Sport Psychology

What Sport Psychology covers

Sport Psychology is examined in Component 2, Health and Performance. It covers Classification of skills, practice structures, goal setting and SMART targets, types of guidance, types of feedback and mental preparation for performance.

The 6 subtopics

Each one has its own page.

• Classification of skillsThe open–closed, basic–complex and low–high organisation continua, and classifying passes, free throws, serves, swimming strokes and vaults with reasons.Open →
• Practice structuresMassed, distributed, fixed and variable practice, which skills and performers each suits, and choosing practice for a swimmer, a basketball player or a netball team.Open →
• Goal setting and SMART targetsHow goal setting improves performance and controls anxiety, each part of a SMART target, writing and reviewing targets, and who should set them.Open →
• Types of guidanceVisual, verbal, manual and mechanical guidance, their advantages and disadvantages, and choosing guidance for a beginner or an elite performer.Open →
• Types of feedbackIntrinsic, extrinsic, concurrent and terminal feedback, their advantages, and worked examples of feedback data from free throws, putting and serving.Open →
• Mental preparation for performanceHow a warm-up prepares a performer mentally, and how mental rehearsal improves movement, controls anxiety, builds confidence and helps injured performers.Open →

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

Take Sport Psychology further

The same content, four other ways.

Commonly confused

Pairs that lose marks when they are blurred together.

• Open skill vs Closed skill

  Open skill: a movement shaped by a changing environment. Closed skill: a self-paced movement unaffected by its surroundings.

• Massed practice vs Distributed practice

  Massed practice: continuous repetition without rest breaks. Distributed practice: repetition split up by rest breaks.

• Fixed practice vs Variable practice

  Fixed practice: repeating a whole movement in an unchanging setting. Variable practice: repeating a movement in changing situations.

Questions from this topic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

1. 1

   What is a skill in sport?

   Model answer

   A skill is a learned action performed to bring about a set result. A skilled performer achieves the result with maximum certainty and minimum time and energy.

2. 2

   Why are skills placed on a continuum rather than in fixed groups?

   Model answer

   Most skills have some features of both ends of a scale. A continuum shows how far a skill leans towards one end.

3. 3

   What is an open skill?

   Model answer

   An open skill is affected by the changing environment around the performer. The performer must adapt the skill to each new situation.

4. 4

   What is a closed skill?

   Model answer

   A closed skill is not affected by the environment. The performer controls the timing and repeats the same movement each time.

5. 5

   Where does a pass in football sit on the open-closed continuum, and why?

   Model answer

   A pass in football is an open skill. The player must adjust to the positions of team-mates and opponents.

6. 6

   Why is a basketball free throw classed as a closed skill?

   Model answer

   A free throw is taken from the same spot with no opponent interfering. The shooter decides when to start and repeats the same action.

What is inside Levo

Six ways to work the same material.

Sport Psychology revision questions

What does Sport Psychology cover in Edexcel GCSE Physical Education?

6 subtopics: classification of skills, practice structures, goal setting and smart targets, types of guidance, types of feedback and mental preparation for performance. Each one has its own page with questions and model answers.

How is Sport Psychology organised?

By the Edexcel 1PE0 specification, subtopic by subtopic, so it matches the order you are taught it in.