Search Results

The team in the current case study is a professional League of Legends team within the United Kingdom. This case study aimed to develop team cohesion through increasing players’ awareness of self and others through mutual sharing of strength profiles. As the split progressed, the case also aimed to support the players to manage uncomfortable thoughts and emotions under pressure utilizing an acceptance and commitment therapy approach. This was done through five workshops over 4 weeks with one-to-one work blended into the program to ensure an individualized approach to enhance learning. This case study will outline the context of League of Legends, the needs analysis, intervention delivery, and feedback from interviews with players and coaches. Finally, this case study will provide reflections from the trainee sport and exercise psychologist working within esports for the first time.

This case study outlines the use of acceptance and commitment therapy with a client struggling with uncomfortable thoughts and emotions concerning his injury, impacting adherence to his rehabilitation plan. The aims were to increase psychological flexibility and decrease cognitive fusion to allow for greater adherence to his rehabilitation plan and support well-being. The client engaged in a series of one-on-one sessions, discussing the triflex within acceptance and commitment therapy through the strategy of “recognize, release, refocus.” The intervention included practice engaging with the present moment, exploring defusion techniques, clarifying values, and committing to subsequent values-driven behaviors. The effectiveness of the intervention was assessed by monitoring psychological flexibility, cognitive fusion, and feedback from the client’s physiotherapists. The trainee sport and exercise psychologist then provided reflections on the case.

The current study aimed to explore the perceptions of football academy coaches on their use of a novel reflective tool (Think Aloud [TA]) and to understand if this can support the development of knowledge within coaches. Eight male coaches (M _age = 36) employed full time at a Category 1 football academy within the United Kingdom took part. All coaches attended a 2-hr workshop on the use of TA as a reflective tool, with the opportunity to practice TA while coaching. Participants were interviewed on their perceptions of TA as a reflective tool using a semistructured approach. Data were analyzed abductively, which allowed the generation of initial codes and the involvement of the triad of knowledge (professional, interpersonal, and intrapersonal knowledge), which has been adopted within coaching and identified as an approach to developing coaching expertise, within the analysis process. Findings suggest that all three types of knowledge can be developed through the use of TA, with subthemes identified within each type of knowledge: professional knowledge (player and coach development and session design), interpersonal knowledge (communication and relationships), and intrapersonal knowledge (biases, self-awareness, and reflection). This research offers a novel perspective on coach development through the implementation of TA, with potential to support the development of coaching knowledge and expertise.

Think Aloud (TA) involves an individual verbalising his or her thoughts throughout the duration of a task. A case study approach examined the experiences of one football coach (Dave) as he engaged in four coaching sessions using TA. Dave completed four reflective diaries, supported by an overall narrative account, TA transcriptions, and two interviews. The aim of the case study was to gain a deeper understanding of Dave’s experiences of using TA in his context. Interpretative phenomenological analysis was utilised and revealed a superordinate theme of “suspended above himself” and actively engaging in the coaching session, which reflects the essence of TA for Dave. This metaphor captures the view that the TA process enabled Dave to move between analysing his own performance as if suspended above himself, and engaging in the action of the coaching session. Five subordinate themes were also generated: improved self-awareness, pedagogy, communication skills, feelings of apprehension, and distraction. These findings provide a rich description of the experience of TA and a novel glimpse into the potential pitfalls associated with TA that will inform coach educators. A further significant contribution is provided by highlighting relevant theoretical considerations that will inform future studies.

Background : Back to Netball (B2N) is a United Kingdom female national sports program that has been found to engage a large number of females in the sport netball. This study sought to understand the participant motives for engaging in this program. Methods : Qualitative methods were used following an initial quantitative survey, which was part of a wider project (outside of this manuscript). Survey participants were comprised of 374 females aged 16–68 years. Participants completed an online survey to capture demographic data. Interviews were conducted with 28 participants either still engaged or no longer engaged in B2N. Analysis involved both inductive and deductive thematic analysis to explore participant perceptions of their coach. Results : Initial motives for engagement were focused on physical health motives and social motives. The coach was also found to be important in providing opportunities for competence development. Therefore, competence development was found to be an important factor for engagement. Participant motivations moved from an extrinsic concern with losing weight to a more intrinsic foci including socializing opportunities and feelings of competence. Conclusions : As a team sport B2N stimulates social engagement, competence, and other motives. Coaching is also a key facilitator for engagement in B2N. This research has implications for future practitioners and policy makers aiming to engage women in sport and physical activity.

This case study outlines the holistic development of an adolescent soccer player, placing focus on the welfare of the individual first and the performer second. The client was seeking support as family life disturbances were having a negative impact on his mental health and general well-being. In addition, scholarship decisions were imminent, and the client felt that his performance had deteriorated. An introduction to the practitioner and client is provided, along with an account of the challenging and anxiety-provoking process encountered. Practitioner reflections are embedded throughout, and recommendations for other trainee sport psychology practitioners are provided. This case highlights the potentially unforeseen roles that sport psychology practitioners may, at times, play to best support their clients. It demonstrates the benefit of seeking guidance and support from supervisors and collaborating with other members of a multidisciplinary team, as well as the importance of having a clearly defined philosophy of practice to ensure that one is working from a place of congruence.

Think Aloud (TA) has been used as a tool to promote self-regulation and reflection in coaches, yet it has not been employed in the same context to support athletes. The aim of the present study was to understand golfers’ perceptions of using TA at two time points: immediately postperformance and after a 6- to 8-week reflection period. Six golfers (five male, one female; age: M = 30.8 years, SD = 14.8; handicap: M = 6.92, SD = 3.9) used TA during the performance on six holes of golf and listened back to their TA audio. Using semistructured interviews and subsequent thematic analyses, we generated four themes: increased awareness, awareness of how behavior influences performance, disruption of thought processes and performance, and application to coaching. Preliminary evidence provides support for TA as a potential tool to promote self-regulation in golfers, which could be used to inform coaching interventions.

The purpose of this study was to explore the internal dialogue of trainee sport psychologists (TSPs) and athletes immediately following athlete–practitioner consultations. TSPs (four male and three female, age 22–32 years) and athletes (four male, three female, age 19–29 years) completed a thought-listing procedure twice, while watching video recordings of their previous consultations. The thought-listing procedure involved participants’ pausing the video to record the in-session internal dialogue they had experienced during the consultation. Participants’ responses were categorized into six dimensions: time, place, focus, locus, orientation, and mode. TSPs’ and athletes’ retrospective accounts provided evidence that their in-session internal dialogue was (a) present focused, (b) about in-session material, (c) about the athletes or themselves, (d) about internal and external events, (e) professional (i.e., related to the session), and (f) neutral. Findings provide trainees and inexperienced practitioners with insights into the thought content of TSPs and athletes to guide their own athlete interactions.