilitative interpretations of
anxiety symptoms using a control model
based on Carver and Scheiers (1988) work.
Performers who appraise that they possess a
degree of control over a potentially threatening situation and can cope with their
anxiety symptoms, thus achieving their goals,
are predicted to interpret symptoms as facilitative to performance. In contrast, performers who appraise that they are not in control,
cannot cope with the situation, and possess
negative expectancies regarding goal attainment, are predicted to interpret such symptoms in a negative (debilitative) manner.
The construct validity of the term facilitative anxiety has continued to be questioned; see Burton and Naylors (1997)
original response to Hardys article, and a
recent debate published in the Sport and
Exercise Scientist (Mellalieu & Lane, 2009).
However, there has been a great deal of
support for the directional perspective, and
a range of personal and situational variables
have been investigated to further our understanding of the directional response (see
Hanton et al., 2008, for a recent review).
Furthermore, Hanton and colleagues have
started to examine how performers might be
trained in the psychological skills required to
effectively use their anxiety symptoms in a
productive way and to develop a rational
appraisal process in relation to their experiences during competition (see Hanton,
Thomas & Mellalieu, 2009).
The directional perspective. Jones (1991)

suggested that performers may not always
interpret their anxiety symptoms as being
debilitative towards performance, but may in
fact feel that they are necessary for mental
preparation and performance (i.e. facilitative). Jones and colleagues, therefore, questioned the utility of solely measuring anxiety
Processing efficiency theory (PET). PET

postulates that cognitive anxiety in the form
of worry influences performance in two ways.
First (and in common with distraction explanations for choking) worry is assumed to
pre-empt storage and processing resources
from working memory, producing perform-
Three myths about applied consultancy work

ance decrements in tasks that impose high
levels of mental demand (Eysenck & Calvo,
1992). Second, worry is also proposed to
serve a motivational function. Concern over
sub-optimal performance leads to the allocation of additional processing resources (i.e.
effort) to tasks, or the initiation of alternative processing strategies designed to maintain performance (Eysenck & Calvo, 1992).
Since Hardys (1997) article, PET has
continued to be of interest to sport psychologists seeking a mechanistic explanation for
the often equivocal results relating to the
influence of anxiety on sporting and motor
performance (see Wilson, 2008, for a review
of tests of PET in the sporting domain).
Eysenck and colleagues recently updated
and extended PET with the development of
Attentional Control Theory (ACT; Eysenck et
al., 2007). Eysenck et al. (2007) suggest that
anxiety is likely to cause a diversion of
processing resources from task relevant
stimuli toward task irrelevant (and particularly threatening) stimuli. This impairment
in attentional control is proposed to occur
irrespective of whether these stimuli are
external (e.g. environmental distracters) or
internal (e.g. worrying thoughts). The
central prediction of PET; that anxiety
impairs processing efficiency more than
performance effectiveness, is still retained
within ACT. The disruption to attentional
control does not necessarily lead to decrements in performance effectiveness provided
that anxious individuals respond by using
compensatory or alternative processing
strategies (Eysenck et al., 2007). As with PET,
ACT was developed primarily for cognitive
tasks, however, it has again been applied to
sporting tasks by a number of researchers
(see Wilson, 2012, for a review).
framework contains three main dimensions

of anxiety, characterised by five subcomponents: a cognitive dimension composed of
worry and self-focused attention, a physiological dimension composed of autonomous
hyperactivity and somatic tension, and a
regulatory dimension indicated by perceived
control.
Perceived control reflects the adaptive
possibilities of anxiety within the framework
and is defined as, the perception of ones
capacities to be able to cope and attain goals
under stress (Cheng et al., 2009, p.273).
Perceived control was also highlighted as a
key mediator of clutch performance by
Otten (2009) and is an important element of
both PET (Eysenck & Calvo, 1992) and
Carver and Scheiers (1988) control-process
model of anxiety. Carver and Scheier
proposed that expectancies regarding
success in a task were critical in determining
responses to, and effects of, anxiety. Cheng
et al.s new three-dimensional model of
performance anxiety represents a promising
step towards providing a detailed explanation for the sometimes conflicting results
found in the sport anxiety literature.
However, more research is required to
develop its factorial structure and measures
by which to test it (see Cheng et al., 2011, for
a recent test in tae-kwon-do).
Applied implications
Three-dimensional conceptualisation of
performance anxiety. Cheng et al.s (2009)
framework is a recent attempt at reconceptualising performance anxiety, due in part to a
concern that the adaptive nature of anxiety
had been under-represented in the sport
psychology literature. This conceptual
As Hardy comments, it is perhaps not

surprising that applied practitioners assume
that cognitive anxiety, or worry, is detrimental to performance. After all, many of
the interventions we espouse (e.g. thought
stopping, cognitive restructuring, relaxation
strategies)
come
from
counselling
psychology, where the aim is to help patients
cope with the debilitating effects of intrusive
negative thoughts on their everyday lives
(Zinsser, Bunker & Williams, 2006).
However, it is unrealistic to assume that what
is appropriate for patients, is also appropriate for athletes performing under
competitive pressure. As Hardy elucidates,
such (negative) cognitions may be

precisely what is needed in order for such
performers to muster the very high levels of
motivation and commitment that may be
necessary in order to perform at the absolute
limits of their capabilities (1997, p.280).
Based on the theories discussed, I suggest
that the influence of anxiety might be
considered over two time frames: prior to
performance and during performance.
Anxiety prior to a performance can be a
useful motivating force if it is interpreted in
a way that might be productive (or facilitative) for performance (e.g. Hanton et al.,
2009). If this is the case, then performers
should get anxious as early as possible before
a major event to get the maximum motivational benefits during training (Hardy,
1997). For example, performers can use
worry about upcoming threatening situations as an opportunity to develop and practice What if? strategies for how they
would like to deal with the situation (e.g.
Hardy, Jones & Gould, 1996, p.170). In this
way, worry about negative consequences can
be useful as a way to instigate constructive
problem solving strategies (see also research
by McCaul et al., 2007, on how increasing
anxiety about consequences of smoking can
be used to increase motivation to quit).
Oudejans and colleagues have also
recently demonstrated that training with
anxiety can lead to improved performance
under future stressful circumstances (Oudejans & Pijpers, 2009; Nieuenhuys & Oudejans, 2010). In explaining these effects,
Oudejans
and
Nieuwenhuys
(2009)
suggested that performers who train with
anxiety might invest their increased mental
effort more efficiently and effectively (as
hypothesised by Eysenck and colleagues
PET and ACT). Individuals who have not
trained with anxiety still invest increased
effort when anxious but this is done less
effectively and may not be directed to the
right (goal-directed) targets or processes.
The benefit of training with anxiety is therefore explicitly related to attentional control
and a more effective and efficient use of
limited attentional resources.
6
Finally, as the theories we have discussed

implicate the importance of perceived
control, it is important that in-event,
performers focus effort on controlling the
controllables (e.g. Hardy et al., 1996; Wilson
& Richards, 2010). Recent research has
suggested that focusing on maintaining
present/process-focused attention (via gaze
training) can help individuals to perform
better under pressure by maintaining focus
on critical cues required for successful
performance, rather than on dealing with
either the emotions or cognitions
surrounding the pressure environment (e.g.
Vine, Moore & Wilson, 2011).
To conclude, it is clear that, while
provocative, Hardys (1997) contention that
increased cognitive anxiety is a natural
response to competitive pressure and is not
necessarily detrimental to performance, is
borne out by research findings in the subsequent years. Performers can make productive use of increased anxiety during the lead
up to an event, and can also apply anxietyinduced effort in an effective way during
competition.
Myth 2: Performers should set

performance rather than outcome goals
(Dr Richard Keegan)
If we are uncritical we shall always find what we
want: we shall look for, and find, confirmations,
and we shall look away from, and not see, whatever might be dangerous to our pet theories. In this
way it is only too easy to obtain what appears to be
overwhelming evidence in favour of a theory
(Popper, 1957, p.135)
Myth 2 still permeates the assumptions of
many practitioners, yet the history and
research evidence regarding this myth are
interesting, informative, and symptomatic of
many of the problems faced by the field of
sport psychology. This situation was the
reason for choosing the introductory quote,
by Popper a philosopher of science. The
following passage will briefly review this state
of affairs, and offer some reflections.
Goal setting is defined as: attaining [or
seeking to attain] a specific standard or

proficiency on a task, usually within a specified time limit (Locke et al., 1981, p.45).
There are several theories attempting to
explain how goals might work, but overall
goals are proposed to: increase focus on a
specific task/tasks (perhaps thereby
reducing cognitive anxiety); increase effort
and intensity; encourage persistence; boost
self-confidence (when they are met, for
example); and even enhance the quality of
training (Locke et al., 1981; Locke, 1996).
There are many ways of subdividing goal
types, including, but not limited to: (a)
subjective-versus-objective (Leith, 2003); (b)
long, medium and short-term goals (Burton,
1992; Locke & Latham, 1990); (c) positively
or negatively valenced (e.g. seeking something good or avoiding something bad
Elliott, 1999; Kirschenbaum, 1984); (d)
explicit-versus-implicit (Hardy et al., 1996);
and (e) outcome, performance and process
goals (Burton, 1983, 1984, 1989). Categories
(d) and (e) in the above list appear to have
been pivotal in Myth 2 gaining such prominence, wherein Nicholls (1989) Achievement Goal Theory (AGT) which proposes
an implicit (e.g. subconscious, personality
trait) distinction between normative ego
goals and personal task goals and the
rather similar distinction within Burtons
(Burton & Naylor, 2002; Burton & Weiss,
2008) Competitive Goal-Setting (CGS)
Model: outcome goals focus upon the end
points of particular events and usually
involve interpersonal comparisons of some
kind. Performance goals also specify the end
products of performance, but this timein
terms of personal achievement (e.g. time,
distance, level) and relatively independent
of other performers Process goals, on the
other hand, specify the processes in which
the performer will engage in order to
perform satisfactorily (e.g. tasks, routines,
procedures) (Hardy, 1997, p.251). Ego
goals are analogous to outcome goals,
whereas task goals are assumed to mirror
performance and process goals. It should be
emphasised that these were originally two
separate theories, with two separate bodies
of research, and there has not been a significant attempt to establish, for example,
whether individuals with trait ego orientations are prone to adopting explicit outcome
goals: intuitive sense is not the same as wellestablished science.
Strictly speaking, if the above two theories were attempting to explain precisely the
same phenomena then, scientifically, they
should be critically compared (with reference to research evidence) and only the
best theory should be used thereafter.
However, Myth 2 seems to have been catalysed by combining the research that used
CGS with the burgeoning body of research
in AGT, which continually showed correlational links between ego goals and
maladaptive motivational outcomes (e.g. low
intrinsic motivation, low enjoyment, high
anxiety, high dropout, cheating and poor
sportsmanship, and even reduced learning
reviewed in Harwood, Spray & Keegan,
2008). Now, it cannot be emphasised enough
that correlation is not causation, and this
applies to regression, structural equation
modelling and cluster analysis just as much
as simple correlation. However, upon
observing these repeated correlations,
particularly in research informed by AGT,
many scholars and practitioners seem to
have made the (perhaps forgivable) mistake
of concluding: Outcome (and ego) goals are
bad; performance/process (task) goals are
good. There are just so many correlational
studies (particularly in AGT) that one feels
overwhelmed into reaching this conclusion
but correlation is not causation and sport
psychology as a field, tends to under-employ
the carefully designed randomised control
trials that would allow causation to be
reasonably inferred.
In fact, even regarding the question of
whether goals improve sporting performance, the research evidence remains surprisingly ambiguous and, as such, open to
interpretation. Strictly speaking (cf. Gardner
& Moore, 2006; Moore, 2007), the evidence
regarding goal setting in sport does not allow
us to conclude with clinical certainty that

goal setting improves sporting performance
(let alone that it reduces anxiety, or
improves confidence, motivation, concentration, etc.). Research in sport psychology has
failed to establish consistently that setting
goals is better than a placebo activity (e.g.
stretching, reading athletes autobiographies
etc.) in improving sporting performance.
This failure can be for various reasons: (a)
omitting a placebo control group (and nonrandomised allocation of groups); (b) failing
to record the precise details of the intervention given (rendering it non-replicable, and
very unhelpful); (c) using small samples; (d)
neglecting to rigorously replicate key findings (an important step in science) and, all
too often, (e) by using readily available
undergraduate populations rather than the
desired athlete populations (elite, youth,
children, veterans/masters or special populations cf. Gardner & Moore, 2006; Moore,
2003). Hence, before we consider which
types of goal are better, this analysis alone
should be enough to caution us that Myth 2
is not, and never was, justified by a sound
evidence base.
In stark contrast, Burton and Weiss
(2008, p.340) reached the conclusion that
goals work, and this was repeated in
Kingston and Wilson (2009, p.76). Three
points need to be borne in mind: (1) this
conclusion was not made with reference to
the evidence-based practice model of
Gardner and Moore (2006 cf. Chambless et
al., 1998; Chambless & Ollendick, 2001); in
fact (2) the criteria for rating each study
reviewed (strong, moderate or weak) are not
explained anywhere in the Burton and Weiss
chapter; and (3) what Burton and Weiss
actually say is: (p.340) goals work, although
with varying degrees of success (italics added),
which is so vague as to presumably include
no success which renders such a statement uninformative and potentially
misleading.
Rather than seeking to carefully answer
this basic question (which may only take a
small number of truly excellent studies),
researchers in sport psychology have tended
to keep producing large volumes of either

correlational research (in the case of AGT),
or (in the case of CGS) examinations of the
ways that goals are set (difficulty, proximity,
specificity and even whether setting collective goals is helpful reviewed in Burton &
Naylor (2002), and again by Burton & Weiss
(2008)). This is where an impressive range of
articles has been produced since 1997, but
the issue seems to be that this approach is
generating quantity rather than quality. For
example, the review table in Burton and
Weiss (pp.345354) is very impressive on first
glance. However, the onus is then on the
reader to critically examine this extensive
table and the following, quite simple, questions may be helpful in this respect: What
does the CGS theory (which Burton &
Naylor (2002) modified to incorporate
AGT) hypothesise? How did each study set
out to test this hypothesis? What exactly did
each study find, and how does this relate to
the predictions of the CGS? How is strong/
moderate/weak support being judged?
Is this study actually providing support for
the statement that: (a) goals work; or (b)
performance goals are better than outcome
goals? It is arguably not possible to answer
these very simple questions from the 88
studies reviewed, conducted over 30 years.
What can be concluded is that goal setting is
actually very complex, and that the way
research into goal setting is generated is very
complex: pragmatically and politically. What
it means is that we should not be assuming
our theories and models are true and
seeking support for them, but rather,
assuming they are false and perpetually
seeking to eliminate errors from them (cf.
Popper, 1963). If this reasoning grates at all,
have a look at the nearest statistics book and
youll see that it is the null hypothesis being
tested, not the alternates even the statistics
are asking: Is the theory wrong? not Is it
right? yet is that how we interpret our findings? Arguably not. In fact, the act of
combining theories (noted above) seems to
presume both are true and they will
somehow be more true together. The

product of this process is cumbersome, often
untestable theories requiring entire books or
chapters to explain them. This confirmatory
attitude ostensibly led to me being asked at
a recent conference: Cant I just pick a
theory I believe and study it?
Disappointingly, very little of the above
advances us beyond what Hardy originally
argued in 1997 it has either been restated
(perhaps more firmly e.g. Gardner &
Moore, 2006), or largely ignored because
after all, it is incredibly inconvenient for
researchers and practitioners not to be able
to have confidence in one of our most
prominent intervention techniques. So how
do we move forwards in a safe, effective,
ethical and progressive manner? As the
cosmologist, Carl Sagan, explained, Extraordinary claims require extraordinary
evidence (from the Cosmos TV series). As
practitioners, in order to stay ethical and
avoid making unsubstantiated claims with
our clients, sport psychologists should
arguably avoid: I guarantee goal setting will
work and instead adopt a more cautious: It
might be nice to try some goal setting, its
not guaranteed but it seems appropriate to
the problem youve described and I know
some guidelines to help make your goals
better. As researchers, it is clear that we
need to generate the gold standard
randomised control trial data that Gardner
and Moore (2006) called for, as this is the
only objective criteria we have for judging
evidence. Technically, it would only take a
very small number of high quality studies to
establish whether or not goal setting works
quality over quantity and then we could
worry about which types of goals, in what
combinations, with which athletes, in which
situations work. If there is a defensible
consensus regarding Myth 2 at this
moment, it would probably be that a good
mix of outcome, performance and process
goals seems to be best, especially if they are
linked such that processes should facilitate
performance, and performance should facilitate outcome. In most, but not necessarily
all, cases setting exclusively outcome goals
would appear to constitute a risky strategy

whether explicitly taught or implicitly
adopted.
Myth 3: Internal visual imagery is more

beneficial to performance that external
visual imagery
(Dr Dave Smith)
The Third Myth of Lew Hardys 1997
Coleman
Roberts
Griffith
Address
concerned the received wisdom at the time
that athletes should use internal visual
imagery rather than external visual imagery.
Hardy argued that, in fact, most of the
research findings did not support this idea,
and that researchers had often confounded
visual perspective with kinaesthesis. He
provided evidence from recent studies
suggesting that type of task was an important
mediator of the effectiveness of the different
perspectives, arguing that external imagery
might be more suited to tasks where form is
important. He also suggested that the
imagery
perspective
preferences
of
performers should be considered.
The general thrust of this part of Hardys
presentation may have seemed almost
heretical given that it contradicted much of
the advice on imagery use that was prevalent
at the time in academic texts and self-help
books. However, this seminal work served as
a stimulus for some very interesting research
on this topic in the years following its publication. In the 15 years since this presentation, studies in the sport psychology, motor
control and neuroscience literatures have
examined the issue of visual perspective in
one way or another. The aim of the current
article is to revisit the issue of perspective in
the light of all this new work. In doing so,
I will not only explore the obvious question
as to whether Hardy was right in his assertions, but also explore some other perspective-related issues that have been examined
in the recent imagery literature.
Hardy (1997) perceptively noted that the
confounding of visual imagery perspective
and kinaesthesis was both commonplace and
problematic. As the internal perspective is

the viewpoint that the performer would experience whilst actually performing the task,
the assumption has been made that only this
perspective will be associated with feeling the
movement, or at least it will be much easier to
generate the feeling of a movement when
performing internal imagery than when
performing external imagery (Hale, 1998;
Jowdy et al., 1989; Mahoney & Avener, 1977).
In addition, given that kinaesthesis is generally considered an important part of the sport
imagery experience, this has also led to the
assumption that athletes should be encouraged to use internal imagery rather than
external imagery (e.g. Weinberg, 1988). The
findings of Mahoney and Avener (1977), who
found that more successful elite gymnasts
used internal imagery more often than less
successful elite gymnasts, are often cited to
support this assertion. However, Mahoney
and Avener themselves confounded visual
imagery perspective and kinaesthesis in their
operational definition, suggesting to participants that internal imagery involved kinaesthesis and external imagery did not. A
subsequent, much less frequently cited study
by Ungerleider and Golding (1991) found
that successful track and field athletes used
external imagery more than internal
imagery, and had stronger kinaesthesis
during their imagery than did unsuccessful
athletes.
Hardy drew on the findings of White and
Hardy (1995) to question the above-noted
assumptions. White and Hardy found
external visual imagery more effective in
enhancing performance of a rhythmic
gymnastics skill than an internal visual
perspective. They concluded that external
visual imagery may be better than internal
imagery in enhancing the performance of
tasks where the form of the movement is
important, as it provides a model of performance from which key information about the
form of the movement can be extracted.
Hardy and Callow (1999) extended these
findings, and suggested that different
perspectives may be useful at different stages
of learning (cf., Hale, 1994; Savoyant, 1988).
They found that external visual imagery was

superior to internal visual imagery in
enhancing performance of a novel karate
kata task. Interestingly, not only did they find
that participants could combine kinaesthetic
imagery with either visual perspective, but
also that external visual-kinaesthetic imagery
was superior to internal visual-kinaesthetic
imagery in enhancing performance in both
a novel gymnastics task and rock climbing.
Accordingly, they suggested that during the
initial stages of learning, performers may
rely more on visual cues to perform the task,
and therefore external imagery may be more
useful. However, during later stages of
learning, performers may rely more on
kinaesthetic cues to aid performance. They
therefore suggested that a combination of
external and internal visual, together with
kinaesthetic, imagery might be more beneficial than solely combining internal and
kinaesthetic imagery.
In an examination of the relationship
between the use of kinaesthetic imagery and
the different visual perspectives, Callow and
Hardy (2004) initially found no significant
correlation between external visual imagery
and kinaesthetic imagery ability, using the
Vividness of Movement Imagery Questionnaire (VMIQ; Isaac et al., 1986) and the
Movement Imagery Questionnaire (MIQ;
Hall & Pongrac, 1983). However, they noted
that the VMIQ asks performers to create
internal visual images as if they were actually
doing the tasks themselves, whereas the
external visual imagery is of someone else
performing the movements. To address this
inconsistency, Callow and Hardy changed
the wording of the external subscale instructions to ask respondents to image themselves
rather than someone else. When this change
was made, a significant, moderate correlation was found between external and kinaesthetic imagery. Interestingly, there was no
significant correlation between internal and
kinaesthetic imagery. The authors attributed
this to the form-based movements that
constitute the MIQ items, pointing out that
internal imagery of such movements would
10

lack information regarding the desired body
shapes.
As well as supporting Hardy and Callows
(1999) findings, Callow and Hardys (2004)
study also brought into focus another issue
often conflated with visual perspective, that
of agency. External visual imagery can be
performed with either the self or another
person as the agent of the action. So, I could
image myself performing a golf putt from an
external perspective, but I could also image
Rory McIlroy doing the same. Though most
people think of internal imagery as being of
the self, this too can be performed with an
other agency. For instance, I could attempt
to put myself in Rory McIlroys shoes, imagining being in his body, putting on the 18th
green in a major championship. The key
question here, therefore, is whether the self
or other agency is likely to be most effective.
Recent neuroscience research (Anquetil &
Jeannerod, 2007; Decety & Grzes, 2006;
Ruby & Decety, 2001) has revealed differences in neural activation between self- and
other representations. For example, the
junction of the right inferior parietal cortex
and posterior temporal cortex processes
information regarding the self, and can
distinguish actions of the self from those
produced by others (Blanke & Arzy, 2005).
Holmes and Calmels (2008) argued that,
given these areas neural links with other
brain areas of importance to motor control,
such as visual, auditory and limbic areas,
internal-self and external-self should be the
preferred agency rather than other when
delivering imagery interventions with
athletes. This concurs with the advice of
Lang (1988), who argued that imagery
should be performed as if the individual was
actually experiencing the image. However,
Holmes and Calmels also emphasised that
we should, of course, consider the preferred
agency of the individual. Jeannerod (2006)
suggested that if an individual wants to use
an other agency in his or her imagery, that
reading representations of the persons own
actions in an external visual perspective may
be best. This appears sensible advice for, as
Callow and Hardy (2004) noted, imagery

with an other agency might make it difficult
to perceive and develop kinaesthetic information in the imagery.
Another important issue that has been
explored since Hardys presentation is that
of viewing angle. Both internal and external
visual imagery might be performed from
various viewing angles. This has been
discussed in the literature as far back as 1978
(Kosslyn) but until recently had not been
empirically examined, or even discussed, in
the sport psychology literature. Holmes and
Calmels (2008) raised this issue and
suggested that future research could
examine the effects of multiple-angle,
rotated images. Callow and Roberts (2010)
examined the angles athletes tended to use
in their imagery by having participants use
an arrow and a picture of a mannequin. The
athletes reported performing their imagery
from a variety of angles and suggested that
future research could employ more accurate
assessments of angle, such as using three
dimensional pictures on computer. The
importance of accurate measurement of
angle is highlighted by the approach of
Vogeley and Fink (2003), who distinguished
between first and third person perspective
imagery, analogous to the internal/external
visual imagery distinction. They noted that
first person imagery utilises an egocentric
reference frame (i.e. the representation of
object locations in relation to an individual)
whereas third person imagery uses an allocentric reference frame (i.e. an object framework that is independent from the
individual). Interestingly, switching between
the two reference frameworks occurs at 135
(Waller & Hodgson, 2006), and therefore
future research needs to examine the precise
angle of external visual imagery.
Callow and Roberts (2010) also explored
the important issue of imagery perspective
preference, finding small but significant
correlations between perspective preference
and perspective ability. They concluded that
practitioners should be mindful of the
athletes preferences when making sugges-
11

tions as to which visual perspective to
employ, and recommended more research
on the interaction between perspective preference and the nature of the task. This
emphasis on taking into account factors such
as the preferences of the athlete is also in
line with one of the biggest developments in
applied imagery work since the Three
myths presentation, that of Holmes and
Collins (2001) PETTLEP model. This
model emphasises the importance of taking
a bespoke approach to imagery interventions rather than an off-the-shelf one. The
final letter of the PETTLEP acronym stands
for Perspective, with the authors stating that:
we suggest that the perspective debate be further
advanced to consider the use of interactional
perspectives appropriate for the individual and
task. While the kinesthetic/internal visual
perspective has been considered within this
paper, evidence now exists to support research
into the kinesthetic/external visual perspective
and possibly others (p.77).
As noted above, these issues have indeed
now begun to be considered by researchers.
Interestingly, despite Holmes and Collins
suggesting that external kinaesthetic
imagery may be more effective for certain
individuals and tasks, the research examining the efficacy of PETTLEP has tended to
employ an internal visual perspective, even
on tasks that are form-based, such as gymnastics (e.g. Smith et al., 2007). Although the
research findings on PETTLEP to date are
very encouraging, there seems to be room
for a more subtle interpretation of Holmes
and Collins suggestions, and comparisons of
the use of different visual perspectives within
a PETTLEP framework would be a useful
addition to the imagery literature.
Again on the subject of individual differences, an interesting study by Roberts et al.
(2010) examined the interactive effect of
different visual imagery perspectives and
narcissism in dart throwing and golf putting
tasks performed under conditions of low
self-enhancement and high self-enhancement. They found that individuals high in
narcissism using external visual imagery
improved performance from the low to the

high self-enhancement condition, whereas
high narcissists using internal visual imagery
did not change. Low narcissists performed
consistently across self-enhancement conditions, regardless of perspective. These findings suggest that personality characteristics
should be taken into account by researchers
and practitioners when deciding on the
appropriate perspective for an individual.
More research examining different personality characteristics and how they interact
with perspective effectiveness, perspective
preference and imagery ability would be a
welcome addition to the imagery literature.
In conclusion, with the benefit of 15
years of hindsight, was Lew Hardy correct in
describing the view that athletes should use
internal visual imagery rather than external
visual imagery as a myth? I would answer that
as a qualified yes. The subsequent evidence
certainly supports the view that for some
individuals, and some tasks, external visual
imagery is preferable to internal visual
imagery. I also concur with Hardy that
kinaesthetic imagery is independent of
perspective; it is possible to combine both
imagery perspectives with kinaesthetic
imagery. That said, we now have a much
more nuanced understanding of perspective
issues than we did 15 years ago. Hardy was
right to raise the issue of confounding
kinaesthesis with perspective, and since then
other confounds (agency and viewing angle)
have been explored and separated out from
perspective. In addition, other crucial issues
such as the individuals perspective preference, perspective ability and the influence of
personality are becoming much better
appreciated. Ultimately, it is probably oversimplistic to suggest an ideal visual perspective or imagery intervention protocol for a
task and/or individual; even if there was
such a thing, if the athlete did not engage
with the process and would have preferred a
different perspective, agency or whatever,
then such an intervention is unlikely to be
successful. With imagery, as with other interventions in sport psychology, a one size fits
12

all or dogmatic this is the only way to do it
approach is inappropriate and likely ineffective. What has been particularly pleasing
over the past 15 years has been the greater
understanding we now possess of many variables relating to the imagery experience,
and particularly those mediating task- and
person-related differences in this experience. I congratulate Lew Hardy on providing
such a thoughtful stimulus for much of this
work and hope that the next 15 years of
imagery research will prove equally fruitful.
The Authors
Dr Paul McCarthy
Department of Psychology,
School of Health and Life Sciences,
Glasgow Caledonian University.
Email: Paul.Mccarthy@gcu.ac.uk
Dr Mark Wilson
Sport and Health Sciences,
College of Life and Environmental Sciences,
University of Exeter St Lukes Campus.
Email: Mark.Wilson@exeter.ac.uk
Dr Richard Keegan
Faculty of Health and Social Sciences,
School of Sport and Exercise Science,
University of Lincoln.
Email: rkeegan@lincoln.ac.uk
Dr Dave Smith
Department of Exercise & Sport Science,
Mancester Metropolitan University.
Email: d.d.smith @mmu.ac.uk
13
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16
Original Article
Comment on McCarthy, Wilson,

Keegan & Smith
Lew Hardy
It is an enormous privilege and a pleasure to be invited to pass comment on this review of progress made in
the research areas that were identified in my 1996 Three Myths presentation to the Association for the
Advancement of Applied Sport Psychology. It is easy to forget how much life has moved on in the last 15 years
and I was somewhat shocked to read about what life was like back then. In the following few pages, I comment
on each review in turn, and then conclude with some recollections of how it felt to deliver that Coleman
Griffith Address back in 1996, and how I feel about it now.
Keywords: Three Myths; imagery; anxiety; goal setting; goal orientations; performance.
Myth 1: Cognitive anxiety is always

detrimental to performance
CONGRATULATE the authors on

succinctly reviewing potential mechanisms for explaining the potential beneficial effects that cognitive anxiety can
sometimes have, and also presenting some of
the applied implications of that research.
Of course, I am bound to agree with what
they have written because it is broadly consistent with my original contentions. However,
I would like to add three comments about
the explanations that have been offered.
First, it is clear from the empirical
evidence that has been generated over the
years that a positive interpretation of ones
anxiety symptoms can occur and, when it
does occur, is associated with higher levels of
performances relative to a negative interpretation (Hanton, Neil & Mellalieu, 2008).
However, as Cheng et al. (2009) suggested,
directional interpretations may be a correlate of a more general appraisal process
about the nature of the situation rather than
the primary causal determinant of performance changes. That is to say, the primary
factor with regard to performance effects
may be perception of control, which interacts with cognitive anxiety (intensity) to
influence both positive interpretation of
anxiety symptoms and the rational and

strategically appropriate allocation of attentional resources. In light of this argument,
we were rather surprised that perception of
control did not interact with cognitive
anxiety in the Cheng et al. (2011) study of
performance under pressure. Perhaps this
was due to the very physical nature of the
sport being studied (Tae Kwan Do) or the
self-assessment of performance. Whatever
the case, it would be interesting to directly
test whether perception of control interacts
with cognitive anxiety intensity to predict
cognitive anxiety interpretations in a sport
context where the stressor was more ego
threatening, rather than a combination of
ego threat and threat of physical harm that
may exist in the martial arts.
Second, in a series of studies of rock
climbers leading climbs (i.e. with the rope
below them) in various different conditions,
Hardy and Hutchinson (2007) examined the
relationship between cognitive anxiety
(intensity), effort expenditure, and performance in both very accomplished leaders and
less accomplished leaders. Very accomplished leaders were defined as climbers who
could lead within one grade of the
maximum grade they could climb while
seconding (i.e. with the rope above them).
17
Lew Hardy
Less accomplished leaders were defined as
climbers who could second at least two
grades harder than they could lead. In their
final study, Hardy and Hutchinson showed
that all leaders invested extra effort when
they were leading, but this extra effort was
associated with better climbing performance
in the more accomplished leaders and worse
climbing performance in the less accomplished leaders. Furthermore, the increased
effort was associated with somatic anxiety,
not cognitive anxiety. At one level, this is not
too surprising since the primary stressor in
rock climbing is probably fear of physical
harm rather than ego threat, and it is well
known (cf. Morris, Davis & Hutchings, 1981)
that fear of physical harm leads to somatic
anxiety, whilst ego threat leads to cognitive
anxiety. However, the finding does not sit at
all comfortably with Eysenck and Calvos
(1992) processing efficiency theory, which
essentially dismisses somatic anxiety as
merely a correlate of increased effort,
attributing the well documented pressure
induced increase in effort to cognitive
anxiety. Hardy and Hutchinsons interpretation was that perhaps increased effort occurs
as a more direct result of the presence of
punishment conditioned stimuli (cf. reinforcement sensitivity theory: Gray &
MacNaughton 2000), and anxiety symptoms
are merely that, symptoms, playing no causal
part in the re-allocation of resources.
Finally, on training under conditions of
high anxiety, if we ignore for a moment the
obvious ethical considerations that might
arise at an applied level, good arguments can
be presented for the use of anxiety much
earlier in training/practice than is normally
the case. As Hardy and Mullen (2001)
pointed out, this is an obvious implication of
the mood congruent recall literature,
whereby recall has been shown to be
enhanced when the environmental conditions at recall match the environmental
conditions at storage (Godden & Baddeley,
1975). This effect has also been the focus of
some as yet unpublished work by a group of
researchers in the Institute for the
Psychology of Elite Performance here at

Bangor (Hardy, Bell & Beattie, under review;
Lawrence et al., under review), as well as by
Oudejans and associates (Nieuenhuys &
Oudejans, 2010; Oudejans & Nieuwenhuys,
2009; Oudejans & Pijpers, 2009). I think this
area has a lot of promise, but the ethical
considerations of applying require very
careful consideration.
18
Myth 2: Performers should set

performance rather than outcome goals
It is difficult to comment on this review
because the authors appear to be suggesting
that there is no real evidence for goal-setting
having any effects on sports performance, let
alone evidence about the utility of outcome
goals. Rather than get too involved in this
somewhat contentious debate, I would like
simply make the following comments.
First, of course, randomised control trials
are stronger designs than correlational
designs, but that does not mean that correlational designs have no value. It is also difficult to see how randomised control designs
could be ethically employed with real
athletes performing a real sport tasks in a
real setting. There is enough correlational
evidence to suggest the efficacy of goalsetting interventions that most applied practitioners would feel that they were
unreasonably withholding a beneficial intervention from the control group. Furthermore, in all psychological skills based
interventions, there are some serious questions about exactly what form the control
condition should take. Participants must
genuinely believe a placebo condition to be
efficacious for one to be certain that differences between the treatment and the control
groups are not due to negative motivational
effects in the control group, while if one
used a no treatment control condition one
faces the possibility of only measuring a
placebo effect in the treatment group. In a
court of law, juries make a decision on the
basis of reasonable evidence, and it seems
reasonable that scientists might do the same.
Are the authors really suggesting that goal-
Comment on McCarthy, Wilson, Keehan & Smith

setting doesnt work in sport? Somehow,
I doubt itI might even wager that they set
goals themselves
Second, in my opinion, what is really
missing from the goal-setting literature is
reasonably well-designed empirical studies of
the use of goals in complex tasks and real life
situations. Most of the goal setting research
literature is still concerned with the performance of simple tasks or more complex tasks
in essentially artificial settings (for some
exceptions, see King, Richards & Stemmerich, 1998; Orbell et al., 2001). Furthermore, this criticism is probably as true in the
sport psychology literature as it is in the
general psychology literature. In my experience, people set goals about all sorts of
things in all aspects of life. Furthermore,
those goals are often not just about how
many of something they can do. They are
about how they would like to behave, how
they would like other people to behave
towards them, what sort of relationships they
would like to have, etc. Those goals appear
to have some effect. We should study them.
Third, it is my received view that the
problem I identified in the third myth was
largely due to researchers not using interactive designs or interactive analyses, and interpreting correlational main effects that
showed negative effects for ego oriented and
outcome goals as though they implied something that could be generalised to the real
world in which outcome, performance, and
process goals co-exist and interact with one
another. From my reading of the literature,
researchers in this area are now more careful
about how they interpret their data. For the
interested reader, this issue was pursued
further in the literature (see Harwood,
Hardy & Swain, 2000; Harwood & Hardy,
2001; Treasure, Duda & Hall, 2001).
In reading this review of work that had

followed on from my third myth, it was really
pleasing to see how much research in the
area has developed. I congratulate the

researchers involved. It is most heartening to
see how research has progressed from an
essentially main effects model of the world,
in which the separate effects of different variables are examined in an additive fashion, to
a highly interactive model of the world, in
which different variables are hypothesised to
interact with one another in complex ways. If
I had to summarise my whole Three Myths
presentation in a single sentence it would be
that main effects models of the world never
work, it is much more complex than that,
and we as psychologists need to grasp the
interactions, not pretend they dont exist.
In my original presentation, I tried to
propose one possible interacting variable,
task type. Subsequent research as reviewed
by Dave has identified a substantial number
of others. I would now like to propose just
one more. It seems to me that when a
performer is trying to focus on technical
execution, then task type may be the most
salient interacting variable. However, there
may be other more emotive situations in
which the contextual meaning of the situation may be the most salient interacting variable; for example, it seems at least plausible
that the optimal perspective might vary
across situations in which the performers
primary focus is on competing vs recovering
a lost move or in recovering confidence,
and even vary across time in the latter two
situations. My entirely unjustified hunch
would be that external visual perspectives
might enhance competition (cf. White &
Hardy, 1995; Roberts et al., 2010), but some
complex shifting of perspective across time
from external to internal perspective visual
imagery might be beneficial in imagery
based interventions aimed at recovering lost
moves or confidence.
One very obvious question from my original Three Myths paper that still remains
unanswered in the published literature is
whether internal perspective visual imagery
is more effective than external visual
perspective imagery on tasks that are essentially slalom based. Recent but as yet unpub-
19
Myth 3: Internal visual imagery is more

beneficial to performance that external
visual imagery
Lew Hardy
lished research by Callow et al. (under
review) has examined this question. In three
studies involving a simulated driving task,
downhill running round a slalom like
course, and skiing round a slalom course this
work has demonstrated the hypothesised
beneficial effect of internal perspective
visual imagery on slalom type performance.
Concluding remarks
As the authors correctly identified, I was
more than a little nervous about how my
Three Myths presentation would be received
at the annual conference of the Association
for the Advancement of Applied Sport
Psychology as it was then known in 1996.
I was the first non-North American to be
invited to deliver the Coleman Griffiths
Address. I had been nominated as the first
Distinguished International Scholar of the
Association. I proposed to criticise the
research of some of the worlds leading sport
psychology researchers whilst they were sat
in the room in front of me. Some of the Associations leading members (in particular,
Dan Gould, Tara Scanlon, and Mo Weiss)
had seriously put their necks on the line for
me and I needed to get the tone as well as
the content right.
I remember arriving in the main conference room to find out that there would be
considerably more delegates attending the
conference that year than any other year
(although it was far smaller than it is nowadays). I stood at the front of the hall to try and
get a feel for the place. People arrived, and all
the seats filled up. Delegates stood around the
sides and at the far end of the hall. Inevitably,
people came up and wanted to engage me in
conversation,
when
all
I wanted to do was shut the world out, get
prepared, and rehearse my first few slides
(yes, people still used 35mm slides back
then). Tara and Mo were fantastic. They
didnt know exactly what I was going to
present, but they knew it would be
contentious and was about three myths that
I was going to expose that I thought
everyone believed in. Dan had proposed me
20
to the conference committee and they had

supported me being invited. They came and
stood in front of me to protect me from delegates who wanted to engage in chit chat (or,
even worse, serious conversation). Eventually,
I said to them I hope you dont mind, but I
wonder if I could have a few moments of
silent prayer. They blocked everyone (bless
them). I was introduced. I stood up and went
to the lectern. I pressed the button to advance
the projector to the first slide, it jammedIt
was going to be a difficult evening.
How do I feel about it now? To be honest,
I think it was one of the best things I have
done in my academic career. I am a Yorkshireman, and I think I probably didnt get
the tone quite right (Yorkshiremen probably
never do; they are very blunt). But, on the
whole, I think I did a pretty good job of
presenting what I wanted to say, and I think
the write up for the Journal of Applied Sport
Psychology was also one of my better papers.
I think the Three Myths were at least fairly
insightful and they challenged thinking. I
regret that the presentation upset some
people, but perhaps that was inevitable given
the nature of the challenge. I think the presentation and paper did help to move
research on in the three areas that they
focused on, and I am very pleased to see that
Paul, Mark, Richard and Dave also generally
seem to feel the same. It is good to feel that
I have been a facilitator of change, rather
than a preserver of the status quo.
Author note
Lew Hardy is with the Institute for the
Psychology of Elite Performance, School of
Sport, Health and Exercise Sciences, at
Bangor University.
Correspondence
Lew Hardy
Institute for the Psychology of
Elite Performance,
SSHES, Bangor University, George Building,
Holyhead Road, Bangor, Gwynedd,
United Kingdom, LL57 2PZ.
Email: l.hardy@bangor.ac.uk
Comment on McCarthy, Wilson, Keehan & Smith
References
Callow, N. & Roberts, R. (in press). Visual Imagery
Perspectives: A commentary on Morris and
Spittle. Journal of Mental Imagery, to appear.
Callow, N., Roberts, R., Hardy, L., Jiang, D. & Edwards,
M. (under review). Performance improvements
from imagery: Evidence that internal visual
imagery is superior to external visual imagery for
slalom performance.
Cheng, W.N.K., Hardy, L. & Markland, D. (2009).
Toward a three-dimensional conceptualisation of
performance anxiety: Rationale and initial
measurement development. Psychology of Sport &
Exercise, 10, 271278.
Cheng, W.N.K., Hardy, L. & Woodman, T., (2011).
Predictive validity of a three dimensional model
of performance anxiety in the context of
taekwondo. Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology,
33, 4053.
Eysenck, M.W. & Calvo, M.G. (1992). Anxiety and
performance: The processing efficiency theory.
Cognition and Emotion, 6, 409434.
Godden, D.R. & Baddeley, A.D. (1975). ContextDependent memory in two natural environments:
On land and underwater. British Journal of
Gray, J.A. & McNaughton, N. (2000). The
neuropsychology of anxiety: An enquiry into the
functions of the septo-hippocampal system. Oxford
University Press, Oxford, UK.
Hanton, S., Neil, R. & Mellalieu, S.D. (2008). Recent
developments in competitive anxiety direction
and competition stress research. International
Hardy, L. & Hutchinson, A. (2007). Effects of
performance anxiety on effort and performance
in rock climbing: A test of processing efficiency
theory. Anxiety, Stress, and Coping, 20, 147161.
Hardy, L. & Mullen, R. (2001). Performance under
pressure: A little knowledge is a dangerous thing?
In P.R. Thomas (Ed.), Optimising performance in golf
(pp.245263). Brisbane: Australian Academic
Press.
Harwood, C.G., Hardy, L. & Swain, A.B. (2000).
Achievement goals in sport: A critique of
conceptual and measurement issues. Journal of
Sport and Exercise Psychology, 22, 235255.
Harwood, C.G. & Hardy, L. (2001). Persistence and
effort in moving achievement goal research
forward: A response to Treasure and Colleagues.
Hardy, L., Bell, J.J. & Beattie, S.J. (under review).

Preliminary evidence for a neuro-cognitive model
of mental toughness.
King, L.A., Richards, J.H. & Stemmerich, E. (1998).
Daily goals, life goals, and worst fears: Means,
ends, and subjective well-being. Journal of
Personality, 66, 713744.
Lawrence, G.P., Beattie, S.J., Woodman, T., Khan,
M.A., Hardy, L., Gottwald, V.M. & Cassell, V.E.
(under review). Practice with anxiety improves
performance, but only when anxious: Evidence
for the specificity of practice hypothesis.
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Cognitive and emotional components of anxiety:
Literature review and a revised Worry-Emotionality Scale. Journal of Educational Psychology, 73,
541555.
Morris, T. & Spittle, M. (2011). Can internal and
external imagery perspectives be trained?
Journal of Mental Imagery, 35, 81104.
Nieuwenhuys, A. & Oudejans, R.R.D. (2010). Effects
of anxiety on handgun shooting behaviour of
police officers: A pilot study. Anxiety, Stress and
Coping, 23, 225233.
Orbell, S., Johnston, M., Rowley, D., Davey, P. & Espley,
A. (2001). Self-efficacy and goal importance in the
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following hospitalisation: A prospective study.
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Perceiving and moving in sports and other high
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3548.
Oudejans, R.R.D. & Pijpers, J.R. (2009). Training with
anxiety has a positive effect on expert perceptualmotor performance under pressure. Quarterly
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Roberts, R., Callow, N., Hardy, L., Woodman, T. &
Thomas, L. (2010). Interactive effects of visual
imagery perspectives and narcissism on motor
performance. Journal of Sport & Exercise Psychology,
32, 499517.
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Clarifying misconceptions and misrepresentations
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different motor skills. British Journal of Psychology,
86, 169180.
21
TWICKENHAM STADIUM
22
Original Article
Decision making and decision

communications in elite rugby union
referees: An inductive investigation
Ian Cunningham, Mikel Mellick, Duncan Mascarenhas &
Scott Fleming
The application of law, combined with contextual judgment and communication have been shown to be
essential skills of the elite sports official (Mascarenhas, Collins & Mortimer, 2005). Further, the behaviours
that officials demonstrate to communicate decisions to sport participants have important implications for
match outcomes and perceptions of fairness (Mellick et al., 2005; Simmons, 2010). The purpose of the
present study was to explore the higher-order decision making and decision communication processes of three
international rugby union referees. Semi-structured interviews were conducted to explore the routines,
psychological strategies and processing skills they utilise to meet the decision making demands of the game.
Interview data were analysed by means of thematic content analysis providing four core themes related to
expert decision making processes and decision communications: corporate theatre, pre-game preparation and
post-game analysis, refereeing philosophy and approach, and within-game psychological skills. The results
of this investigation will provide practice-based information to inform training interventions as a pedagogic
tool to assist pre-elite sport officials in developing higher-order understandings of decision making processes
and communication patterns.
Keywords: Referee; decision; communication; corporate theatre.
ECISION MAKING and decision

communication in elite sport officiating have been recognised to be critical characteristics for the maintenance of
expert performance (Catteeuw et al., 2009;
Mascarenhas, Collins & Mortimer, 2005;
Mellick et al., 2005; Mellick, Fleming &
Davies, 2007). In many sports, an elite official is subject to performance appraisal by
players, coaches and league management as
well as stadia and television audiences,
media commentators/ journalists and peers.
Thus, these sport officials are required to
function to the expectations of a range of
stakeholder groups particular to their
professional practice community (Dickson,
2000; Mellick et al., 2005). In rugby union,
with the advent of open-microphone
communication systems between referees,
assistant referees and television match
officials, much of what referees verbalise

between one another is also available for
public consumption. Managing an elite
sport contest in a noisy stadium, whilst being
broadcast by multiple television cameras,
creates conditions of high physiological and
cognitive workloads. In order to perform
effectively, demonstrating accurate and
acceptable decisions and communicate them
effectively, in this unique environment,
referees are required to filter voluminous
amounts of information (Nevill, Balmer &
Williams, 2002; Unkelback & Memmert,
2010). These types of match official performance characteristics require skilled communication patterns, psychological strategies
and processing skills to cope effectively with
such decision making demands (Mascarenhas, OHare & Plessner, 2006; MacMahon &
Plessner, 2008).

23

The performance demands inherent in
elite refereeing have been identified to
involve a number of key areas that include
fitness and positioning, law knowledge and
application, contextual judgement, personality and game management (Mascarenhas,
Collins & Mortimer, 2005). These essential
performance characteristics particular to
elite refereeing are overarched by psychological skill sets (e.g. distraction control, arousal
regulation, imagery, performance planning)
and as such contribute to the development
and maintenance of refereeing expertise and
performance effectiveness. Crucially, referee
effectiveness is often evaluated by perceptions of fairness (Simmons, 2011). This
heuristic, to be perceived as fair and professionally credible, involves both decision
making and decision communication, where
decision communication is defined as the
causal account of the decision that is made
(Mellick, 2005; Simmons, 2010). Given this
scrutiny, there appears to be an inter-relationship between communication skills, fairness
and perceived effective decision performance and practice (Mellick, 2005).
The decision process involves three
stages; the decision outcome for example,
who the penalty was awarded to; the reason
the point of law (or rule) that has been
infringed; and the explanation the characteristics of the event that determines the
prescribed sanction (Mascarenhas & Smith,
2011). Both decision making and decision
communication are used at all three stages.
However, the novelty and consequence of
decisions act as mediators to this process. For
example, if the decision is more novel (in
terms of frequency of occurrence across
games) there is likely to be an increased
importance upon the communication
(Folger & Cropanzano, 2001). Similarly, if a
decision has major consequences (e.g. a red
card) this will require more emphasis on the
account given, both verbally and nonverbally.
Expert referee decisions are considered
to be governed by advanced organisation of
task information into knowledge structures
that, through critical thinking skills, allow

for a more rapid response to decision
making conditions (Mascarenhas et al.,
2005). Due to the fast paced nature in which
referees make and communicate decisions,
reasons to decide and act rely on stored
knowledge representations that serve decision making through associations to patterns
of environmental cues (Ericsson & Kintsch,
1995; MacMahon & Ste-Marie, 2002;
Plessner et al., 2009). Applied researchers
outside sport who have examined expert
decision making in real-world settings characterised by time-pressured circumstances
(e.g. fire-fighting, airplane cock-pit crews)
show that experts demonstrate superior
context-dependent, cognitive strategies and
skills including pattern recall (Klein, 1993;
North et al., 2011) and situational assessment (Endsley & Garland, 2001; Lipshitz et
al., 2001). Naturalistic decision making
models would suggest that experts adapt to
their real-world environments by developing
a greater comprehension for relevant decision cues (Rasmussen, 1993; Stokes, Kemper
& Kite, 1993), use imagery skills to apply
knowledge structures and predict future
events (Lipshitz, 1993), as well as demonstrate more efficient working memory function through knowledge-based filtering of
task-irrelevant information (Klein, 1993;
Simon & Chase, 1973). Ste-Marie (2003)
emphasises that to compensate for limitations in information processing capacity,
expert sport referees appear to use certain
decision rules and elaborate knowledge
structures that allow them to cope with
broad bands of perceptual cues.
Three studies have investigated the interpersonal interactions between referees and
players that illustrate the relationship
between decision making and decision
communications.
First,
Mellick
and
colleagues (2005) explored the verbal and
non-verbal communication practices that
elite rugby union and football referees use to
increase players acceptance of decisions.
Seven interpersonal actions were shown to
be the most effective, comprising of:
24
Referee decision making and communication

(a) whistle; (b) gaze; (c) posture; (d)
hand/arm signals (non-verbal explanation
through illustration of offence); (e) verbal
explanation (account giving); (f) control;
(g) composure; and (h) time management.
In communicating decisions to players,
Mellick, Fleming and Davies (2007) suggest
that an elite official must first engage the
offenders attention following the infraction,
project confidence concerning the decision
being presented, and foster the perception
of a fair and just decision to the sport participant though the verbal and non-verbal decision account provided. In another
investigation, Simmons (2006) concluded
from interviews with highly-experienced
Australian football umpires that officials
should be explicitly trained in effective
verbal and non-verbal communication strategies and how to deal with player behaviours.
Their findings further suggest that referees
should understand how to depersonalise
abuse and criticism from players, recognise
player, coach, and spectator behaviour that
creates uncertainty about their decisions,
and develop reflective learning strategies
and resilience to mistakes in decision
making. Finally, communication patterns
have been shown to be used by referees to
manage the tenor of player behaviours
during competition in order to promote
continuity of game play (i.e. preventative
communication; Mascarenhas, 2005).
Given such evidence supporting the
importance of the relationship between decision making and decision communication in
elite refereeing (e.g. Mascarenhas, OHare &
Plessner, 2006; Mascarenhas, Collins &
Mortimer, 2005; Mellick et al., 2005, 2007),
the purpose of the present study was to
explore the perceptions of elite referees in
these topic areas. From a theoretical perspective, we expect to contribute to existing
frameworks of elite refereeing performance
(i.e. Mascarenhas, Collins & Mortimer, 2005)
by exploring the interaction between
1
suggested performance factors (i.e. law application, contextual judgement, and communications) not previously examined. From a
practical perspective, the results provided by
this investigation will offer insight into crucial
higher-order knowledge to inform the design
of deliberate training activities as a pedagogic
tool for pre-elite referees to develop their
decision making and decision communication practice (Ericsson, 2003; Mascarenhas et
al., 2005; MacMahon et al., 2007, Mellick et
al., 2005).
Method
Participants
Three elite rugby union referees1 with experience of officiating full senior international
test matches were purposively selected to
participate in the present study. All research
participants were current members of a
national elite referee unit and had been or
were current members of the International
Rugby Boards International Referee Panel.
Referees were deemed expert by the
management team within their nationallevel training group based on their national
and international performance experiences
as elite rugby union referees.
Semi-structured interviews
Three independent semi-structured interviews were conducted with the referees to
explore their psychological strategies,
processing skills, and communication
patterns used during their performance (see
Table 1). In addition, question probes were
used to help referees elaborate on their
answers within these discussion themes.
Using the guidelines recommended by
Patton (2002), three types of probes were
used that included: detail probes (e.g. Could
you give an example of one of those phrases
that you are ready to use if necessary?), elaboration probes (e.g. Can you just expand on
that and talk through what that sequence
of events is?) and clarification probes
Given the high profile nature of the referees, detailed information on each referee has been withheld in order
to try and maintain their anonymity.
25
Table 1: Interview schedule Discussion themes.

A What constitutes a successful/acceptable refereeing decision and what role does communication
play in the process?
B How would you describe the concept of materiality and can you describe its application using
examples from your recent refereeing performance?
C How would you describe the concept of contextual judgement and can you describe its
application using examples from your recent refereeing performance?
D What strategies/techniques do you use in order to filter information that can both aid and
interrupt your decision making processes?
E
How do you train/monitor and develop your decision making and decision communication skills
(i.e. specific psychological skills training practices)?
(e.g. So youre checking for understanding

by looking at the visual cues?). Questions
posed to referees were designed to be sufficiently open-ended to allow a frame of reference for referees to base their answers.
Interviewers subsequent questions could
then be improvised in a critical and theorised manner (Kerlinger, 1970).
Procedures
Referees were contacted and requested to
participate in an exploratory study examining
elite referee decision making and decision
communications. Following participants
agreement, interviews were scheduled independently and conducted jointly by a referee
development professional who had extensive
experience as a sport psychologist working
with match officials, and a highly experienced
interviewer and qualitative research scholar
who was also a practising rugby union match
official. The interviews were conducted in
November 2009; two in a quiet corner of the
foyer of a city-centre hotel, and the other in
the empty bar of a sports club of which the
participant was a member. Participants were
assured of anonymity and rapport had been
established previously2. Each interview took
between 60 and 90 minutes and was recorded
using a digital dictaphone and later transcribed verbatim.
2
Data analysis
Interview data was examined through a
thematic content analysis. First, all transcribed interviews were categorised into raw
data points represented as meaningful units
(i.e. a part of the interviewees response
reflecting an idea, wording, definition, or
phrase that stand as a distinguishable
moment within the data set; Tesch, 1990) in
relation to: (a) decision making; and (b)
decision communications. Those particular
meaning units that showed subject similarity
were then clustered together and tagged as
raw data themes and given a label to represent their thematic content. Second, all raw
data themes that provided a common
grouping were identified as higher order
themes and each were further divided into
sub-themes. The higher-order themes and
their sub-themes derived from the raw data
were then re-assessed by another member of
the research team for: (a) the representation
of the interaction between decision making
and decision communications within each
core theme; and (b) the interdependent
relatedness between core themes in relation to
the investigated concepts. Themes provided
by the analysis were subsequently established
and assessed through other members of the
research team. Finally, the research team
sent the categorisation of themes to the
As with the previous footnote, details of the ways in which rapport had been developed would compromise the
participants anonymity.
26

participants to confirm the trustworthiness
of the analysts interpretation of the interview data.
Trustworthiness
Maxwells (2002) guidelines for enhancing
the trustworthiness of qualitative research
design were considered. The validity criteria
proposed by Maxwell (2002) include
descriptive validity, interpretive validity, and
theoretical validity. Descriptive validity was
supported through dictaphone audio
recording to avoid missing data and allow for
later transcription. Interviews were reviewed
prior to transcription, translated verbatim,
and subsequently hardcopy transcripts were
compared to the audio recording for accuracy. Interpretive validity, or attempting to
understand the concept under investigation
from the vantage point of the participants,
was enhanced through an ongoing collaboration between research team members and
referee development professionals within
the referee training group. Theoretical
validity was considered through analytic
generalisation (i.e. evaluating the transferability of results to a theory of the phenomenon being studied; Yin, 2003) to a
scientifically-based conceptual framework
of elite refereeing performance (i.e.
Mascarenhas, Collins & Mortimer, 2005).
Results and discussion

The aim of the present investigation was to
explore higher-order decision making and
decision communications used by elite rugby
union referees. A thematic content analysis
of semi-structured interviews with three elite
rugby union referees with international
experience provided four core themes and
23 sub-themes that included: (A) corporate
theatre, (B) pre-game preparation and postgame analysis, (C) refereeing philosophy
and approach; and (D) within-game psychological skills. Table 2 (overleaf) highlights
the core and sub-themes established with the
referees who were interviewed.
Corporate theatre
The core theme, corporate theatre, was identified by referees as an aspect of the decision
communication environment that requires
behavioural strategies to manage the
perceived image of their refereeing performance to others inter-linked with match
proceedings. Sub-themes were shown to
include: (a) impression management; (b)
punctuation; (c) shared decision making;
and (d) role clarity. One of the referees [R3]
explains the process of corporate theatre
and the effect on decision communications:
[Corporate theatre] is about the delivery
of the message so that its clear to all those
audiences. And you havent just got the
players audience, even the conversation
were having as three officials is no longer,
a private conversation. So, therefore, you
are making a decision that is clear and
obvious to everybody whos in those
audiences. The audiences being the
players, the TV audience, the coaches who
analyse the game, the members of the
officiating brotherhood who will then
look at the game afterwards and it has to
be clear and it has to be reasoned
decisionspeople are watching it because
its public, its a piece of theatre.
Impression management (a type of self-presentation) was a sub-theme identified by referees
that involves deliberate efforts to selfmonitor the display of their public image to
meet the expectations of players, spectators
and the media. Impression management is
an aspect of high-performance refereeing
that has been previously shown to be a
source of negative role stress (Thatcher,
2005). According to Leary and Kowalski
(1990), impression management is influenced by two contributing processes that are
impression motivation (i.e. the need to create
particular impressions to a real or imagined
audience) and impression construction (i.e.
selecting an impression to convey and then
using certain tactics to express it). Referees
identified an understanding of the necessity
to manage the impressions they display
during decision communication episodes
27
Table 2: Summary of core themes and sub-themes of decision-making and decision

communications in elite rugby union refereeing.
Themes
Sub-themes
Corporate theatre
Impression management
Punctuation
Shared decision-making
Role clarity
Pre-game preparation and

post-game analysis
Template building
Game review and self-analysis
Mental rehearsal (Visual and verbal)
Refereeing philosophy and approach
Experience
Laws of the game
Fairness
Decision-making style and accuracy
Personality and game management
Prioritising
Instinct
Within-game psychological skills
Contextual judgment
Satisficing
Pattern matching
Anticipation
Memory recall
Visualisation
Confidence in decision making
Concentration
Coping
with players and with other game officials

and how this required certain methods to
sell the accuracy and fairness of a decision
through positioning, presence, tone, nonverbal cues, and clear, explanatory language
in verbal phrasing. This was linked to the
desire to establish credibility as an official:
Its things like the tone that you use, it
might be keywords you use, its certainly
about your facial pressures, you know, that
youre under. Its like the old swan effect
isnt it, youre paddling like crazy
underneath but youre nice and calm and
I think the best officials in the world
regardless of what sport it is that theyve
got the swan effect, they can sell their
decision, theyre cool, theyre calm under
pressure and thats how we relate
corporate theatre as being able to sell the
decision even if youre not quite in the

right position or you may have perhaps
perceivably missed something happening
previously. Thats how we address it [R2]
How elite referees make decisions and
communicate with players was identified as
requiring a preservation of judgment criteria
throughout game events in order to guide
game activities. This was further associated
with maintaining consistency in ones refereeing approach. One referee explained how
a narrative ultimately unfolds in the interactions with players where decision episodes
are punctuated through certain communication patterns:
Its about verbalising, communicating,
when youve made your decision if you
dont want to have to make that decision
again, the way you give the decision, the
28

way you apportion responsibility to
whoevers broken it and the way you then
let everybody else around you know why,
whether its what they agree with, but its
that youre then going to be consistent
with that which will help you in the story,
if you like, of the game. [R3]
Other sub-themes of corporate theatre
included clarifying the scope of ones refereeing responsibilities and shared exchanges
in decision making with other game officials
(i.e. assistant referees, television match officials). Previous research has identified that
referees and assistant referees demonstrate
clear differences in their role-specific decision
making responsibilities in an elite football
setting (Catteeuw et al., 2009). Although
referees and their assistants perform varied
primary duties in a rugby union environment,
the decision making requirements involved in
certain match situations can overlap both
roles such as in identifying foul-play. How the
theatrical nature of refereeing occurs in relation to assistant referees role functions was
identified by one referee as involving a
common understanding concerning public
displays and adaptive communications such as
in reporting foul play:
We didnt know what the words were
going to be but we knew where we stood.
We knew when it was your cue, and at one
point I spoke, and then I spoke to the
other touch judge and he came in with
what he had seen and then he actually
went like this [respondent leaning
forward in seat] to the other touch judge
and it was like Ive spoken and now its
your turn [R3]
Pre-game preparation and post-game analysis
A second core theme provided by the rugby
union referees was pre-game preparation
and types of post-game analysis that referees
undertake to further develop and maintain
their expertise. Sub-themes included: (a)
template building; (b) game review and selfanalysis; and (c) mental rehearsal (visual and
verbal). Preparing for match day involved a
range of practice activities for referees
including fitness training, DVD game review,

assessor and referee coaching sessions, peer
learning groups, and pre-game briefings
with assistant referees. All referees
supported the notion that game review is
primarily a video-driven process, emphasising reflection to help build higher-order
refereeing knowledge. Previous studies with
elite football referees examining their deliberate training activities has shown high selfratings for the relevance of technical
refereeing skill, video training, and gameplaying tactics (MacMahon et al., 2007;
Catteeuw et al., 2009). However, referees in
these studies identify a lack of available decision making training resources to supplement their on-field learning. The rugby
union referees in the present study identified game review as an integral training
activity to help build familiarity between
decision making practices and game
outcomes as well as to foster understanding
of the philosophical and intuitive elements
to their refereeing approach. Psychological
skills training was aimed at building mental
templates of anticipated scenarios and
involved other awareness-raising techniques
such as routine planning, visualisation, and
gathering information about trends of
previous matches and player tendencies. Prematch briefings with the referees assistants
were also recognised as a key period for
discussing procedures related to decision
communications:
I do think pre-match is important to get
everybody on the same wavelength, even
people you work with the whole time, that
you would just talk through, if we get foul
play and in my briefing I will say if you get
foul play what Id like you to do is to put
your flag out. If its foul play, tell me about
the foul play, I need to know as early as
possible its happened. So I will say that.
Is it white? Is it blue? If its the side whove
got the ball and its blue then tell me until
you get some sort of acknowledgment
from me. So thats the first thing. Dont
come on until I ask you to come on, when
I you ask to come [gesturing towards him
29

with arm and hand outstretched] so its
enter side, entrance door, theatre, in you
comeits reinforcing the process. [R3]
Mental rehearsal was considered a
customary aspect of pre-performance that
supported within-game decision making
demands of elite refereeing. Prioritising
decision cues at phases of play, re-assessing
ones decision criteria, increasing awareness
of scenarios that can take place between
particular teams were all part of referees
preparation and review practices. Rehearsal
of explanatory verbalisations or stock
phrases for certain decision communication
episodes were also important factors related
to how referees prepared. Referees identified engaging in both first (internal) and
third-person (external) perspectives as part
of visualisation processing skills to engage in
proper positional viewing angles and elaborate their mental picture of possible decision-making situations. One referee
described a simulation exercise they use to
increase their awareness of visual and verbal
cues for an upcoming refereeing performance:
What Im visualising is, Im using the
colours, the colours of the teams that Im
refereeing that weekend, so it might be
white and red and next week it might be
blue and black. So Im using those specific
terms Im going through, Im rehearsing
what Im going to say and for us because
were obviously micro-phoned up unlike
other elite match officials, what we say is
part of that corporate theatre that sells the
decision to people watching the game.
[R2]
Refereeing philosophy and approach
The third theme provided by the referees
was their philosophy and approach to elite
refereeing. Subthemes of this construct
included: (a) experience; (b) laws of the
game; (c) fairness; (d) decision making
accuracy and style; (e) personality and game
management; (f) prioritising; and (g)
instinct. Referees discussed their philosophy
as an attribute built on extensive experience
and held within a view of fairness and

complex understanding of the framework of
the law. All referees shared the same underlying beliefs of fair contest and rewarding
physical skills (team or player techniques/
tactics). One referee commented:
Theres also a mental side where your
head is clear as you approach that
situation, that youre expecting to see a
certain number of things happen or in a
certain pattern, if you like. If you get that
pattern right, then you start to be
consistent but as I said at the beginning,
you have to believe in what youre trying
to do which I think comes down to almost
a vision of the game that you want to see
happen. Now that vision to me is about
something called fair play, not maybe the
fair play that people conceive when
theyre watching sport in a big way, but
there should be a fair contest going on
where youre trying to reward both sides,
both teams in what theyre trying to do.
[R3]
Other sub-themes identified were decision
making accuracy and style that referees
applied including the dynamic ways that they
manage game situations through preventative communication and the application of
personality attributes. This was associated
with prioritising within-game decision
criteria and establishing expectations of how
game events potentially unfold through fair
contest. Conflict management style (e.g.
compromising, collaborating, avoiding) is an
important skilled communication displayed
by the elite official that has been shown to
vary in preference of use by professional
coaches for managing team conflicts (Laios
& Tzetzis, 2005). However, presently there is
limited research available that explores when
or in which situations referees should
express a particular communication style for
managing such conflict (MacMahon &
Plessner, 2008; Mascarenhas et al., 2006).
The various ways that referees identified
managing a game involved a personalised
style that was informed by a weighting of
particular decision cues, a consistency in
30

ones approach and the use of communication patterns to establish and maintain
rapport with players:
Its about seeing how players react, you
know when youve penalised a prop three
times in a row and then you go and
penalise him a fourth time, youve lost
him probably for the game whereas if the
ball goes on the floor, the scrum goes on
the floor and you say come on scrum half,
get it away and you dont penalise him
and then you speak to him at the next
stoppage, Look I know youre under
trouble but youve got to do x, y and z.
[R1]
Referees all shared the belief that instinct
a sub-conscious, intuitive feel for decisionmaking accuracy acted as a primary source of
feedback that supported the referees philosophy and approach. This was believed by
referees to be further enhanced through
game experience and on-going post-game
feedback and review processes.
Within-game psychological skills

The final theme to emerge was the types of
within-game psychological skills that
underlie refereeing performance. Contextual judgment (i.e. an awareness of game
tenor and ability to adjust ones referee
approach to meet the nuances of the game;
Mascarenhas, Collins & Mortimer, 2005;
Unkelback & Memmert, 2008) was considered by all referees as an important factor to
game understanding and comprehension
that informed decision making and decision
communications. This was developed

through an appreciation for what players
and teams are trying to achieve, empathy for
the verbal and non-verbal behaviours of
players, establishing rapport with players and
accounting for the effects of decisions on the
game. All referees identified that at the elitelevel, while accuracy in decision making is
crucial, a particular underlying decision
motivation is to become increasingly
outcome-driven in applying the law (i.e.
making perceived acceptable versus unacceptable decisions). How referees filter large
amounts of perceptual information as part
of their decision making performance was
recognised to include decision heuristics
such as satisficing (Simon, 1955), where
rather than comparing decision options, a
solution is chosen that meets some
minimum criteria (i.e. take the first option)
to fulfill a desired outcome goal:
It goes back to that making the decision
on whos had the most material impact on
the game, from a negative point of view
and I guess thats what were looking for
isnt it, were looking for players who
arent playing the game as it should be in
our opinion. So if two blue made a tackle
from an offside position and then four
blue continued to carry on and then six
blue comes into the side, for me, the start
of the process is two blue because hes
made the initial [infringement]. So I
guess part of my mind, it is filtering the
lesser...my decisions based on who I think
has had the most impact. [R3]
Anticipating certain orders of behavioural
actions by players, recognising patterns and
templates of game play and expecting alternatives of what might occur throughout
game progress were identified as other key
aspects of referees decision making
processes. Pattern matching, or pattern
recognition, has been shown to be essential
processing skill used by experts in real-world
decision-making environments characterised
by high speed-accuracy trade-offs, multiple
goals, and acute stress (e.g. airplane pilots;
Stokes et al., 1997). These decision processes
31
Its back to the clear and obvious point

isnt it? I want to see things which are clear
and obvious, if theyre clear and obvious
they should be right, and thats belief in
your ability and trusting your gut instinct.
And thats by trial and error. [R1]
The instinct comes from watching a huge
amount of gamesbut by being under
the spotlight the whole time I think you
sharpen your, your instinct is sharpened, it
has to be sharpened. [R3]

identified by referees were linked to a range
of psychological skills including a self-belief
in ones decision making ability as an elite
referee that was gained through experience
as a player, assistant referee and referee.
Other psychological skills identified by
referees included concentration and use of
narrow and broad attentional styles, visualisation, and recall of earlier game incidents and
past game experiences. Coping with decision
mistakes, player reactions, media interpretations and self-appraisal of communication
effectiveness was identified to be managed
through self-talk strategies that were also
considered an asset to elite refereeing.
Referees further identified these within-game
psychological skills as being informed
through priority check-lists, consistent application of their philosophy, and further developed by game experiences, game analysis,
and peer and coaching advice.
Conclusion
The present inductive investigation explored
the topics of decision making and decision
communications in elite refereeing. Elite
rugby union referees in this investigation
identified four core themes related to their
decision making and decision communications that included: (a) corporate theatre;
(b) pre-game preparation and post-game
analysis; (c) refereeing philosophy and
approach; and (d) within-game psychological skills. The implications of these findings
inform the development of training practices to assist pre-elite referees as a pedagogic
framework and elite referees in maintaining
standards in their expertise.
Possible practical applications could
consider types of communication skills
training (e.g. conflict management and resolution, language practice, role playing decision account giving) coupled with decision
32
making training tools and practices aimed at

enhancing meta-cognition skills (e.g. videobased infraction detection tasks with immediate performance feedback; scenario
building through video-based discussion,
reflective journals/diaries). A key advantage
of incorporating such psychological skills
training into deliberate practice behaviours is
to allow referees to improve critical thinking
skills and accumulate the necessary experience in key performance areas to support
their on-field skill development (e.g. Brand,
Plessner & Schweizer, 2009; MacMahon,
Starkes & Deakin, 2007; Mascarenhas et al.,
2005; Schweizer et al., 2011). Establishing
meaningful terms such as corporate theatre
can be helpful for referees to further understand how their performance may be
perceived. In a similar vein, terms and
phrases such as contextual judgement, that
are labeled by participants from within the
practice community can assist in the further
development of these skills and make them
easier to understand and manage. Future
research should further examine the association between characteristics of decision
making and decision communications in
other sport settings characterised by varying
referee role responsibilities and rule structures. Longitudinal research designs with
referee populations should be further
employed to increase our understanding of
the interaction between decision making and
communications over time as many studies
generally adopt a cross-sectional view (i.e.
comparing differences between expert and
novices).
Acknowledgements
We would like to thank the three participants
for their open and forthright contributions
to the research, and to the anonymous
reviewer(s) for the helpful comments.
The Authors
Ian Cunningham
Sport and Exercise Sciences,
^ University.
Glyndwr
Email: ij_cunningham@live.ca
Duncan Mascarenhas
Sport and Exercise Sciences,
^ University.
Glyndwr
Email: d.mascarenhas@glyndwr.ac.uk
Mikel Mellick
National Match Official Panel Development
Officer at the Rugby Football Union (RFU)
and The Cardiff School of Sport,
Cardiff Metropolitan University.
Email: mikelmellick@rfu.com
Scott Fleming
The Cardiff School of Sport,
Cardiff Metropolitan University.
Email: sfleming@cardiffmet.ac.uk
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34
Applied & Pedagogical Reflection
Practice and the process of critical

learning: Reflections of an early stage
practitioner working in elite youth level
rugby league
This article provides a reflective account of a year-long sport psychology programme conducted by a neophyte
sport psychologist with a group of elite youth-level rugby league players. Written from the perspective of the
practitioner, vignettes are offered which portray two key instances from this experience and the personal
reflections which followed. These reflections include; the complexities of working around the clubs existing
operating schedule, the importance of time spent within the organisation outside of scheduled consultancy
sessions and how it can improve the quality of service provided, and also the importance of adapting practices
in accordance with the athlete or group of athletes that a practitioner is working with. Additionally, issues
are discussed relating to the authors dual-role as not only a consultant but also a postgraduate researcher
aiming to complete a PhD thesis.
Keywords: Reflective practice; sport psychology; rugby league; youth sport; neophyte practitioner.
NUMBER OF recent sport psychology publications have reiterated the

observation made by Smith (1989)
suggesting that the applied field has entered
an age of accountability (p.166). In one
such example, Cropley et al. (2007) state
that the need to evaluate applied practice
and improve the effectiveness of service
delivery is essential in order for the development of the domain to continue. Prior to
this, Anderson, Knowles and Gilbourne
(2004) suggested that the focus of research
attention has shifted from traditional studies
looking at the techniques and interventions
which work within the applied domain, to
focus more on the processes and factors that
influence the effectiveness or ineffectiveness
of delivery (p.188). That is, although intervention-focused research continues to be a
prominent area of interest within the
research domain, recent years have also
witnessed a dramatic increase in the amount
of process-orientated research which is being
published. In one such text, Bull (1995)
provides a detailed reflection of his five-year

sport psychology consultancy programme
with the England Womens Cricket Team
which culminated in them winning the
World Cup. Later still and adopting a similar
style of critical engagement, Gilbourne and
Richardson (2006) sought to challenge
underlying assumptions associated with
applied sport psychology practice. Their
critique, based upon a series of ethnographic-type observations from the world of
professional football, suggested that applied
sport psychology might be better positioned
as a caring rather than a performance
profession; a perspective that has been
developed further by Gilbourne and
Priestley (2011), Leahy (2011) and
Gilbourne, Jones and Jordon (in press). This
thematic of self-critique generally, and care
and caring-in-practice more specifically, is
not confined to the domain of sport and
exercise psychology. To offer one example
from the area of sports coaching, issues such
as effective practice (Jones & Wallace, 2005),

35

personal power (Jones, 2006) and of caring
in coaching (Jones, 2009) draw inspiration
from personal experience and also from
foundational texts such as Goffman (1959)
and Bourdieu (1977). In qualitative terms
such papers have challenged the focus of
research in applied sport psychology
(McFee, 2009), and within sport social
science more broadly (i.e. Allen-Collinson,
2009; Smith, 2009; Weed, 2009). In
summary, the above texts (amongst others)
provide readers from different backgrounds
and interests with critical perspectives on
practice and research; they are texts that
query the status quo and suggest different
ways of seeing and doing. One way of
drawing such commentaries together is to
consider them as reflective texts written by
reflective practitioners.
Reflective practice issues have been freely
discussed and illustrated within the field of
applied sport psychology as evidenced
through a wide range of commentaries and
research/applied reports. In light of this
apparent shift, the term reflective practice
has been coined to define what Knowles et
al. (2007) describe as an approach to practice that involves creating opportunities to
access, make sense of, and learn from that
tacit knowledge in action we use in our daily
work (p.109). Schn (1983) in his seminal
text on reflective practitioners, also
remarked on the complexity of the reflective
process by differentiating between reflection-on-action and reflection-in-action, with
the latter of the two relating to the phenomenon of thinking on your feet and learning
by doing (p.54). This line of thinking can be
associated with the challenges of doing
practice in a way that emphasises moment-tomoment interaction (and ones response to
it) rather than foregrounding the application of heavily prescribed strategies. Schns
work places emphasis on the practitioner
being self-aware in the moment of consultancy, responding and adapting to the information provided to them by the client
athlete(s). In accordance with this, reflection-on-action pertains to a more distal
process in which the practitioners past-experiences are mulled-over, considered, and

analysed so that future consultancy might be
adjusted accordingly where appropriate.
The present paper is founded on reflection-on-action as a critical process, one that
leads to questions over the efficacy of certain
processes and the emergence of alternative
views on what effective practice might mean.
Through the experiences of the first author,
a neophyte sport psychology practitioner
working with a group of youth level elite
rugby league players, illustrations and
insights are offered which hold potential
implications for all practitioners working
within the applied domain. Amongst others,
Jones (2002), Gilbourne and Richardson
(2006), Krane (2009) and Douglas and
Carless (2011), have supported the emergence of auto-ethnographically derived
accounts of applied experiences, arguing
that such writing might allow stories of practice to be presented to readers as a personal,
authentic and contextualised text. In such
work, and in terms of style and content, the
authors own voice is the tool through
which experiences are conveyed. Moreover,
this approach to telling allows a sense of
story to unfold, one that might, or might
not, find associations with contemporary
theory and/or established thinking more
generally. Knowles and Gilbourne (2010)
have recently associated auto-ethnographic
writing with critical forms of reflection and
with critical social science more generally, a
view that allows for the possibility of reflection on-action to be the springboard for
texts that contest and challenge established
thinking. Richardson (2000) developed the
term Creative Analytical Practice Ethnography to describe the analysis of an event
through the actual re-telling of the story
itself. It was suggested that this term encompassed past, present, and future writing styles
which may traditionally have been viewed as
experimental or alternative. In a recent
example of such an approach, Gilbourne,
Jones and Jordon (in press) state that autoethnographic transcripts are likely to emerge
36
Practice and the process of critical learning

from challenging personal exercises in
which events, and understandings from
them, are scrutinised in a systematic manner
and through a critical lens. The emphasis
placed on the systematic processes linking
writing and understanding promotes the
idea that such texts might embrace the
possibility that their stories house the
capacity to embrace alternative perspectives
and, so, potentially act as a catalyst for
change (p.5).
In light of these assertions, the purpose
of this present paper is to add to the already
existing reflective literature by documenting
my (Chris) experiences as a neophyte practitioner working with a rugby league club
over the course of the 2011 competitive
season. Anderson, Knowles and Gilbourne
(2004) state that reflective practice can offer
an appropriate framework for the professional training and development of applied
sport psychology practitioners. Seemingly in
line with this observation, recent times have
witnessed an increase in the number of
reflective publications being put forward by
aspiring early-career practitioners (Knowles
& Gilbourne, 2010). Amongst others, Holt
and Strean (2001), Tonn and Harmison
(2004) and Page (2009) have all provided
fascinating insights into some of the issues
encountered first-hand by practitioners at
the onset of their professional careers, with
the latter relating directly to elite youth-level
rugby league. Indeed, the implications of
such work stretch far beyond the shaping of
the individuals practice alone, as it will be
their work and the work of their peers which
arguably determines the evolutionary
pattern that the field adopts throughout the
coming years. Jones, Evans and Mullen
(2007) suggest that texts which choose to
adopt the perspective of trainee practitioners have the potential to not only
inform the supervision of trainee sport
psychologists but also enhance the effectiveness of sport psychologists professional
practice (p.211). Jones and his colleagues
provide an account of how the first author
managed his multiple roles as a practitioner
and a postgraduate-researcher, whilst

running an intervention-focused sport
psychology programme with an elite rugby
union player who he also coached full time.
The current paper presents a similar
dilemma as I myself struggled at times with
my dual-role, serving not only as a consultant
tasked with the challenge of educating the
clubs academy players on the importance of
sport psychology, but also as a researcher
whose interests were equally as concerned
with the collection of sufficient data to
enable me to obtain a PhD qualification.
Two vignettes portraying key moments from
my consultancy experience will be documented within this paper, along with the
corresponding self-observations which
stemmed from them. Through this process
of sharing, the present text can contribute to
the applied literature by detailing some of
the implications that my dual role as a
consultant and a researcher had in terms of
my applied practice. In addition, Barker,
McCarthy and Harwood (2011) state that
there are a limited number of published
reflections on professional practice in youth
sport which may result in existing and
aspiring practitioners erroneously deducing
that what works for adult athletes will work
with youth-level athletes accordingly. In light
of this, not only does the present paper go
some way towards addressing this apparent
gap in the literature, it can also add to the
existing body of reflective literature detailing
the experiences of novice practitioners
working within the domain. In particular,
the paper offers a unique insight into some
of the challenges faced when working in
youth sport and how they can result in
dramatic changes occurring in terms of
actual service delivery.
37
In the beginning: My initial plan and the

traditional Psychological Skills Training
(PST) framework
The mindset of the elite level athlete has
fascinated me from an early age. As an individual who has long dreamed of pulling on
the shirt and taking to the field of my

favourite football team, the opportunity to
work with elite athletes in an attempt to help
improve their performances intrigues and
excites me in equal measure. As part of my
ongoing PhD studies, I have spent the last
competitive season working with the academy
players at an established Super League rugby
team, conducting sport psychology training
sessions under the guidance of my PhD
supervisor and with the pre-approval of the
corresponding coaching staff at the club
itself. This experience has provided me with
an excellent opportunity to enhance my
development as a practitioner, as well as
serving as the sole source of data for my
ongoing PhD thesis. This meant that I had to
adopt a dual-role when developing my overall
plan. That is, in addition to attempting to
develop a PST programme which would
equip the academy players with the mental
tools necessary to succeed in their given
sport, I also had to view the programme from
the perspective of a postgraduate researcher
in order to ensure that the data I received
from the players was of sufficient quality to
enable me to complete my corresponding
studies. This interface between my two roles
has at times produced some professional
conflicts which will be discussed in greater
detail as this paper progresses. However, at
the onset of my PhD and consultancy work I
was unaware of the problems which lay ahead
so I simply set about putting contemporary
theory into practice by deriving session plans
and study ideas from the module content
that I had been taught in my Undergraduate
and Masters degrees in sport psychology. By
the time this first psychology session at the
club had arrived I felt I had succeeded in
developing a season-long plan encompassing
the introduction and implication of a series
of psychological interventions which, if
successful, would no doubt result in dramatically improved performances from the
players on the pitch. Although the latter part
of that assumption may have been somewhat
over-exaggerated for the purposes of this
paper, it does go some way towards representing the genuine surge of enthusiasm and
excitement that I felt upon the commencement of my practice.

I had been told by the club that I would
be working with the two squads which collectively formed their academy set-up, namely
the Under 20s team and the Under 18s
team. This meant that in general I would be
working with a group of around 20 to 30
players for one hour per week, although on
occasion a number of players would miss
sessions if their training or fixture lists
dictated it was necessary. As the season
progressed I often ended up working solely
with the Under 18s, and by the end of the
season I was also working with the Under
16s players occasionally, all of which was
dictated by which squads were free from
training on a given night. The ever-changeable nature of working with such a broad
spectrum of players on a relatively ad-hoc
basis meant that I encountered some problems as the season progressed, a number of
which will be detailed within this reflective
text. Prior to all of this, however, I had set
about putting together a PST programme
which I believed matched the blueprints laid
down by past publications (e.g. Fournier et
al., 2005; von Guenthner et al., 2010). This
programme would deliver five interventions
to the players involved (namely, goal-setting,
imagery, relaxation training, self-talk and
biofeedback training) and in doing so,
would coincide with what I believed to be the
traditional PST framework. My initial plan
was to adopt a similar methodology to that of
Fournier et al. (2005) who ran a 10-month
PST programme with female gymnasts, in
which a five-step intervention package
consisting of relaxation, self-talk, goal
setting, focusing, and visualisation was delivered in weekly half-hour sessions. Prior to
the introduction of each intervention, baseline measures were established through the
repeated administration of the OMSAT-3
inventory (Durand-Bush et al., 2001). This
approach enabled the researchers to analyse
the efficacy of each individual intervention
by observing any corresponding changes in
the group inventory scores for that given
38

mental skill. Fournier and his colleagues
revealed significant performance increases
(compared to the control group) for the
experimental group who were involved in
the programme. With this and other such
studies in mind, I had developed a similar
programme which aimed to benefit the
players and in turn the club itself, whilst at
the same time providing the foundations for
my PhD thesis. A brief overview of my initial
approach is portrayed in the Table 1. It
should be noted, however, that this only
provides a brief summary of the specific
intervention-orientated sessions I had developed, and that the intention was that the
OMSAT-3 inventory would be re-administered after each block of intervention-based
sessions.
Upon commencement of the programme, I conducted a series of baseline

data collection sessions in which the players
completed a number of well established
inventories aimed at measuring current
psychological skill use (OMSAT-3; DurandBush et al., 2001) as well as constructs such
as mental toughness (MTQ48; Clough et al.,
2008), personality (16PF5; Cattell & Cattell,
1995) and attitude towards sport psychology
(SPA-R; Martin et al., 2002). Even at this
early stage, I had noted the players reluctance to complete these questionnaires.
Their occasional remarks of not another
form! or this one has the same question in
it three times! provided a fairly strong indication that they were not entirely thrilled
with how the programme had begun. It was
Table 1: Initial programme overview.

Tasks to be completed
Time-frame
Baseline
Performance profiling task
data collection Various baseline inventories
4 weeks
Goal-setting
Individual goal-setting worksheet

Team goal-setting exercise
2 weeks
Short- and medium-term goals
continually set throughout
the season
Relaxation
training
Autogenic training
Breath control
Progressive muscle relaxation
1 session
Adherence and practice of the
exercises to be monitored over the
following 4 weeks
Self-talk
Positive and negative self-talk worksheet

Restructuring negative self-talk exercise
1 session
Adherence and practice to be
monitored over the following
4 weeks
Imagery
Imagery ability assessment

Imagery training worksheet
1 session
Adherence and practice to be
monitored over the following
4 weeks
Biofeedback
training
Biofeedback training focusing on relaxation 3 weeks of individual training

and focus using the Mindball Trainer
Assessment of approaches used, i.e. imagery,
relaxation, self-talk, etc.
39

my intention, however, to use the corresponding data to provide group feedback to the
players and coaches, whilst ensuring not to
reveal any sensitive data relating to individuals within the team (e.g. individual personality trait scores). In addition, their
responses would form a critical element of
my thesis and so from a personal point of
view it was essential that they were
completed. With this in mind, we continued
to work our way through the four-week baseline phase before then moving on to the first
of my five interventions; goal-setting.
I began working with the players with
regards to their goals and ambitions for the
forthcoming season, initially hoping that the
players and coaches alike would be able to
invest the out-of-session time that was
required in order to successfully facilitate
the goal-setting process. As the weeks
progressed, however, it became increasingly
clear that the commitment I required from
them was, through no fault of their own, too
much to ask. Despite these observations,
I persisted with my initial plan in the hope
that things may improve as the season
progressed and after two weeks we had
moved on from goal-setting to touch on
other interventions such as relaxation and
self-talk. As I continued with this approach,
problems regarding the players commitment towards the interventions became
more and more apparent, which in hindsight I should perhaps have seen coming! In
making these observations it is not my intention to question the athletes or coaches
commitment to their roles within the sport,
or their respective interests in sport
psychology as a whole. I believe that as practitioners, we are always likely to encounter
resistance or problems when working in
the applied field which may potentially stem
from players, coaches, administrative figures
or even from our own supervisors. Amongst
the rather limited early-career reflective literature which is available, researchers have
openly admitted to struggling with professional issues including the maintenance of
professional boundaries and the need to
create a professional identity (Tonn &

Harmison, 2004), and the matching of
delivery materials in accordance with the
athletes a practitioner is working with (Page,
2009). In this instance, the problems
I encountered occurred mainly as a result of
the requirements I placed upon both the
coaches and the players outside of the scheduled psychology sessions. These included
having the players revisit their goals
throughout the week to monitor their
progress towards them, whilst the coaches
had agreed to meet with the players individually to discuss the long-term goals they had
set for the season. Throughout my time with
the club I have received nothing but
continued support and feedback from the
coaching staff and players and their agreement to complete exercises such as these inbetween sessions provides a strong
indication of this. In spite of their best intentions, however, the tasks I set them simply
required too much additional time within a
training regime which offered little manoeuvrability for the coaching staff running it, let
alone the psychologist who was only able to
see the players once a week. This dynamic of
timetabling and fitting in around the clubs
existing regimes is one which has undoubtedly had a major impact on my work with the
club. Throughout the remainder of this
paper I will aim to expand upon this point,
and provide additional honest reflections as
to why I feel I was unable to deliver these
well-established interventions in line with
the plan which I had outlined. Prior to this,
however, a vignette will be presented which
details one of the most difficult consultancy
scenarios which I have been confronted with
to date. I was conducting a relaxation session
in which the players were supposed to look
at the various pre-game and in-game exercises they could perform to help them relax.
Myself and the coach who attended my
sessions in the early stages, had become
particularly unhappy with the players
conduct and involvement throughout the
session and decided to finish it early. It was
after this session that I decided to change my
40

consultancy approach, and in turn the
nature of my whole thesis, completely.
My first vignette: Stressful relaxation

The players are 20 minutes late, their
training session has over-ran, so Im delayed
in getting this relaxation session off the
ground. One of the players tells me that they
have just come from a particularly strenuous
fitness session, so I know already that this
could be a difficult session to run. I think
back to the advice repeatedly offered by my
PhD supervisor be adaptive he said,
applied work doesnt always go to plan.
Ive just delivered my brief session introduction to the players before splitting them
into groups and assigning them to one of the
exercises set up. As I stand observing them
from the middle of the room its as if myself
and the coach are not there. I can literally
count on one hand the number of players
who appear to be taking the session seriously,
reading their worksheets and trying the
corresponding exercises. The numerous
calls I make for them to focus on the task fall
on deaf ears, as do my reminders that the
sooner we get done, the sooner we can all go
home. Its not that the players are ignoring
me, as they all fall quiet when I speak up, it
just seems as if they arent interested in the
exercises set for them. I wonder if three of
the more influential players in the group
might be leading the others astray. Two of
them are instigating a series of irrelevant
conversations about girls, recent nights out
and other such topics, whereas the third sits
on his phone ignoring his coachs reminders
that mobiles are not allowed in training
sessions. Around 15 minutes have passed
when myself and the coach decide that the
session is not working and call the players
back to their chairs. Stepping into slightly
unchartered territory, I proceed to tell them
that I will not tolerate such behaviour in my
sessions, and that I do not have to give up my
spare time if they are not willing to reciprocate the effort I put into these sessions. As I
speak, I begin to think of the potential
consequences of what I am saying, aware of
the implications that this stance could have

for my PhD. Somewhat reassuringly, the
coach steps in to express his extreme dissatisfaction with the situation, suggesting that
disciplinary action may be in order and that
his account of events will be reported back to
the clubs assistant coach who also serves as
the head of youth development for the club.
My initial sessions: An overview

It is important to stress at this point that the
vignette outlined above represents an
extreme example of a session which I felt
had clearly not gone to plan. The players
behaviour in that session was not representative of their usual conduct which had made
it all the more surprising. The repercussions
of this event for both myself and the club will
be detailed later in this paper. However, in
order to accurately portray my experience as
a whole, I feel I must first provide an account
of the regularity with which I was able to see
the players for group psychology sessions,
and also the manner in which these sessions
coincided with the players weekly training.
Aside from the occasional week where a
psychology session would be cancelled to
allow for additional training or because of a
weekday competitive match, I saw them once
a week on a Wednesday evening. The players
only trained three nights a week (Monday
and Friday additionally), so perhaps I was
lucky to be able to see them as frequently as
I did. One potential reason to explain why
the players were not all successfully adopting
the interventions I was trying to introduce,
however, may have stemmed from the fact
that I had no contact with them in the
interim period in-between these sessions.
This meant that instructions such as
monitor your progress towards your shortterm goals or practice progressive muscle
relaxation three times a week could not be
supported on the ground. Gilbourne and
Richardson (2006) suggest that practitioners
will be more successful when working with
sporting establishments if they can become
embedded in the existing regimes that the
given club already operates regarding
41

training and match day routines, etc. This
observation seems particularly pertinent
when I reflect upon the situation that
I found myself in during the early stages of
my time with the club. My weekly sessions
were usually timetabled at the end of the
evenings training which meant that players
were coming into the session on the back of
some form of physically strenuous exercise
(usually weight-resistance training or, even
worse, fitness drills). They would often arrive
into the sessions looking physically
exhausted, still sweating from their exertions
over the last hour or so, and they would
bring with them food, drinks, or in particularly unfortunate cases, ice-packs if a player
had been for a visit to the rehab room enroute to psychology.
Week after week I would develop session
plans which followed a general blueprint of
a presentation being given, detailing some of
the research surrounding the given topic,
before a handout was then passed around
which contained the task(s) they were to
complete in that session. However, the
players would regularly arrive late, as was the
case with the relaxation session detailed
earlier, and this often meant that I had to
change my session content and skip certain
elements to try and ensure that all the necessary tasks were completed in time. Perhaps
these timing issues played a role in shaping
the players attitudes towards their
psychology sessions. In hindsight I can see
why they may not have felt inclined to fully
engage in these early sessions. Although I
have always strived to make session content
as relevant as I can for any athlete I am
working with, this initial approach was too
regimented and upon reflection would have
been better suited for undergraduate
students studying a relevant academic discipline. I had tried to make the sessions as
applicable as I could to the sport of rugby
league but irrespective of this, a group of
exhausted, hungry, sweaty rugby league
players who had varying degrees of interest
and/or scepticism regarding the topics in
question as well the domain itself, were
always going to be a difficult audience for

such an approach. Initially my mentality was
to press-on regardless, mainly because my
PhD was seemingly dependent upon the
successful delivery of these interventions and
how the players in turn performed on the
field. As previously detailed, however, the
relaxation session described in the
preceding vignette represented an extreme
scenario which, to me, clearly signalled the
beginning of the end for my PST
programme.
In the weeks following that session, a
number of significant changes and repercussions had occurred. The player who had
been on his phone and one of the players
involved in the irrelevant conversations were
left out of the side for the next competitive
match. Coincidently, one of these players
had apologised to me in person immediately
after the session which had gone some way
towards helping me regain some composure
and perspective. I had also made the decision not to pass on the names of the individuals who had been particularly disruptive, so
their exclusion from the following game told
me that the coach who attended the session
felt it was worthy of such punishment. I had
not enjoyed adopting such an authoritative
tone at the end of that session to tell the
players that their behaviour was unacceptable. My anger had most probably arisen
because I knew that there would be significant ramifications for my thesis and the
corresponding research I was aiming to
complete. It seemed clear that this approach
was not working with this group of players
and that something needed to change.
Having spoken to the coaches at the club,
the decision was made that the players would
be split into two groups for psychology which
I would see on alternating weeks. I also
spoke to my academic supervisor about the
problems I was facing and I eventually
decided to alter my approach to the
psychology sessions by giving the players
more control over the in-session discussions.
Specifically, I would continue to develop
plans for the sessions and decide upon the
42

key areas of psychology which we were to
explore week upon week, but the sessions
would centre on group discussions and activities rather than the promotion of psychological tools and interventions which they would
have to practice in their spare time. This new
approach meant that the whole nature of my
thesis changed from traditional pre-test and
post-test intervention research, to focus
more upon a reflective line of enquiry in
which papers such as this could enable me to
portray the steep learning curve I was experiencing through my applied work. This
decision left me truly out of my comfort
zone as both a practitioner and a researcher,
but at the same time I was excited by it and
eager to see how it would develop. I felt like
I had a story to tell which would expand
upon the existent literature and represent a
somewhat unique approach by acknowledging that we as practitioners do not always
need to have definitive structures and solutions in place in order to succeed in our
work. This notion was echoed by Tonn and
Harmison (2004) who made a similar admission when detailing the realisations made by
the first author upon having been thrown to
wolves as a neophyte practitioner learning
her trade. I found myself to be in a similar
position in that I was moving away from the
traditional approach to applied work which
had served me well in the past as a volunteer
practitioner, into new and unchartered territory. I was nervous in advance of my return
to the club the week after that problematic
relaxation session, but thankfully there were
no signs of awkwardness from any of the
players, including those who had been reprimanded. This had helped me get back into
my stride fairly quickly, and it seemed
apparent from that first subsequent session
that this change in approach would be a
much better fit for all the parties involved.
Gilbourne and Richardson (2006) state that

trainee sport psychologists in the UK are
generally exposed to years of specific scien-
tific training, writing, and research exercises.

They argue that this in turn can lead to the
assumption that the world adopts a similar
linear pattern in which specific questions
can be addressed with corresponding preprepared responses or solutions. In
reflecting on his own consultancy experience, Gilbourne stated that applied work is
as much (if not more) about being spontaneous and genuine in a skilled and consistent way as it is about having a theoretical
answer to a practical problem (p.332). In
line with this observation and the aforementioned advice repeatedly offered by my
supervisor, I had found myself in a position
where I felt that I needed to be proactive and
adaptive so that I could produce sessions
which would engage the players much more
than they had been previously. Specifically,
I attempted to tackle topics which I still felt
were essential from a practitioners perspective, but I handed over the lead of the
sessions to the players themselves and
attempted to take a more facilitative role. In
the earlier sessions, my regimented sessionplans meant that discussions and debates
were kept to a premium in order to
complete the corresponding tasks. But now
I was actively trying to engage and promote
such dialog so that I could listen to the
players and in turn respond and adapt to
their thoughts and opinions. In contrast to
the regimented, intervention-orientated
approach I had initially utilised, these
sessions were much more adaptable and
generally centred around group activities
and open discussions. For comparative
purposes, a brief overview of this revised
approach is portrayed in Table 2.
I use the term deductive independent
to summarise this approach because the
sessions still had a general theme and topic
to them (e.g. mental toughness) but I would
give more ownership to the players in relation to what was discussed rather than
leading them through presentations or worksheets as I had done previously. The feedback I received from the coaches and the
players indicated that they were enjoying the
43
Adopting a deductive independent

approach
Table 2: Revised programme overview.

Tasks to be completed
Time-frame
Mental
toughness
session
Players to collectively describe what they

understand mental toughness to be
Open discussion to conclude
2 consecutive sessions with the

teams definition revisited
throughout the remainder of
the season
Attitude
assessment
session
Working in groups, players to discuss

2 consecutive sessions
behaviours that they consider to be befitting
and attainable at this level, and how such
behaviour is influenced by external sources
Stop, start,
keep session
Working in pairs, players list what they think 1 session

their partner should stop doing, start doing,
and two things they should keep doing
in relation to rugby league
Open discussion to conclude
Role models
session
Group session in which players will discuss

their role models inside and outside of
the sport. Individual task to begin, before
concluding with an open group discussion
1 session
sessions more and in addition to this, it

seemed as if they were benefitting from them
more as well with a number of players using
the sessions as an opportunity to talk about
issues that they may not have discussed
otherwise. Players were becoming much
more involved across the board, rather than
one or two players engaging while the rest
watched the minutes tick by which had
seemed to be the case previously. Somewhat
to my surprise as the weeks progressed, the
topics being discussed became increasingly
contentious also. The players now seemed
more willing to freely discuss issues such as
training regimes, coaching strategies, and
even their home, work, or academic lives
outside of the sport. In one session in particular (which had involved the players giving
presentations on what they felt was an appropriate attitude for an elite youth level
athlete) players were starting to talk openly
to me and their peers about how they struggled in training due to their daily commitments outside of sport, how their wage for
playing failed to cover the cost of petrol to
travel to training, how they felt that rugby
could help them to a better quality of life,

and even how their teammates could have a
negative effect on their own motivational
levels and attitude towards training. Their
increasing willingness to open up to me and
discuss such personal and pertinent issues,
reinstated my belief that this flexible
approach I had adopted was in fact working,
and as a direct consequence of this observation, I began to spend increasing amounts of
time around the club and the players outside
of the scheduled psychology sessions. As the
following sections will detail, simply being a
face around the stadium on training nights
and match days, encouraged the players to
voluntarily discuss their thoughts and feelings with me in their own time, and in turn
this produced one of the most challenging
and at the same time fascinating consultancy
scenarios that I have experienced in my
career so far.
44
Hanging around: Attending training

and match days
It seems like an obvious statement to make,
but being around the club more frequently

has gone a long way towards encouraging
the players to voluntarily engage in conversation and discuss issues which they felt were
affecting their rugby. For me being there for
the players was what my time-in-context
was all about and this, I now realise, aligns
(at least in-part) with what Gilbourne and
Richardson had based their 2006 paper
around. Simply hanging around was seemingly the most beneficial addition to my
consultancy practices at the club. As previously mentioned, the players busy and relatively limited training schedules dictated that
I could only see them once a week for
psychology sessions, so my decision to
increase the face time I had with the players
by attending training and the occasional
competitive match, dramatically increased
my interactions with them as individuals.
The following extract recounts such an occasion, detailing the period of time following
one of the competitive matches I attended in
the 2011 season. For the purpose of this
paper, the players name has been altered to
maintain confidentiality. The game in question was against a team who the players had
lost to twice the season before, and in both
of these previous games they had felt
aggrieved about the manner of their
performance. Ironically the game in question had been another very narrow away
defeat in which the players and the coaching
staff had made a number of complaints
about the conduct of their opponents and
the officiating.
I am in the changing room immediately after

the head-coach has given his post-match
feedback. Attempting to focus on the positives from the defeat, he had told the players
that he had been generally happy with their
play but that poor officiating and individual
errors had cost them the win they had
deserved. In spite of his best efforts, however,
there remains a very apparent and somewhat
inevitable air of disappointment in the
room. The players have been told to get
showered and changed before meeting in
the car park to get the coach home. I myself

am on the verge of heading out of the door
to get in the car and drive home when I see
the team captain, a player who had often
opened up to me outside of sessions, quietly
head out of the fire-exit door and into the
car park. The head-coach sees this also but
given that he and the player in question had
endured a relatively heated exchange during
the match itself, I understand why he doesnt
follow the player out, deciding instead to
continue his conversation with the other
coaches about how the game had gone. I am
fully aware that it is not my role to follow him
out either. Nobody from the club has
implied that I should and it is only my
second match as part of the general
coaching team. But from what little I know
about the player, I feel that he may benefit
from talking to someone impartial rather
than bottling up his frustration and being
left with his own thoughts. With this justification, I head out the door where I find him
crouched down with his back against the wall
and his head in his hands. What followed was
a major learning curve for me as for the first
time since I started working with the club,
I was in a position which I had given no prior
thought to. There was no pre-prepared presentation, no handouts, no tasks, and no neat
theoretical answers. Instead there was a
player who was clearly displeased with how
events had gone, and who may have left the
changing rooms in order to avoid a conversation similar to the one I intended to
commence with him.
Alright John I say quietly as I head over
to where he is stood, You OK mate? It is
fairly apparent that he is not OK but in the
context of the situation I had subconsciously
opted for a generic greeting, one which I
had probably said to him and other players
on numerous occasions previously. For a
player who had a reputation for being relatively hot-headed when things were not
going his way, his response is extremely
composed and reflective. He tells me that he
is disappointed in his performance and that
he feels he has let his teammates down. I ask
45
My second vignette: No quick fixes

why and he proceeds to explain that he has
struggled with the added pressure of being
the team captain all season. He feels like it
has placed a weight on his shoulders due to
the fact that the players around him are all
looking up to him during games, expecting
him to be able to make a difference. His
response surprised me somewhat as I always
held the impression that he had thrived in
his role as the teams appointed, and
arguably most natural, leader. His approach
to the psychology sessions and the manner in
which he conducted himself on the training
pitch had led me to believe that he would
relish his role as captain, but here he was
admitting that it was having a negative
impact on his own performances.
My initial response to John is that there is
no immediate solution to his problem.
I could not hand him a tablet to take his
issues away. I suggested that time might allow
him to successfully grow into this new role he
had been given at the start of the season. In
my mind, I wonder whether or not this
response is sufficient, bearing in mind the
player is opening up to me with a predicament which is affecting his performances
directly and all I am telling him is that there
is no real answer to his problem. The fact
that John responds by expanding upon his
original point and providing me with
evidence from the game that I have just
witnessed, re-affirms my initial belief that he
may be looking for a solution from me on
the spot. Whether or not this is the case, it
seems clear that he is eager to work though
and express his emotions further.
That moment outside the changing rooms

served as the challenging consultancy
encounter which I referred to earlier in this
paper and the manner of that conversation
will undoubtedly shape the remainder of my
career in applied sport psychology. It was at
that time when I truly began to understand
and appreciate that we as practitioners are
dealing with people first and athletes
second, an observation echoed by Gilbourne
and Richardson (2006). They suggested that,

from a practitioners point of view, a
performance agenda and a caring agenda
towards ones clients are symbiotic in that
they share convergent properties rather than
holding a divergent philosophy as the
majority of research in the field may
arguably indicate. Upon reflection, the
manner in which I handled the conversation
was, in my eyes, by no means perfect. Irrespective of this, however, it remains the most
meaningful and hands-on situation I have
experienced as a practitioner to date, and it
is as a result of this that the caring role a
psychologist can play becomes so much
more apparent to me personally. Having
discussed these reflections with a number of
more established colleagues whose opinions
I hold in high-regard, I have been able to
successfully analyse the manner in which I
handled that situation outside of the
changing rooms. Although numerous other
challenging scenarios have arisen in my time
with the club, that particular example was
chosen for inclusion in this paper as I believe
it highlights the most important realisation I
have made as a practitioner, which is that I
can play a significant role by simply listening
to what an athlete has to say, and in turn
providing a caring response which helps
portray an empathic and considerate
demeanour. My initial response in saying
that there was no immediate solution to his
problem with the role of captain was in some
ways the most honest and appropriate
answer I could have given. It may not have
been the answer that he wanted to hear, but
it was the most logical one to provide
because any other indication that there may
be a quick fix to the issue would have been
incorrect and would have only served to give
him false hope. As the conversation in question continued, however, I felt an increasing
need to give such a response in an attempt to
make the player feel better, and I suppose in
a way to maintain the illusion that I held all
the answers and was indeed the expert in
that situation. Upon reflection, what I
should have in fact suggested is that I and
46
Reflecting upon my own practices

the player sit down at the earliest possible
time to discuss the issue further. This would
allow him more time to think about the ways
in which the captaincy was affecting him,
and it would enable me to try and establish
what I believe all psychologists should aspire
towards developing with their clients, which
is an empathic and non-judgemental understanding. It may still be the case that two
weeks after having sat with him once or
twice, I would have recommended an applicable intervention such as thought-stopping
or self-talk, but I would have done so as a
result of me fully understanding why the role
was affecting him in such a way. Unfortunately, however, we as practitioners are still
subjected to our own fundamental human
error. We have no special capacity for insight
into the thoughts and feelings of others, and
we are as prone to get things right and wrong
just as often as other people are. At that
given moment I had wanted to help the
player so that I could help relieve him of the
distress he was under, and in my haste to do
so I momentarily lost sight of what the best
solution to his problem may have been.
On a personal level I have always previously felt the need to try a provide an
answer as quickly as possible, something
which I feel may stem from my lack of experience working in the field, as well as the
linear manner in which sport psychology
theory is delivered through academic
courses. I strongly agree with the corresponding views outlined in the Gilbourne and
Richardson (2006) paper, but this should
not necessarily be perceived as a critique of
the academic courses I have completed in
the past. My studies have taught me the very
fundamentals of the domain in which I aim
to work for the rest of my professional
career. At the same time, however, they may
have led me to view the field as one which is
symptomatic in terms of its practice whereby
specific problems can be met with well-established intervention-based treatments. As a
direct result of my time working with the
rugby league club in question, I have since
learned that although the end product may
still include recommending that a player

practices one of the well established interventions supported by vast amounts of
previous literature, it is essential that I first
fully explore the true depths of a given
problem and get to know the athlete in question to a much greater degree. Newburg et
al. (2002) discussed consultancy approaches
across numerous fields relating to high-level
performances, and even went as far as to
state that a domain as established and
abstruse as the medical field can be as much
about art as is it science when it comes to
successfully applying research-based knowledge. This observation stems from the
apparent level of expectancy for medical
professionals to make connections with their
patients before they can successfully treat
them for their illnesses. The authors cite a
popular medical saying that People will not
let you care for them until they know you
care about them (p.265), and this expression seems particularly befitting when
considering the observations I have made
regarding my own experiences of working
with professional athletes. Through the
vignettes presented in this paper, I have
provided examples of a group-based session
and a one-to-one consultancy scenario in
which this linear perspective of the domain
had failed me as a practitioner.
47
Concluding remarks
Whether or not my own critical reflections
will have any bearing on the careers of other
practitioners seems less important than
developing an open and challenging culture
in which practitioners from all backgrounds
can feel secure enough to reflect openly
upon their own experiences and document
them through publication. In a key text
focusing upon professional reflection,
Bolton (2001) stated that Reflective practice
will not provide neat answers to the conundrums of practice. It will not directly answer
the question, What should I have done? Yet
more questions are likely to be thrown up
(p.14). Furthermore, Anderson, Knowles
and Gilbourne (2004) suggested that self-

reflection may result in feelings of discomfort or vulnerability for practitioners, adding
that if we are committed to improving practice, these challenging thoughts and
emotions should ultimately enable us to
learn from our experiences and understand
the context of our practice. In this instance,
my experiences of professional discomfort
have helped me to make a number of
personal realisations which had implications
for not only my role with that given rugbyleague club, but also for my career as a
whole.
The themes which have been derived
from this reflective piece relate to the importance of adaptability when working with
athletes, particularly in group scenarios in
which one persons opinion can house the
potential to spark fascinating and insightful
debates and conversations. This same
concept also extends into my one-to-one
consultancy experiences and the realisation
that symptomatic solutions are not always
necessary. There is no shame in acknowledging that I still have a lot to learn as an
applied sport psychologist, and that by
simply being there and allowing an athlete
to open up and discuss their thoughts and
feelings, we as practitioners can effectively be

doing our jobs well. In other instances,
helping them to do this may only be a small
part of the task in hand. This is dependent
upon what exactly is required to help that
given client at that specific time. What is
essential, however, is that the client remains
the key focal-point in that scenario.
Conducting self-reflective exercises after
such events have occurred, however, will
help ensure my continual development as a
practitioner as my career progresses. If more
and more researchers within the domain
choose to complete such activities, then
collectively we can improve the quality of the
services that we as sport psychologists offer.
This will in turn strengthen the positioning
of the field as a caring-yet-performance
orientated discipline, and help to ensure the
continual evolution of our practices in this
age of accountability.
48
The Authors
Chris Rowley, Keith Earle &
David Gilbourne
University of Hull,
Cottingham Road,
Hull, HU6 7RX.
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Salmela, J.H. (2005). Effects of a season-long PST
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50
Comment on Rowley, Earle & Gilbourne

Robert Morris
WAS VERY PLEASED by the opportunity

to read the paper by Rowley, Earle and
Gilbourne, as being a neophyte practitioner myself, it offered me the opportunity
to reflect on my own personal experiences
and draw parallels to that of the current
paper. There were a number of parallels
which I had encountered as a neophyte practitioner, which highlighted to me that what
I was experiencing in my own personal
practice was normal!
Firstly, I believe this paper effectively
highlights possible time constraints that a
practitioner might face throughout their
career in elite sport. When I have worked
with professional athletes previously, there
have been times where I have been frustrated at the lack of commitment of the
athletes when arriving there. Within this
reflection, it was clear the club supported
the practitioner, however, the paper highlighted that the lack of commitment from
the athletes themselves is perhaps a common
factor in many elite sports and is perhaps
something that we just need to accept when
working as a practitioner in the field!
Hanging around was always something
I was unsure of doing prior to engaging as an
applied practitioner, as I wasnt sure of the
benefit it would have on my practice long
term. When reading this paper, the reflections highlighted suggest that there is no
doubt this is a beneficial part of being a practitioner. Similar to my previous experiences
this paper highlights that by being around
training and matches more often, players
become more open and accepting of the
practitioner, which has consequential positive effects on future sport psychology
sessions.
Finally, I feel this paper highlights well

the possible personal doubts that a practitioner may face when starting out a career in
sport psychology. Personally, I empathised
with the position of the practitioner always
wanting to give a solution to the athletes.
When I first started as a practitioner, and
even now a couple of years later, I still want
to provide solutions, as I feel this is what the
athletes want. In reality, this may not be the
case, but I think this paper highlights such
beliefs may negatively impact practitioner
performance.
Overall, I feel this paper highlighted
particularly well a number of factors that
neophyte practitioners may be faced with in
their early career. Despite highlighting a
number of individual factors, I feel this
papers overall outcome gives a good understanding of the overall role and doubts a
neophyte practitioner may face, and
provides an indication that what such practitioners may face in their early career is
normal. I feel this provides reassurance to
me personally as much as adding to my
existing knowledge, but I feel this is more
beneficial! Therefore, I think this paper
would be beneficial for neophyte practitioners to read, but additionally I think it
would be beneficial for those working with
such practitioners (e.g. BASES or BPS supervisors) as it may give them an understanding
also of such factors influencing practitioner
development.

51
The Author
Robert Morris
Department of Sport and Exercise Science,
University of Aberystwyth,
Aberystwyth.
Email: Rom10@aber.ac.uk

David Tod
S I READ THIS ARTICLE, I began to

wonder if the academic applied sport
psychology community has progressed enough since Martens (1979, 1987)
landmark papers on methodology, and to
what extent the literature this group
produces is relevant to practitioners needs.
The story presented in the article was fascinating and many of the lessons the author
learned have relevance for any person
wanting to help athletes, exercise participants, or even those of us whose interests lie
outside the sporting and physical activity
domains. The reason for my thoughts,
however, was the observation that the author
felt compelled to spend a significant chunk
of the paper justifying the value of reflective
and autoethnographic writing. The consequence is that there is likely to be more to his
experience than we have been able to read.
As I read both vignettes and the accompanying reflections I wanted to learn more,
because I too have been in similar situations,
made similar mistakes, felt similar emotions,
and learned similar lessons. I wanted to be
able to compare, to a deeper level, my experiences with his stories so that maybe
I can gain greater insight into what makes
effective service delivery. Quantitative
researchers do not spend four pages justifying a t-test, so why, after almost a decade
since Anderson, Knowles and Gilbournes
(2004) seminal paper, do reflective writers
have to defend a method so suitable to the
applied domain? It should be the other way
around. Quantitative data are often
presented at the group level and cover up
individual variation, hiding the fact that
some people do not respond to interven-
52
tions or even find them less than helpful.

Journal editors should, perhaps, ask quantitative researchers to explain how their use of
the t-test, reporting, for example, that their
interventions were associated with changed
scores on psychological questionnaires, will
assist practitioners who have to deal with
groups of individuals and all the variations
that entails. At the risk of cutting my own
throat, because I am just as guilty as anyone
else, perhaps authors should also justify their
use of untrained students and paper and
pencil questionnaires that are not calibrated
against meaningful variables that practitioners and clients are most interested in
learning about or changing (Andersen,
McCullagh & Wilson, 2007).
Despite a need to spend space justifying
his/her method, the author did a grand job
of discussing issues worthy of debate, such as
the dual-role quagmire faced by many
students attempting to combine applied and
scientific roles. The adoption of a confessional qualitative approach will result in a
PhD that makes a significant and original
contribution to the literature, perhaps even
more so than what might have been originally achieved. Also, the papers that result
will likely give practitioners many opportunities to reflect on their experiences, and help
them to identify how they might better serve
their clients.
The Author
David Tod
Department of Sport and Exercise Science,
University of Aberystwyth,
Aberystwyth.
Email:dvt@aber.ac.uk

References
Andersen, M.B., McCullagh, P. & Wilson, G.J. (2007).
But what do the numbers really tell us? Arbitrary
metrics and effect size reporting in sport
psychology research. Journal of Sport and Exercise
Anderson, A.G., Knowles, Z. & Gilbourne, D. (2004).
Reflective practice for sport psychologists:
Concepts, models, practical implications, and
thoughts on dissemination. The Sport Psychologist,
18, 188203.
Martens, R. (1979). About smocks and jocks. Journal of
Martens, R. (1987). Science, knowledge, and sport
psychology. The Sport Psychologist, 1, 2955.
53
I cant lose this match!:

CBT and the sport psychologist.
Juliette Puig & Beth Pummell
The present article provides an illustrative case study of how sport psychologists can adopt a cognitive
behavioural therapy (CBT) approach in their work with clients. It provides a step-by-step overview, based upon
the recommendations of Padesky and Greenbergers Mind Over Mood (1995), to illustrate how CBT
techniques can be used with an athlete experiencing performance anxiety. The authors argue that CBT texts
such as Mind Over Mood can strengthen and guide interventions in sport psychology, as they currently
do in counselling psychology.
POPULAR TEXT used by trainee

counselling psychologists is Padesky
and Greenbergers Mind Over Mood
(1995).The current article uses this text to
provide a step-by-step insight into the
methods through which a counselling
psychologist with training in CBT might
progress with an athlete reporting performance anxiety concerns. It is hoped that this
template will help neophyte sport psychologists to consider more carefully their training
and the application of their interventions, as
well as to seek assistance through a combination of training outside of sport and exercise
psychology, and the use of texts such as Mind
over Mood. We suggest that by drawing upon
the work of leading cognitive behavioural
psychologists, sport psychologists working
from a cognitive behavioural approach can
ensure that there is appropriate structure to
their cognitive behavioural interventions.
Whilst there are examples of the use of forms
of CBT in the sport psychology literature
(see, for example, Hill [2001] for an illustration of the application of the cognitive or
behavioural approaches to an athletic case
study), there exist very few sources within
sport psychology which deliberately set out
the use of cognitive behavioural principles.
This article, therefore, adds to the literature
by providing a guide for practitioners,
applied to a case in sport.
Theoretical underpinnings
54

Psychologists working from a CBT perspective assume that thoughts, moods, behaviours,
physical
reactions
and
the
environment are interconnected (Figure 1).
The CBT therapist aims to teach clients to
recognise, evaluate and respond to their
thoughts and beliefs to subsequently observe
a shift in mood and behaviour (Padesky &
Greenberger, 1995). The majority of literature focuses on the use of CBT in the treatment of clinical disorders, for example;
depression (Feldman, 2007), and general
anxiety (Otto et al., 2004). In addition
however, there has been some evidence to
suggest that cognitive behavioural treatment
can also be useful in the management of
performance anxiety in disciplines such as
music (Nagel & Himle, 1989). Hence, this
article will now aim to demonstrate how a
sport psychologist could utilise CBT techniques in their work with a client suffering
from performance anxiety.
Applying CBT in sport and exercise

psychology
Dan, a 15-year-old tennis player, had been
playing tennis for eight years, and
competing in tournaments for six years. Now
ranked in the top 10 for his age group, Dan
had been tipped as a possible world class
prospect for the future by his coaches.
I cant lose this match!
Figure 1: CBT: The link between thoughts, behaviours, physical reactions and mood.
(Taken from Padesky & Greenberger, 1995)1.
In addition the governing body of tennis had

taken an interest in him, inviting him to
represent his country at various international tournaments. Over the last six
months, however, Dan had been suffering
from anxiety both before and during
matches, and his performance had also been
suffering, with his win to loss ratio affected.
After discussions with his coaches, Dan
approached a psychologist for help.
When working in the CBT model there
are a number of stages. The first stage is to
assess the client to gain a picture of their
difficulties. During the assessment the therapist should also ask the client what their
goals are for the sessions; for example, the
client may want to reduce their anxiety. The
second stage is to develop a formulation
which aims to make sense of the clients difficulties by understanding the predisposing,
1
triggering and maintaining factors (Wells,

2006). For example the therapist may
hypothesise that the client has developed
certain beliefs from their experiences in
childhood. The third stage is where the therapist uses their tools and skills to assist the
client in reaching their goals such as introducing anxiety management techniques.
These stages will now be demonstrated in
the case study below. It should be noted that
although these have been presented as a
series of steps, the stages are interconnected
and on-going. For example clients often
reveal additional information during the
course of therapy which can be added to the
initial assessment and formulation.
The aim of the assessment stage with Dan
was to build an understanding of his difficulties. The assessment involved speaking to the
athlete as well as to significant others such as
Copyright The Guilford Press, 1986. Reprinted with permission of The Guilford Press, New York.
55

coaches and parents, who may be able to
offer an additional perspective from their
own observations. In doing this, the psychologist ensured that there was a confidentiality
agreement in place with the athlete, in order
that there was no breach of the ethical code.
Assessment sessions usually last 50 minutes
and involve the therapist asking the client
questions to elicit greater detail about their
performance concerns. The assessment can
last several sessions with the psychologist
trying to gain an understanding of the
clients problem in relation to their
thoughts, mood, behaviours and physical
reactions. The assessment should include
questions investigating the precipitating factors
(critical incidents/triggers), the predisposing
factors (early experiences), and maintaining
factors (factors which are maintaining the
problem), as suggested by Curwen et al.
(2000). For example the therapist should ask
the client when their difficulties started,
what triggers their symptoms i.e. being in
certain situations, and if there are any factors
which maintain their difficulties, such as
avoiding certain situations.
During the assessment Dan described
that he began to feel nervous (mood) as soon
as he arrived at a tournament venue. Dans
parents and coach reported that before a
match Dan would become quieter than
normal. In the pre-match warm up he found
it difficult to play with the fluency that was
his norm; hitting close to his body and with
obvious tension in his strokes (behaviour).
Dan reported that he also experienced feelings of nausea and sometimes a shortness of
breath (physical reactions) beyond what would
be expected given his level of activity and
current fitness levels. These symptoms would
also carry over into his matches. The
problem was disturbing to Dan because he
knew that if he did not improve his recent
results he would not get selected for future
international trips. The psychologist asked
Dan if he experienced these sensations at
other times but the tennis player said it was
only when he attended or thought about a
tennis match. This indicated that the precipi-
tating stressors were related to playing tennis,

and it thus appeared to the psychologist that
Dan was experiencing anxiety related to
playing tennis. The cognitive behavioural
approach emphasises that it is important to
educate the client about their problems; and
therefore the psychologist shared this with
Dan. It is also of great importance at the
beginning of CBT sessions that collaborative
goals are established (Curwen et al., 2000),
so that both therapist and client can ensure
they are manageable and achievable. If the
client is not involved in the setting of treatment goals they may feel they are unrealistic,
reducing the likelihood of treatment being
successful. Both the psychologist and Dan
agreed that the goal of therapy was to reduce
his anxiety before a match.
During the first session Dan was also
introduced to the CBT model. Psychoeducation is important in CBT, to assist with the
clients understanding of the model and how
the process of change can occur (Curwen et
al., 2000). The psychologist introduced Dan
to the link between thoughts, behaviours,
physical reactions and mood (as detailed in
Figure 1) and explained that each component is interconnected. It was also explained
that a single event can trigger a thought
which can subsequently influence emotions
and in turn alter behaviour. Both the
psychologist and Dan recognised that the
significant event for Dan was a tennis match,
and as a result the next stage was to try to
identify his thought patterns, which was the
focus of the second session.
Automatic thoughts are identified as
thoughts that occur spontaneously; either
verbally or as images (Beck, 1995). By understanding the clients thought patterns, the
psychologist can gain an insight into their
interpretation of an event (in this case the
tennis match) and how this influences their
subsequent emotion and behaviour (Beck,
1995). To assist in this process, a thought
record was introduced to Dan. A thought
record is frequently used in CBT to document situations, moods, automatic thoughts
and images (see Figure 2), and facilitates the
56

identification, evaluation and modification
of thinking patterns (Padesky & Greenberger, 1995).
It was explained to Dan that at this stage
the aim of using the thought record was to
assist with the identification of his thought
patterns. The therapist used questions such
as What goes through your mind before a tennis
match? and Were you imaging that something
might happen? to elicit the automatic
thoughts and images (Beck, 1995). Through
this process, Dan identified a pattern of
thinking surrounding his fears of losing the
match, his comparison to others and
perceived pressures from parents and
coaches such as I am not as good as
everyone else, other players will beat me,
I am going to lose this match, I will let
people down.
The psychologist then asked Dan to identify his mood when he experienced these
thoughts and rate the intensity on a scale of
0 to 100 per cent. Although Dan seemed
able to access his automatic thoughts, he had
difficulty when asked to identify his mood.
To help him with this, a copy of the thought
record was given as homework to complete
at the next tournament, and in as much
detail as possible. This type of homework
exercise can assist the client in their identification of the most salient automatic
thoughts and mood whilst in situ (Curwen et
al., 2000). Whilst this is not practical within a
tennis match or practise, the client can be
asked to complete the record as soon as is
reasonably possible after the event. In the
next session, Dans completed thought
record (see Figure 2) was discussed and
reviewed. In this case, Dan had detailed automatic thoughts such as: I cant lose this
match. If I do then everyone will be disappointed with me. Everyone is better than
me. Dan was also able to identify his mood
before a match; anxiety which he rated at
80 per cent. Through examining Dans
thought record the psychologist was able to
identify his cognitive distortions.
Cognitive distortions are errors in
thinking; thoughts which are distorted or
unrealistic and can impact upon mood
(Curwen et al., 2000). Some common
thinking
errors
are:
catastrophising
(predicting things negatively and believing
things will turn out badly) and selective
abstraction (not seeing the whole picture,
dwelling on negative details and ignoring
any positive aspects; Curwen et al., 2000).
From this information, the psychologist was
able to formulate the pattern of Dans
anxiety. Referring back to Figure 1, Dans
environment (pressure from parents/
coach) was influencing his thinking patterns
(I will lose this match and will let everyone
down) which resulted in a change in mood
(anxiety), which influenced his behaviour
(finding it difficult to play with fluency and
becoming quieter than normal) which in
addition manifested in physical reactions
(feelings of nausea and difficulty breathing).
As shown in Figure 1 this is not merely a
linear chain of events, each component
influences the others. For example, Dans
behaviour of playing with less fluency reinforced his thoughts about losing a match
which can in turn increase anxiety and
physical
reactions.
Additionally
his
behaviour of playing with less fluency
directly impacted on his anxiety and physical
reactions.
Figure 2: Thought Record (adapted from Padesky & Greenberger, 1995).

Situation
Mood
Automatic Thoughts/Images
Before a tennis match
Anxiety 80%
I cant lose this match

Everyone is better than me
If I lose people will be disappointed in me
57

The psychologist shared this formulation
with Dan and emphasised that to break this
cycle, together they would attempt to
respond to his thoughts, to find an alternative perspective and to obtain a more
balanced view (Fennell, 1989). The psychologist used Figure 1 to explain to Dan the
intention behind attempting to modify his
thoughts; to subsequently modify his level of
anxiety before a game. The next stage was to
test the validity and utility of Dans automatic
thoughts (Beck, 1995). By doing this, it
could be ascertained whether Dans automatic thoughts were true, had a grain of
truth or had no truth at all (Beck, 1995). It is
important that the psychologist does not
assume that all automatic thoughts are
untrue as they might in fact be true. Instead,
the psychologist should communicate to the
client that examining their automatic
thoughts is an investigative process.
At this juncture the psychologist introduced a more detailed thought record into
the session (Figure 3). This record included
columns for evidence which supports and
refutes the automatic thoughts. Dan was
easily able to identify which automatic
thought was most connected to his feelings
of anxiety (I will lose this match). However,
clients often present with a wealth of automatic thoughts and it can sometimes be difficult to discern which to focus on. The
psychologist can ask questions such as How
did this thought make you feel emotionally? How
often do you have this kind of thought? If this
thought were true what would that mean to you?
to help decide which thought to focus on
(Beck, 1995). These key thoughts or hot
thoughts (as described by Padesky and
Greenberger [1995]) are usually either
thoughts which are most connected to the
clients mood or the most frequently occurring thoughts; thoughts identified as hot
thoughts should be agreed by both the
psychologist and the client. The therapist
needs the clients input to ensure the most
significant thought is chosen and by working
together the client is encouraged to take an
active role in the process.
The first stage of examining the automatic thought was for Dan and the psychologist to elicit evidence supporting the
thought. The psychologist asked questions
such as What factual information supports this
thought? (Padesky & Greenberger, 1995).
Through this questioning of the evidence for
his thought, Dan responded: I lost my
previous match, and the person I am playing
against won their previous four matches.
When looking for evidence for and against
the automatic thought the psychologist
should emphasise that the client should be
as objective as possible, only including data
and facts rather than interpretations
(Padesky & Greenberger, 1995). When
clients first learn to examine thoughts, it is
easy for them to base their evidence on
emotional reasoning rather than facts. In
this case, Dans reasoning was based on fact.
Should he have used emotional reasoning
he may have said I just know Im going to
lose, to which the psychologist may then ask
How do you know that? and Would that
evidence stand up in a court of law?, to establish
whether Dan was looking at the situation in
an objective manner.
The psychologist can help a client to
examine evidence that does not support
their automatic thought through questions
such as Have you had any experience which
shows you that this thought is not completely true
all of the time? and If someone you knew had this
thought what would you tell them? Are you
jumping to conclusions? (Padesky & Greenberger, 1995). Dan found that he had difficulty accessing evidence against his
automatic thought, which is not unusual.
Clients often dwell upon evidence which
confirms their conclusions (Padesky &
Greenberger, 1995). When clients do have
difficulty it is important that the psychologist
does not directly challenge their automatic
thought for two main reasons: (a) the
psychologist does not know that the automatic thought is distorted; and (b) CBT is a
collaborative process in which therapist and
client work together enabling the client to
be active in the process and eventually
58

become their own therapist (Beck, 1995).
After some practise and more questioning
from the psychologist Dan produced some
evidence against his automatic thoughts:
I have only lost two of the last six matches,
and the other player has lost matches before
too.
The psychologist then asked Dan to use
his original automatic thought and the
evidence for and against it to create a new
alternative balanced thought. This type of
thought may take the form of: Although I
may lose this game I may also win as I have
done before, and, if I do lose there will be
other opportunities (Figure 3). An important step in this process is homework. The
psychologist explained that Dan should take
a thought record away with him to use before
matches, where he should note the situation,
his automatic thoughts, his mood and the
intensity of his mood. This time however Dan
was also asked to identify evidence for and
against the thought, forming a new balanced
view and subsequently rate his mood. Dan
came to the next session with his completed
thought record. He reported that after using
the thought record he remained anxious but
rated his mood at a lower level of 50 per cent.
After reviewing this progress, the psycholo-
gist introduced a progressive muscle relaxation exercise into the therapy sessions to
complement the work. Dan took a relaxation
recording home with him to practise inbetween sessions and before matches. The
intention was to reduce the physical reactions
of anxiety which Dan experienced by
relaxing his body and reducing his blood
pressure and heart rate (Curwen et al., 2000).
With some practise Dan reported anxiety
levels as low as 30 per cent and felt that his
breathing difficulties and nausea had also
decreased. His parents and coach reported
that he played with less tension and greater
fluency. For athletes who still find it difficult
to manage their anxiety, the psychologist
would investigate the automatic thoughts at
a deeper level of cognition, in order to
understand what was governing them; such
as working with their intermediate and core
beliefs.
Beyond automatic thoughts

Intermediate beliefs can be divided into
three types: (1) attitudes, which are evaluative, for example, Its terrible to be unlovable; (2) rules, which are demanding, for
example, I must be loved; and (3) assumptions, which are conditional, for example,
Figure 3: Thought Record (adapted from Greenberger & Padesky, 1995).

Situation
Mood
Automatic
thoughts/
images
Evidence that
supports
hot thought
Evidence that
does not
support
hot thought
Balanced
Thought
Mood
Before a
match
Anxiety
80%
Everyone is
better than
me and I
will lose
this match.
I lost my
previous
match,
the person
I am playing
with won
their previous
four matches
in a row.
I have only
lost two of
the last six
matches,
the other
player has
lost matches
before too.
Although I
may lose
this match
I may also
win as I have
done before.
If I do lose
there will be
other
opportunities.
Anxiety
50%
59

If I am unlovable, then I am worthless
(Curwen et al., 2000). Core beliefs are
buried most deeply in consciousness and are
absolute statements about ourselves, others
or the world e.g. I am unlovable (Padesky &
Greenberger, 1995). To access Dans underlying beliefs the psychologist could have
used the vertical arrow technique (Burns,
1989). This involves asking questions about
the automatic thought (Curwen et al., 2000)
to identify what it means to the client in
order to elicit an intermediate belief, and to
ask what the intermediate belief means
about the client in order to access a core
belief (see Figure 4; Burns, 1989).
Once a clients beliefs have been established, it is important that the client and
therapist decide which beliefs are central to
the clients life and how strongly the client
believes in them (Beck, 1995). In doing this
it is possible to ascertain which beliefs are
most important and therefore which they
should attempt to modify. The psychologist
can also share with the client that intermediate and core beliefs are central to
understanding our thoughts, and that modifying them can assist in the change process.
Before the attempted modification begins,
the client should record their beliefs and
rate, as a percentage, how strongly they
believe them. After every session the client
can again make a note of their belief, and
belief rating, to monitor any change. For
example a client who holds the belief I am a
failure should be asked at the start of
therapy how strongly they believe it, and this
can be as much as 100 per cent. However,
through challenging and modifying this
belief during the course of therapy the
percentage can decrease.
One technique used to modify beliefs is
behavioural experiments, which can be used
both within and outside of sessions to test
the validity of the beliefs (Beck, 1995). These
experiments should be agreed by both the
client and psychologist. By working collaboratively the therapist and client can agree a
realistic task with is achievable and manageable. In the case of Dan it could have been
agreed for him to carry out a survey of
Figure 4: Vertical arrow technique (adapted from Burns, 1980)2.

Psychologist: What were you thinking before this match?
Dan: I will lose this match

(Automatic Thought)
Psychologist: What does that mean to you?
Dan: Its terrible if I fail because people wont accept me.

(Intermediate belief)
Psychologist: What does that mean about you?
Dan: Im a failure.
(Core belief)
2
Copyright Harper Collins Publishers, 1989.
60

20 people to ask their opinion on what it
means to lose a tennis match. This would
serve to test his assumption that others will
not accept you if you lose. If 18 out of the 20
people said they would accept someone even
if they lost, this would challenge Dans
assumption and reduce his belief rating. For
further suggestions on belief modification,
readers are referred to Curwen et al. (2000),
Beck (1995), and to Padesky and Greenberger (1995).
The therapeutic relationship

Clients are more likely to openly discuss
their difficulties if the relationship with their
therapist is perceived as safe and trustworthy
(Padesky & Greenberger, 1995). The psychologist should demonstrate warmth, empathy,
caring and genuine regard (Beck, 1995).
They should be directive but not authoritarian and give positive feedback on the
clients progress no matter how small
(Curwen et al., 2000). It should be emphasised that CBT is a collaborative process and
it is thus imperative that a strong therapeutic
alliance is established to enable the psychologist and client to work as a team. A collaborative relationship encourages the patient to
be independent and to apply the skills learnt
in therapy to everyday life experiences
(Padesky & Greenberger, 1995). Therapists
can encourage a collaborative relationship
by explaining to the client that they bring to
the sessions important information about
their unique experience, whilst the psychologist brings the techniques and models
(Padesky & Greenberger, 1995). It can be
discussed with the client that it is best to
work together to understand their difficulties and to decide upon the best interventions, which will help them to understand
the importance of this style of relationship.
Both client and psychologist should agree
the way in which the techniques and models
are applied to current problems. Additionally, psychologists should regularly ask their
clients for feedback about how effective they

find specific techniques and how they feel
therapy is progressing: the psychologist can
then modify therapy accordingly. Research
by Anderson et al. (2004) demonstrates that
these elements are as important for a sport
psychologist as they are for a counselling
psychologist, with athletes citing their wish
for a sport psychologist who is honest and
trustworthy, with good listening skills, and
who can empower the athlete and provide
feedback.
Recommendations
Padesky and Greenberger (1995), in their
book Mind Over Mood, offer an easy to read,
step- by- step guide to CBT which the authors
of this article argue is helpful to sport and
exercise psychologists. In addition, Cognitive
Therapy Basics and Beyond by Judith Beck
(1995), offers an informative approach, and
Curwen et al. (2000), in Brief Cognitive
Behaviour Therapy, offer a useful chapter on
relaxation scripts which can be used in the
session as well as recorded for athletes to
carry with them. Dan presented as a straightforward case and the CBT tools were effective to manage his anxiety. However, some
clients present with more challenging problems, and readers are referred to Cognitive
therapy for challenging problems: What to do when
the basics dont work by Judith Beck (2005),
when working with more complex cases.
Conclusion
In conclusion, this article has illustrated how
cognitive behavioural therapy principles, as
used in counselling psychology, used in
counselling psychology, can direct and
strengthen
interventions
in
sports
psychology. The authors hope this will
encourage
practitioners,
and
those
designing sport psychology training
programmes, to use these principles in their
work and to provide a detailed overview of
the approach taken.
61
The Authors
Dr Juliette Puig
Norfolk Community Eating Disorder
Service.
Email: jpuig@talk21.com
Dr Elizabeth Pummell
School of Life Sciences,
Kingston University.
Email: e.pummell@kingston.ac.uk
References
Anderson, A.G., Miles, A., Robinson, P. & Mahoney,
C. (2004). Evaluating the sport psychologists
effectiveness: What should we be assessing?
Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 5, 255277.
Beck, J.S. (1995). Cognitive Therapy: Basics and beyond.
New York: The Guilford Press.
Beck, J.S. (2005). Cognitive therapy for challenging
problems: What to do when the basics dont work.
New York: The Guilford Press.
Burns, D.D. (1989). Cited in D.D. Burns (1999),
Feeling good: The new mood therapy. New York:
Plume.
Curwen, B., Palmer, S. & Ruddell, P. (2000). Brief
cognitive behaviour therapy. London: Sage.
Feldman, G. (2007). Cognitive and behavioural
therapies for depression: Overview, new
directions, and practical recommendations for
dissemination. Psychiatric Clinics of North America,
30, 3950.
Fennell, M.J.V. (1989). Depression. In K. Hawton, P.M.
Salkovskis, J. Kirk & D.M. Clark, Cognitive behaviour
therapy for psychiatric problems: A practical guide.
Oxford: Oxford Medical Publications.
Hawton, K., Salkovskis, P.M., Kirk, J. & Clark, D.M.
(1989). Cognitive behaviour therapy for psychiatric
problems: A practical guide. Oxford: Oxford Medical
Publications.
Hill, K.L. (2001). Frameworks forsport psychologists:
Enhancing sport performance. Champaign, IL:
Human Kinetics.
Nagel, J.J. & Himle, D.P. (1989). Cognitivebehavioural treatment of musical performance
anxiety. Psychology of Music, 17(1), 1221.
Otto, M.W., Smits, J.A.J. & Reese, H.E. (2004).
Cognitive-behavioural therapy for the treatment
of anxiety disorders. Journal of Clinical Psychiatry,
65, 3441.
Padesky, C. & Greenberger, D. (1995). Mind Over
Mood. New York. The Guilford Press.
Padesky, C. & Greenberger, D. (1995). Clinicians guide
to Mind Over Mood. New York: The Guilford Press.
Tarrier, N. (Ed.) (2006). Case formulation in cognitive
behaviour therapy: The treatment of challenging and
complex cases. Hove: Routledge.
Wells, A. (2006). Cognitive therapy case formulation
in anxiety disorders. In N. Tarrier (Ed.),
Case formulation in cognitive behaviour therapy:
The treatment of challenging and complex cases.
Hove: Routledge.
62
Comment on Puig & Pummell

Jamie Barker & Martin Turner
E WERE particularly pleased to

have the opportunity to read an
article that reflected on a case-study
approach and the use of cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) in sport psychology.
Outside of sport CBT remains at the core of
much psychological provision particularly in
the National Health Service. However, in
sport psychology less is typically written
about the application of CBT (Hill, 2001)
although many psychological strategies used
by sport psychologists are couched in CBT
prinicples (e.g. imagery and self-talk).
Therefore, the authors reflections of doing
actual CBT are invaluable.
In the article a systematic approach of
using CBT to help with performance anxiety
in a real world sport setting is clearly
outlined by the authors. We found it
refreshing to be provided with such a
detailed insight into their procedures and
processes. Furthermore, we commend the
authors for attempting to make themselves
redundant by providing the client with the
skills to recognise, evaluate, and respond to
their own thoughts and beliefs. In our own
practice we have found that empowering
athletes allows them to recognise that they
have control over the psychological aspects
that influence performance.
We were particularly intrigued by the
article given that much of our recent work in
applied sport psychology has been based
around the use of Rational Emotive
Behaviour Therapy (REBT) from which CBT
originated. We examined the efficacy of an
REBT intervention in decreasing performance anxiety in elite youth cricketers using a
single-case multiple-baseline across-participants design (see Barker et al., 2011).
Similar to the current article data indicated
that REBT reduced performance-anxiety

(Turner & Barker, in press).
Based upon our experiences of REBT we
also observed many similarities to CBT in
terms of approach(s) and techniques. First,
both therapies implement psychoeducation
and homework as fundamental strategies
with which to bring about change. Second,
the therapies adopt the general philosophy
that thoughts, moods, behaviour, and
physical reactions are related. Therefore, in
therapy these facets are typically assessed
and identified for change. For example, in
REBT by identifying and challenging individuals irrational thoughts, changes in
dysfunctional moods, behaviour, and
physical reactions are likely to occur (Ellis &
Dryden, 1997). Third, in both therapies an
individual can be challenged on their automatic thoughts to establish core beliefs (e.g.
Im a failure). In CBT this is done through
the use of a downward arrow technique
whilst in REBT this is known as inference
chaining.
Despite these similarities CBT and REBT
depart in one main aspect. To illustrate, in
CBT therapists would usually test the validity
and utility of automatic thoughts whereas in
REBT automatic thoughts are always
accepted as being true. For example, in
reference to the current article, the validity
of Dans automatic thought I will lose is
challenged for evidence, however, in REBT
we would only challenge the underlying irrational philosophy (i.e. Im a failure) not
the automatic thought. Indeed, Dan may
lose his match, but why is this such a
problem for Dan? What is it about losing that
is so stressful for him?
In sum, what this paper clearly highlights
is the fundamental importance of devel-

63
Jamie Barker & Martin Turner

oping a strong therapeutic alliance between
psychologist and client underpinned by core
counselling principles (e.g. warmth,
empathy, genuine regard) for effective CBT
to take place. However, in the field this
alliance is often established following
regular and multiple sessions which in some
applied sport settings may be somewhat difficult. To conclude, this paper provides a valuable how-to-guide of doing therapy in sport
psychology-something which is scant in the
extant literature (see Hill, 2001). Accordingly, we would strongly encourage sport
psychologists to more frequently document
their experiences in a systematic fashion to
allow fellow practitioners more of an insight
into effective consultancy.
The Authors
64
Jamie Barker and Martin Turner are with the

Centre for Sport, Health, and Exercise
Research at Staffordshire University.
Email: j.b.barker@staffs.ac.uk;
Email: m.turner@staffs.ac.uk
References
Barker, J.B., McCarthy, P.J., Jones, M.V. & Moran, A.

(2011). Single-case research methods in sport and
exercise psychology. London: Routledge.
Ellis, A. & Dryden, W. (1997). The practice of rationalemotive behaviour therapy. New York: Springer
Publishing Company.
Hill, K.L. (2001). Frameworks for sport psychologists:
Enhancing sport performance. Champaign, IL:
Human Kinetics.
Turner, M.J. & Barker, J.B. (in press). Examining the
use of rational-emotive behaviour therapy (REBT)
on irrational beliefs and anxiety in elite youth
cricketers. Journal of Applied Sport Psychology.
The challenges and opportunities of

teaching sport and exercise psychology at
a distance
Caroline A. Heaney & Natalie C. Walker
Distance learning continues to increase in popularity as a teaching method in higher education, but its
implementation requires careful planning and consideration. Whilst delivering effective distance learning
can be challenging, if planned effectively it can provide great opportunities to both the student and academic
that are not always available in face-to-face settings. This article examines the challenges and opportunities
of teaching sport and exercise psychology at a distance, using the example of a successful sport and exercise
psychology module at the Open University, a UK university specialising in distance education. The flexibility
offered by distance learning and the consequent diversity of students are discussed along with the important
role of the tutor in ensuring the success of sport and exercise psychology distance learning. Strategies to
encourage an applied understanding of the topic area and minimise the perceived distance between students
are also considered.
Keywords: Distance learning; blended learning.
ISTANCE LEARNING is increasing in

popularity (Knouse, 2010) and consequently its use in sport and exercise
psychology education has the potential to
rise. Distance learning can be defined as
education involving absence from the
specific space and time of the educational
institution (Raddon, 2006, p.157) and thus
allows the student to study without having to
attend face-to-face lectures. Contrary to
common belief, distance learning does not
refer exclusively to e-learning and can
involve various study modalities (Lim &
Morris, 2009). In fact the term blended
learning is often preferred since it encapsulates the multi-modality composition of
effective distance learning (Lim & Morris,
2009). In this article we will outline our
experiences of developing and delivering a
successful distance learning sport and exercise psychology module. The module in
question is an undergraduate level 2 (level
5) module which is the third module in a
degree programme in sport and fitness at
the Open University.
We are both experienced academics in

the field of sport and exercise psychology
but until relatively recently these experiences were confined almost exclusively to
face-to-face situations where we had the
luxury of being easily able to develop a
rapport with students and adapt our
teaching on the hoof to suit the needs of
those students and address topical issues. We
were then charged with the task of developing and delivering a distance learning
sport and exercise psychology module. We
each had differing roles in this process one
of us (first author) works as a full-time
academic on the distance learning
programme and authored a large proportion of the module content and is the
academic lead on the module, whilst the
other (second author) is a full-time
academic at another institution who is a parttime tutor on the module and was a critical
reader during the modules production. The
task of developing an exclusively distance
learning-based
sport
and
exercise
psychology module at first seemed quite a

65

challenge considering the applied aspects of
the subject area, but we have come to learn
that there are several advantages to distance
learning, both to the academic and the
learner. However, for distance learning to be
successful it needs to be thoroughly planned
and developed with the distance learner in
mind. In the next section we outline the
procedures we followed to ensure this.
Working at a university with an international

reputation in producing high quality
distance learning materials means that there
are clear established systems in place to
ensure the production of high quality materials as well as a wealth of experience in
producing such materials. Such systems and
preparation are considered essential in
order to ensure the quality of distance
learning (Knouse, 2010; Stow, 2005). In
order to fully understand the challenges of
developing our distance learning module in
sport and exercise psychology the reader
needs to understand the model of module
production that exists at the institution.
Work began on developing the module in
the winter of 2008/09 and the module first
went live to students in October 2010. This
may seem like a long time to produce a
module to those working in face-to-face
universities, but in the world of this institution it was in fact rather quick! The reason
for this length of time is because of the
rigorous quality control procedures that are
adhered to during the production of a
module. These quality control procedures
are necessitated by several factors, but one in
particular once a module is produced, its
content largely cannot be changed for
several years. This means that there is no
room for error in its production and it
means that we have to consider the longevity
of the materials that we produce. For
example, this module will be available both
before and after the London 2012 Olympics.
Therefore, references to the London
Olympics could neither be accurately made
in past or present tense.
The cornerstone of the quality control

procedures is the establishment of a module
team. The module team is responsible for
deciding the content of the module and
ensuring the quality of that content as it is
produced. The module team for the module
in sport and exercise psychology comprised
over 10 people and included three full-time
sport and exercise academics from within
the institution (who were also the authors of
the module materials), two academics from
within the institution with specialism outside
of sport and exercise but with experience of
producing high quality distance learning
materials, two external sport and exercise
psychology academics who also had consultancy experience, and two external fitness
professionals with teaching experience. The
external members were employed as critical
readers. The module team met on a regular
basis and critically reviewed drafts of the five
study topics which made up the module.
Each study topic was subjected to three
drafts which were critically reviewed before a
fourth draft was handed over to an editorial
team for further scrutiny and development.
The aim of this production process was to
produce a set of materials that teach the
entire module to students. These materials
are effectively a set of self contained learning
resources that the students learn from with
the support of a tutor. The nature of the
materials that are produced as part of this
process are essentially the decision of the
module team. As mentioned earlier there is
often a misconception amongst the public
that distance learning is e-learning and that
is simply not the case for us e-learning is
part of what we do, but we also use other
learning modalities as there is evidence to
suggest that learning is compromised when
an exclusively e-learning approach is used
(Lim & Morris, 2009). For the module in
sport and exercise psychology we decided on
a multi-modal set of materials that
comprised a 300-page textbook known as the
Study Guide, which was effectively the lead
voice of the module providing teaching and
directing students to the other resources; a
66
The process
Teaching sport and exercise psychology at a distance

DVD containing a large amount of audiovisual material; a module website containing
online activities and additional resources
and an existing sport and exercise
psychology textbook (Foundations of Sport and
Exercise Psychology by Weinberg & Gould).
These learning materials were supported by
online tutorial and forum activities.
The module itself is a 30 credit point
undergraduate module at level 2, which
takes six months to study. It is split into five
study topics, each of which has an associated
assessment. The module has a specified start
and end date, with assessment deadlines that
are the same for all students. Students follow
a recommended programme of weekly study
that will allow them to achieve these deadlines. To follow a model such as this would be
recommended for any institution considering delivering distance learning since
allowing students to start and finish the
module at any time is likely to lead to logistical problems and minimise opportunities
for peer interaction and collaboration.
Flexibility
One of the key benefits of distance learning
is its flexibility and consequent openness
(St. Pierre, 1998). Distance learning allows
students to choose when and where they
wish to study and thus opens education up to
individuals who may otherwise be unable or
reluctant to undertake university study such
as full-time carers, parents, people with
disabilities, people who do not live near a
university, those in full-time employment,
older adults, prisoners, and travelling
athletes and coaches. Therefore, providing a

sport and exercise psychology module has
opened up the study of the topic area to a far
broader scope of potential students, which
can only be of benefit to the field as a whole.
Whilst distance learning is often
regarded as an inferior option to face-to-face
learning there is plenty of evidence to
suggest that this is not the case (Raddon,
2006; St. Pierre, 1998). Studies comparing
distance learning students to their on
campus peers have found that distance
learning students have performed at least as
well as campus based students (St. Pierre,
1998). Distance learning may allow students
greater opportunity to develop skills such as
independence due to its self-directed
component (Stow, 2005). Additionally it has
been suggested that self-directed learners
are much more adept at applying what they
learn to real-life situations (Cunningham,
2010).
Although distance learning provides
great benefit it is true to say that it requires a
certain degree of self-discipline and perhaps
is not suitable for everyone, particularly
those looking for the on campus experience (Knouse, 2010). However, many prefer
distance learning options and perceive faceto-face learning options as restricted and
outdated (Knouse, 2010). On the whole our
students, perhaps by nature of having
selected distance learning and largely having
completed distance learning modules previously, did demonstrate the required selfdiscipline to complete the module
successfully.
Additionally,
monitoring
systems were put in place to identify students
who were not engaging with the module and
additional support was provided to these
students to help them complete their
studies. The university as an institution
which has a widening participation and open
access remit has an extensive support system
available to students. Such support needs to
be offered by any institution offering
distance learning in order to maximise
retention and achievement. Of course, even
with these support systems in place there will
67
The challenges and opportunities

Several challenges were faced in producing a
high quality module that would develop
students understanding of sport and exercise psychology. However, we were able to
overcome most of these challenges using
innovative approaches and in fact the
distance learning approach afforded us
several opportunities. Some of these challenges and opportunities are discussed
below.

inevitably be students who slip through the
net and a small minority of students did fail
to complete the module. When surveyed
these students cited a range of reasons for
dropping out, but time constraints and workload issues were commonly expressed.
A large number of our students study alongside full time employment or caring duties,
which can be challenging.
Minimising the distance

A concern with distance learning is that of
student isolation as students do not attend
face-to-face there is often a concern that they
will not be able to communicate with their
peers and tutor and thus feel isolated
(Knouse, 2010; Raddon, 2006; Stow, 2005).
Whilst this is a genuine concern, distance
learning can still allow for interaction
between students, thus reducing feelings of
isolation and minimising the perceived
distance in distance learning. On the sport
and exercise psychology module this was
achieved by the use of online forums
(Moodle website platform) and regular

group tutorials via an online classroom (Elluminate). Such online activities are suggested
to vastly improve interaction and the student
experience (Knouse, 2010).
Each tutor group, comprising of around
20 students, had its own forum in which
students could talk asynchronously to each
other and their tutor. This gave students an
opportunity to interact with other students
and share any concerns. In order to
encourage as many students as possible to
engage with the forums they were also used
in several of the module activities where
students were asked to discuss issues and
share their experiences. Raddon (2008)
suggests that to encourage the uptake of
such communicative activities they should be
compulsory rather than optional. Often
participation in online forums reflects
participation in face-to-face classroom activities, with only a core group of students fully
engaging with and contributing to the
forum. However, the uptake on the first presentation of this module has been exceptional with around 80 per cent of students
contributing to the forums. It is believed that
this was facilitated by this inclusion of some
interesting discussion topics in the forums
and appropriate tutor encouragement.
It has been suggested that distance
learning should focus on the class as a whole
as well as individuals to minimise perceived
distance (Stow, 2005) and, therefore, group
tutorials are considered an important part of
the programme. Each tutor group had at
least five group tutorials across the six-month
duration of the module. These were held in
an online classroom, which is a relatively new
format for the institution where traditionally
group tutorials are held in face-to-face
settings. The module used online tutorials as
it was part of a pilot project investigating new
ways of supporting students. The tutorials
allow open verbal discussion, text dialogue,
the use of breakout rooms for private discussions or small group work, PowerPoint
presentations, sharing of applications, and
the use of an interactive whiteboard. These
68
Diversity of students
The flexible nature of distance learning
attracts a wide range of students with diverse
experiences and backgrounds. Distance
learning cohorts are atypical, and the
students recruited on the module were
certainly not what we might traditionally
expect on sport-related face-to-face courses
for the most part (i.e. of a particular age
range, coming from specific academic backgrounds). They were extremely diverse and
this presented both a challenge and an
advantage. The challenge presented was that
the students had diverse academic skills and
needs. Student support is a key ingredient to
managing the challenge that this diversity
presents. Both the tutor and the student
support team at the institution are a great
resource to support the student and facilitate their journey through the learning experience. The advantage of the diversity is that
the experiences and backgrounds of the
students adds real richness to discussions,
tutorials and assessments.

group tutorials give students an opportunity
to interact synchronously with their tutor
and peers thus helping to create a sense of
unity and belonging amongst students.
There is also the opportunity to record these
sessions and allow students to access the tutorial at a later date and this was found invaluable in assessment preparation. Given that
many students have other commitments,
attendance at these tutorials was not compulsory, but was highly recommended. This
created an issue in that attendance was not
always as high as it could have been amongst
some tutor groups. Tutors who had high
levels of attendance tended to be proactive
in reminding students of impending tutorials and provided dynamic tutorial activities.
There are some inevitable challenges to
using online classroom tutorials. These
include the potential for IT problems such as
an internet connection fault, the challenge of
encouraging the students to speak on their
headsets whilst not being able to see their
body language, and the need to multitask (i.e.
manage the dialogue of both verbal and
written conversation). This latter challenge
has been managed somewhat for future
presentations via the introduction of team
teaching where two tutor groups can pair up
in tutorials and one tutor take the lead and
another monitor and act as facilitator. Despite
the distance element it can be argued that
these tutorials are perhaps more conducive to
student participation and are more personal
than lectures in face-to-face institutions as the
group sizes are generally much lower.
Tutor support was not just restricted to
online forums and tutorials. Additionally,
tutors helped further minimise feelings of
isolation by providing one-to-one support to
students through detailed assessment feedback and telephone/email communication.
In line with the suggestions of Stow (2005)
and Knouse (2008) tutors were briefed to
respond to student queries in a timely
manner and support was also provided to
both students and tutors by a centralised
student support team.
Applied understanding
The module team felt that an applied understanding of sport and exercise psychology
was important, particularly as many of our
students are practicing instructors and
coaches. Additionally, learning is believed to
be enhanced where opportunities to apply
knowledge are provided (Lim & Morris,
2009). There are challenges to providing an
applied understanding in a distance learning
setting, however, this was overcome through
the use of a case study approach and the use
of audio-visual resources. The module has a
strong case study theme throughout the
module title incorporated the words case
study and each study topic has at least two
case studies (one exercise-related and one
sport-related) that are constantly used to
demonstrate its content. Additionally, all of
the assessments were case study based. With
distance learning it can be far harder to
bring a case study to life than it can in a faceto-face setting. Therefore, a lot of time was
spent developing rich and detailed case
studies that drew upon the real experiences
of members of the module team. The case
studies were thread through each study
topic, with case study information being
released sequentially as the topic progressed.
A DVD containing almost 30 audio-visual
(AV) clips was produced as part of the
module and this further aids students
applied understanding of sport and exercise
psychology. Some of these AV clips were
taken from pre-existing BBC material (e.g.
Olympic Dreams), whilst some were made
specifically for the module. The clips cover
both sport and exercise related examples
and thus have relevance to both those with
an interest in sport or exercise.
69
Content and coverage

The challenge of deciding which topics
should be covered in a sport and exercise
psychology module is not exclusive to
distance learning, but the structure of the
programme did place some restrictions on
our choices. For example, the open access
nature of the modules within the institution

means that it cannot be assumed that all
students studying the module will have the
pre-requisite knowledge covered in previous
modules.
One particular challenge faced was to
make the content of each topic covered
applicable to both sport and exercise settings
as they often have very different applications. Sport generally has a performance
focus whilst exercise generally has a wellbeing focus, although it is not always this
clear cut (Collins, 2009). This challenge was
addressed by ensuring that each topic had
both an exercise and a sport case study so
that the application in both domains could
be illustrated. The differences between sport
and exercise also restricted the choice of
textbook. One textbook that adequately
addressed both sport and exercise in relation to a broad range of psychology topics
was required, but whilst there were some
very good books that addressed either sport
psychology or exercise psychology to the
required standard, there were very few that
adequately covered both areas thus limiting
the choices. The size of the textbook and
other teaching resources also needed consideration. For example, the team gave consideration to the possibility that the learner
might be engaging with the module on the
move and the associated inconvenience of
carrying heavy texts. To overcome this issue
the Study Guide, the course textbook and
some of the DVD content were also available
electronically.
Writing the content of materials for the
module also provided the authors with challenges. In a face-to-face setting if students do
not understand a concept presented, the
lecturer has the opportunity to explain it
further as required. However, in distance
learning this opportunity is not available,
thus the module authors had to ensure that
they provided adequately detailed explanations of concepts to minimise the risk of a
student not fully understanding. This can be
quite a challenge when writing materials to
be studied by several hundred students with
a wide range of backgrounds and academic
abilities. A balance has to be achieved

between ensuring the understanding of all
without sounding patronising or compromising the required academic level and flow
of the text. All of the authors on the module
had previous experience of writing distance
learning materials so were skilled in
achieving the right balance, and the critical
readers were asked to evaluate drafts of the
materials from this perspective. Additionally,
drafts of module materials were tested by
students as part of the production process to
ensure that they were fit for purpose.
70
Tutors
In order for the module to be successful a
network of part-time tutors were needed to
support our students. As it is the tutors who
have direct contact with the students they
can make or break the success of a module.
For example, tutors can have a significant
influence on the motivation of the student
(Simpson, 2008). As online tutorials were
used we were not restricted by geography in
our selection of tutors which meant that we
were able to select the best applicants nationally. We were fortunate enough to receive
some very high quality applications and
subsequently were able to employ a group of
exceptional tutors. These tutors have the
responsibility of leading group tutorials,
supporting individual students and marking
their students assignments. Most of these
tutors have full-time jobs in other institutions
and are highly experienced in teaching sport
and exercise psychology, however, the vast
majority had no distance learning experience and so it was of vital importance to
provide them with training in some of the
key aspects of being a distance learning tutor
such as providing assessment feedback and
conducting online group tutorials. It has
been noted that the tutors role in distance
learning is quite different to that of the tutor
in face-to-face learning, requiring skills
stretching beyond standard classroom skills
such as technical skills and motivational
skills (St. Pierre, 1998).

Employing a network of tutors to support
students across the UK and beyond necessitates the need for quality control procedures
that ensure consistent standards. This is
achieved through the use of a monitoring
programme in which samples of each tutors
marking on each assessment are monitored.
Additionally, tutors are encouraged to
communicate and share ideas with each
other through an online tutor forum which
is monitored by the module lead.
Conclusion
Our experiences have demonstrated that
with appropriate planning and preparation
it is perfectly possible to deliver sport and
exercise psychology through distance
learning, thus opening the study of the topic
area to a broader range of people. The
module has now completed its first full cycle
and the results have been extremely pleasing
student retention, student achievement
and most importantly student feedback have
all been extremely positive, exceeding the
norms for similar modules at the institution.
References
Collins, D. (2009). Keynote presentation strange

bedfellows: Why sport and exercise psychology?
Sport & Exercise Psychology Review, 5(2), 5759.
Cunningham, J. (2010). Self-direction: A critical tool
in distance learning. Common Ground Journal, 7(2),
89-100.
Knouse, S.B. (2010). Whats wrong with distance
learning and what we can do about it.
Competition Forum, 8(1), 129135.
Lim, D.H. & Morris, M.L. (2009). Learner and
instructional factors influencing learning
outcomes within a blended learning environment.
Journal of Educational Technology & Society, 12(4),
282293.
Raddon, A. (2006). Absence as opportunity: learning
outside the institutional space and time. Journal of
Further & Higher Education, 30(2), 157167.
Simpson, O. (2008). Motivating learners in open and
distance learning: Do we need a new theory of
learner support? Open Learning, 23(3), 159170.
St. Pierre, P. (1998). Distance learning in physical
education teacher education. Quest, 50(4),
344356.
Stow, R.C. (2005). Minimising the distance in distance
learning. Athletic Therapy Today, 10(2), 5759.
The Authors
Caroline A. Heaney
The Open University,
Faculty of Education and Language Studies.
Email: caroline.heaney@open.ac.uk
Natalie C. Walker
The University of Northampton,
Northampton.
Email: natalie.walker@northampton.ac.uk
71
Miscellaneous

Lew Hardy
One inspiration
Bertrand Russell. One of the worlds leading
philosophers whose massive autobiography
I read as a teenager, only the second or third
book I had read voluntarily (the others were
English books for my GCEs). In it, he
(in)famously said I woke up one morning
and realised I no longer needed my wife and
so I left her (clearly a very logical man). He
was also involved in an air crash when he was
in his eighties and ended up rescuing people
from the plane (clearly a bit of a hero).
One moment that changed the course of your
career
Coming to the end of a British Council
Young Researchers Scholarship in pure
mathematics at Heidelberg University. I was
two years out of my PhD, and had nine pretty
good research papers, but there were no
permanent lectureships available in pure
mathematics in Britain. My wife was pregnant and did not want to live abroad.
I retired and went back to University to
start again as a physical education student. I
was so upset about my failure to secure a
permanent academic post, I couldnt really
talk about it for years.
One book all sport/exercise psychologists should
read
Carver, C.S. & Scheier, M.F. (1998). On the
Self-regulation of Behaviour. Cambridge
University Press. It is full of interesting
research ideas.
One thing that you would change about
sport/exercise psychologists
I am not really that much into trying to
change people. I think that is much better
led from within. However, it would be great
72
if they took a slightly more psychologically

eclectic view of the world and embraced
more ideas and theories from all the many
divisions of psychology. The apparent preoccupation of many applied sport psychologists with psychological skills training is
limiting.
One challenge that you think sport/exercise
psychology faces
Bureaucratic over-accreditation by the
Health Professions Council (HPC) in Britain
and similar bodies elsewhere. I am not actually supposed to call myself a sport psychologist anymore because I failed to register with
the HPC before the grand-parenting
period had finished. I am in any case a bit
reluctant to pay a substantial registration fee
to a government agency that doesnt actually
do anything except say I can use two words to
describe myself. I know lots of people who
have had unusual journeys in their careers
and all of them have made strong contributions to their professions because of those
unusual journeys. Nobody could take the
journey I have had and work in sport
psychology nowadays. I have no degree in
psychology or sport science and would not
meet any of the established criteria to
become a sport psychologist despite my
publications and applied work in the area. I
know clients need protection but not, in my
opinion, at the expense of the profession
becoming a uniform and rather dull grey.
One regret
I tend to look forward rather than backwards
and I dont think I have too many regrets, at
least not professionally, but maybe that I had
had some of the talent development opportunities that young athletes have nowadays
One-on-One withLew Yardy

when I was a young boy. I think I could probably have been a decent professional cricketer and/or footballer if I hadbut then
I wouldnt have become a climber and
mountain guide, and done all the great
routes I have done. Probably, I also wouldnt
have taken up sailing when my climbing
career started to wane and sailed to all the
exciting places I have sailed toI would definitely rather not have skied into the crevasse
I fell into whilst ski mountaineering around
Chamonix last year. I fell vertically 20 metres
head first and landed on some very hard ice
at the bottom. I did a lot of damage and
came much closer to dying than I would
have liked to. I am greatly recovered now,
but Im not sure how well I will ski on
glaciers when I get back to ski mountaineering again next yearsome experiences are difficult to lose.
One nugget of advice for aspiring sport/exercise
psychologists
For all listen very carefully to the client and
dont be in a rush to push what you know at
them. If they need something you dont
know or understand, tell them and offer to
go and find out about it. For sport psychologists commit to your work and your clients
performances. Dont just attach yourself to
their successes. If they fail, you have failed.
One alternative career path you may have
chosen
I was very happy being a pure mathematician, but I very nearly became a full time
mountain guide when I was in my mid-30s.
I still hold the International Federation of
Mountain Guides Associations full carnet.
And as I said earlier, under different circumstances I think I might have become a professional cricketer or footballer. I played
semi-professional football and cricket for
about 20 years.
watching over the years while working in

applied sport psychology. But, if I had
nothing better to do, I would gladly pay to
watch any skilful team or player. Because of
the applied work I have done, I take a particular interest in British Gymnastics and the
England Under-19 cricket team.
One hero/heroine from psychology (and field) past
or present
Thats easy. Alan Baddeley. He is one of the
gods of cognitive psychology and a lovely
man who helped me a lot earlier in my
career.
One great thing that sport/exercise psychology has
achieved
When I first started working in sport
psychology in the late 1970s, nobody had
even heard of it, and if they had heard of it,
it was either unimportant or there was
nothing you could do about it. Nowadays,
sport psychology is definitely on the map.
Even armchair sports people understand
that psychology is a very important part of
sport and there are lots of psychological
interventions that can help people to
perform better. I think this is a remarkable
achievement that should not be under-estimated.
One hope for the future of sport/exercise
psychology
That the pathways to becoming a sport
psychologist might just get opened up a little
bit so that one didnt have to be a millionaire
to be able to afford it if one chose the
wrong degree course at 18. This is probably
true of all professions. We seem to get closer
to 1984 every year but now I am lapsing
into Victor Meldrew mode.
One sportsperson/team (or alternative) you would

pay to watch
I am not really into watching. I like doing
things. And I have inevitably done a lot of
One proud moment

Three immediately spring to mind, if I might
be allowed three. They were equally significant in my life: (1) getting my PhD in pure
mathematics (I only took two years);
(2) gaining my international mountain
guides carnet (at the time, only about
73
Lew Hardy
50 Brits held one); and (3) getting my
professorship (I think I might have been the
first in sport psychology in the UK at that
time, I was definitely one of the first).
One paper I have published that encapsulates me
best
Possible the Three Myths in Applied
Consultancy Work paper that I presented
for my Coleman Griffith Address at the Association for the Advancement of Applied
Sport Psychology in 1996. It was subsequently published in the Journal of Applied
Sport Psychology in 1997 and revisited elsewhere in this issue of SEPR.
One final question (please provide an answer to

one question that you think we should have asked
you)
Name three sport psychologists whose work
you admire and respect .... Dan Gould, Bert
Carron, and Bruce Abernethy. All are great
scientists and great blokes. Dans research is
very applied but also extremely thorough
and he is always open to new ideas. Bert is
grumpy, but he just does great science, and is
Mr Group Dynamics. Bruce is very clever,
and very well read. His own research is excellent, but he also knows an awful lot about a
lot of other stuff. His powers of critical
analysis are exceptional.
One sport and exercise psychology research study

that you would like to see replicated
I find that question quite difficult. I am not
really into replication for the sake of replication. I recognise that it is an important part
of science, it just doesnt excite me. I am far
too much of a narcissistPerhaps Gould et
al.s (2002) qualitative study of successful
Olympians. It was a unique and important
study that involved interviewing a substantial
number of athletes, coaches, and their families. It would be interesting to see if the same
results were obtained from different countries using different researchers because that
would increase the causal inferences that
one could draw from it. You could say pretty
much the same about any important qualitative study.
Correspondence
74
Lew Hardy
Institute for the Psychology of
Elite Performance,
SSHES, Bangor University, George Building,
Holyhead Road, Bangor, Gwynedd,
United Kingdom, LL57 2PZ.
Email: l.hardy@bangor.ac.uk
Student Members
Managing transitions Part 2:

From MSc to PhD student
Nick Caddick & Hamish Cox
In this article, we provide two contrasting personal reflections on the transition from the same MSc course
to a self-funded and a grant-funded PhD. We begin with Nicks reflexive account of the transition to a selffunded PhD where we outline the challenges involved in becoming a researcher. We then detail Hamishs
experience of securing a funded PhD and discuss the skills needed to be successful in research, alongside the
value of self-reflection. Making the transition from MSc to PhD can be a challenging and uncertain time.
We hope this article will provide a useful resource for students considering embarking on a research career.
Nicks Tale:
The transition to a self-funded PhD
RIOR TO graduating from the MSc

Sport and Exercise Psychology programme at Loughborough University
last year, myself and Hamish were both faced
with the daunting decision of what to do
next. I made the decision to stay on at
Loughborough and embark on a self-funded
PhD as part of the Peter Harrison Centre for
Disability Sport. Yet my own journey reflects
an entirely different transition to Hamishs
experience of securing a funded position.
The first step on my journey was topic selection. Rather than cultivating an interest in a
topic of somebody elses designation, I had
the freedom to follow my own interests. But
with this freedom came the added responsibility of crafting a topic and set of research
questions that were both important and original. Indeed, devising a topic of interest with
the potential to make an original contribution was, for me, the most challenging aspect
of the transition process. I found that
lecturers were willing to help me find a
topic, but it helps to have a critical understanding of ongoing research in the field so
that youre not simply recycling old ideas.
My advice? Start talking topics with
potential supervisors early, but be sure to
approach staff who share your area of
interest, and, therefore, might want to work
with you. Moreover, it is important to think

carefully about your chosen supervisor for a
number of reasons. Are they well known in
the discipline? What doors are they able to
open for you professionally? Would they be
willing to get you involved in their own
grant-funded research (which may prove
vital in bringing in enough money to get by
when studying)? The answers to such questions may well lead you to think more carefully about the individual who will supervise
you, rather than the institution you apply to.
Once you have a supervisor with a
genuine interest in both you and your topic,
your project will have to be approved by the
university. Having a well-defined topic area is
thus vital for putting together a research
proposal. The proposal will outline the
problem your research avows to solve, alongside the methods deemed most appropriate
for exploring your (groundbreaking?)
research questions. Having your aims and
objectives clearly stated will be instrumental
in convincing others that your topic is
worthy of assuming the status of research.
Becoming a researcher
In many ways, the title of PhD Researcher is
more appropriate than that of PhD
Student. Becoming a researcher requires
making the transition from learning the
things that other people already know, to
75

creating new knowledge that will hopefully
make a fresh contribution to your area of
study. The transition from student to
researcher involves developing the skills that
you have been taught in the classroom, and
applying them in search of answers to your
well-crafted
research
questions.
For
example, as a qualitative researcher, I have
found it useful to work on my interviewing
technique something that can only really
be done through practice.
For most (myself included), the PhD is
the first time when there are no lectures to
attend, and no module guide is given to map
your journey, so it is important to structure
your time around the practical tasks
demanded by the craft of research. The
first of these tasks is likely to be reading
around the topic area. Again, no reading list
is given, so it is necessary to read
autonomously. It will be up to you to decide
what to read, and how much to read. One
particular piece of advice I have received is
comforting in this regard: it is neither
possible nor necessary to read everything on
a given topic (Frank, 2010). As such, it is
often necessary to prioritise your reading.
I have found it useful to make a flexible
reading plan, although many lists go unfinished as new work is published and others
suddenly seem more pertinent.
At the same time, it is also important to
read widely. Some of the best scholars are
also the most widely read. For example,
whilst aware that I am carving out a professional identity for myself primarily as
psychologist, I also find it useful to read
across disciplines such as philosophy and
sociology, both of which can inform your
work and offer new perspectives. Furthermore, a strong grounding in philosophy of
science (methodology, epistemology) is vital
for developing a critical appreciation of the
methods you will use to conduct your
research. Many good sources now exist on
these topics in the domain of sport and exercise (e.g. Sparkes & Smith, 2009; Weed,
2009; see also, special issue in Qualitative
Research in Sport, Exercise and Health, 2011),
and time spent meditating on these issues

will be useful.
In addition to the first months spent
mostly reading, the transition to PhD is
noticeable in other respects too. Becoming a
researcher means thinking about how your
work is going to make an impact (e.g.
theoretical, methodological, or even a political impact in terms of policy). This is clearly
different from a postgraduate programme
thinking about how best to answer an essay
question in order to achieve a grade. Making
an impact requires that you believe in the
value of your research and understand how
it is going to be relevant in the real world.
Indeed, the ability to make an impact is what
will make your PhD valuable.
Of course, having a PhD of value is
important for what comes next. Even in the
early stages, you may have some idea of
where your research might take you. The
possible destinations are multiple, but I have
found that discussing career plans with my
supervisor has helped to focus my thoughts
about the future. For example, for those who
plan to venture into academia, the PhD will
shape your research output over subsequent
years, so it might be wise to contemplate
which
universities/departments
could
provide a fertile academic environment for
your ideas to flourish.
76
Hamishs Tale: The transition to a

funded PhD scholarship
A common route for many aspiring sport
and exercise psychologists is to secure a
funded PhD. Often with this route, a supervisor has submitted a research topic and
proposal in order to secure funding for a
potential PhD student. Having said this, it is
not uncommon for the student to be
involved in the funding application process.
Unlike a self-funded PhD, you are continuing or following someone elses research
ideas. I was fortunate enough to be able to
apply for a funded PhD scholarship at
Cardiff Metropolitan University (formerly
UWIC) that progressed my existing passion
with sport for development. As you are
Managing transitions Part 2: From MSc to PhD student

jumping into a new world of research, it is
important to know the topic area as well as,
if not better, than your supervisor. Dont
forget that you are going to be embarking on
a three-year (full-time) journey focusing on
one very specific topic. By the end of this
time, you should be in the position to
critique, defend and challenge new ideas
regarding your research area; a skill that
requires hard work, dedication and most
importantly, passion (Russell, 2008).
Unlike a self-funded PhD, you will have
little, or no say, in who your supervisor will
be. It is important that you get to know your
supervisor before a potential interview by
researching their academic background,
research interests and involvement in the
academic community. It is clear that they will
have an interest in the topic area due to the
funding already (or nearly) being secured.
Therefore, it is imperative that you have an
interest in the topic area. With a funded
PhD, the initial spark of passion or interest
in the topic area will have come from the
supervisor. Many students have begun a
funded PhD and later regretted it due to
their lack of interest in the area. Dont
forget, there will be blood (hopefully not),
sweat and tears over the course of your
studies, so having the passion and motivation
to stay the course will be important. I have
found that self-reflection has been essential
in motivating me and for understanding the
bigger picture beyond my research.
process as a PhD researcher. A key distinction between an MSc and a PhD, is the solitary environment in which you spend the
majority of your time. Self-reflection will
allow you to consolidate your thought
processes and ideas around your research
and manage those light-bulb moments.
Self-reflection
Upon commencing my PhD, I started using
a reflective journal in order to gather my
thoughts and provide a space for me to
return to these thoughts in the cyclical
process of research. The process and benefit
of self-reflection has been widely discussed
within applied sport psychology (Cropley et
al., 2010). However, it is also important to
reflect on the process of your research.
I have found that continual reflection has
allowed me to re-visit ideas and thoughts,
which at the time seemed nonsensical, but in
fact have proved useful in shaping my
Skills development
One of the key differences between
completing an undergraduate or postgraduate taught degree and a PhD is the element
of self-definition. Alongside the aspect of
becoming a researcher is the notion that
this is the beginning of the rest of your life.
Throughout taught degrees, by their very
definition, you are tested and assessed on
your skills as a writer, presenter, scientist and
possibly applied practitioner. When
completing a PhD, there are no grades or
gold stars. You are developing your skills to
progress your future career and professional
reputation. Therefore, the development of
your skills as a researcher will provide the
foundations for your career. Such skills will
have been introduced in elements of your
previous academic studies, however, these
skills must be enhanced and harnessed as
you conduct your research.
The skill of networking becomes crucial
to the development of your career. Although
this skill may seem trivial and somewhat easy
to comprehend, its relevance in our
academic community is paramount. Having
the confidence to approach lead academics
and researchers in your topic area at a
conference will allow that initial networking
skill to develop. Although this may seem like
a daunting prospect as you linger around the
buffet table waiting to have your say, dont
forget they were once in your shoes. I have
met some interesting people at a number of
conferences, from applied practitioners to
the hard-core researchers, all of whom have
had an influence on my professional development. Alongside networking with lead
academics, it is important to network with
your own peer group. Collaboration with
other PhD students through organising
77

events, writing articles or simply having
someone as a sounding board, is a great way
to develop your skills as a researcher as well
as helping to manage the transition from a
Masters degree to PhD.
As I previously mentioned, embarking
upon the rollercoaster ride of a PhD is the
beginning of the rest of your life. Therefore,
it is crucial to have some sort of idea of what
you will be doing after your PhD. To
conclude, I will leave you with a question
that I asked during my PhD interview:
Interviewee: Where do you see this
project going after the PhD?
Interviewer: Lets turn that around and
say, where do you see it going after the
PhD?
Much to my surprise, I shot myself in the foot
as the question was fired straight back at me!
In this situation, it is important to see the
role that your PhD will have in shaping your
career and the progression of your strand of
research. One of the first things that I wrote
in my reflective journal is something I try to
re-visit every few days:
Why are we doing this project?
Having said this, I have found that focusing
on the outcome, or the end-game, can sometimes blur judgement, so remember to take
each day as it comes and enjoy the ride!
Conclusion
This article has provided two personal reflections on the transition from MSc to PhD
student. There are distinct differences
between embarking upon a self-funded PhD
in comparison to a funded PhD scholarship.
However, the accounts we have provided
clearly show that becoming a researcher is a
craft that takes time, requires motivation and
passion, and above all is a journey that
should be appreciated and enjoyed. The
transition to PhD scholar is an exciting albeit
sometimes daunting process. Many people
become caught up in a rather formulaic
78
approach to a PhD: study 1, publish; study 2,

publish. Try to see the PhD more as a process
and have confidence in yourself and your
supervisor that when you have something
important to say, excellent publications will
follow. Finally, be realistic about what you
can accomplish in a given amount of time.
Be pragmatic, and take breaks when necessary. But above all, work hard and enjoy the
challenge you have let yourself in for!
The Authors
Nick Caddick
Loughborough University,
Loughborough,
Leicestershire, LE11 3TU.
PhD Title: Exploring the impact of surfing
upon the health and well-being of combat
veterans and their families. Supervised by
Dr Brett Smith.
Further details can be accessed on the
Peter Harrison Centre website. See
www.peterharrisoncentre.org.uk/Nick_Cadd
ick.html.
Hamish Cox
Cardiff School of Sport,
Cardiff Metropolitan University,
Cyncoed Campus,
Cyncoed Road,
Cardiff, CF23 6XD.
PhD Title: The effectiveness of a golf-related
resiliency training programme on the
mental and physiological health of adolescence within the Carmarthenshire area of
Wales. The project is funded by a Knowledge, Economy and Skills (KES) Scholarship
through the European Social Fund. Due to
the interdisciplinary nature of the research,
the supervisory team involves two psychologists (Dr Rich Neil [Director of Studies] and
Professor Sheldon Hanton) and two physiologists (Dr Jon Oliver and Professor Rob
Shave).
Managing transitions Part 2: From MSc to PhD student
References
Cropley, B., Hanton, S., Miles, A. & Niven, A. (2010).
Exploring the relationship between effective and
reflective practice in applied sport psychology.
Frank, A.W. (2010). Letting stories breathe: A socionarratology. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Russell, L. (2008). Dr Dr I feel like doing a PhD. London:
Continuum.
Sparkes, A.C. & Smith, B. (2009). Judging the quality

of qualitative inquiry: Criteriology and relativism
in action. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 10,
491497.
Weed, M. (2009). The structure of (social) scientific
contradictions: A commentary on the problem of
paradigmatic behaviour by social scientists.
Qualitative Research in Sport and Exercise, 1, 312321.
79
Conference Report
The Division of Sport and Exercise

Psychology Conference 2012
Karen Howells & Anna Ross
London, 1820 April 2012
HE 2012 Division of Sport and Exercise

Psychology (DSEP) Conference was
held between 18 and 20 April 2012 in
the magnificent setting of the Grand
Connaught Rooms, London, and played
host to a range of impressive and distinguished contributors. The growing strength
of the Division was reflected in the wide
range of experience and topics considered
over the three days. The variety ensured
considerable choice for delegates in formulating their own bespoke conference experience, but this also meant that on occasions
delegates were spoilt for choice. The quality
of the presentations was high, from keynote
speakers
to
postgraduate
students
presenting MSc research. The diversity of
the conference afforded delegates insights
into applied, research-based and theory
driven aspects of the field.
This was the first time that the DESP
conference was integrated into the main
British Psychological Societys Annual
Conference alongside other Divisions. The
authors attended this conference as candidates in the early stages of Stage 2 of the
Qualification for Sport and Exercise
Psychology (QSEP) and it allowed us the
opportunity as neophyte practitioners and
researchers to attend workshops and
symposia from other divisions to actively
inform our knowledge and ideas for
research.
Although not part of the DSEP conference programme, a popular session held on
day one, was that given by double-Olympic
medallist, James Cracknell OBE, who took
delegates on a brief tour of his sporting and

adventuring history. He provided valuable
insight into the gruelling pressures of professional rowing and the Olympic cycle, and
focused on mental skills. He emphasised the
critical role of crew cohesion and recounted
the devastating effect on team confidence
caused by the late replacement of one
member due to injury at the 2004 Olympics,
plus the strategies used to cope with it. He
also credited making the right decision at
the right time for making the difference in
many of the most critical moments of this
career and reflected that he was still learning
to make these consistently, citing a near
expedition-ending mistake during his 2008
race to the South Pole. This speech provided
valuable insights for those aspiring to work
with elite athletes and was an interesting
contrast to the emphasis on the practitioners perspective within the conference.
Of particular use to the first author as a
neophyte practitioner was the workshop run
by Dr Stewart Cotterill, University of
Gloucestershire, during which delegates
looked at strategies and interventions to
enhance the performance of sport teams.
Participants in the workshop were encouraged to discuss possible strategies that could
be employed using example-based scenarios
from Dr Cotterills experiences at Somerset
County Cricket Club. Participants were
asked to consider the team and psychological climates, team emotion and the
performance environment and finally, to
consider the domains that sport psychologists should be involved in. Delegates were
80

Conference Report
able to reflect on the different techniques
and approaches that could be used in the
scenarios presented and to incorporate the
ideas into their own practice.
The Division played centre stage during
the second day of the conference; the DESP
posters were displayed in the Grand Hall and
this was an ideal opportunity for delegates to
network with peers and to consider the
range of research being carried out
throughout the UK. As part of the wider
British Psychological Society Annual Conference, Professor Dan Gould, Michigan State
University, delivered a talk on The
Psychology of Olympic Excellence and Its
Development during this, Londons
Olympic year. Informed by his wealth of
experience working with Olympic athletes,
he theorised that successful Olympic
performance is complex, multifaceted and
fragile and considered factors that had negatively and positively affected performance in
the US Olympic team over four Olympic
Games. For the DSEP audience, some of
whom may be working with Olympic
athletes, he discussed the role of preparation, the media, the organisational structure
behind the athletes, the family, and the environment. However, he posited that the
biggest problem for British athletes in
London 2012 will be the distractions associated with performing on home soil that the
athletes must deal with. Consequently, he
stressed the importance for sport psychologists and coaches of focusing upon distraction preparation. Those involved with the
athletes should encourage them to deal with
the potential diversions created by the
media, friends, family and the home crowd
with a single-minded focus, sourcing energy
from the excitement of the Games. The
speech was well received by sport and exercise aficionados as well as the wider
psychology community.
The diversity of research at the conference, even within a single topic area was
considerable, and provided for some
thought-provoking discussion. A series of
individual papers on mental toughness
demonstrated the range of research, both

qualitative and quantitative, that is being
conducted in a specific area. This particular
series of papers was opened by Phil Birch,
University of Chichester, who considered the
validity of the Mental Toughness Questionnaire 48 which led to discussion about the
usefulness of the scale for researchers.
Subsequent papers addressed mental toughness in a variety of different settings using
qualitative and quantitative methodologies.
Professor John Kremer gave a fascinating
keynote speech as part of his self-proclaimed
swansong from Queens University Belfast,
asking why we should bother with exercise.
His humorous approach touched a chord
with some of the audience when he asked
that we reflect on our last attempt at doing
exercise and whether we followed through
with it. He gave a thought-provoking historical account of the informing messages and
significant theoretical contributions that
contribute to explanations as to why we exercise (or not). In light of the research being
carried out in the field he suggested that
sport and exercise psychology is in an ideal
position to help inform future policy development and intervention strategies.
The final day included Mark Bawdens
inspiring presentation on building super
strengths and using strengths to flood weaknesses. Using his experiences with the
England cricket team and as head of sport
psychology at the England Institute for Sport
(EIS), and Ericksons story of the African
Violet Queen he considered the importance
of focusing on athletes strengths. Interspersed with rousing music and stimulating
video clips, his presentation ended with the
inspirational account of Australias first
Winter Olympic gold won by Steven Bradbury in the 1000m short track speed skating.
For the inexperienced practitioner, his presentation clearly cautioned against the
tendency to focus on an athletes weaknesses
and proposed a more positive performance
focus.
Professor Lew Hardy, Bangor University,
was awarded the distinguished contribution
81
Karen Howells & Anna Ross

to the field of sport and exercise award, and
presented a thought-provoking presentation
on the future direction of the discipline. He
discussed the opportunity for further
research in areas such as stress and performance, mental toughness, and the role of
personality. An area that he highlighted as
being lacking in the performance literature
was the role of psychopathy in sport. He
cited this as an area that is hugely underresearched, but planted the thought that the
single-focused motivation that is required
from high performing athletes may, in
certain quarters be considered excessive and
characterised as psychopathy.
For the first author it was her first opportunity to present at a national conference.
Her experience of delivering Body Image
and the Female Swimmer a qualitative
investigation as part of a number of papers
on body image in sport was a very positive
experience reinforced by a supportive audience. It was also an opportunity to observe
the complementary research being carried
out in the area by Dr David Tod, Aberystwyth
University, Professor Remco Polman,
Victoria University, and Christian Edwards,
University of Worcester, who presented individual papers on quantitative research
informing the body image literature. The
papers highlighted the importance of awareness of the impact of sport on the development of body image.
Martin Eubank, Chief Supervisor/Registrar, for the Qualification in Sport and Exercise Psychology (QSEP) and Angie Cain,
British Psychological Society Qualifications
Officer, provided a drop-in workshop
throughout the conference, for supervisors
and candidates on the DSEP Stage 2 qualification. During one of the drop-in sessions,
discussion focused on the role that the
society should play in supporting its
members through the new legislation that
requires sport psychology practitioners to be
registered with the Health Professions
Council (HPC). It was acknowledged that
this is a difficult time of transition, but one
that will ensure a more robust level of
integrity within the profession.
In summary, the Grand Connaught
Rooms provided an excellent backdrop for
the 2012 DSEP conference and the layout
provided delegates with ample opportunity
to network and to explore a broad range of
research interests. The conference gave us as
neophyte practitioners and researchers the
opportunity to reflect on good practice and
our continuing journey towards being wellrounded practitioners.
The Authors
Karen Howells
PhD student at the
University of Loughborough.
Email: Karen.howells@lboro.ac.uk
Anna Ross
Long Road Sixth Form College,
Cambridge.
82
Conference Report
3rd Annual Meeting of the Expertise and

Skill Acquisition Network
Phil Kearney
Liverpool, 34 April 2012
IVERPOOL John Moores University

hosted the 3rd Annual Meeting of the
Expertise and Skill Acquisition Network
(ESAN), attracting an international audience for the first time. This network was set
up with the aim of increasing the impact of
research into expertise and skill acquisition
amongst researchers, practitioners and
coaches. The meeting presented findings
from recent research programmes and from
applied interventions, and discussed implications for practitioners. Forty-five researchers
and practitioners attended from the UK,
Holland and Ireland. Professor Vincent
Walsh, Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience
(UCL), provided a fascinating keynote
lecture entitled A brain for sport; a brain for
learning; a brain for life.
Professor Mark Williams welcomed the
delegates and introduced the first session of
research presentations. Dr Matt Dicks of
Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, began by
exploring the concept of timing in expert
performance, offering a review of some
recent work on perceptual anticipation in
the historical context of the seminal writings
of Sir Frederic Bartlett. Dr Philip Kearne,y
from the University of Chichester, presented
an experimental study exploring how practice schedules should be adapted depending
on the skill level of the learner and the difficulty of the attempted skill. Dr Stewart
Cotterill, from the University of Gloucestershire, presented some preliminary work tackling the complex problem of decision
making in cricket; in particular focusing on
the problems inherent in defining correct
decisions within the competitive environment. Gethin Thomas, a PhD student at the
University of Exeter, presented a fascinating
update on his work on the Shaping the
Game project, exploring how a developmentally appropriate mini-rugby game may be
constructed, and addressing the equally critical question of how sporting organisations
and coaches can be convinced to implement
change. The first evening concluded with a
presentation from Dr Mohsen Shafizadeh
from Sheffield Hallam University, which
explored the mediator role of self-efficacy in
the focus of attention effect.
The second day opened with Professor
Walshs keynote which focused on brain plasticity: that changes in the brain emerge as a
function of time spent practicing, provided
that practice is organised appropriately. The
presentation, and the discussion that
followed, centred on this question of what
constitutes appropriate practice. The
keynote highlighted a number of areas of
research that could impact on human
performance, including the complexity of
windows of change in brain development,
the importance of ensuring time for memory
consolidation after practice, and the interaction between cognitive and automatic
control systems. The keynote was followed by
presentations focused on applied practice.
Dr David Mann from Vrije Universiteit,
Amsterdam presented an insight into
Cricket Australias search for Shane Warne
2.0, exploring the practice history of a
number of promising spin bowlers. Alan
Olive from UK Sport reflected upon the role

83
Phil Kearney
of the skill acquisition specialist from the
practitioners viewpoint. Alan concluded
that coaching knowledge remains intuitive
and removed from core principles of skill
acquisition, and that to create change in
coach behaviour, skill acquisition specialists
must be embedded within the culture of the
sport.
The lunchtime poster session that
followed illustrated the wide range of applications of skill acquisition research,
featuring research on motor development,
sporting performance and law enforcement.
Visual behaviour training featured in a
number of the posters: Charlotte Mills, a
PhD student from the University of Exeter,
presented work identifying that children
with low motor ability also demonstrate poor
visual behaviours, indicating a possible role
for a quiet eye training intervention. Lee
Moore, also from the University of Exeter,
presented work indicating that a single quiet
eye training session can have an impact on
novice golfers. Finally Nicky Nibbeling from
Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam presented
research showing support for Attentional
Control Theory as a suitable framework to
explain the effects of anxiety in sporting
performance. Perhaps the most interesting
poster was presented by Dr Peter Renden,
also of Vrije Universiteit. Police officers were
attacked using either a rubber knife (low
anxiety) or a shock knife (high anxiety).
A three-dimensional kinematic analysis
revealed poorer performance in the high
anxiety condition, and identified specific
response characteristics which could aid in
the design of a training programme aimed at
improving performance under high anxiety
conditions. Overall, the posters highlighted
the breadth of avenues for research into skill
acquisition and expertise, as well as the
exciting possibilities offered by technology.
The final session included presentations
investigating expertise and skill acquisition
within the medical domain. Dr Joe Causer
from Liverpool John Moores University
explored decision making processes of
skilled and less skilled emergency medicine
doctors in a high fidelity simulation, while

Dr Sam Vine of the University of Exeter
examined the differential effects of challenge and threat states on the acquisition of
basic surgical skills in medical trainees. The
discussion focused upon the differing
constraints within sport and medical situations, as well as the methodologies in use in
both areas. In addition, Dr Rob Gray from
the University of Birmingham provided an
interesting presentation on action-specific
perception: the finding that perception is
influenced by performance success.
The closing statement was provided by
Professor Mark Williams. He emphasised the
balance that must be obtained between
taking a reductionist approach and ecological validity, echoing a similar statement
from Professor Walshs earlier keynote.
While theoretically driven work is important,
Professor Williams argued that emphasis
should also be placed upon work that has
translational value, noting that there is still
relatively little research on real experts using
real world tasks with meaningful practice
regimens. In particular, Professor Williams
highlighted the paucity of documented case
studies on applied intervention work with
individuals. Professor Williams concluded by
highlighting the application of expertise and
skill acquisition research beyond the
sporting domain, noting that whether the
work environment is in medicine, law
enforcement, or music, there is an increasingly recognised need for people to learn
and practice more effectively.
ESAN has a number of activities planned
in the coming year. Two BASES sponsored
symposia will be delivered at ICSEMIS 2012
entitled Anticipation Skill in Olympic sports:
Advances in theory and practice and Beyond
talent: Expert athletic performance and its development. In addition, a series of workshops are
planned for coaches, practitioners and
researchers.
The 4th Annual Meeting of the Expertise
and Skill Acquisition Network (ESAN) will
be held at the English Institute of Sport in
the Spring of 2013. If you are interested in
84
Conference Report
learning more about ESAN and associated
areas of interest email Dr Nick Smeeton
(N.J.Smeeton@brighton.ac.uk).
The Author
Dr Phil Kearney
University of Chichester.
85
Workshop Review
Caring and sharing: Continuity of care in

the pursuit of excellence
Paul Cummins & Ciaran Kelly
University of Ulster (Jordanstown Campus), 21 January 2012
N 21 JANUARY 2012, the Ulster

Sports Academy staged a BASES
workshop entitled Caring and
sharing: Continuity of care in the pursuit of
excellence. The sessions aimed to provide
an account of the issues, considerations, and
challenges faced by sport psychology practitioners in the pursuit of sporting excellence,
along with the potential impacts and issues
of applying sport psychology within the
context of individual and team sport. Six
speakers representing a wide range of
professional experience headlined the workshop programme, and the collective
expertise and knowledge on offer promised
an insightful and informative BASES workshop for an eclectic and skilled audience of
delegates comprised of practitioners,
researchers, athletes, consultants, coaches
and students.
The workshop began with an introduction to the speakers and the aim of the day,
which was to engage and inform the audience with practical examples and researchbased
knowledge
regarding
sport
psychologists very important role in the
continuity of care in the pursuit of performance excellence within the performance
realm. Athletes, we learned, had to know
that the sport psychologist did care, before
the athlete cared about how much they
knew! Following a brief mini-experiment
involving the delegates as the participants
where the effect of chocolate on memory was
investigated (research findings did not
support the original hypothesis!), Dr Tadhg
McIntyre led the first session along with
Dr Gavin Breslin in which ethical principles

in consulting and coaching among elite
performers was explored in depth. Tadhg
focused on the mistaken assumption that
athletes have a healthy mental outlook
(mood is transitory) and highlighted
research from France which indicated that
elite performers didnt differ from the
normal population in terms of the prevalence of psychological disorders. He advocated that athletes, coaches and key
stakeholders be made aware that physical
activity confers some benefits but that other
theraputic lifestyle changes should be incorporated into the high performance context.
Otherwise the P of performance becomes
the predominant factor in the life of the
person.
Gavin specifically targeted the area of
athlete referral within the context of sports
psychology consultation. He revealed the
importance of sport psychology practitioners
being aware of their limitations within their
field of expertise, and understanding their
skill-set has boundaries that do not cross
beyond their field. A real-life case study was
presented to the delegates, in which a
consultant was faced with a client concern
outside of the sport psychology realm. The
case was discussed in subgroups (with each
subgroup assigned a presenter) in order to
apply ethical considerations to a practical
example. The delegates agreed that within
this example, the consultant would have a
responsibility to understand that the clients
needs were beyond their boundaries as a
sports psychologist, and thus the practitioner
86

Workshop Review
would be required to refer the athlete to the
appropriate means of support. MaryMargaret Meade linked the importance of
knowing boundaries within applied practice
to the case study by providing insight into
her past research on eating disorders. MaryMargaret focused on how different this area
is with regards expert knowledge and effective intervention when compared with sport
psychology intervention, and how it is the
practitioners responsibility to refer clients
when appropriate. This vital area of ethical
practice was explored in depth and the
presenters engaged the audience in a practical scenario to guide self-discovery and
raise awareness of the correct ethical criteria
required when consulting or coaching high
performers.
Craig Mahoney gave a visually engaging
and highly revealing presentation on selfdestructive goal-pursuit among high
performers and high performing teams.
Once again, a practical example was utilised
to effectively illustrate the impact selfdestructive goal pursuits have had in real life
situations. The case study presented and
discussed was based on the ill-fated 1996
expeditions of Mount Everest that took a
tragic turn for the worse. Craig revealed that
because the pursuit in achieving the ultimate
goal of reaching the top of Mount Everest
took the front seat, obeying the recommended timelines of making the safest
ascent and thus planning the safest descent
took a back seat. Unfortunately this lack of
attention to safety led to a fatally catastrophic outcome for the team involved. The
teaching point raised by Craig was that elite
performers can sometimes be so focused on
the outcome goals, their mental and physical
preparation for the aftermath of achieving
certain goals is given no attention and thus
can be a source of pain, confusion and disappointment for the athlete involved. Craig
discussed such ramifications with the delegates and touched upon practitioners duty
to remind elite performers that they are on a
long journey where preparation for life after
goal achievement is extremely important.
The topic of self-destructive goal pursuit

proved particularly interesting and valuable
to the delegate audience as it is apparent in
many elite sports, and Craig Mahoney
provided insights into why it occurs and how
to prevent it.
After lunch, Dr Alan Ringland conducted
his first session, Paralympic athletes and
independence. The presentation focused
on Alans experience of working with Paralympians, leading up to, during and
following the 2008 Paralympics in Beijing.
After a brief introduction of the presentation that was to follow, Alan outlined the
possible differences, both psychological and
other; that a consultant can be faced with
when working with disabled athletes
compared to able bodied athletes, then
along with the delegates discussed scenarios
and implications that may arise from these
differences. Information on the structure of
the Paralympics and the various categories in
which disabled athletes can be classified was
then outlined and explained, this was
followed by a detailed account of the various
sports (nine in total) in which the 45 Irish
athletes competed. Alan talked openly and
candidly about his personal experience
working at the games and highlighted
specific scenarios he was presented with, how
he integrated himself into the team and the
various roles he played as a psychologist. The
presentation then focused on the main
issues that arise at major events and how they
can be addressed. The issues ranged from
external problems such as logistics and
media, in-house and interpersonal conflict
between athletes and the management team
and also psychological and performance
issues such as stress management and
anxiety control. Furthermore athlete welfare
was discussed, particularly the problems
athletes are faced with post-competition.
Alans presentation concluded with both his
own and the Irish Paralympics teams preparation for the up and coming Paralympic
games in London 2012.
The second presentation of the afternoon, presented by Dr Tadhg MacIntyre,
87
Paul Cummins & Ciaran Kelly

addressed the influence and potential of
positive psychology. To begin with Tadhg
looked at the research conducted by
Dr Martin Seligman and discussed the implementation of training for US military
personnel that focuses on the role of positive
psychology and in particular the concept of
resilience. Tadhg drew attention to the use
of specific language used within sport, not
only among coaches and athletes but also by
spectators, pundits and the media. While
highlighting that sport is not war and that
athletes are not driftwood, data, a
resource nor an asset. Tadhg argued that
the language used within sport can depersonalise, devalue and strip the autonomy
of athletes; in response to this he proposed
the need for a consensus in the language
used within sport, particularly in relation to
athletes. The concept of positive psychology
and its three central concerns; positive
emotions, positive individual traits and positive institutions were outlined and examples
of each were discussed. Tadhg linked
together the various suggestions presented
by both the delegates and the other speakers
and concluded that the aim of positive
psychology should be concern for the full
spectrum of human endeavour and not just
isolated aspects.
Both Jim Lowther and Dr Alan Ringland
conducted the last of the days presentations,
which looked at the role of coaches in elite
sport and the relationship between the
coaches, the athlete and the psychologist.
The phenomenon of perfectionism in sport
and its consequences on coach and athlete
welfare was the main focus of the talk. Attention was drawn to the realisation that
modern day sport is predominately focused
on winning; Jim began by describing this
increasing demand for sporting success as a
global sporting arms race (Oakley & Green,
2001). Alan and Jim, along with the delegates discussed the relationship between
psychologists and coaches in elite sport and
the effect the constant drive for success has
on how coaches interact with and treat
athletes. Of particular interest were the
issues of player welfare and burnout as well

as the career transitions of athletes. The
teaching points raised by Alan and Jim
centred around the types of communication
and language used by coaches when interacting with athletes.
The days activities were concluded with a
roundtable discussion regarding the topics
covered during the workshop. Before a Q&A
session began, Tadhg asked each person to
briefly state the main points they will
remember from the various presentations.
A recurring theme mentioned by delegates
was the importance of sports psychology
practitioners knowing their limitations as a
consultant and specifically the awareness
that the skill set of a sports psychologist has
boundaries and knowing where these
boundaries are is imperative.
Overall, the day was extremely beneficial
because the topic of providing continuous
care in the pursuit of excellence was of
major interest to practitioners and
researchers who attended on the day. Thus
discussions were sparked, and awareness of
important aspects in performance psychology such as the coach-athlete relationship,
the role of positive psychology, athlete
referral, boundary recognition and selfdestructive goal pursuit increased as a result.
These areas were critically analysed within
the collective group, and a specific strength
of the workshop was the wide range of
perspectives on offer, from both applied and
research backgrounds. Practical examples
were provided and deeper insight into critical issues around continuing care resulted
from a variety of viewpoints. Other issues,
such as athlete transitions and the importance of providing multidimensional assistance during athlete transitions were raised
and discussed by the group, furthering
knowledge and improving practice within
sport psychology delivery. Future workshops
could include panel discussions around
specific themes according to professions (i.e.
applied or research, etc.) in order to give a
clearer perception of the specific issues
facing certain facets of the greater perform-
88
Workshop Review
ance psychology arena. In general, the day
was highly educational, intellectually challenging, and provided insight and awareness
to the provision of continuous care in the
pursuit of excellence; an area of great importance leading up to the Olympic games and
the provision of care to athletes beyond the
games.
The Authors
Caring and sharing: Continuity of care in the

pursuit of excellence was held at the University
of Ulster in January 2012, and the presenters
were:
Prof. Craig Mahoney (HEA);
Dr Alan Ringland (Paralympics Ireland);
Dr Tadhg MacIntyre (University of Ulster);
Mary-Margaret Meade MSc (University of
Ulster);
Jim Lowther MA (University of Ulster);
Dr Gavin Breslin (University of Ulster).
References
Paul Cummins
University of Ulster.
Ciaran Kelly
Department of Sport & Exercise,
University of Limerick.
Oakley, B. & Green, M. (2001). The production of

Olympic champions: International perspectives
on elite sport development systems. European
Journal for Sport Management, 8, 8310.
89
Workshop Review
A Case-Based Workshop in
Sport and Exercise Psychology
Northern Ireland Branch
Kelley Fay
University of Ulster, Ulster Sports Academy, 29 February 2012
HE Working Group in Sport and Exercise Psychology in conjunction with the

University of Ulsters, Ulster Sports
Academy, hosted their second interactive
Case-Based Workshop in Sport and Exercise
Psychology on Wednesday 29 February 2012.
The event was organised by Dr Gavin Breslin.
The aim of the workshop was for
members to come together in a knowledge
sharing environment to meet new members,
share applied practice experiences, share
research interests and to discuss three case
studies. The workshop included three
speakers, Dr Gavin Breslin (University of
Ulster, NIBPS Committee), Professor David
Lavallee (University of Stirling) and Dr John
Kremer (Queens University Belfast).
Dr Breslin presented first on a case
entitled Perfectionism and dealing with injury:
A case study from soccer. Gavin outlined his
experience of supporting an athlete who had
returned from playing high level football in
England to Northern Ireland after being
injured. Of particular emphasis in this case
was the ongoing battle the athlete experienced between his own perfectionism
tendencies, that were both adaptive and
maladaptive and the sheer will and drive to
continue training, despite having been
injured. The role of athlete identity was
discussed and careful consideration was
given to what the possible referral process
could or should be when an athlete highlights signs of depression. Other perform-
ance enhancement tools were discussed by

the speaker such as performance profiling,
goal setting, and progressive relaxation.
Gavin also described the usefulness of
hypnosis as a tool to help the athlete manage
pain which was a new suggestion for many of
the audience. Gavin ended with a summary
of how he dealt with the athlete which gave
the attendees valuable insight into how other
practitioners work and provided them with
the opportunity to gain ideas/suggestions
which they may use in future work.
It was a delight to have our next speaker
contribute to the workshop. Professor David
Lavallee (University of Stirling) who had also
presented that morning at an NIBPS event
The Flavour of Psychology. His case study was
entitled Managing transitions in elite sport.
David described the experience of
supporting a 19-year-old Olympic hopeful as
she made her journey to become a professional athlete. A major part of this journey
was the athlete moving away from her home
and familiar support system (family, friends
and childhood coach) to a base which
centred purely on training. It soon became
apparent that sometimes athletes can
become lost in a system that was originally
designed to support them. Specific attention in this case was to the detriments of not
putting an athlete centre stage, and by
removing the athlete from making important decisions regarding lifestyle choices.
The discussion turned to the issues associ-
90

Workshop Review
ated with removing an athletes autonomous
control over their lifestyles, training sessions
and social interactions, and the role that a
sport psychologist could play between
coaches who are in dispute. David presented
this case in a novel way by breaking it down
into three parts so that all the working group
attendees based best practice and intervention ideas on the information which he
initially presented before adding two
updates to it which encouraged the practitioners to reassess and adjust on other strategies which may be more appropriate to the
current situation. This emphasised the
everyday scenarios that psychologists are
faced with as the issue which is addressed at
first may constantly change depending on
other factors so the ability to readjust is
crucial.
In the final presentation Dr John Kremer
(Queens University Belfast) who has over
twenty years experience supporting athletes
took the workshop attendees on a journey
down memory lane through a reflection on
his first ever applied experience. Johns case
was entitled Growing with a team: A case study
from county football (Gaelic football). John
told a very honest tale in how he was introduced to the field of sport psychology, which
was via a telephone call from the GAA team
captain to the School of Psychology at
Queens University Belfast who was looking
for a sport psychologist! At that time John
considered himself a social psychologist
primarily with a specialism in small group
dynamics but took the call anyway and soon
found himself sitting down with the coach
and captain. The experience turned out to
be a very positive one for the team in
winning a cup that year, and for John it gave
him an appetite for further trying to understand teams in a sporting context. Some of
the questions posed in this case study helped
highlight the early stages of a sport psychologists career, and the importance of ethics in
applied sport psychology. It provided a great
eye-opener for the upcoming sport psycholo-
gist with the powerful message about being

truthful and knowing your limitations
regardless of what level, sport or athletes you
may work with.
Taken collectively, the three sessions were
enjoyable, interactive and involved group
work, wherein attendees were tasked with
proposing how they would have dealt with
the particular cases had they been involved
as the sport psychologist. Future events are
welcomed in Northern Ireland.
An online evaluation survey of the event
was completed by attendees. According to
the results, the workshop achieved what it
aimed to, that is to bring sports psychologists
at various stages of their careers together to
share best practice, share current information and potential research ideas. It was well
attended by MSc and PhD students, practicing sport psychologists, members of Irish
sports institutes and researchers from across
the island of Ireland. The format and topics
received a lot of interest and triggered some
very interesting discussion and debate. To
show the commitment of the Working
Group in brining sport psychology to society,
other events are planned, the next event was
a symposium of nine research studies that
took place at the NIBPS annual conference
at The Manor House Hotel, Enniskillen on
Friday 11 May 2012 and a public lecture on
Sport Psychology and the Olympics on the
7 June, 2012 at the Open University Belfast
City centre office.
If you require further information
regarding the events or Working Group in
Sport and Exercise Psychology please
contact the Chair of the group Dr Gavin
Breslin (g.breslin1@ulster.ac.uk) or the
Northern Ireland Psychological Societies
branch
administrator,
Anne
Kerr
(n.ireland@bps.org.uk).
91
The Author
Kelley Fay
Sports Institute Northern Ireland.
Email: kelleyfay@sini.co.uk
Book Reviews
Sport and Exercise Psychology:
A Critical Introduction (2nd edition)
Aidan P. Moran
Routledge (2012).
ISBN: 978-0-415-43431-7
! Reviewed by Doug MacDonald
Although sport is played with the body, it is
won in the mind. It is this idea that inspired
the second edition of Aidan Morans textbook. Aimed primarily at undergraduate
and postgraduate students, this book aims to
introduce the theory and practice of working
with athletes in a lively and engaging
manner. This book is clearly written with
students in mind and seeks to engage the
reader through a combination of theoretical
rigour and contemporary real-life examples
of sport psychology.
The second edition has been updated
and revised in a few keys ways including
significantly updated references and
contemporary examples. New topics have
been included, notably, grunting in tennis,
the psychology of penalty shoot-outs in football, and the use of the Wii-Fit in exercise
psychology. There also additional critical
thinking exercises to complement the text
for students to try out.
The book is divided into four parts, with
some containing several individual chapters.
Each chapter concludes with suggestions for
research projects or dissertations for
students and a summary of the key points.
Part 1 introduces sport and exercise
psychology as an academic discipline and a
profession. This part very much sets the tone
for the whole book by showing students how
to critically balance arguments within the
discipline. The section on mental toughness
is an excellent example of teaching students
to ask better questions about the evidence
they are presented with. A brief history of
sport psychology is provided with an introduction to research methods. Finally this
part concludes with a discussion on the best
92
methods of service delivery with examples

from sport psychologists who attended the
2008 Olympic Games as well as some debate
over the status and qualifications of sport
psychologists.
Part 2 examines some key performance
constructs in sport psychology including
motivation, anxiety, concentration, imagery
and expertise in sport. The section on motivation introduces some of the major theories
before discussing the psychological skill of
goal-setting. Rory McIlroys 2011 US Masters
meltdown is the introductory quote for
anxiety with key evidence presented for the
performance-arousal debate as well as that of
choking, allowing students to begin to start
constructing arguments. The concentration
chapter considers the importance of concentration for performance sport with evidence
from cognitive neuroscience on the role of
attention in sport. This is followed up with
consideration of the challenges of measuring attentional processes in athletes.
Book Reviews
Mental imagery is then introduced and the
role of neuroscience in measuring cortical
activity during mental imagery highlights the
ever evolving nature of research in sport
psychology. Finally, Part 2 concludes with an
investigation into the development of
expertise in sport. This part provides a sharp
and critical insight into some of the key
constructs in sport psychology which highlights some of the limitations of the evidence
base which applied sport psychology has to
work from.
As few athletes compete on their own in
sports, Part 3 focuses on the group processes
involved in sport psychology. Aidan Moran
attempts to take cohesion and team spirit
from popular understanding to psychologically analysed constructs. The chapter simultaneously identifies the importance of group
processes and the relative paucity of research
providing
supporting
psychological
evidence. Research pertaining to the measurement of team cohesiveness is critically
discussed, again highlighting the difficulties
encountered in conceptualising and measuring this construct. Some potentially
fruitful avenues of research in team
dynamics are identified which leads into the
suggested research studies for students to
consider.
The fourth and final part of this book
explores the psychology of health, exercise
and injury with two separate chapters on
exercise psychology and coping with injury.
Exercise psychology begins with the nature
of exercise before identifying some of the
adverse effects of exercise, including exercise addiction, and finally the theories
accounting for barriers to exercise adherence. The final chapter considers the impact
of injuries on the psychological well-being of
athletes. Aidan Moran leads the reader

through the shift from a physical to a mental
perspective on injuries in sport. Major theories are then introduced to describe how
athletes might respond psychologically to an
injury with a critical analysis of these theories
as well as considering psychological strategies to help athletes cope with injuries in this
relatively new area of applied sport
psychology.
The main strength of this book lies in the
balanced critical analysis provided by Aidan
Moran. This book is primarily aimed at
undergraduate and postgraduate students
and the text is an excellent example of how
students should aspire to present and evaluate research. Key constructs are highlighted and explained in a straightforward
manner and the contemporary examples
really help to bring the subject to life a
comment which is echoed by Shane Murphy
in the foreword. The only criticism that
could be levelled is that the sections on cohesion and exercise psychology do not flow as
well as the earlier chapters on key psychological constructs. As the literature in these
fields continues to expand and develop,
these chapters could be further developed in
future editions.
Aidan Morans second edition textbook
is an updated and expanded version of the
original critical introduction to sport and
exercise psychology. The new sections have
been thoughtfully integrated with contemporary examples, and the suggested research
studies will certainly appeal to the intended
audience.
93
The Reviewer
Doug MacDonald is the Coaching Matters
Co-ordinator at the University of Stirling.
Book Reviews
Key Concepts in Sport Psychology
John M.D. Kremer, Aidan P. Moran,
Graham Walker & Cathy Craig
Sage (2012).
ISBN: 978-1-849-20052-3
! Reviewed by Scott Bradley
Key Concepts in Sport Psychology represents
another entry into the SAGE Key Concepts
series. This text aims to give students, and
applied practitioners, an overview of some of
the most prominent topic areas within the
discipline of sport psychology. An emphasis
is placed on explaining and developing key
topics within six key fields (Anxiety and
Stress; Motivation and Commitment; Cognitive Processes in Sport; Social Psychology of
Sport; Motor Skills; Sport and Wellbeing)relating to the development of the
field, contemporary research perspectives,
theoretical advancement and practical applications. This content is designed to be relevant to both novice and experts and is
therefore written in an accessible style in
order to engage those from within the discipline of sport psychology, as well as those
who might be relatively new to it.
Prior to addressing the aforementioned,
and well-defined, fields of study, a mix of subdisciplines, practical and professional
considerations are addressed within an
Introduction to Sport Psychology chapter.
Subsequent sub-chapters provide the reader
with engaging and concise, yet sufficiently
comprehensive content (it should be noted
that it is rather difficult to cover the history
of sport psychology in four pages), which is a
theme that continues throughout the text.
Special praise should be reserved for the subchapter focusing on ethical issues, which
rightly draws attention to not only the importance of ethical practice, but also the potential issues associated with the proliferation of
sport psychology practitioners (qualified and
unqualified) and having multiple regulating
bodies within the profession.
I must confess that when I saw the
contents page and the outline of the six
fields of study, around which the text has
been organised, my initial reaction was along

the lines of standard fare. Now, from a
structural perspective this initial response
was probably accurate as there are many
sport psychology texts which cover similar
(if not the same) fields of study, and arrange
their texts accordingly. However, what
Key Concepts in Sport Psychology does differently from these other texts (and does very
well), is present a focused and concise
summary of many key concepts from within
each field of study, without the need to
explain each concept from its theoretical
origins through to present day perspectives
whilst covering each methodological twist
and theoretical turn along the way. Instead
the authors manage to synthesise contemporary research and theoretical advancements
with practical real world sporting anecdotes
and exemplars. In fact most of the chapters
ease the reader in with some form of tale of
sporting woe or success; territory that
academics, students and professional practitioners alike will find familiar, engaging and
relatively free from sport psychology nomenclature. Once past this initial applied intro-
94
Book Reviews
duction the reader is presented with a
balanced bite-sized explanation of the
current theoretical perspectives seeking to
explain each key concept. Whilst these offerings may well be bite-sized the authors have
been extremely adept at being able to clarify
each concept for the reader whilst making
reference to research offerings emanating
from different disciplines: psychology, sport
psychology and sport science. Also, up to
date research is cited and suggestions for
further reading are provided, thus enabling
those who wish to advance their knowledge
further the opportunity to do so.
So, who will benefit the most from this
text? The simple answer is students. As a
university lecturer I would immediately
recommend Key Concepts in Sport Psychology
as an undergraduate text for sport psychology-related courses and modules. The text
manages to condense years of knowledge,
learning and experience into easily readable
sections containing relevant and practical
applied examples. Whilst other texts may
offer more depth, detail and breadth
regarding the theoretical underpinnings of
key concepts, this text offers an eminently
readable, portable and surprisingly comprehensive package for the tablet toting generation of undergraduate students. In my
opinion, the student market is where this
text is targeted, and definitely where it
delivers.
In summary, I feel that Key Concepts in

Sport Psychology is a valuable study aid, a
handy reference resource and probably
more important than anything, a good read.
If I had to identify any flaws then I would
probably highlight the final chapter on
Sport and Well-being, as being a little lightweight and lacking coverage of areas related
to positive psychological interpretations of
relationships and pro-social behaviours.
However, this is being picky and may be
slightly inconsistent with the predominant
emphasis on psychological issues associated
with sport performance, which sets the tone
for the majority of this text. Key Concepts in
Sport Psychology is a welcome addition to the
literature base and represents a unique alternative to the more weighty (quite literally)
introductory offerings from within the discipline.
95
The Reviewer
Scott Bradley is a Senior Lecturer in Sport
Psychology and Coaching at Buckinghamshire New University.
Book Reviews
Peak Performance Every Time
Simon Hartley
Routledge (2011).
ISBN: 978-1-415-67674-8
! Reviewed by John K. Parker
Simon Hartleys recent book, Peak Performance Every Time, offers a timely reminder that
whatever the complexities in achieving
optimum performance and they are
considerable those involved in the delivery
of interventions towards this aim, or the
actual execution of skilled behavior in
pursuit of excellence, should endeavour to
keep it simple. This is not to say that the
evidence base from which the book draws
from is weak, as this could not be further
from the truth. However, in selecting three
core performance principles that include
confidence, motivation, and focus, the
books content and emphasis is refreshing in
comparison to traditional offerings that
populate this field of enquiry. The book
provides an easily digestible amount of information focused towards performance
enhancement that allows practitioners and
performers to contemplate well thought out
observations and recommendations without
the threat of becoming confused or feeling
that previous exposure to the nuances of
sport psych speak is a pre-requisite to
understanding what has been written.
Each chapter draws from Hartleys
expansive applied experience and weaves a
message of clarity supported by evidence on
how best to prepare mentally to achieve peak
performance, especially during stressful
episodes that occur in competition or more
generically within occupational settings.
A good example of the formula adopted by
this book can be found in Chapter 7. Here
the reader is required to envisage a
performers discomfort zone as a place
where growth occurs. Using previous work
that extols the need to commit to deliberate
practice as a building block to achieve
success (e.g. Colvin, 2008) the author intelligently presents deliberate practice as an
opportunity to learn and progress positively
rather than merely endure. Thus, a case is

presented for advertising an athletes
discomfort zone as something to be sought
out rather than avoided. This is supplemented with examples taken from Hartleys
applied background where athletes have
demonstrated a mindset that allows them to
reveal weaknesses in an attempt to become
more informed on how best to progress.
Common roadblocks to achieving this
mental orientation (e.g. aversion to failure)
are presented followed by solutions on how
to alter behaviours that are not aligned to
coming to love ones discomfort zone (e.g.
dropping the labels and judgments we apply
to performance). In essence, a great flow,
with take home messages a-plenty, is applied
consistently throughout the book.
Broadly speaking, this book offers
psychologist, coach, performer, and student
an engaging treaty on how to achieve peak
performance via the focus and application of
three key ingredients. This is presented at
pace that is both lively and brisk, yet theoretically underpinned and informed via a
doing psychology perspective which the
author should be applauded for. Indeed the
96
Book Reviews
merits of this book will no doubt stimulate
wider discussion within the sport psychology
community regarding who sport psychology
seeks to serve, what is the best means of
attracting readership, and how to educate
those interested in the fascinating conundrum that is improving human performance.
The Reviewer
John K. Parker is a Senior Lecturer in Sport
and Exercise Psychology in the School of
Sport and Exercise at the University of
Gloucestershire.
Reference
Colvin, G. (2008). Talent is over-rated: What really

separates world class performers from everybody else.
New York: Portfolio.
97

Update
Ian Maynard
DSEP Committee
Since the AGM at this years Annual Conference there has been quite a turnover in
committee members and the roles that each
person has agreed to take on for the next
12 months; Ian Maynard (Chair and the
DSEP Rep on the British Psychological
Societys Professional Practice Board),
Richard Mullen (Chair-Elect), Mark Uphill
(Hon. Sec.), Sandy Wolfson (Hon. Treasurer), Pete Coffee (Website), Gavin Breslin
(Exercise Science Lead), Andrew Manley
(Annual Conference Organiser), Neil
Weston (Sport Science Lead). Three cooptions have also offered their services for
201213 with the option of full committee
election in 2013 for a two-year term; Stewart
Cotterill (Communications/ Social Media),
Alan MacPherson (CPD/Learning Centre)
and Ross Roberts (E-letter). Jan Graydon has
agreed to be the DSEP Rep on the British
Psychological Societys Ethics Committee,
Sophia Jowett the DSEP Rep on the British
Psychological Societys Research Board and
Richard Thelwell has taken over as the Chair
of the DSEP Training Committee. Two
further positions will be confirmed in the
next month or so the Editor of the Sport
and Exercise Psychology Review (SEPR) and the
DSEP Rep on PsyPAG (British Psychological
Societys Student Members Committee),
which will bring us up to a full compliment.
Our sincere thanks must go to past Chair
David Lavallee who did an excellent job as
our conference organiser (more details
below), Jan Graydon (Hon. Sec.), Ruth
Lowry (Media/Exercise Science), Iain
Greenlees (Editor of SEPR), Dave Shaw
(Chair of the Training Committee), David
Fletcher (Careers) and Sean Webster
(PsyPAG). All these colleagues are stepping
98
down but have done us proud (in some

cases over many years) and hence we offer a
great many thanks and a good deal of gratitude for all their efforts on behalf of DSEP
and the British Psychological Society.
The Greatest (Sport) Psychological

Show on Earth - Public Engagement
Grant
Former Divisional Chair, Dr David Lavallee,
has lead a DSEP Committee proposal for a
British Psychological Society public engagement grant. The proposal was successful and
the committee have subsequently written to
members via the DSEP email list in early
November 2011 inviting everyone to volunteer ideas and their service to help
contribute to the project. The DSEP Conference (part of the British Psychological
Societys Annual Conference this year)
started on 18 April and marked 100 days
before the start of the Olympics. The project
aimed to create a resource/news item for
each day until the Games that was evidencebased and captured an element of the
psychological phenomena that will be seen
in the Olympics and Paralympics by spectators. The project has produced a web-page/
app that interested spectators can read/
watch/listen in order to find out more about
some of the psychological terms they will
hear in commentary and the science behind
these concepts. The resource covers all
aspects of sport, from grassroots to elite. The
100 topics will include information on/for
athletes, coaches, spectators, exercise participants, sports clubs, children, policy makers,
media and other influencers (bloggers,
think tanks). The end-result will be a sustainable toolbox for sport psychology.

Division of Sport and Exercise Psychology Update
Annual Conference
CPD
I am sure all those who attended would again

join me in thanking David Lavallee and his
Conference Committee for all the hard work
that went into producing a brilliant annual
conference. I felt it was probably the best
Sport and Exercise Psychology conference
that I have ever attended on British soil. The
content of the programme, including
symposia, presentations and posters, was
exceptional and we have now set some very
high standards for the future, which I am
sure will go on to attract a great deal of international attention in the future. We now
have a platform and a profile that we must
endeavour to sustain. I should also like to
formally thank our keynotes and invited
speakers, it was a fantastic line-up and each
presenter did a magnificent job; Professor
Dan Gould, Professor Sandy Gordon, Dr
John Kremer, Professor Nanette Mutrie,
Professor Ken Fox, Professor Lew Hardy and
Dr Mark Bawden (lead Sport Psychologist
for the English Institute of Sport).
The DSEP has been working with the British

Psychological Societys Learning Centre to
develop workshops for 2012 which will
increased in depth and scope for 2013
(details to be found on the DSEP website).
99
Awards
The Distinguished Contribution Award

was presented to Professor Lew Hardy.
The PhD Prize to Dr Sarah Williams
(University of Birmingham) for her thesis
Athlete Imagery, Ability and Effective
Imagery Use (Director of Studies
Dr. Jennifer Cumming).
HTA Whiting Undergraduate Prize to
Daniel Brown (Bath University)
Publication
The Sport & Exercise Psychology Review, edited
by Dr Iain Greenlees, continues to attract
high-quality publications.
Ian Maynard
Chair, Division of Sport and Exercise Psychology.
Qualifications Board Update

Joanne Hudson
S EVER the Qualifications Board has

been extremely industrious this year
including a range of activities that
involve supporting candidates and supervisors, contributing to Society developments
and engaging with our regulatory body, the
Health Professions Council (HPC).
Of significance early this year the qualification was successfully approved by the HPC
and Martin, Angie, and Jeff need to be
thanked on all members behalf for the
enormous amount of work that went into
this process.
As Chair of the QSEP Board I attend the
Society Qualifications Standards Committee
and a major task that has been undertaken as
part of this Committees remit this year is
harmonisation of qualifications across the
Society. The aim of this process is not to standardise all aspects of all qualifications but to
agree on key principles so that different
Qualifications Boards can be conducted in a
comparable manner. There is still scope for
variation but this does require a clear
rationale. Examples of issues that have been
part of this process are the numbers of candidates that any individual supervisor is
permitted to supervise at any one time and
the roles included on Qualifications Boards.
As part of this harmonisation process and as
a general process of Spring cleaning we
have reviewed our handbooks and forms for
assessors and candidates. Many of the
changes made are also in response to feedback from candidates and supervisors on
how to improve the ease of use and clarity of
the Qualifications paperwork. Please keep
providing your feedback to help us to continually improve and develop Qualification
documents.
The clinics we held at the Annual Conference were very well attended by a range of
members and the response from members to
volunteer as Assessors or as members of the

Qualifications Reference Group has been
fantastic. Thanks are extended to all those
who have volunteered for these roles and we
will be in touch with them shortly.
A programme of training has been developed to meet the changing demands of
candidates, assessors and supervisors as the
Qualification matures. For instance, for
candidates, these include new sessions
focused on managing the viva and
producing a good assessment portfolio and
refresher training for supervisors. At this
stage of the Qualifications development
with buoyant numbers of candidates registered, members trained for and carrying out
a variety of roles and approved and effective
processes in place, we felt it timely for a
special edition of SEPR to focus on Qualifications and training issues and so this is
planned for publication in early 2013.
And finally, its probably not an exaggeration to say that we come to the end of an era
(or at least reach a major milestone) in the
life of the Qualification as two stalwart and
hugely influential members of the Board will
reach the end of their terms of Office this
year. Dr Martin Eubank has been carrying
out the roles of Chief Supervisor/Registrar
since the inception of the Qualification and
Dr Jeff Breckon the role of Chief Assessor
almost as long. They really have worked
incredibly hard, applying impressively high
levels of professionalism and a prevailing
duty of care over the standards of the Qualification and its provision, accompanied by
such detailed knowledge of the Qualification, Society and the HPC that we are all
hugely indebted to them for the magnificent
start they have given us. Thanks. They are a
tough act to follow but I am delighted to say
that the role of Chief Supervisor/Registrar
will be filled by Dr Moira Lafferty, a familiar
100

Qualifications Board Update

figure to most members who will Im sure all
share my confidence that shell continue the
sterling work already started. Dr Nikos
Ntoumanis has been carrying out the role of
Chief Assessor Elect over the past year and
hands over the role to Martin when his
current term of Office concludes. Clearly
Martin is having too much fun to leave us but
were very grateful that well continue to
benefit from his considerable expertise and
professionalism. Sincere thanks go to Moira
and Nikos fortheir work in the Elect roles
over the past few months.
Martin and Jeff will provide more details

in their reports so it only remains for me to
thank Angie Cain who is our Qualifications
Officer and who does an enormous amount
of work for our Qualification, keeps us on
track, and makes my job as Chair very easy!
Thanks.
101
Joanne Hudson
Chair QSEPB.
DSEP Officers and Committee Members

Officers
Ian Maynard
Richard Mullen
Mark Uphill
Sandy Wolfson
Role
Chair
Chair-Elect
Hon. Secretary
Hon. Treasurer
Committee Members
Pete Coffee
Gavin Breslin
Andrew Manley
Neil Weston
Stewart Cotterill
Alan MacPherson
Ross Roberts
Elected 2011
Elected 2011
Elected 2011
Elected 2010
Co-opted 2012
Co-opted 2012
Co-opted 2012
Representatives
Jan Graydon
To be advised
Sophia Jowett
Richard Thelwell
Ethics Committee
PsyPAG
Research Board
DSEP Training Committee
102

103
BULLETIN BOARD
BULLETIN BOARD
H.T.A Whiting Undergraduate Prize

The DSEP has established an annual prize to be awarded for the best undergraduate dissertation in sport and exercise psychology from a student at university in the UK. Research on any
aspect of sport and exercise psychology is eligible. Further details are available on the DSEP
website (www.bps.org.uk/spex/awards/dissertation.cfm).
MSc Dissertation Submission Rules

The British Psychological Societys Division of Sport and Exercise Psychology has established
an annual MSc Dissertation Prize. Research on any aspect of sport and exercise psychology is
eligible. The author of the winning dissertation will receive 200 plus conference registration
fees should the author present the research associated with the dissertation at the DSEP
Conference or at the British Psychological Societys Annual Conference. The presentation
must occur not more than two years after the granting of the award. The dissertations will be
judged by at least two independent assessors according to the following criteria:
The dissertation must have been (or about to be) submitted as an MSc project at a UK
institution of higher education during the year of entry. The student must be a student
member of the Division of Sport and Exercise Psychology
It must represent the independent work of the student submitting.
It should be accompanied by a letter of support, and confirmation that it is the students
own work, from the supervisor.
The study should represent an original investigation into any topic in Sport and Exercise
Psychology.
The study should show evidence of a high level of critical and analytical thought
It should demonstrate high levels of scientific rigour in its conception, design, analysis and
write up
It should demonstrate high levels of presentation including appearance, grammar, spelling
and academic writing style
Only one dissertation will be considered from each Department/School
Dissertations should be submitted to the Division of Sport and Exercise Psychology by 1st
August each year.
An extended abstract of not more than 750 words and supervisors letter of support which
details why this study is important, and how it advances knowledge in the area, should be sent to:
Dr Mark Uphill, Honorary Secretary, DSEP
Department of Sport Science, Tourism and Leisure,
Canterbury Christ Church University, North Holmes Road, Canterbury,
Kent, CT1 1QU, United Kingdom
Nominations should be made for the year in which the dissertation was (or about to be)
submitted at a UK institution of higher education.
104

BULLETIN BOARD
BULLETIN BOARD
PhD Prize
The DSEP has established an annual prize to be awarded to the PhD student from a university
in the UK whose thesis is regarded to be an exceptional, innovative contribution to knowledge
in the field. Research on any aspect of sport and exercise psychology is eligible. Further details
are available on the DSEP website (www.bps.org.uk/spex/awards/phd-submission.cfm).
The awards criteria and submission process are currently being considered by the DSEP
committee to improve the experience for members. The criteria and submission process for
the MSc award (October, 2012) will remain as written on the DSEP website. It is anticipated
that we will move to an electronic submission and feedback process for the 2013 submissions,
the final details of which should be available online at the DSEP website by the end of 2012.
An email announcement will be sent to members as soon as this process has been completed.
CPD Workshops
British Psychological Society CPD Events
A full list of workshops and CPD events can be found by accessing the BPS Learning Centre at:
http://bps-learning-centre.bps.org.uk/bps-learning-centre/find-cpd/find-cpd_home.cfm
31 October 2012 Holiday Inn, Rugby-Northampton
One-day Masterclass in Sport Psychology The Elvis Approach: Innovative Methods of Delivery
with Athletes (Facilitator: Dr. Brian Hemmings)
The Masterclass will look at a range of delivery issues facing sport psychologists. The emphasis
will be on applied skills Being innovative: making psychology not feel like psychology, the
rules of engagement: group and individual engagement with athletes, enhancing rapport and
trust with athletes, using creativity, stories and humour in your sport psychology delivery, use
of voice, body and props: making your presence felt, time limited considerations.
Visit www.golfmind.co.uk for more information/to book a place or call 01788 510896
21 November 2012 British Psychological Society London Office
Integrating psychological skills into sport and exercise injury rehabilitation: Applying theory
to practice. (Facilitators: Drs Monna Arvinen-Barrow, Natalie Walker & Julie Waumsley)
The workshop will provide an awareness of psychological factors underlying sport and exercise
injuries. More specifically, the course focuses on identifying and critically evaluating psychological, social and behavioural factors related to the sport and exercise injury rehabilitation
process. The course aims to develop an understanding of the use of psychological intervention
techniques as part of sport and exercise injury rehabilitation. The course will use number of
case studies to demonstrate the link between existing psychological theory and applied practice by providing the participants hands on approach on how to utilise these skills in their own
professional practice.
BASES Workshops. A list of workshops relevant for sport and exercise psychologists can be found
by accessing the workshop section of the British Association of Sport and Exercise Sciences at
www.bases.org.uk/newsite.
105
BULLETIN BOARD
BULLETIN BOARD
Conference Diary
British Psychological Society Annual Conference. The 2013 Annual Conference takes place
at the Harrogate International Centre, Harrogate on 911 April 2013).
Further details: www.bps.org.uk/events/annual-conference-2013
British Association of Sport & Exercise Sciences. The BASES Annual Student Conference
will take place at Cardiff Metropolitan University, 2627 March 2013.
Further details: www.bases.org.uk/Student-Conference
British Association of Sport & Exercise Sciences. The BASES Annual Conference will be
held at the University of Central Lancashire on 35 September 2013.
Further details: www.bases.org.uk/BASES-Annual-Conference
Independent Practitioner Forum

The Societys Professional Practice Board has set up an electronic forum for independent and
private practitioners. If you are interested in joining, please send an e-mail to Nigel Atter at the
Leicester office: nigel.atter@bps.org.uk. Nigel would also be interested in hearing your experiences of setting up in private practice.
106
Notes for Contributors

Sport and Exercise Psychology Review
Sport and Exercise Psychology Review (SEPR) is
an international publication designed to
provide a forum for the dissemination of
information to the Division of Sport and
Exercise Psychology (DSEP) membership
and other interested parties. It contains articles, research notes, case-studies, commentaries, student member items, book reviews
and conference reports, and the Editorial
Board would also like to encourage submissions for a Conference Diary, along with
News of Members. Authors who are in doubt
as to whether their work falls within the
remit of SEPR are invited to send brief
preliminary details to members of the Editorial Board for advice. SEPR is published by
the British Psychological Society Division of
Sport and Exercise Psychology.
1. Circulation
Student Members: Items of particular relevance to student members of the DSEP are
included in this feature.
The circulation of SEPR is worldwide. It is

available in hardcopy and PDF format.
Papers are invited and encouraged from
authors throughout the world. It is available
free in paper and PDF format to members of
the British Psychological Societys DSEP as
part of their annual membership.
2. Contributions
Articles: Individual articles are published on
all aspects of sport and exercise psychology.
Articles may provide a broad overview of a
particular area or issue, or add a critical
commentary on recent articles in SEPR. Articles concerned with the training of sport and
exercise psychologists and the application
and practice of sport and exercise
psychology are particularly welcome, as are
articles focussing on teaching sport and
exercise psychology. Articles should not
exceed 30 sides of A4 and should include an
abstract with designated key words.
Research Notes: Informative reviews (1000

words maximum) of papers published in
peer-reviewed journals that would be of
interest to the SEPR readership are welcome.
Please send a copy of the full paper to the
Editor along with the Research Note.
Book Reviews: Books are generally reviewed
by invitation only. However, persons interested in writing a book review should contact
the Editor in the first instance.
Conference Reports: Brief reports on conferences of interest to the DSEP are welcome,
but it is suggested to contact the Editor first.
These should focus on what is new, and of
general interest, rather than include background information about conferences.
3. Reviewing
Brief reports: These should be limited to 1000

words and may include research studies and
theoretical, critical or review comments
whose essential contribution can be made
briefly. A summary of not more than 50
words should be provided.
The publication operates a policy of anonymous peer review. Articles will normally be
scrutinised and commented on by at least
two independent expert referees (in addition to the Editor) although the Editor may
process a paper at his or her discretion. The
referees will not be aware of the identity of
the author. All information about authorship

107

including personal acknowledgements and
institutional affiliations should be confined
to the title page (and the text should be free
of such clues as identifiable self-citations, e.g.
In our earlier work).
4. Submission process
(1) All manuscripts must be submitted to the
Editor by email and sent as an attachment
compatible with Microsoft Word (for PC).
If it is impossible to submit manuscripts electronically, mail one original copy with a disk
version in Microsoft Word (for PC) to the
editor at the address below.
(2) The submission must include the
following as separate files:
Title page consisting of manuscript title,
authors full names and affiliations, name
and address for corresponding author.
Abstract.
Full manuscript omitting authors names
and affiliations. Figures and tables can be
attached separately if necessary.
5. Manuscript requirements
Contributions must be typed in double

spacing with 1 in. margins. All sheets must
be numbered.
Tables should be typed in double spacing,
each on a separate page with a selfexplanatory title. Tables should be
comprehensible without reference to the
text. They should be placed at the end of
the manuscript with their approximate
locations indicated in the text. Authors
are asked to keep tables to a minimum.
Figures can be included at the end of the
document or attached as separate files,
carefully labelled in initial capital/lower
case lettering with symbols in a form
consistent with text use. Unnecessary
background patterns, lines and shading
should be avoided. Captions should be
listed on a separate page. The resolution
of digital images must be at least 300 dpi.
Authors are asked to keep figures to a
minimum.
108
Articles containing original scientific

research, review articles and case studies
should include a structured abstract of up
to 200 words. A list of key words should be
included with the abstract.
Overall, the presentation of papers should
conform to the British Psychological
Societys Style Guide (available at:
www.bps.org.uk/publications/publications
_home.cfm in PDF format). This is based
on the Publication Manual (6th ed.) of the
American Psychological Association.
Non-discriminatory language should be
used throughout. Spelling should be
Anglicised when appropriate. Text should
be concise and written for an
international readership of applied
psychologists.
Sensationalist
and
unsubstantiated views are discouraged.
Abbreviations, acronyms and unfamiliar
specialist terms should be explained in
the text on first use.
Particular care should be taken to ensure
that references are accurate and
complete. Give all journal titles in full.
Referencing should follow BPS formats.
For example:
Hill, K.L. (2001). Frameworks for sport
psychologists: Enhancing sport performance.
Smith, A.L. (2007). Youth peer relationships in sport. In S. Jowett & D. Lavallee
(Eds.), Social psychology in sport (pp.4154).
Coffee, P. (2010). Attributions: Contemporary research and future directions.
Sport and Exercise Psychology Review, 6, 619.
SI units must be used for all measurements, rounded off to practical values if
appropriate, with the Imperial equivalent
in parentheses.
In normal circumstances, effect size
should be incorporated.
Authors are requested to avoid the use of
sexist language.
Authors are responsible for acquiring
written permission to publish lengthy
quotations, illustrations, etc., for which
they do not own copyright.
7. Publications ethics
10. Checklist of requirements
British Psychological Societys Code of

Conduct Code of Conduct, Ethical Principles
and Guidelines.
Principles of Publishing Principle of
Publishing.
8. Post acceptance
PDF page proofs are sent to authors via
email for correction of print but not for
rewriting or the introduction of new material. The Editorial Board reserves the right to
edit all copy published, although all reasonable attempts will be made to contact
authors with regard to changes.
9. Copyright
To protect authors and publications against
unauthorised reproduction of articles, the
British Psychological Society requires copyright to be assigned to itself as publisher, on
the express condition that authors may use
their own material at any time without
permission. On acceptance of a paper,
authors will be requested to sign an appropriate assignment of copyright form.
Abstract (100 to 200 words) with keywords

Title page (include title, authors names,
affiliations, full contact details).
Full article text (double-spaced with
numbered pages and anonymised).
References (see above). Authors are
responsible for bibliographic accuracy
and must check every reference in the
manuscript and proofread again in the
page proofs.
Tables, figures, captions placed at the end
of the article or attached as separate files.
11. Submission address

All submissions should be sent to:
Dr Iain Greenlees,
Editor,
Sport & Exercise Psychology Review,
Reader in Sport Psychology,
Faculty of Sport, Education &
Social Sciences,
University of Chichester,
College Lane,
Chichester,
West Sussex PO19 6PE.
Email: i.greenlees@chi.ac.uk
109
Notes
110
Notes
111
Notes
112
Contents
2
Editorial Iain Greenlees
Original Articles
3
Back to the future: Three myths about applied consultancy work
17
Comment Lew Hardy
23
Decision making and decision communications in elite rugby union referees:
An inductive investigation
Applied & Pedagogical Reflections
35
Practice and the process of critical learning: Reflections of an early stage practitioner
working in elite youth level rugby league
51
Comment Robert Morris
52
Comment David Tod
54
I cant lose this match!: CBT and the sport psychologist Juliette Puig & Beth Pummell
63
Comment Jamie Barker & Martin Turner
65
The challenges and opportunities of teaching sport and exercise psychology at a distance
Caroline Heaney & Natalie Walker
Miscellaneous
72
Lew Hardy
Student Members (Editor: Matt Slater)
75
Managing transitions Part 2: From MSc to PhD student Nick Caddick & Hamish Cox
Conference Reports
80
DSEP 2012 Conference Karen Howells & Anna Ross
83
3rd Annual Meeting of the Expertise and Skill Acquisition Network Phil Kearney
Workshop Reviews
86
Caring and sharing: Continuity of care in the pursuit of excellence
Paul Cummins & Kiaran Kelly
90
A Case-Based Workshop in Sport and Exercise Psychology Northern Ireland Branch
Kelley Fay
Book Reviews
Sport and exercise psychology: A critical introduction (Aidan P. Moran).
92
Reviewed by Douglas MacDonald
Key concepts in sport psychology (John M.D. Kremer, Aidan P. Moran, Graham Walker &
94
Cathy Craig). Reviewed by Scott Bradley
Peak performance every time (Simon Hartley). Reviewed by John Parker
96
98
Division of Sport and Exercise Psychology Update Ian Maynard
100 Qualifications Board Update Joanne Hudson
102 Officers and Committee Members
104 Bulletin Board
107 Notes for Contributors
St Andrews House, 48 Princess Road East, Leicester LE1 7DR, UK
Tel 0116 254 9568 Fax 0116 227 1314
E-mail mail@bps.org.uk www.bps.org.uk
Incorporated by Royal Charter Registered Charity No 229642

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Back to the future: Three myths

Available from: Paul J. McCarthy

Division of Sport and Exercise Psychology

Sport & Exercise

Sport & Exercise Psychology Review

Paul McCarthy, Glasgow Caledonian University

ELL, I hope you enjoyed it! By the

We kick off this issue with an article that

Sport & Exercise Psychology Review, Vol. 8 No. 2

Back to the future: Three myths about

HEN LEW HARDY delivered the

that performers should be encouraged to set

Sport & Exercise Psychology Review, Vol. 8 No. 2

Myth 1. Cognitive anxiety is always

Paul McCarthy, Mark Wilson, Richard Keegan & Dave Smith

Potential theoretical explanations for

in terms of intensity (how anxious one feels)

The directional perspective. Jones (1991)

Processing efficiency theory (PET). PET

Sport & Exercise Psychology Review, Vol. 8 No. 2

Three myths about applied consultancy work

framework contains three main dimensions

As Hardy comments, it is perhaps not

Sport & Exercise Psychology Review, Vol. 8 No. 2

Paul McCarthy, Mark Wilson, Richard Keegan & Dave Smith

Finally, as the theories we have discussed

Myth 2: Performers should set

Three myths about applied consultancy work

Sport & Exercise Psychology Review, Vol. 8 No. 2

Paul McCarthy, Mark Wilson, Richard Keegan & Dave Smith

to keep producing large volumes of either

Sport & Exercise Psychology Review, Vol. 8 No. 2

Three myths about applied consultancy work

would appear to constitute a risky strategy

Sport & Exercise Psychology Review, Vol. 8 No. 2

Myth 3: Internal visual imagery is more

Paul McCarthy, Mark Wilson, Richard Keegan & Dave Smith

They found that external visual imagery was

Sport & Exercise Psychology Review, Vol. 8 No. 2

Three myths about applied consultancy work

Callow and Hardy (2004) noted, imagery

Sport & Exercise Psychology Review, Vol. 8 No. 2

Paul McCarthy, Mark Wilson, Richard Keegan & Dave Smith

improved performance from the low to the

Sport & Exercise Psychology Review, Vol. 8 No. 2

Three myths about applied consultancy work

Sport & Exercise Psychology Review, Vol. 8 No. 2

Paul McCarthy, Mark Wilson, Richard Keegan & Dave Smith

Cheng, W-N.K., Hardy, L. & Markland, D. (2009).

Sport & Exercise Psychology Review, Vol. 8 No. 2

Three myths about applied consultancy work

Melllalieu, S. & Lane, A. (2009). Debate: Is studying

Sport & Exercise Psychology Review, Vol. 8 No. 2

Paul McCarthy, Mark Wilson, Richard Keegan & Dave Smith

Wilson, M. (2008). From processing efficiency to

Sport & Exercise Psychology Review, Vol. 8 No. 2

Comment on McCarthy, Wilson,

Myth 1: Cognitive anxiety is always

CONGRATULATE the authors on

anxiety symptoms and the rational and