Sports Psychology

What Sports Psychology covers

Sports Psychology is examined in J587/02, Socio-cultural issues and sports psychology. It covers skilful movement and the classification of skills, goal setting and SMART targets, mental preparation, types of guidance and types of feedback.

The 5 subtopics

Each one has its own page.

• Skilful movement and the classification of skillsMotor skills and the characteristics of skilful movement, the difficulty and environmental continua, and classifying skills such as tackles and golf drives.Open →
• Goal setting and SMART targetsHow goal setting aids adherence, motivation and performance, OCR's SMART principle of specific, measurable, achievable, recorded and timed goals, and setting goals for sprinters and beginners.Open →
• Mental preparationImagery, mental rehearsal, selective attention and positive thinking, how each helps a performer, and choosing a technique for a gymnast, a tennis player or a nervous finalist.Open →
• Types of guidanceVisual, verbal, manual and mechanical guidance, their advantages and disadvantages, and how guidance should change as a performer improves.Open →
• Types of feedbackIntrinsic and extrinsic feedback, knowledge of performance and results, positive and negative feedback, and matching feedback to beginners and experienced performers.Open →

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

Take Sports 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: an action affected by a changing environment such as opponents. Closed skill: an action performed in stable, predictable surroundings.

• Intrinsic feedback vs Extrinsic feedback

  Intrinsic feedback: information from within the performer through the feel of a movement. Extrinsic feedback: information from an outside source such as a coach or video.

• Knowledge of results vs Knowledge of performance

  Knowledge of results: information about the outcome, such as a score or time. Knowledge of performance: information about the quality of the technique.

Questions from this topic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

1. 1

   What is a motor skill?

   Model answer

   A motor skill is a learned action that uses the body and muscles to produce a movement. A tennis serve and a golf putt are motor skills.

2. 2

   What are the characteristics of skilful movement?

   Model answer

   Skilful movement is efficient, pre-determined, co-ordinated, fluent and aesthetic. A skilled performer makes the movement look easy.

3. 3

   What does efficiency mean in skilful movement?

   Model answer

   An efficient movement uses no more energy or effort than it needs. A skilled swimmer glides through the water with no wasted strokes.

4. 4

   What does pre-determined mean in skilful movement?

   Model answer

   A pre-determined movement has a clear goal that the performer knows before starting. A basketball player aims each shot at the hoop.

5. 5

   What do co-ordinated and fluent mean in skilful movement?

   Model answer

   A co-ordinated movement links the body parts together in the right order. A fluent movement flows smoothly from one part to the next.

6. 6

   What does aesthetic mean in skilful movement?

   Model answer

   An aesthetic movement looks pleasing and controlled. A gymnast's routine is judged partly on how it looks.

What is inside Levo

Six ways to work the same material.

Sports Psychology revision questions

What does Sports Psychology cover in OCR GCSE Physical Education?

5 subtopics: skilful movement and the classification of skills, goal setting and smart targets, mental preparation, types of guidance and types of feedback. Each one has its own page with questions and model answers.

How is Sports Psychology organised?

By the OCR J587 specification, subtopic by subtopic, so it matches the order you are taught it in.