Applying Sport Psychology to Health Promotion

Robert A. Swoap, Ph.D.Professor of PsychologyWarren Wilson College

Asheville, North Carolina

The Art and Science of Health Promotion Conference, March 2006

Learning Objectives

Identify seven skills that successful athletes use in training and competition.

Understand how sport psychology skills can transfer to the field of health promotion.

Apply sport psychology skills to individuals trying to make health behavior changes.

Habits of Successful Athletes

Small-group exerciseSmall-group exercise: Identify several behavioral and/or psychological skills that you see in successful athletes. Do any of these have apparent applications to health behavior change?

Seven Habits

1. Effective Goal-Setting

– Challenging but realistic– Specific and with a time-

frame– Short-term and long-term– Written down – Action-oriented; focused on

the process more than on the end-result (e.g., place kicker)

2. Training Smart / Work Ethic

– Work on weaknesses (e.g., Tiger, Mia, JJ)

– Have a routine (mental and physical) for CONSISTENCY

– Intentions vs. behaviors: Past behavior is often a better predictor of future behavior than are stated intentions. (“Just do it” is not bad advice!)

• Power of inertia (can be a benefit or a barrier)

3. Using Others as Support• Get feedback from

coaches, teammates, and others– Ask for (and accept)

critique– Get support and

instruction• Accountability to one’s

stated intentions (e.g., posting goals; exercise in post-menopausal women)

4. Mental Rehearsal

• Imagery/visualization– Planning for a

competition (e.g., race plan)

– Developing a strategy for health behavior change (e.g., smoking cessation plan)

• Imagining potential barriers and how one will overcome them (e.g., Coach Jackson, next slide)

Mental Rehearsal: Imagining potential barriers

“Visualization is an important tool for me. During one of those [imagery] sessions, I visualized a way to neutralize Magic Johnson: double-teaming him in the backcourt to force him to give up the ball.”

“That was one of the keys to beating the Lakers to win our first championship in 1991.”

-- Coach Phil Jackson, Sacred Hoops (1995)

5. Dealing with Self-Doubt

• Cognitive control– Being able to manage self-

talk (e.g., when the pain comes)

– Controlling automatic thoughts

• “I can’t do this.”• “I’m a choker”

– Use of cue words / phrases to get focus back on the ACTION vs. the outcome

6. Concentration and Focus

– Rule #1 – Try For EVERY Ball.

– Rule #2 – If The Ball Is Too Far Away To Reach, See Rule #1

– Rule #3 – Stay In Present Moment In Competition (Focus On Technique or Point-by-Point Strategy)

•Sean O’Neill’s Rules

Concentration and Focus

• Focus on the present– Past and future largely

irrelevant (press conf.)

• “What if I can’t ….” needs to be replaced with “What do I need to do right now?” (e.g., Anne Riddle Lundblad)

• Practice refocusing during drills (e.g., Todd)

7. Dealing with Setbacks• Contingency planning

– Preparing for scenarios – How will I handle a slip?

• “Failure isn’t fatal. All the setbacks I’ve had, although heartbreaking at the time, were only temporary.”

– Don Shula

• Avoiding mental traps– Black-white thinking

• “I always get stressed-out when someone cuts me off.”

– Catastrophizing• “This is the worst…”

Applying sport psychology skills in health promotion settings

• Guidelines– With whom will this strategy be most effective?– Ask the client to describe how an athlete improves

• Likely, you’ll get a vague response (e.g., “She works hard.”)• Your response: Let’s look at this more closely• Help the person operationalize “working hard” by introducing the

seven habits of highly effective athletes

– Overall goal: To help the person understand the connection between his/her situation (changing a health behavior) and that of an athlete training and/or competing

– Some of the seven habits will, of course, apply more obviously than others depending on the person and the situation

Applying sport psychology skills in health promotion settings

• Case Studies• Weight Management

– Gerald, 43-year-old male, 5’10”, 225 lbs, pre-diabetic

– Intelligent, motivated, self-employed website designer

– Family history of obesity. Father died of M.I. (had a long-term struggle with managing Type-2 Diabetes).

– Wife is also overweight, but not to his extent

– Enjoys travel, NCAA basketball, playing with his children

Weight Management (case study #1)

• Go step-by-step through the seven habits

• In reality, this would occur over several sessions

7 Habits (recap)

1. Goal-setting2. Training smart /

Work ethic3. Using others as

support4. Mental rehearsal5. Dealing with self-

doubt6. Concentration and

focus7. Dealing with

setbacks

Small-group exercise #2

• Case study #2 (Allison)

• Case study #3 (Vivian)– Handouts– You can add details to the case

studies as needed

Smoking Cessation (case study #2)

• Allison, 22-year-old female• Smokes 1 ppd• Single, college senior, majoring

in history, most of her friends smoke (at least socially)

• Has tried to quit several times before; found it too stressful

• Works part-time as a server in a coffee house

• Enjoys hiking, reading, and going dancing

7 Habits (recap)

1. Goal-setting2. Training smart /

Work ethic3. Using others as

support4. Mental rehearsal5. Dealing with self-

doubt6. Concentration and

focus7. Dealing with

setbacks

Starting an Exercise Program (case study #3)

• Vivian, 71-year-old female• Widow, four children, many

grandchildren• Recently diagnosed with

osteoporosis• Always been a sports fan, but

never very active herself• Doesn’t want to be a burden on

her children (is motivated to become healthier)

7 Habits (recap)

1. Goal-setting2. Training smart /

Work ethic3. Using others as

support4. Mental rehearsal5. Dealing with self-

doubt6. Concentration and

focus7. Dealing with

setbacks