Insights from the 2011 European Congress of Sport Psychology Conference

17 August 2011

Lane4's Head of Research, Dr. Zara Whysall, and Research Manager, Kelly Walsh, were invited to present in a Loughborough University-led Symposium on Performance Psychology at the recent 13th European Congress of Sport Psychology Conference in Madeira.  In addition to sharing research into the development of our High Performing Teams framework and a case study of its use with GB Hockey, Zara and Kelly were inspired by a number of other exciting presentations at the conference. 

Here's a summary of a couple of their favourites:

Talent Development

Kristoffer Henriksen (University of Southern Denmark) asked “Why is it that some clubs tend to produce more champions than others?”

Henriksen's investigation of the environmental factors that characterise one of Sweden's most successful athletics clubs resounded with one of Lane4's favourite endeavours - creating environments where champions are inevitable.  Key ingredients for successful talent development were identified as a strong organisational culture characterised by values of co-operation, focus on performance process and a 'whole-person approach'.  Specifically, seven interrelated assumptions were found to underpin a successful talent development culture, including:

1. Excellence can be reached through cooperation and openness – even sharing tactics with competitors.
2. We are a family, in which everybody contributes – close proximity between younger, developing athletes and experienced, elite athletes provides opportunities for role modelling, sharing of experiences and advice.
3. Attitude beats class – coaches expect athletes to show focus, discipline and drive for excellence in training, and evaluate athletes' attitudes in training more often than skill level.
4. An athlete is a whole person – coaches understand that personal problems will inevitably take their toll on training, so will help athletes handle problems and adapt training accordingly.
5. Successful development is more important than early results – the club is ready to invest and be patient in waiting for results.

Personal Performance/Emotional Contagion

Gert-Jan Pepping (University of Groningen, The Netherlands) provided evidence to support another of our favourite activities – celebrating success!  Pepping's research into the contagion of positive emotions considered “What are the effects of celebrating success?” 

Analysis of footage of penalty shoot-outs in World Cups between 1974-2006 revealed that only 66% of players overtly celebrated their successful penalty. Of those that celebrated, most demonstrated behaviours associated with pride (as opposed to happiness). More importantly though, the way a scorer celebrated a successful penalty has a significant effect on the end result. 

Players who looked down (after scoring a penalty which equalled the score) were more likely to be in the team that ended up losing the shoot-out.  Players who engaged in strong celebratory post-shot behaviours (i.e. both hands clenched in fists or raised above the head) were more likely to be in the winning team. This behaviour actually predicted opponents missing their next shot. 

Showing pride was thought to lead to success via two potential avenues: a positive impact on teammates, increasing confidence and enhancing their expectancy of winning, and/or a negative impact on the opposing team, by signalling dominance and diminishing the self-esteem of the opposition.  So, it seems positive emotions not only signal success, they also produce success – let's celebrate!

For more information on the above, or the presentation Zara and Kelly delivered on High Performing Teams, please contact Kelly at kelly.walsh@lane4.co.uk

For more information about the European Congress of Sport Psychology Conference, please visit their website.

2011-08-17

Related People

Kelly Walsh
Dr Zara Whysall