Personality in sport is a factor that is predicated on the notion that every individual is different in a way and thus this fact is a significant one when it comes to experiences in coaching as well as the dodgeball sport. For instance my personality is responsible in affecting the traits that I exhibit during my dodgeball experience (Mellalieu & Hanton, 2015). There exists a hoard of psychological effects which cause inspirations on the performance, motivation, confidence as well as arousal and anxiety of an individual in taking part in dodgeball. These characteristics are very significant in molding success when interacting myself with the game of dodgeball.
The components such as personality, arousal, anxiety as well as self-confidence that are intrinsic in a person differ and a balance must be stricken for the ultimate results to be attained (Hanrahan & Andersen, 2010). During my encounters with dodgeball, preparing me psychologically is very seminal since physical preparation in getting involved in dodgeball circumstances can either build or destroy my performance (Murphy, 2012). I always find pre-competitive states as being essential in influencing my competitive performance. This paper seeks to show the nexus between anxiety, confidence as well as motivation and the effect each carries in relation to performance in dodgeball.
According to my person, motivation is a basic feature in my life since it affects how effective roles are done within and outside the context of dodgeball as a sport. Motivation is classified into internal and external based on whether the source is within me or a different person, for instance, a coach (Kerr, 2014). Overall, it is true that individuals who heavily depend on motivation that is extrinsically instigated are the least successful fellows and in most instances they take part in a sport for the purpose of receiving a reward as opposed to being propelled by intrinsic factors like motivation. However, it is imperative to opine that most individuals not forgetting myself require some external motivation since at the very end it is the ultimate objective. For example in most cases I have got external motivation for rewards like gold medal and it has been the meditation of this reward which propels motivation.
The other aspect that affects my experiences of dodgeball or sport generally is the issue of self-confidence. Self-confidence is able to help and hamper performance in dodgeball premised on the degree so as the needs of the sport itself. Self-efficacy can be defined as dogmas in ones abilities to make an organization so as an execution of the activity needed to realize particular achievements. Talking to oneself forms the major mechanism of cultivating confidence and this can either be affirmative or negative and when applied in the most appropriate manner, it lead to a successful improvement of a person’s experience in dodgeball. On the other hand, however, negative self-reflection is important only to top participants because starters get discouraged and depressed by the pessimism thus leading them to lose confidence before and during the sport (Hanrahan & Andersen, 2010).
My experience with dodgeball has also been determined by anxiety. Anxiety as well as the way in which it is conducted and managed is able to move a person’s performance either in the affirmative or negative way. Anxiety constitutes some aspect of personality as well as situational factor which when combined lead to heightened degrees of anxiety. Numerous factors affecting anxiety are likely to happen directly prior to or during or for a considerable length of time before the sport (Murphy, 2012). Personally, when I experience heightened degrees of anxiety, choking arises which alters my performance of dodgeball because of pressure and lack of control. The other factor is arousal which determines the anxiety levels which carry with it diverse effects and the outcome of my dodgeball game performance.
Through my personal experiences with dodgeball, I have come to learn that setting one’s objectives right is a good step towards maintaining motivation as well as increasing self-efficacy degrees among the dodgeball participants but the objectives or rather goals should be in adherence to the SMARTER principle for one to remain successful (Hanrahan & Andersen, 2010). It is clear that individuals who work hard to attain their objectives have the highest propensity of becoming successful and once they attain their objectives they get encouraged and thus use the motivation factor so found to facilitate confidence. I found out that through completing my set objectives, the levels of anxiety would reduce when undertaking a similar task in the future since I have been successful before (Murphy, 2012). Another important thing I came to realize was that setting goals in dodgeball that are not realistic would lead to poor performance which arise due to low self-confidence as well as heightened degrees of anxiety.
Moreover, keeping track of my dodgeball performance is a major factor of self-confidence and as a result reduces the levels of nervousness and apprehension. Just like Bandura noted on mastery experiences, mastering an aspect of dodgeball affects self- efficacy notions via the cognitive processing of information (Murphy, 2012). Past successes in dodgeball have helped in inculcating the art of self-confidence in the present experiences of dodgeball as well as art of confidence in the times to come. When one repeatedly perceives sport experiences as successes, self-confidence perceptions increase. On the other hand, when one sees the experiences in sport as bottlenecks, the levels of self-efficacy reduce (Hanrahan & Andersen, 2010). The implication this has caused on my person is that as a sporting individual, one is required to perceive any sporting experience and draw affirmative inferences from it since this is seminal in assisting in future performance rather than remaining depressed. Drawing negative conclusions will possibly lead to sport dropouts. It is worth noting that being over- confident of becoming successful in any sporting activity has the likelihood of causing complacency that may be disastrous to the performance of dodgeball more particularly in difficult circumstances.
Throughout my experiences in dodgeball, there exists an established nexus between the aspects of cognitive anxiety so as self-confidence (Kerr, 2014). Nervousness carries with it some negative effect on the performance of a sport not forgetting self-efficacy (Kerr, 2014). In most cases, the impact of anxiety gives a confirmation as to whether a certain performance in sport was a success or not. The resultant effect is that the anxiety will influence confidence and motivation in future performances. Thus when one is able to deal with anxiety, he or she is managing change.
Contemplating possible gain or loss is the mother of all stress. Therefore, an individual taking part in a sporting activity should be ready to cope with anxiety so as to enhance positive effects reducing the negative factors (Murphy, 2012). Consequently, handling sport must concentrate on the link between emotion and performance as opposed to delving into a separation of emotions and actions. This elucidates a confirmation that anxiety directly affects performance which ultimately modifies self-confidence and encouragement to a particular sport.
In my continued experience in dodgeball, I have established that the most successful mechanism for one to improve self-confidence is by viewing videos of past dodgeball performances. This has always taking two forms; other individuals’ performances or self-assessment (Hanrahan & Andersen, 2010). Through viewing other sportsmen in dodgeball, I have been able to make an evaluation and analysis of their performances through evaluating positives as well as negatives. The videos also allow me to compare their performance in dodgeball to that of my own. Watching such videos has been significant in making me form judgments concerning my own performance in dodgeball. This mechanism is seminal since it can be used in evaluating the performance thus encouraging a sport man to perform by seeing other persons’ performance and thus try to do some sport like an elite sports person. It is prudent to mention that this method may be a source of demotivation where it is used by a wrong person who highlights the weaknesses in some performance thus reducing self-confidence.
In a nutshell, there exists a significant connection between getting encouraged, self-confidence as well as managing nervousness in relation to the performances in dodgeball and the way each and every these aspects interweave to predict achievements of a dodgeball sports person. Nervousness causes some negative effect on the performance of a sport not forgetting self-efficacy (Kerr, 2014). In most cases, the impact of anxiety gives a confirmation as to whether a certain performance in sport was a success or not (Murphy, 2012). The overall effect is that the anxiety will affect confidence and incentives in future performances. Thus when one is able to deal with anxiety, he or she is managing change.
It is true that through completing one’s own set objectives, the levels of anxiety would reduce when undertaking a similar task in the future thus occasioning success. Every aspect discussed above; motivation, confidence as well as arousal and anxiety of an individual in taking part in dodgeball should be exploited, managed and upgraded in order to be of use and work better for a wide range of sports people, for instance, dodgeball players (Murphy, 2012). Where an individual repeatedly views sport experiences as successes, self-confidence perceptions improve. On the other hand, if the individual sees the experiences in sport as negatives, the levels of self-efficacy reduce. The implication is that as a sporting individual, one is required to perceive any sporting experience and draw affirmative inferences from it since this is seminal in assisting in future performance rather than remaining depressed
A balance of motivation, confidence as well as arousal and anxiety of an individual in taking part in dodgeball is important in ensuring success particularly at elite levels. Moreover, according to studies, individualism is vital in the analysis of psychological aspects of performance (Mellalieu & Hanton, 2015). Therefore, anxiety should be oppressed and exploited positively to develop self-efficacy which directly proliferate motivation towards dodgeball performance.
- Hanrahan, S. J., & Andersen, M. B. (2010). Routledge Handbook of Applied Sport Psychology: A Comprehensive Guide for Students and Practitioners. Routledge
- Kerr, J. H. (2014). Motivation and Emotion in Sport: Reversal Theory. Psychology Press
- Mellalieu, S., & Hanton, S. (2015). Contemporary Advances in Sport Psychology: A Review. Routledge
- Murphy, S. M. (2012). The Oxford Handbook of Sport and Performance Psychology. OUP USA