Group dynamics

Group is made up 2 or more people that are communicating with each other in a manner that each person influences or is influenced by other team mates.

Group development:

The development of a group goes through these 4 stages:

• Forming
• Storming 
• Norming
• Performing

Forming is when the team decides to meet and they all assess the strengths and weaknesses of the whole group. Then they start to form relationships and identify roles within group.

Storming is when conflict develops between the team members and needs to be resolved so that the group can move forward. This can be important as there will be a lot of stress involved or others may try to get a more important role.

Norming is conflict replaced by co-operation and group moves towards common goals. All the group members contribute in group decisions so they have to agree or disagree to what they are discussing about.

Performing is progress and functioning as a group as well as working towards the goals and achievement.

Steiner’s model of group effectiveness:

Steiner's model was put up to explain group effectiveness. This model explains the relationship between the interactive group and it's performance in sport. 

Steiner's model: 

Actual productivity = potential productivity - losses due to faulty processes

Actual productivity refers to the team effort, how the team performs in the sport they are playing. Potential productivity refers to the individual skills and ability of each athlete in the team. For example, if a cricket team had 5 best fast bowlers who have taken the highest amount of wickets and 6 best batsmen who have scored really high runs then their team will be the best because the players in the team have good knowledge of the sport and understand their job in the sport as well as having good abilities and skills. 

Loses due to faulty processes refers to the problems that can come in their way as a group. These problems may stop the whole team from progressing ahead and reaching their potential performance. Faulty processes may include loss of coordination, no communication among team mates.   

Ringelman effect 

The Ringelman effect suggests that as the size of the group increases the individual productivity decreases. This is not caused by co-ordinational loss, it is often because of motivational loss. Motivational losses occur when individuals are not being told when they are doing something good or something bad.  Athletes hide behind other athletes in the team and get away with less effort and poor performance. 

Social loafing

Social loafing is when there is loss of individual effort in a group due to reduction in motivation. An athlete's performance drops when there is motivational loss. Individuals feel they are not putting in enough effort for the whole group therefore, they don't bother putting in 100% effort. Individuals who fall in the social loafing category tend to be less confident and highly anxious, this may show that they are afraid of failing in the activity or sport they are playing. Some athletes display social loafing and may not put in full effort and may decide not to participate to avoid failure or on the other side they may feel that their contribution may not allow the team to progress or doesn't make a difference to the whole team therefore, they decide not to participate at all.

Interactive and co-active groups

Interactive team requires team members to work with the whole team in order to be a successful team and have successful performance. The successful performance depends on the co-ordination and interaction of each team member and the relationship among each other. An example of this would be a cricket team, to be able to be successful they need to have good co-ordination and interaction between themselves because their performance will effect the whole group. Where as in the IPL one country may not like players from the other team so they may decide not to talk to them but as they are professional players they don't show it on the ground by not passing the ball to the specific player. 

Co-active team require individuals to achieve success in their individual games. This has to be done to improve the teams overall performance or achieve overall team success. Team members do not interact during the game or between the performance their is loss of co-ordination which may not have impact on some performers and they may continue playing individually. 

Cohesion

Task cohesion is how well the team or the team members work together to achieve common goals and objectives.

Social cohesion refers to how well the team members enjoy each other's presence. In recreational games, all the players may get on with each other and enjoy the game no matter who wins or loses the game. 

Both types of cohesion influence performance but task cohesion is mostly for the athletes who may be more competitive and take their sport really seriously whereas social cohesion is for athletes who may just play to have fun and enjoy the game rather than competing and winning the game. 

Factors that effect group cohesion 

There are factors that may effect group cohesion:

- team climate

- Carson's model of cohesion stated four factors;

-1. Environmental 

-2. Personal

-3. Leadership

-4. Team 

For a team to be working effectively in the right climate they would need: 

- Good communication

-Team members know their roles 

- Change is kept to a minimum

-Group has identity and goal

Team members must by helping by being responsible, resolving conflict, supporting each other and putting in 100% effort. 

Carson's model of cohesion: 

Environmental factors - groups that are closer in location and smaller groups tend to be more cohesive than larger groups. This is because team members may meet up regularly and interact which may help in forming relationships. 

Personal factors - Individual characteristics of group members are important, this is because the group members may g=have similar opinions, commitment levels, backgrounds and shared goals and objectives. 

Leadership factors - The leadership style that is used is important for the whole team. Behavior, communication styles and compatibility of the coach are key factors that affect group cohesion. 

Team factors - The longer the period of time the group is together for the more cohesive is the group. The team may experience success and failures which may make the team more cohesive. By being involved in making decision this may have a huge impact on the whole group as it is increasing the cohesiveness of the group. 

Stress and Arousal 

Stress is a state of mental or emotional strain or tension resulting from adverse or demanding circumstances.
There are 2 types of stress:-
- Eustress
- Distress
Eustress is the good stress which keeps a person motivated so they can continue working.
Distress is the bad stress which drops a person's motivation level really low.
Stress can caused by personal problems, occupational problems, internal, external and sports environment.
Internal problems include having lack of sleep, feeling sick, self-esteem and etc...
External problems include social interactions with negative people or major life events.
Occupational problems include stress linked with work, working till late or having too much work then normal.
Personal problems include finance, lifestyle other personal problems.
Sports environment include a person competing in a event for the first time such as Olympics or playing cricket internationally.

There are many symptoms when a person is in stress such as cognitive, somatic and behavioural.
Cognitive symptoms are related to how a person thinks when they are in stress. The brain works differently under stress. As the challenge increases the brain is able to take in more information and be hyperactive which allows the brain to be more alert at the same time. Some symptoms are:

• Thought distortion
• Memory problems
• Preoccupation
• Racing thoughts
• Difficulty making decisions 

Somatic stress is what happens to a person when they are in stress (physical symptoms). Some symptoms include:

• Sleep disturbance
• Muscle tension, aches and pain
• Headaches/ Migraines 
• Fatigue
• Loss of sex drive
• High blood pressure
• Weight loss or gain 
• Hormonal disturbances
• Compromised immune system
• Asthma
• Skin problems - Acne, eczema etc... 

Behavioural stress is how a person behaves or feels when they are in stress. Some symptoms are: 

• Exhaustion
• Unhealthy eating habits
• Sleeping difficulties
• Lack of punctuality
• Risk taking behaviours
• Accidents

Stress has huge impact on a athletes performance because under stress everyone acts differently mentally and physically. When a athlete is under pressure they are trying to do put in their 100% effort but because they are stressed they are not able to do so or their motivation level are decreased and they think that they may not be able to achieve their goals. While playing a sport a person may be thinking about the game but they might have negative thoughts like what if they lose the game because the player or what if their performance is really bad. All these thoughts and feelings and the way an athlete reacts and have influence their overall performance. Having sweaty hands in cricket can lead to many negative things such as if a person is bowler and they have sweaty hands they will not be able to bowl properly because it is likely to slip of early and be no ball. If a athlete is having a lot of stress and this may cause them to have muscle aches or muscle tension which will drop their performance down whilst they are playing cricket. As a fielder they need to be really active and running after the ball when it is coming closer to them, with muscle pain they won't be able to play properly and there are chances of someone playing instead of them. 

Anxiety

Anxiety is a when a person has a strong desire or concern to do something or for something to happen.

Trait anxiety

Trait anxiety refers to a general level of stress that is characteristic of an individual. Trait anxiety differs according to how individuals have adapt themselves to respond to and manage the stress. What may cause anxiety and stress in one person may not initiate any emotion in another. People with high levels of trait anxiety are often quite easily stressed and anxious and this is by birth and it is constant.

State anxiety 

State anxiety is athlete's emotional state at any time, this differs from situation to situation. Athletes can learn different techniques to manage anxiety such as hypnotherapy, cognitive behavior therapy, positive thinking and relaxation.
The symptoms of anxiety are put inti 2 categories:

- Coginitive state anxiety

- Somatic state anxiety

Cognitive state anxiety refers to how the brain reacts to anxiety. This decreases the concentration level; performer makes mistakes as their performance level decreases. For example, a bowler maybe bowling first time in the world cup, they lose concentration seeing thr crowd and they think that they have to perform really well to be able to get fame. They may end up doing no balls or wide balls as their concentration level is decreasing.

Somatic state anxiety refers to how the body reacts to anxiety. The heart rate and breathing rate increases which the athlete may notice as it is a psychological change. The athlet will start to sweat more which will indicate that they are nervous and there will be tension in the muscles which allows the athlete to feel that they are not ready or not relaxed.

Effects on performance: 

Anxiety and arousal both can be at their peak and stay constant for a while, after the optimum level this effect becomes negative. The Catastrophe theory suggests that an increase in cognitive state anxiety will have beneficial effect on performance. If my athlete is going through the symptoms of cognitive state anxiety then they are likely to not concentrate during the match. If the bowler is bowling wide and AB De Villiers is not focusing in the game then the ball is likely to roll for a four, giving the other tesm extra runs. On the other hand, if my athlete is having the symptoms of somatic state anxiety such as increase in heart rate and breathing rate they are likely to know as he's the captain and wouldn't want to let his team down by showing that he's nervous.

Negative effects on performer: 

Anxiety has a negative impact on a athlete's performance due to reduced concentration level, decision making and nagtive self-perception of own ability which may lead to negative self talks or even increased negative self talks. Anxiety can lead to a person having disrupted sleeping patterns which could cause fatigue. As performance level decreases the anxiety level will increase and as the anxiety level keeps increasing there will be decrease in the athlete's performance. 

Arousal 

Arousal is the level of excitement and readiness an athlete has to perform. 

Drive theory

Drive theory was divised by Hull in 1943, this theory suggests that high levels of arousal such as in competition would intensify the dominant response; positive impact on athlete's performance and increasing the quality of performance. 

Performance = arousal x skill

As arousal increases so does the performance, the more the skill is learnt the higher the level of arousal . This will result in a better performance. 



Inverted U theory

Inverted U theiry was developed in 1908 by Yerkes and Dodson. This theory suggests how arousal performances will be below par. This theiry differs from the drive theory, it states that optimal arousal levels will have impact on performance and the performance level will be at their highest point. Arousal level being too low or too high can lower the performance level. As arousal increases so does the level of performance. Arousal will increase to optimal point. At optimal point of arousal the athlete's performance will be at it's highest, after this point performance level will gradually decrease.

Catastrophe theory

Catastrophe theory suggtes that performance is affected by arousal in a smiliar way to Inverted U theory when individual have low cognitive anxiety. When athletes are experiencing higher level of cognitive anxiety this allows the arousal levels increase uo to athlete's threshold. The player experiences dramatic drop in their performance levels. This theory suggests you will perform at a higher level if the athlete has certain level of cognitive state anxiety because this will increase the athlete's attention and concentration level. 



Individual zones of optimal functioning

States that low levels of arousal will make the performance level decresse where as if arousal is at optimal level then the performance will be at its highest. As arousal level increases, performance levl decreases. 

Motivation

What is motivation?
Motivation is determination to succeed in something you are doing.

Trait theory
Trait theory of motivation is when a person's level of motivation is stable and does not change, their motivation level does not change even if they are in the most difficult situation. This theory suggests that level of motivation is inherent and genetic. An example for this would be my athletes motivation level being the same during training or during any matches they play. When they are playing the world cup they'll have this constant motivation level helping them win the match.

Situational theory 
Situational theory of motivation tells that a players motivation level can change depending on the situation they are in. An example of this would be when South Africa is playing a match and they are ahead of their opponent; this will increase the motivation level. Where as if they are really far back and have 2 players left to bat and need many runs then this can also decrease their motivation level as they will feel that they won't win the match because there is too much pressure on them.

Attribution theory
This theory states that depending on achievements a person's behaviour and motivation can change. Reasons for success or failure impact on motivation. Internal and external factors can impact motivation in both positive and negative way. An example of this would be when during matches a specific player is not blamed for losing or winning, it is usually the team effort that is mentioned by the team's captain at the end of the match. When the team loses a match then the athletes usually would say that their fielding was weak or their batting was weak and this would tell them that they need to be working on their weaknesses to make it their team strength.


Intrinsic and extrinsic theory 
There are 2 types of motivations: intrinsic and extrinsic.
Intrinsic motivation is when a person is motivation by internal factors. Intrinsic motivations allows people to do activity for fun, for achievement. Intrinsic motivation refers to behavior that is driven by internal rewards.

Extrinsic motivation is when a person is motivated by external factors. This motivation suggests that people participate in a activity for external award such as money, fame, trophies and etc... This type of motivation arises from outside of individual. This motivation is opposite to intrinsic motivation.

Achievement theory

• Atkinson - Need to achieve (NACH) - Need to avoid failure (NAF) 

Need to achieve theory was found by Atkinson, this theory suggests that a person may play a sport or participate in a sport to win, whereas, his second theory of need to avoid failure suggests that athletes may be losing a game but do not want to take the blame on themselves so they avoid being in the situation. 

• Martens - competitiveness (wanting to succeed in sport) - Competitive trait anxiety (desire to avoid failure in sporting competition)
• Impacted by task faced and reward involved

Effects on training and performance:
My athlete doesn't really fall into a category of intrinsic or extrinsic but South Africa hasn't won a cricket world cup yet so this suggests that as a team they are trying hard to win a cup for the country. My athlete acts according to the situation therefore, their motivation level changes in different situations.

Personality 

Personality is different characteristics that make a person unique.

Personality trait theory
Trait theory suggests that we are born with certain characteristics and no one can change them, those characteristics will be with you for the whole life. Characteristics are consistent across varied situations. Hans Eysenck (1968) argued that traits can be grouped on two continuum; Extrovert-Introvert and stable Neurotic. This puts people into different categories and tells how they usually behave .
People who are extrovert are more outgoing, sociable, become aroused more slowly than introverts. Introvert are usually opposite of extroverts. They are shy and reserved, they prefer to be isolated from others, become aroused more quickly than extroverts. Neurotic people experience high degrees of dress, they recover slowly from stress and their moods are unreliable. Stable people are opposite to Neurotic, they display predictable emotions in appropriate situation, their moods are predictable  and they tend not to experience intense stress; recovery from stress is rapid. An example of this would be when my athlete is always encouraging his players in the world and the IPL regardless of the situation he is in. He is calm throughout the match and supporting all the players unlike other captains who get aggressive and start scream at their team mates.

Social learning theory (situational approach)
Social learning theory is also known as situational theory. This theory is opposite to Trait Theory, it suggests that you are who you were brought up to be and won't remain the same for all of your life. Developed by Albert Bandura (1977) the theory argues that behaviour is a product of modelling and feedback. An example of this would be De Villiers learning to behave calm with his players from someone else and understands that if he behaves in a good way this would encourage his team mates to perform better even though they are losing or close to the target. During the world cup South Africa were far from the target score but at the end when they lost De Villiers didn't blame any of the players for losing the match. This would be because he may have seen other team captain do it and it may creative a positive environment for the other players.

Situational Approach
Situational theory is different from trait theories as it tells how a person responds in various situations. An example of this would be De Villiers not screaming at players when they miss a catch or let the ball roll for 4's. Where as other team captains would blame the people who missed the catches in the game and say they lost the match because of those players, De Villiers would rather be really calm and encourage the players by saying well tried. As a wicket keeper if the ball goes wide or no ball he wouldn't be aggressive and say 'ball properly' he'll instead tell them to be relaxed so they can be focused.

Interactional Approach
This theory is a mixture of the Trait Theory and Situational theory. Bowers (1973) states that the person and situation offers twice as much predictive power on behaviour as Traits and Situations alone. An example of this would be De Villiers making his players practice really hard before they go into the world cup as South Africa haven't won any trophy till yet; this allows the players to work more hard and work more competitively in the world cup. AB De Villiers becomes really competitive during the world cup but does not blame the players for losing the match or does not get angry and frustrated during the match.

Type A and Type B Personalities 
Friedman and Rosenman (1959) developed a questionnaire to identify people who were prone to stress-related illness.
After the questionnaire people were put into 2 categories Type A and Type B. Type A people are competitive, achievement orientated, aggressive, highly stressed and are like control where as Type B people are less competitive, more relaxed, delegators, and have less stress level. My athlete fits into both categories because he is competitive as well as more relaxed and calm.

Marten's Schematic 

Marten's Schematic view shows that personality has three different levels and they all are related to each other:

• Role-related behavior
• Typical responses
• Psychological core

Your role-related behavior is often insistent by the circumstances you find yourself in, this is the most changeable outlook of personality. A person's personality changes as the intuition of your environment changes. An example of this would be when De Villiers is the captain for his team in the Cricket World Cup and he gives instructions to his team mates to follow, where as in the IPL someone else is the captain and he needs to follow the instructions he is being given because there are different players in the IPL team and he may not understand the players.

The psychological core is called 'the real you'. This is the part of you that contains your values, interests, attitude; these aspects are constant, they can't be changed. An example of this would be how Ab De Villiers talks to his team after the match or during the match, there is a lot of pressure during the match which will make him act the way he is and his attitude, value and interest will be the same in the match as there is a lot of competition and he wants to win the match.

Typical responses are the way you respond to the people around you or the way you respond to in different situations. An example of this would be when South Africa had to get players from the other team and they kept missing easy catches, some captains would really get angry in these situations but De Villiers kept calm encouraging them that they can get them out next time. Even though it was a really close match De Villiers didn't blame other players for dropping the catch. Typical responses are often seen as good indicators of your psychological core.

Effects on training and performance:
A athletes personality tells how they are and how they reach when they are in a certain situation. Ab De Villiers is a positive captain, he does not let his team members feel that they've done something wrong in the match; if his team succeeds than it's the whole team work not just one players work. During training his behavior and attitude towards the sport is constant, whilst playing the match he is more calm and where as in training he helps his team members work on their weaknesses as well as his weaknesses so they don't lose the match. During the world cup, South Africa made it to Semi-finals, this may have encouraged the captain to focus on their fielding and work better on their skills so in the next world cup they are a strong team.

AB De Villiers

Name of athlete: AB De Villiers

Sport they play: Cricket

What level they play the sport at: Elite level

Brief: AB De Villiers is born on 17th February 1984, he plays cricket for South Africa. De Villiers is a right handed batsman and right-arm medium fast bowler. His role in a match is a wicket keeper but as well as that he is all rounder. In the Indian Premier League (IPL) he played for Delhi Daredevils for 2 years and in the year 2011 he joined Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB). The IPL has a auctions system, the highest bid gets the player in their team.When De Villiers was 20 years old he played his first test début against England on 17th December 2004.