Applying Sport Psychology to Health Promotion

Applying Sport Psychology to Health Promotion Robert A. Swoap, Ph.D. Professor of Psychology Warren Wilson College Asheville, North Carolina The Art and Science of Health Promotion Conference,March 2006

Learning Objectives Identifyseven 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 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) • 7 Habits (recap) • Goal-setting • Training smart / Work ethic • Using others as support • Mental rehearsal • Dealing with self-doubt • Concentration and focus • Dealing with setbacks • Go step-by-step through the seven habits • In reality, this would occur over several sessions

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) • 7 Habits (recap) • Goal-setting • Training smart / Work ethic • Using others as support • Mental rehearsal • Dealing with self-doubt • Concentration and focus • Dealing with setbacks • 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

Starting an Exercise Program (case study #3) • 7 Habits (recap) • Goal-setting • Training smart / Work ethic • Using others as support • Mental rehearsal • Dealing with self-doubt • Concentration and focus • Dealing with setbacks • 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)

Applying Sport Psychology to Health Promotion