Introduction
Training occupies an essential role in athletics, both for junior practitioners and seasoned professionals. Carefully honing individuals’ physical skills and mental wellness to maximize their sports performance has long been the word for educators, trainers, and managers. It applies to instances of organized sport within schools, allowing certain children not to pursue various activities semi-professionally. For this assignment, the review will discuss psychological health interventions for secondary school child athletes.
Psychological training allows the individual to better cope with the stresses, developing healthy coping strategies and approaches (Van Agteren et al., 2021). In particular, the interventions include reducing stress and anxiety junior athletes feel in their pre-season preparation. Innovative technologies are the key component of the program that allow psychologies to help students in mastering concentration, visualization, and mindfulness techniques. Through various psychological techniques, including self-talk and mindfulness stress reduction, it will be possible to reinforce the existing psychological resilience of the children, giving them the power necessary to complete their athletic season successfully.
Intended Athletes
As mentioned in the previous section, the main target of the intervention is children who took up junior tennis. A secondary school setting is mandatory, determining that the intervention targets can not be older than 16. The specific demographics of intervention participants are irrelevant, as any child is suited for a psychologically-inclined improvement strategy. All students are divided into groups by their age due to the common problems they have and the similar perception of the reality to ensure the effective cooperation.
Phase of Season
The intervention will take place during the pre-season period, where the young athletes will have to prepare for specific training and the challenges of complementation gradually. Compared to off-season training, this time is more stressful for athletes, requiring additional consideration and specific solutions to create peak circumstances for success. In the case of this intervention, the pre-season period presents a time when stress reduction strategies can be tested and applied.
Objectives
Several central objectives exist in maintaining and supporting junior tennis players’ excellence. One noted throughout the other sections is the reduction of stress. Reduction is achieved through a collection of processes, such as mitigation, prevention, and management of stress responses. Training allows instructors to oversee the creation of healthy coping mechanisms in their students. Stress mitigation will be achieved through breathing techniques, exercise, and other approaches that will enable athletes to experience less stress. Stress prevention, then, will work toward reducing the reasons for the stress reaction.
The third objective, stress management, will contribute to allowing young athletes to handle stress and react to it in ways that minimally affect their professional performance. Through careful coaching and the inclusion of strategies that can be used in the future, the 3-session plan will give juniors the tools to fight and manage stress. Furthermore, this intervention will aim to improve the athlete’s performance in the field, including their level of focus, coordination, and reaction. It will be possible to attain psychological and physical excellence by including various coaching techniques.
Rationale
The intervention plan will include three stages: mindfulness-based stress reduction, self-talk training, and general mental health training. In order to understand how the chosen strategies will help child athletes, it is necessary to discuss the choice of intervention methods and provide some justifications for each. Competitions are an inherently stressful time, one where the skills of individuals are constantly tested and put against others. It can be challenging to maintain a healthy attitude and balance between one’s life and their sports career, and it can be just as hard to cope with the expectations of one’s teammates and family. Therefore, intervention strategies designed to reduce stress are vital to the regular training regimen.
The first session of the psychological skills training program is self-talk training. According to research, self-talk training has been considered influential in helping athletes overcome and reduce competition anxiety while improving performance (Walter et al., 2019). In this context, self-talk refers to using words and phrases to influence cognition and feelings. Research completed by Walter et al. (2019) suggests that including self-talk therapy in working with junior athletes is effective. For the present intervention, teaching athletes the appropriate way to use self-talk will give them the tools necessary to utilize the technique in the future and mitigate some level of their present anxiety.
The second session is the obligatory discussion of mindfulness training or stress reduction. It is possible to conduct it using the lecture format combined with discussion. The active participation of students in analyzing the information they hear from the psychologist is essential because it allows them to apply the knowledge to their cases. A considerable body of research exists to justify using these types of coping strategies as effective in reducing the levels of anxiety, depression, and stress that individuals experience (Kriakous et al., 2020). Furthermore, they are routinely enhanced through practices such as meditation, allowing individuals to take their wellness into their own hands (“How to manage stress with mindfulness and meditation,” 2022). It is a technique primarily designed to improve psychological functioning and has no direct ties to performance or physical improvement. Nevertheless, it is a necessary addition to the program, considering that young athletes may be unprepared to manage their anxiety or fear.
The third session of the program will utilize a general mental health training program to enhance the capacities of tennis players. According to the research presented, mental health training establishes and facilitates necessary skills in athletes, including the ability to relax, concentrate attention, and conduct mental visualization (Elsayed, 2022). These skills in concentration and visualization are necessary not only to relax better but also to gain a practical advantage during competitions. When combined with physical training, this method provides a rounded level of competence to athletes, preparing them for all aspects of competitive tennis.
3 Session Outline
Session One
The first session will focus on distributing and facilitating a mental health training program for athletes. It is the general introduction in the lecture format and subsequent discussion to help students learn the basic principles of self-care. Individuals will be gathered in a comfortable environment where they can learn, such as the school or the sports field, where the team manager or instructor will deliver the information.
A simple plan for the lesson will be set, including the necessary goals of the intervention and the information that will be covered during this session. Children will be directed to think in ways that allow them to train more effectively and consider challenges before them more calmly. In particular, the focus will be on the importance of maintaining a positive image of the self and concentrating during times of stress. In addition, mental visualization training will be conducted, allowing children to understand the importance of using their imagination and assessing tennis as a sport. The session will last two hours, occasionally broken up by light exercises focusing on breathing and flexibility. It will allow athletes to apply the lessons they learned in practice and keep up with their pre-season workouts.
Session Two
Session two will primarily center on teaching mindfulness and its importance. Similarly to the first session, the grounds for delivering an intervention are a shared space where all athletes can gather, allowing each participant to feel free and open about their thoughts. Mindfulness training will include discussions on the importance of reacting well to stressful situations, being aware of one’s emotions, and realizing the needs of one’s body. In addition, the discussion will cover managing a sports-focused lifestyle and the daily concerns of young athletes, including the sports-family balance and communication with the team. This approach will reduce the stress athletes experience daily and prime them for achievement.
Furthermore, stress management techniques outside of the field will be discussed. Meditation, arts and crafts, talking with others, and other potential tactics for managing stress, their benefits, and challenges will be covered. Similarly to the last part of the process, this session will take two hours, broken up by exercise or other psychical activity.
Session Three
The last session will discuss self-talk and its effect on one’s understanding of the self and the ability to manage stress. Self-talk is an integral part of athletic excellence, and teaching young athletes to apply it effectively is essential. The session will occur under the same circumstances as the other two but will take an hour instead of two. The instructor will discuss self-talk, bringing examples of how to adjust one’s internal monologue and patterns best. As a result, enhancing the athlete’s performance and reducing anxiety, self-efficacy, and performance will be possible. The process will affect young athletes’ feelings, thoughts, and behaviors and give them a more productive way to cope with stressful occurrences.
Evidence of Impact
In order to measure the impact of the intervention, it will be necessary to collect feedback from the athletes throughout the intervention process. This includes distributing surveys and other materials that allow each individual to express their perceptions regarding the sessions. This method has been shown effective in other research interventions and is commonly used to collect feedback (O’Cathain et al., 2019).
The surveys will include a field allowing participants to share their thoughts regarding the intervention, what they thought was effective, and how it has impacted their future athletic competitions. In addition, the athletes will be asked to describe their mental state during the competition and the pre-season period and compare it to their feelings last season. This feedback collection will allow the distributor of the intervention to see whether discussions of stress mitigation and mindfulness have positively correlated with self-perception and performance.
The critical detail is that the rationale and results of the psychological interventions are consistent with the theoretical information on this topic. First, mindfulness allows students to understand the value of the physical activity, which supports their motivation for exercising. According to the research conducted by Grasdalsmoen et al. (2020), the need to encourage undergraduates to be more physically active is evident, given the dose-response relationship between inactivity and poor mental health, self-harm, and suicidal attempts. This correlation can be found among females and males, making physical activity the essential component of mental health stability (Grasdalsmoen et al., 2020). It is especially critical for adolescents who experience various psychological problems during this period.
It is also necessary to mention the importance of literacy in mental health issues, which is typically low among students. Mindfulness and the basic principles of self-care are the vital components of this knowledge, and the students acquire these skills during the psychological intervention. As Morgan et al. (2018) write, there is significant controversy concerning mental health awareness among adolescents due to prejudice about psychological problems and stigmatization. As a result, many students who have problems with their mental stability, feel the signs of depression, or have suicidal thoughts, hesitate to discuss it with someone. The discussed psychological interventions allow these students to talk to professionals without fear of stigmatization.
Conclusion
There is a link between the student’s self-esteem and their ability to cope with the psychological challenges they experience. Karaca et al. (2019) write that students who do not feel they can manage their thoughts and emotions feel frustrated and alienated from the community. It leads to the aggravation of their problems and harms their socialization.
For this reason, instructing students about the need for self-care and giving them practical ways to deal with the occurring inconveniences is the effective solution. It also allows students to avoid further stigmatization if they have particular mental concerns because their peers know this topic (Lanfredi et al., 2019). It states that the proposed three-session plan for psychological intervention among students is practically justified and can significantly improve their self-perception and communication. Therefore, the plan that provides students with general psychological instruction, training in self-care techniques, and mindfulness is effective. These steps allow the psychologist to prepare students for challenges and give them coping skills.
References
Elsayed, S. (2022). Effect of mental training program by using some psychological skills to develop emotional state for tennis Juniors. The Scientific Journal of Physical Education and Sports Sciences. Web.
Grasdalsmoen, M., Eriksen, H. R., Lønning, K. J., & Sivertsen, B. (2020). Physical exercise, mental health problems, and suicide attempts in university students. BMC Psychiatry, 20(1), 175. Web.
How to manage stress with mindfulness and meditation. (2022). Mindful. Web.
Karaca, A., Yildirim, N., Cangur, S., Acikgoz, F., & Akkus, D. (2019). Relationship between mental health of nursing students and coping, self-esteem and social support. Nurse Education Today, 76, 44–50. Web.
Kriakous, S. A., Elliott, K. A., Lamers, C., & Owen, R. (2020). The effectiveness of mindfulness-based stress reduction on the psychological functioning of healthcare professionals: A systematic review. Mindfulness, 12(1), 1-28. Web.
Lanfredi, M., Macis, A., Ferrari, C., Rillosi, L., Ughi, E. C., Fanetti, A., Younis, N., Cadei, L., Gallizioli, C., Uggeri, G., & Rossi, R. (2019). Effects of education and social contact on mental health-related stigma among high-school students. Psychiatry Research, 281. Web.
Morgan, A. J., Ross, A., & Reavley, N. J. (2018). Systematic review and meta-analysis of Mental Health First Aid training: Effects on knowledge, stigma, and helping behaviour. PloS One, 13(5), e0197102. Web.
O’Cathain, A., Croot, L., Duncan, E., Rousseau, N., Sworn, K., Turner, K. M., Yardley, L., & Hoddinott, P. (2019). Guidance on how to develop complex interventions to improve health and healthcare. BMJ Open, 9(8), e029954. Web.
Van Agteren, J., Iasiello, M., Lo, L., Bartholomaeus, J., Kopsaftis, Z., Carey, M., & Kyrios, M. (2021). A systematic review and meta-analysis of psychological interventions to improve mental wellbeing. Nature Human Behaviour, 5(5), 631-652. Web.
Walter, N., Nikoleizig, L., & Alfermann, D. (2019). Effects of self-talk training on competitive anxiety, self-efficacy, volitional skills, and performance: An intervention study with junior sub-elite athletes. Sports, 7(6), 148. Web.