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The current paper criticizes the concept, research methodology, data analyses, and validity of the conclusions made in Hardy, Woodman, and Carrington’s (2004) article published in this journal. In their repeated-measures analysis of data from the performances of 7 golfers, they did not examine changes in performance scores on successive holes. Instead, Hardy et al. used several ANOVA models to examine how performance varied with respect to somatic and cognitive anxiety level and self-confidence interaction. By doing so, their findings produced effects which we argue to be conceptually and empirically limited. We also address problems associated with dichotomization of continuous variables, measurement errors when splitting data, eradication of random significant effects, cell sizes in segmental quadrant analysis, and correlation between somatic and cognitive anxiety. We believe these difficulties prevent any reliable conclusions and/or generalizations from being made.

The purpose of this study was to examine the feasibility of concurrent verbal protocols to identify and map thought processes of players during a golf-putting task. Three novice golfers and three experienced golfers performed twenty 12-foot putts while thinking aloud. Verbalizations were transcribed verbatim and coded using an inductive method. Content analysis and event-sequence analysis were performed. Mapping of thought sequences indicated that experienced players’ cognitive processes centered on gathering information and planning, while beginners focused on technical aspects. Experienced players diagnosed current performance aspects more often than beginners did and were more likely to use this information to plan the next putt. These results are consistent with experienced players’ higher domain-specific knowledge and less reliance on step-by-step monitoring of motor performance than beginners. The methods used for recording, analyzing, and interpreting on-line thoughts of performers shed light on cognitive processes, which have implications for research.

Exercise-induced vocal cord dysfunction (VCD) is a respiratory dysfunction where athletes’ vocal cords close prematurely, causing partially or fully obstructed air-flow. Due to a resulting severe decrement in performance and lack of efficacious treatments, this study aimed to discover some of the psychological experiences of athletes with VCD symptoms. Semistructured interviews were conducted with five athletes from three different sports and two mothers of participants. Data were coded for meaningful units and themes by the researcher and one independent rater. Ten psychological facets were derived. Based on the data from these five participants, athletes with VCD may have several common psychological experiences, which may possibly be a result of the breathing disorder. The first seven facets highlight that athletes with VCD may be at risk for burnout. The facets identified are a starting point for sport personnel to plan their treatment and support of athletes in their care.

Inquiry of the psychological states during the exercise experience failed to fully account for the role of motivation to adhere and the disposition of exertion tolerance (ET). The current study expands the scope of the integrated cognitive–perceptual–affective framework by measuring the motivation to sustain effort in two physical tasks and accounting for ET. Thirty male participants performed cycling and isometric handgrip tasks to assess the progression of the rating of perceived exertion, attentional focus, affective responses, and motivation to adhere, along with an incremental workload. The ET was determined by a handgrip task time to voluntary exhaustion. The findings indicated significant time effects and linear trends for perceived exertion, attentional focus, affect, and perceived arousal but not motivation to adhere during the handgrip and cycling tasks. The ET played a key role in the integrity of the model, particularly in perceptual, attentional, and affective responses. The intended model serves to stimulate new research into adaptation mechanisms.

Attribution of causality, based on Rotter's (1966) and Weiner's (1979) models, was investigated in a sport setting. The Wingate Sport Achievement Responsibility Scale (WSARS) was developed in order to examine attribution of causality separately for individual and team athletes after successful and unsuccessful events. The scale included feedback from the coach, audience, and teammates. Additional attributions were added in order to examine sport related properties of attributions. In order to examine the distinction between sport-specific attributions and general locus of control (LOG), 69 team athletes and 38 individual athletes were administered the Rotter I-E LOG Scale and the WSARS (Tenenbaum & Weingarten, 1983). Both Rotter's Scale and the WSARS were found to be reliable and valid scales through the probabilistic Rasch Model. Correlational analysis of both scales showed that attribution of causality in team and individual sports were positively related but produced low correlations, which suggests that sport attribution should be examined separately from general LOG. In addition, successful events should be examined separately from unsuccessful events and a distinction should be made between individual and team athletes.

The purpose of this study was to explore adaptation through the manipulation of perceived task difficulty and self-efficacy to challenge the concepts postulated by the two-perception probabilistic concept of the adaptation phenomenon (TPPCA) conceptual framework. Twenty-four randomized performers completed a handgrip and putting task, at three difficulty levels, to assess their self-efficacy and perceived task difficulty interactions on motivations, affect, and performances. The TPPCA was partially confirmed in both tasks. Specifically, as the task difficulty level increased, arousal increased, pleasantness decreased, and the performance declined. There was no solid support that motivational adaptations were congruent with the TPPCA. The findings pertaining to the human adaptation state represent a first step in encouraging future inquiries in this domain. The findings clarify the notion of perceived task difficulty and self-efficacy discrepancy, which then provokes cognitive appraisals and emotional resources to produce an adaptation response.

Congruence between actual and retrospective reports for pre- and postcompetition emotional states was investigated separately and together. Fifty-two members of four university sport teams participated in one or more of three experimental conditions. The first condition consisted of actual measurement of precompetition emotional states and retrospective measurement of the same situation following a 72-hr delay. Actual and retrospective measurement of postcompetition emotional states comprised the second condition. The third condition included actual measurement of pre- and post-states and retrospective measurement of both states after a 72-hr delay. RM-MANOVA procedures revealed that athletes could report and differentiate between their pre- and postcompetition emotional experiences, and that retrospective report was not affected by the pre/post interference after a 72-hour delay. However, athletes underestimated the intensity of postcompetition unpleasant emotions. Correlations between the structured actual and retrospective measures of emotions were moderate to strong, and thus congruent. However, thoughts and feelings that were openly expressed after 72 hours were not fully congruent with thoughts and feelings reported in real time. These findings are discussed in relation to Ericsson and Simon’s (1980, 1984) conceptualization of verbal reports as data, and Ross’ (1989) implicit theory of stability and change.

The cognitive properties and processes of teams have not been considered in sport psychology research. These properties and processes extend beyond the sum of the cognitive properties and processes of the constituent members of the team to include factors unique to teams, such as team coordination and communication. A social-cognitive conceptual framework for the study of team coordination and communication is offered, based on research on social cognition and from industrial and organizational psychology. This is followed by a discussion of coordination and communication in expert teams. In addition, an overview of the type of methods that could be used to measure aspects of team coordination and communication in sport is provided. The framework and methods afford hypothesis generation for empirical research on coordination and communication in sport teams, a means to begin examining these constructs in sport, and a theoretical base with which to reconcile the resultant data.

The purpose of this article is to examine how phase-specific psychological interventions were used in an annual training program of elite male basketball players. Psychological intervention introduced to elite athletes during their training program reflects the aims of each critical phase of the program, namely the preparation, competition, and transition phases. In addition, while conducting psychological consultations, the sport psychologist should take into consideration the specific objectives of other preparations in the training program, such as the physical, technical, and tactical. The specific psychology intervention in each phase of the basketball training program, the philosophical approach to the intervention process, and the reasoning behind the use of the certain psychological techniques at each specific phase of the program are discussed.