The Football Official: Using Mental Skills to Enhance Performance

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The Football Official Using Mental Skills to
Enhance Performance

• Jessica Fraser-Thomas
• Ph.D. Candidate
• Queens University

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• Write down a football related goal.
• Write that same goal on your two other cards.
• Hold onto the first card.
• Post the second card under type.
• Post the third card under time.

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Outline

• What we know
• Expert and non-expert officials
• Stress and burnout
• How we can become better
• Goals
• Game preparation
• Game focus
• Ongoing learning
• Where to go from here...

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What makes an expert official?

• Studies with expert and non-expert officials
• rugby and basketball
• Experts do not differ in
• experience
• foul detection
• Experts do differ in
• knowing the rules / signals
• identifying the type of foul accurately

Deakin Allard, 1992 MacMahon Ste-Marie, 1999
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Biases in Officiating

• Method
• 38 officials watched 50 video clips of incidents
  in soccer games.
• 19 told that blue team has reputation for foul
  and aggressive play.
• 19 control officials
• Results
• No difference in number of decisions made.
• Experimental group gave more red/yellow cards to
  blue team.
• Conclusion
• Officials more likely to penalize individuals on
  team with an aggressive reputation.

Jones, Paull, Erskine, 2002
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What are common sources of stress?

• Participants
• 215 soccer officials in Ontario
• Results
• Fear of physical harm
• Fear of failure
• Time pressures
• Role-culture conflict
• Interpersonal conflict
• Fitness concerns
• Peer conflicts

Taylor Daniel, 1988
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Does stress contribute to burnout?

• Participants
• 529 soccer officials in Ontario
• Method
• stress and burnout surveys
• 3 months and 7 months into the season
• Results
• Stress indirectly influences burnout
• Fear of failure
• Role-culture conflict
• Interpersonal conflict
• Age also associated with burnout

Taylor, Daniel, Leith, Burke 1990
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What does this mean for officials?

• Officials must
• have extensive knowledge of the sport.
• focus attention on relevant information.
• recognize psychological challenges of the job.

Ste-Marie, 2003
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• What do you currently do to mentally prepare
  yourself for a game?

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Some helpful strategies

• Have a goal.
• Have a pre-game routine.
• Feel confident.
• Be relaxed / pumped.
• Have a game plan.
• Stay focused.
• Be equipped to handle adverse situations.
• Learn from mistakes.
• If you fail to prepare, be prepared to fail.

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Benefits of Setting Goals?

• Give you direction and purpose.
• Focus your attention.
• Keep you interested.
• Research
• Decrease anxiety
• Increase confidence and motivation.

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Outcome and Process Goals

• Outcome Goals
• Focus is on the end result.
• Achievement depends on you AND factors outside
  your control

• Process Goals
• Focus is on the actions or skills you must engage
  in during the process.
• Achievement depends entirely on you.

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Time-Based Goals

• Short term goals are essential to reach long term
  goals.

Long-term
Short Term
Present
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Goal setting tips

• Be Smart!
• Specific
• Measurable
• Adjustable
• Realistic
• Time-based

• Focus on 1-2 goals at at time.
• Write and record your goals.
• Share your goals.

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The Pre-Game Preparation

• Pre-game routines should also focus on
• Being confident
• Staying relaxed / pumped up
• Staying focused
• Preparing for undesirable situations

Bull et al.,1996 Albinson Bull, 1988
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Confidence Check
Doing a Good Job
Increased Confidence
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Confidence Check
Doing a Good Job
Increased Confidence
Decreased Confidence
Doing a Poor Job
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Confidence Check

• Self-doubt can become a self-fulfilling prophesy
  if you focus on all your shortcomings instead of
  all your strengths.
• How can you focus on your strengths to assure
  confidence leading into a game?

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Tips for feeling more confident

• 1. Arrive prepared
• Know your signals.
• Be fit.

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• 2. Think confidently.
• Recall past successes.
• See yourself being successful.
• Positive affirmations.
• 3. Act confidently.

Actions
Thoughts
Feelings
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Positive Affirmations

• Then Johan wrote, You will look great on the
  podium of the Tour de France next year. That was
  the end of the message. I saved his e-mail to a
  disk, printed it out, and looked at the words.
  Over the next few days, I read and reread the
  e-mail, and then I knew exactly what I should do.
  I wanted to win the Tour de France. (Armstrong,
  2000)

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Optimal Arousal Level

• Each individual performs best at his/her optimal
  level of arousal.
• What is your optimal arousal level for
  officiating?
• High? Average? Low?
• How do you assure appropriate arousal levels
  leading into and throughout the game?

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Optimal Arousal Level (2)

• Need to raise arousal levels? Try
• Music
• Images / Past experiences
• Need to decrease arousal levels? Try
• Music
• Past experiences
• Breathing exercises
• Relaxation exercises

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What are some of the worst case scenarios in
football officiating?
What is your typical response to these scenarios?
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What is your optimal response to these scenarios?
How can you assure your optimal response?
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Planning for What-If Situations

• Make sure you know what to do in a situation
  before it happens!
• Go in with a contingency plan so you dont get
  knocked off your game.

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Learning from Experience

• Self-awareness and self-evaluation can help you
  develop to your full potential.

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• Self-Awareness
• What are my strengths?
• In what areas can I get better?
• How can I improve?

Self-Evaluation What went well? What would I
like to improve on? What lessons did I learn?
Keep a log book / journal.
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How many squares?
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Hope this session allowed you to see the whole
pictureSee whats within you.You need only
to bring it out.
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Questions?