CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

Gymnastics is much more than what we see at the Olympics. It is governed by the
Federation of International Gymnastics and consists of several disciplines, Artistic,
Rhythmic, Aerobic, Acrobatic and Trampoline Gymnastics. This study is about
Artistic Gymnastics (by using the term gymnastics, Artistic Gymnastics is
mentioned). Over the last decade, Artistic gymnastics has developed tremendously.
Huge changes have been seen, for instance complexity of movements on apparatuses
has increased. For example, a new vault table skilled with more elasticity, bigger
surface and more stable, replaced the traditional vaulting horse in 2001. Which has
proved as a safer apparatus as compared to the old vaulting horse. Hence, the
Gymnasts are capable to perform higher difficult movement and spectacular routines.
Additionally, in 2006, the code of points was modified in such a way that the score of
the routine consists of an execution score and a difficulty score. The execution score
is 10 points and the judges distract points from it for every error i.e. falls, wobbles,
extra swings, steps, bent arms/legs, low landings, incorrect body positions etc. the
gymnast make. The difficulty score has no base score and is based on the difficulty of
the routine and this score is open-ended. The modification in the code of points has
resulted in more difficult and higher difficulty elements routines. Because of these
developments, gymnastics is becoming more and more spectacular as gymnasts are
trying to reach the highest score with the ultimate goal to win the championships. To
achieve these goals a gymnasts have to attain several characteristics in physical and
psychological domain. Still unknown, however, is which of these characteristics are
most important for an elite artistic gymnast.. The psychological domain consists of
mind related characteristics, including concentration, motivation, striving for
perfection, dealing with anxiety and the use of psychological strategies
The roots of gymnastics and, indeed, the roots of almost every other sport, originate in
the body’s Fundamental Movement Patterns. Every single skill in gymnastics
discipline evolves from one or more of these movement patterns: Landings, Static
Positions, Locomotion’s, Rotations, Swings, Springs and Object Manipulation.

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Vault (Men and women): Vaulting to Success Using Mental Strategies

The physical skills, the vault table is a common apparatus to both men's and women's
competition, with little difference in difficulties. A gymnast sprints down a maximum
of 25 meters in length on the runway, before leaping onto a spring board. Harnessing
the explosive energy of the spring, the gymnast directs his or her body hands-first
towards the vault. Body position is maintained while "popping" (blocking using only
a shoulder movement) the vaulting platform, allows gymnasts to get maximum height
and distance on the vault and gives enough air time to do as many rotations and twists
as need and land in a standing position on the far side of the vault. On vault, body
position and landings are very important and requires kinesthetic awareness and speed
of movement in the air in case of more difficult and complex vaults.

Mental skills - Mentally vault can be challenging in many ways. Vault is the only
event that is not a routine. Rather, it is a single element that is over in a matter of
seconds. Because entire score depends on this one element, vault some-times has an
all-or-nothing feel to it, If gymnasts have a poor takeoff or slightly miss one hand on
the horse, their entire vault and score are affected. They have little room to make up
points. So, they need to be completely focused as they vault. On the other hand, Many
competitors enjoy vault because they just do it without much time to let their thinking
get in the way of performance.

Useful skills
Imagery Vault lends itself well to the use of mental imagery. The following is an
example of how gymnasts can use imagery to take themselves through a vault. They
can use imagery on vault to build confidence the night before, ten minutes before, or
one minute before they compete. They also can use this type of exercise to rehearse
their vault for practice or to overcome fear. In this script, the vault is a handspring
front being performed in a competition situation. Remember, this is only a sample,
and you will need to alter it to fit your own personal needs but this gives you an idea
of how you can take yourself through an imagery exercise.

Managing anxiety Some gymnasts experience anxiety related to vault. They wonder
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if they will get their steps right wonder if they can get high enough and rotate enough
to flip and twist and land on their feet, and wonder if they will stick their landing. The
energy generated by anxiety can actually be speed, You can put that anxious energy
into your run and push off the vault. Some gymnasts like to reframe their anxity and
want to feel activated before vault because they need that energy to run fast down the
runway.
Energizing Vault also lends itself well to energizing techniques. If a gymnast does not
feel “psyched up” enough or feels fatigued before competition or workout then
energizing techniques can be useful. Remember that before deciding to adopt
energizing strategies, you need to assess whether you need them. If you are the type
of gymnast who always has a tremendous amount of energy or feels anxious, then you
may not need energizing technique. For you, energizing may make you more anxious
or cause you to over rotate your vault. instead a relaxation technique must be used.

Challenges Specific to Vault and their remedies with in the womb of

psychological skills, Gymnasts can encounter a number of specific problems on
vault, but these problems don’t have to take gymnasts out of the competition. They
just need to know how to handle them. Here are some pointers from mental
perspective.
Balking during competition Sometimes steps are off, or can’t get adequate speed
during run or feel as if won’t hit the board in the right place. So, gymnasts stop or run
past the board. It is called balking. Every gymnast has done this at one time or another
in practice without much concern, but it can be especially disconcerting during
competition. It is easy to think that gymnasts missed their steps once, so they will do
it again. Balking can be a major psych-out, but only if they allow it to affect them.
First, they need to forget about it by using thought stopping.
For balking, gymnasts must use coping imagery to prepare themselves for the
possibility of doing so in a competition. For example, By visualizing themselves in a
competitive situation on vault. Imagine you have just balked on your first vault.
Imagine how you feel. You would probably be flustered and nervous. In your
imagination, see and feel yourself take some deep, calming breaths. Say to yourself,
“I can do this” Forget the first vault, and focus on the next vault and cues that help
you vault well. Prepare for the second vault and see yourself coming through with lots

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of confidence to bail the vault that counts. In this way, imagery can help you be
prepared for and solve potential problems before they happen.

Falling on your first vault If gymnasts fall or somehow make a major error (for
instance, didn’t do the vault they meant to do) results in 0.00 score on their first vault,
they may feel pressure to perform on the second vault. They may see it as a last
chance if it it’s an important competition, the pressure is even greater. They do not
have to let the pressure prevent them from performing their best. They just have to
rethink and reframe the situation. “Here is an opportunity to prove to yourself that you
can do this vault and you can come through when it counts” (positive self talk). And
just must do the vault the way they know how. For example, Go back to starting
point, Visualize and feel yourself vault in perfect form. Energize yourself and focus
on the technique of the vault what you need to do, visualize a perfect performance,
energize, and go. Don’t waste time thinking about what you might do wrong or what
bad luck that was on the first vault. Focus your energy on what you need to do and
what you can do right.

Sticking the landing On any event, but especially with vault, a perfect landing is
important. Precious tenths (0.10, 0.30 or more) can be lost when extra steps are taken.
One way to focus on sticking your landings is to use goal setting. (Remember, use
goal setting to perfect landings on other events too). For example, set goal to stick on
every attempt of your vault and evaluate yourselves to see, how much you could
achieve.

Floor Exercise (Men and Women) Tumbling to the top

Physical skills Floor exercise requires both power and grace Gymnasts must
demonstrate multiple tumbling skills that include flips, rotations and twists, moving
forward/sideward and backward. Floor is probably the most physically demanding
event to demonstrate air born movements (multiple rotations and twists) flexibility,
strength, and balance. Routines will last between 60–70 seconds in case of boys, and
therefore, gymnast’s needs to learn to pace themselves well. Floor requires endurance
to get through tumbling passes and the dance or transitions in between. Also, they
need to tumble a minimum of D value with good execution during the last pass as it’s

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a requirement and leave a good final impression with the judges. The Female
gymnasts perform a choreographed exercise on instrumental music with dance and
leap series, acrobatic skills, turns and tumbling passes for maximum of 90 seconds.

Mental Skills Often gymnasts experience anxiety about competing on floor as

gymnasts have to perform a number of acrobatic and dance elements in the period of
70-90 seconds, missing/falling in even a single move may ruin the performance.
Floor requires mental focus and activation control for gymnasts to perform their best.
Women must mentally switch from powerful tumbling to the relatively more restful
and graceful dance portions, all with flow and continuity. More so than the others, this
event allows a gymnast to play to the judges and crowd. In the words of Kerri Strug,
“It takes enthusiasm, positive energy, and positive attitude” to excel on floor. If a
gymnast looks as if she is enjoying herself out there, she is likely to get the crowd
behind her as they marvel over her interpretation of the music. This type of
“performance” requires confidence and the ability to switch focus from dance and
tumbling to the crowd and judges, as executing the acrobatic elements and dancing
series coupled with expressive and ease facial expression is not an easy task. Men also
must shift from powerful tumbling to controlled, precise balance and strength moves
with the ease presentation. Although men do not compete to music or have the same
opportunity to play to the crowd, they can still use personality and flair to get the
crowd behind them.
Mental Strategies: for optimal Activation, gymnasts must use energized breathing,
energized imagery, or upbeat music. For remembering the routine, Imagery must be
practiced.
Floor require lot of concentration power, the ability to shift focus quickly. Gymnasts
needs to go from narrow/internal (being aware of the body position) to narrow/
external (looking at the corner of the mat where they will do their next tumbling pass)
to broad/external (expressions to the judges) and rapidly need to switch back and forth
throughout the routine.

Uneven parallel Bars

Physical skills Women gymnasts, on the uneven bars, navigates two different heights

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horizontal bars require swing, releases, catches, timing, and endurance. There is
standard height of bars, with adjustable width. Performance includes swing, circle,
transition and release and catch moves etc. A gymnast’s routine must be in constant
motion as she swings from bar to bar, changes grips and directions and performs
release moves. A gymnast must learn to trust that she can let go of the bar, do a move
(often several feet in the air), and be able to grasp the bar again. There are a lot of
diverse skills to be mastered for one event. Now, for the batter grip on the bar, the
leather grips are worn which also prevents the hands from blisters and tears.

Mental Skills On bars a gymnast needs a moderate amount of physical and mental
energy to maintain her swing. She must learn to focus and concentrate to do a variety
of moves in the right position to regrasp the bar. She needs to manage possible fear as
she flies high in the air between and above the bars.

Imagery As with vault. Imagery can be very useful in mastering bars. You can
practice imagery on one element that is new or is giving you trouble or you can
practice a whole routine. For instance, if you are trying to learn a giant, you might
practice. Once your master imagery of single elements, you can visualize your whole
routine, you can do it any time, the more the better. Yu can do it before workout,
before a bar routine, after the routine to correct errors, and after workout. Make sure
your image positive outcomes and feel yourself in full conrol in your imagery.

Managing fear on Bars. Gymnasts often become fearful on bars because of the
height required for release moves. In addition, some of these moves are blind, and
athletes must trust their air sense and position to clear the bar and regrasp it.

Challenges Specific to Bars

Sore hands -gymnasts can’t do gymnastics without running into sore hands from
bars. Sore hands and rips can keep them from doing the amount of training they want
or need on bars. Preventions is the best medicine when it comes to their hands. It is
important to develop a consistent plan for maintaining the health of hands and to be
extremely dedicated to that plan. Even if they take all the care they can, though, will
not avoid soreness and rips completely. Of course, it seems that it is always right
before that major competition that they rip… badly.
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First, keep in mind that some injuries (including blisters and rips on hands) are severe
and require special care or sitting out of practice or competition. Always consult with
coach and/or physician when they have any type of injury. It has never been
advocated to practice when have a severe injury and could do more permanent
damage. The pain they feel is their body sending them a message to take it easy, and
it is important to listen. When the rip is a minor inconvenience, you can use the power
of your mind to focus on gymnastics.
Gymnasts might handle sore hands or rips differently. Gymnasts needs to learn the
thought stopping and replace it. If their attention begins to wander to their hands,
recognize what has happened and shift it back to what they are doing. If the pain
becomes too severe and distracting, then gymnasts must make a decision about
whether or not to end bar workout.
After training so hard and learning various difficult skills, It is hard for a gymnast to
sit out of competition because of sore hands or a rip, and most do their best to
compete anyway. Much of the time, gymnasts can count on their adrenaline to kick in,
and the pain becomes less noticeable. So if gymnasts decide from the start not to
worry about their hands and not to focus on the pain (Because gymnasts probably
won’t notice it much when they are up on bars anyway) that’s an advantage.
Remember, anything that takes focus away from gymnastics will keep gymnasts from
performing their best, So forget the hands and do what gymnasts know how to do.
Once getting on the bar, focus on the routine and don’t let it distracted. Use mental
imagery to practice and prepare before the performance.

It’s just not only sore hands on bars event in which minor pain gets in the way of an
optimal performance. Gymnasts bear the fear of falling or hitting on the bars, slip of
grip, for that purpose PST is an important part as it help the gymnasts to realize the
biomechanical technique and execute the skills technically without any injury.

Balance Beam

Physical skills: Beam requires balance, flexibility, strength precision, steadiness, and
fearlessness. It requires a gymnast to tumble, leap and dance in a straight line on a
piece of leather-covered wood that is approximately four feet off the ground and
about four inches wide. She has to demonstrate anxiety control, flexibility, grace, and

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power all at the same time. Beam probably requires the most diverse skills of all the
WAG apparatuses. The routine has to be choreographed for 70 to 90 seconds in
length.

The mental side. Beam is often seen as the most difficult event. Just staying on the
beam sometimes becomes a primary goal. It is easy to slip and fall and even easier to
have a major wobble. Anxiety can have a tremendous effect on a gymnast’s
performance. Inability to control anxiety can be a gymnast’s downfall on this event
more than on the other events. In addition, fear is a major factor and can increase the
anxiety. It is not surprising with all the aerial (and sometimes blind) moves that fear
of injury can hamper a gymnast’s beam progress and performance.

Anxiety Management: From a psychological perspective, the ability to manage

anxiety is probably the key to being a great beam worker. Many gymnasts can learn
spectacular moves on the beam and can do them in workouts, but will wobble or fall,
or both, during a meet because of the anxiety, in fact, gymnasts often make errors
during competition on moves they Never miss in workout because of the added
anxiety. Learning the relaxation skills will give them an edge on beam. First, need to
identify when they feel anxious and what makes them feel anxious, then begin using
relaxation skills as part of practice. Gymnasts can use relaxation skills any time they
start to feel some anxiety. With enough practice, relaxation will become second nature
and can be used during a competition when anxiety levels are even higher.
Focus Strategies: Another important psychological skill for beam is the ability to
focus. It takes a great deal of focus to do balance beam, gymnasts must learn to focus
on all of body parts, making sure that they are in the right place. Gymnasts have to go
all out on every skill. Must be able to block out everything, that is going on around
them. Likewise, emphasizing the importance of focus it is important quality for beam
to always focus in mind at four inches and nothing else. Gymnasts have to be able to
block out noise and all surrounding movements so that they have tunnel vision.
Because distraction of attention from the beam will lead to fall. A gymnast needs to
know what and how she is going perform next.

Challenges Specific to Beam

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Going from low beam to high beam with a new skill
When a gymnast has perfected flip-flop layout on the low beam and can do it fairly
consistently now. The next step is to take it to high beam. It should be no problem, a
coach may reminds a gymnast. One beam is the same as any other, right? WRONG!
Every gymnast has experienced “low-beam confidence” only to feel that she is
starting over once she steps up on high beam to do the exact same move. The only
difference is a meager four feet in the air (and a new mental perspective, of course).
On one hand, it is clear that the skill gymnast have been doing easily on low beam is
the same one she should be able to do on high beam. If she go for it as she did on the
low beam, she will be successful. gymnasts will need to continue to remind
themselves that they have mastered it and can make the transition to high beam. On
the other hand, it is hard to forget that the stakes have literally been raised. Injuries are
more likely with that added four feet. Often you can transfer skills (especially easier
skills) from low to high beam without much difficulty. In other cases, they can use a
spot, stacked mats, a medium-level high beam, or any combination of these aids,
before working their way up to a regulation-high beam (without mats!). Once they
gain confidence at each of these progressions, you can more easily transfer the
confidence to the next level of difficulty.

Blocking
when gymnast has mastered a move on low beam, gotten spots or stacked mats on
high beam and still cannot get herself to throw the skill. Sometimes need to start over.
Go back to low beam and need to prove to herself (again) that she can easily do the
skill. Then work way back up to the high beam. Setting small goals to reach the
ultimate goal of doing the skill on high beam will help here. If she stick with it and
maintain a positive attitude, she can master that move on the high beam too. A fall
early in beam routine

Gymnasts often find themselves giving up and having a number of additional falls,
even on elements that are usually consistent for them. Much of the trouble lies in a
gymnast’s thinking. With the first fall from the beam, gymnasts loose the hope and get
to the level which makes them fall more throughout their routine, First, you need to
start with good thinking habits in practice. Remember that practice makes permanent.
Turn your thinking and attitude around entirely in workouts. Complete every routine

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you begin, even in training. This is good practice in case you have an early fall off
beam in competition. You want to fight for every skill and every routine in practice as
if it were in competition. Never give up.

Then continue to use this mind-set in competition. If, you fall or have major deduction
early in your routine, there is nothing you can do about it. It has happened. Here the
most important skills, which will work, is control of thoughts and replacing the
negative ones with positive one. Which will help the gymnasts to understand that they
still have the chance to end on a good note and leave a positive impression.

Pommel Horse

Physical skills. Pommel Horse is completely Different From All The Other Men’s
Events. Pommel horse involves circles instead. Gymnasts often have more difficulty
catching on to the necessary skills for circles, but most important, being patient and
keep working on circles until they become second nature, the exercise on Pommel
Horse involves single leg and double leg work also. The gymnast swings both legs in
a circular motion (clockwise or counterclockwise depending on preference) and
performs such skills on all parts of the apparatus. The routine may include variations
in circle skill by turning or by straddling their legs (Flares) and dismount ends the
routine, by swinging body over the horse or landing after a handstand.

Mental skills. Like women’s balance beam, pommel horse is often considered the
most difficult event for men, especially in competition. For this event, the gymnast
must stay calm and not get too psyched up. He must be able to focus and block out
distractions.
Staying calm. Too much activation will make routine feel out of control, and then
gymnasts are more likely to fall. This is a problem especially in competition. A few
deep breaths before a routine can help gymnast to relax in competition. Here anxiety
management and specific relaxation skills must be used.

Focusing. The attention and focus plays an important role here, as with beam for
women, this event for men requires the ability to focus. An external narrow
attentional focus is helpful here. Gymnasts attend the pommel horse equipment

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(external) to know where each end of the horse is and where the pommels are as to
move through their routine. At the same time, they need to narrow focus so that they
won’t be distracted by what is happening in other parts of the gym or arena, also. It is
often helpful to focus on only the first one or two skills of routine as approaching the
horse to perform. Usually if those skills go well, gymnasts are off to a smooth start
and can stay more relaxed and focused for the rest of the performance. If they look
too far ahead into the performance, they may not be thinking about what they need to
do NOW. That’s when they are more likely to make errors.

Imagery. Visualizing is especially helpful on this event. We often see gymnasts stand
to the side of pommel horse before competing and preparing mentally themselves.
Sometimes we see them actually move their bodies as they visualize their routines.
Kinesthetic imagery is useful on this event when learning circles or preparing a
routine for competition. Learning imagery is extremely important for this.

Handling a fall. Falls are always disappointing. Sometimes it is tempting to get right
back up to continue the routine and results in more falls. Gymnasts need, control
(thought stopping), concentration and optimal arousal state (must know relaxation
skills) If fall, don’t jump right back up. Instead, gymnasts need to take some time to
refocus. Stop, gather senses, take some breaths, and continue. Still there is rest of the
routine to perform, and this strategy could save precious points. As with any event,
you can still get a respectable score even with a fall.

Roman Rings

Physical skills. Roman Rings is an event which demands the most physical strength.
The routine will demonstrate balance, strength, static strength and dynamic power
while preventing the rings from swinging. A routine begin with a mount and conclude
with a dismount.

Mental skills. Because rings Involves so much strength, adrenaline in competition

can be a gymnast’s best friend. The main mental skill involves harnessing the
adrenaline so that it works to your advantage. It requires more calm and balanced
mental state with complete concentration.
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Monitoring energy level. Gymnasts needs to be energized and excited for this event
to bring on the adrenaline. The adrenaline will come as they prepare to compete, and
then it is necessary to handle this energy. use of nervous energy can be an advantage,
to feel much stronger throughout the routine, especially at the end when the strength
might otherwise be fading. At the same time, gymnasts need to keep the energy in
check so they are not tempted to use it up in the middle of routine. They will run out
of energy at the end. It is best to compete what has been trained (e.g. hold strength
moves only as long as they do in practice). The adrenaline can be used to make the
end of routine shine.
Energizing strategies. Gymnasts can use energizing strategies (activation
techniques). And use of positive and energetic self-talk with using relevant cue will be
a great help.

Parallel Bars

Physical skills. Male gymnasts perform on two bars apart wider than their shoulder's,
usually 175 cm high. Te require a series of swings, balances, flights, releases and
catches requiring great strength and coordination. It also requires more dynamic
flipping skills (such as a giant double back in between the bars catching in an upper
arm support) than were required ten years ago. In fact, some newer moves have even
been adapted from high bar.

Mental Skills. Parallel bars is much like pommel horse in that a gymnast need to
their energy, especially in competition. In addition, the more dynamic moves
require intense concentration because there is more room for error.

Activation control. As with any event, gymnasts must find their optimum degree of
activation. Too much activation will cause to lose control, and gymnasts must become
a master at managing energy levels. Relaxation techniques work efficiently in this
case.

Focus. Because of the newer release moves, parallel bars now involves more risk.

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Coming down correctly is extremely important to avoid injury. It is noticed that many
of the competitors now wear arm pads to protect them from the impact as they hit the
bars, but it still provides an effective jerk on the shoulder joints. Therefore,
maintaining focus is extremely important. One momentary lapse in concentration can
mean a miss, fall, or even injury.

Cue words can be useful on parallel bars where focus has to shift from swinging and
flipping to balance and precision and back to powerful movements again. Gymnasts
can practice moving from cue words such as “go,’ “push” and ‘now’ to ‘steady,”
“Tight,” and “stick” as they master the transitions in their routines. Staying mentally
focused and being able to shift focus will aid gymnasts in staying physically healthy.
High Bar

Physical Skills. High bar is one of the most spectacular events for men. The steel bar
is 2.4 cm thick and 2.5 m high from the landing area. Gymnasts perform giants,
release skills, twists and changes of direction, somersaults; to gain the enough height
the use of giant’s momentum and releasing at the proper point of time an dangle is
crucial for elements and dismounts. To maintain a grip on the bar, leather grips are
used.

Mental Skills. Often the biggest obstacle to overcome on high bar is fear. Good
breathing, self-talk, and imagery are very helpful in overcoming anxieties on high bar.
In addition, focus is important on high bar, as gymnasts can’t just go through the
motions as might on some other events because lapses in concentration can lead to
more serious falls.

Anxiety management. High anxiety can be a hindrance on this event. When anxious,
gymnasts focus more on the anxiety and less on the difficult moves they are doing.
Finding an optimum activation level (not too little and not too much) will be
beneficial to the performance. Breathing is a useful way to control anxiety. A quick
moment to take a few deep breaths and mental imagery before performing skills that
causes anxiety can be useful.
Positive self-talk also can be useful in reducing anxiety on high bar. It is easy to talk
to yourself into errors, falling, or not going for a skill with negative thinking. For

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instance, if you are working on a Gaylord flip, you might prevent yourself from
learning it by saying things like “I’ll never get high enough to complete the flip and
catch the bar” or “I’ ll probably hit the bar and hurt myself., “ This type of negative
thinking only increases the chances of missing the skill or injuring yourself. Instead,
focus on what you can do. Say, “ I have practiced with a spotting belt and I know how
to do it, “ or “ I’ll be okay if I go for it hard without holding back”. The thought
stopping and replacing into positive self-talk is very important.

Focus. Because high bar is risky event, gymnasts must constantly focus on what they
are doing to hit. If they miss and begin to fall, they must quickly shift their focus to
Plan B. Plan B involves knowing how to fall correctly to avoid injury. Mentally
preparing by using coping imagery (Practicing a mistake and coping with it) can be
useful for potential high bar falls. Presence of attention is very important here. Mental
preparation can help gymnasts transfer their good practice routine into competition.

1.2 Psychological Skills

A major tenet of sport and performance psychology is that mental skills are important
determinants of performance involving cognitive abilities perfected through mental
skills training. The intent of which is to provide a set of psychological strategies for
dedicated improvement of performance, successfully recovering from sport injury,
performing successfully what they have learned and maintaining a positive life-
balance between sport and other aspects of life, including family. We have been
talking about the psychological skills throughout the discussion done above, but what
does psychological skills exactly mean? Mental skills are internal capabilities that
help an athlete improve performance by learning to control their minds efficiently and
consistently as they execute attainable goals. (Gerald S. Graham, 2013,).

Cognitive-Anxiety Reduction – to relax the mind

Relaxation response – teaches to quiet the mind, concentrate and reduce muscle
tension.

Meditation The practice of meditation involves uncritically focusing attention on one

thing at a time (i.e., a single thought, sound, phrase, word or object). It is difficult to

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achieve this type of focus as thoughts and emotions interfere inevitably and mind does
not remain concentrated. Therefore, to become proficient, regular practice and use of
meditation is essential. Regular practice results in more focused, calm and staying in
the present moment during performance.

Body scan meditation is useful in stress relief, it is similar to progressive muscle

relaxation, instead of tensing and relaxing muscles, just follow to simply focus on the
sensations in each part of your body from toe to head.

Mindfulness: helps to remain aware internal and external feeling at present. This
helps to bring into the present by focusing attention on a single repetitive action with
eyes open or closed, e.g. breathing, a few repeated words or candle flame. The
internal one can be a feeling or imaginary scene and something external can be a
flame or meaningful word or phrase repeated throughout the session. Also can choose
to focus on an object in surroundings to enhance concentration or can close eyes.
Other forms of mindfulness meditation encourage to follow the internal thoughts or
sensations and then release.
Visualization or guided imagery, is meditation requires to employ not only visual
sense, but also sense of taste, touch, smell, and sound to create an experience in the
mind. When used as a relaxation technique, visualization involves imagining a scene
in which you feel at peace, free to let go of all tension and anxiety. Power of
imagination can significantly reduce feelings of stress. It is a type of mental
processing that we all possess and use every day (i.e daydreaming or planning a
holiday). To induce relaxation, try imagining relaxation spreading through body or
imagine in a safe and beautiful place.

Centering technique, is to focus attention on the centre of body, the area just behind
naval button. This has a calming and controlling effect, providing an effective way to
manage anxiety. While breathing out think of a word that encapsulates the physical
feeling and mental focus one wants e.g. "relax", "calm".

Autogenic Training is a self-hypnosis driven technique, consisting of a series of self-

statements designed to make the mind induce warmth and heaviness physical
sensations in the arms and legs. These sensations provides the feelings of relaxation.

15
Mental Imagery

Terms “imagery, visualization, mental practice or mental rehearsal have

interchangeably been used by the researchers, sport psychology consultants, coaches
and athletes to describe a powerful mental training technique” (Taylor and Wilson,
2005). Presently, the term mental imagery is used, to depict structured technique to
create or recreate an athletic performance in mind, rehearsing a skill mentally before
performing it physically, with clear description of used sensory or cognitive
modalities, (Holmes and Collins, 2001; Vealey and Greenleaf, 1998).

In other words mental imagery is an experience that, significantly resembles the

experience of perceiving some object, event, or scene, but that occurs when the
relevant object, event, or scene is not actually present to the senses i.e “seeing in the
mind's eye,” “hearing in the head,” “imagining the feel of,” etc. Imagery is an
experience similar to a sensory experience (visual, kinesthetic, auditory, tactile and
olfactory). It involves moods and emotions, but arising in the absence of the usual
external stimuli as sensing the movement of your body, apparatus etc. whenever we
imagine ourselves performing an action in the absence of physical practice, we are
said to be using imagery.

Self-Talk

Self talk is one commonly used strategy and has been defined as “a multidimensional
phenomenon concerned with athletes’ verbalizations that are addressed to
themselves” (Hardy, Hall, and Hardy, 2005).

That is, sometimes it seems out that we have a voice inside our head coaching us or
internal dialogues we use to communicate with ourselves, Self-talk is the chatter that
goes inside everyone's head all day, it is built by our thoughts, it, incorporates all the
deliberate and irregular contemplations that gone through a competitor's psyche.

Concentration

The ability to concentrate on appropriate stimuli during athletic endeavors has been
proposed as one of the most important psychological skills underlying athletic success

16
(Abernethy, 2001; Landers et al., 1994). In general, research within sport has been
supportive of the importance of concentration, defined as “the ability to focus one’s
attention on the task at hand and thereby not be disturbed or affected by irrelevant
external and internal stimuli” (Schmid & Peper, 1998).

Most sports require being able to shift between different types of concentration.
Athletes need to be able to control the width of their attentional focus (e.g. narrow vs.
broad) as well as the direction (e.g. internal vs. external) of their attention. Using
width and direction as two dimensions of concentration allows us to separate different
attentional skills into one of four categories.

Also, attentional requests may vary in the middle of preparing and rivalry. Case in
point, when you are taking in another aptitude in preparing, it is frequently imperative
to utilize restricted inner thoughtfulness regarding concentrate on what your body is
doing (comprehend the spatial and timing position of the body in connection to the
contraption). In a rival, then again, these abilities and capacity to center and fixation
ought to have get to be programmed, and contemplating them an excess of can
prevent execution.

Goal Setting:

Life without any goal is like a ship without a captain. Goal setting is a powerful
process for thinking about your ideal future, and for motivating yourself to turn your
vision of this future into reality. The process of setting goals helps you choose where
you want to go in life. By knowing precisely what you want to achieve, you know
where you have to concentrate your efforts. You will also quickly spot the distractions
that can, so easily, lead you astray.

The gymnasts having goal can be assisted in developing their mental skills such as
motivation, self-confidence and arousal control, thus enhancing the gymnasts’ sports
performance by monitoring their achievements or if there is no improvement towards
achieving the goal, then gymnast will have to rethink and pay attention to see some
positive improvement. Goals help gymnasts to recognize their success and
achievements more regularly and consequently increase their motivation to strive for

17
and achieve their next goal. However, in order to achieve, they must set the right
goals.

Goal Setting is a tremendously powerful tool for sport because Goal setting is a key
element in overall sporting Mental Preparation Program. Goal Setting will help to
focus on what a gymnast really want and it will help appreciate what gymnast need to
do in order to achieve goal. As it include every sessions leading to benefit a week’s
performance, a week’s performance to month’s and so on. Monitoring each session is
necessary in gymnastics as each day practice adds on leads to the perfection of the
new learned skills and preparation of the basic skills for the learning of the new skills.
Ultimately, Goal Setting can bring amazing improvements in sporting performance,
especially over the longer term.

Confidence

In sport, self-confidence is one of the most frequently cited psychological factors

thought to affect athletic achievements. "Self-confidence," as the term is used here, is
the belief that one can successfully execute a specific activity rather than a global trait
that accounts for overall performance optimism. Self-confidence is having confidence
in oneself. It doesn't essentially infer 'self-conviction' or a faith in one's capacity to
succeed. Case in point, one may be bumbling at a specific game or action, however
stay "certain" in one's air, just in light of the fact that one does not put a lot of
accentuation on the result of the movement. The key component to fearlessness is, in
this manner, an acknowledgement of the bunch results of a specific circumstance, be
they great or awful. At the point when one does not harp on negative results one can
be more 'fearless' on the grounds that one is agonizing far less over disappointment or
(all the more precisely) the objection to others taking after potential disappointment.
One is then more prone to concentrate on the genuine circumstance which implies that
satisfaction and accomplishment in that circumstance is additionally more likely. The
confidence an individual feels during a particular activity or situation is generally
derived from one or more of the following six elements:

Performance accomplishments are the strongest contributor to sport confidence.

When you perform any skill successfully, you will generate confidence and be willing
to attempt something slightly more difficult. Skill learning should be organized into a

18
series of tasks that progress gradually and allow you to master each step before
progressing on to the next. Personal success breeds confidence, while repeated

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

Psychological skills training program (PST) is a powerful dimension to the sports

performance. The PST program may influence the gymnasts differently to a great
extent depending upon the level of performance. Therefore, the purpose of this
research, formally may be stated, as to analyze the effect of PST on Performance of
the Indian Gymnasts.

OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

Following objectives were set for the study:

1. To assess the effect of PST Program on the psychological skills of the Gymnasts.
2. To know the strength of psychological skills among the Gymnasts.
3. To assess the effect of PST Program on the performance of the Gymnasts.
4. To test the relationship between Psychological Skills and Gymnast’s
performance
5. To assess the effect of relaxation training on the pulse rate, respiratory rate and
tension level of the gymnasts.
6. To test the linear trend in the number of training sessions has affect on the pulse
rate, respiration rate and tension level of the gymnasts.
7. To test the linear trend in the number of training sessions has affect on visual,
auditory, kinesthetic and mood imagery.
8. To know the effect of PST on self-confidence.
9. To know the effect of psychological Training on attention.
10. Does the self talk training modify thought process from negative thought process
to positive thought process?
11. To assess the effect of PST on Goal setting.

HYPOTHESIS

1. Psychological Skills Training Program would have significant effect on the

performance of the gymnasts.
19
 2. There would not be a significant effect of intervention program on strengthening
the weak psychological skills.
3. There would be a significant affect of each training session on the pulse rate,
respiratory rate and tension level.
4. There would be a linear significant trend of Imagery training sessions on visual,
auditory, kinesthetic and mood imagery.

DELIMITATIONS

1. The study was confined to the sixty male and female Indian players of Artistic
Gymnastics.
2. The study was confined to the players who participated at least at district/state
level championships.
3. Study was further confined to artistic gymnasts only.
4. Study was further confined to six weeks of training.

LIMITATION

Individuality of the subjects to understand, cooperate and responses considered as one

of the limitations for the study.

DEFINITIONS AND EXPLANATION OF IMPORTANT TERMS

Psychological Skills: These are the mental qualities and abilities. Some athletes have
tremendous abilities to psych themselves up for competition, to manage their stress, to
concentrate intensely and to set challenging but realistic goals. They have the ability
to visualize themselves being successful (Orlick. T, 1996).

Relaxation: Mental relaxation is of an entirely different kind inasmuch as it means, in

effect, an absence of thinking, of conscious physical relaxation.

Concentration: Concentration is the cognitive process of selectively paying attention

to one thing to the exclusion of others.

Confidence: A state of being certain either that a hypothesis or prediction is correct

or that a chosen course of action is the best or most effective. Fearlessness is having
trust in oneself. Fearlessness does not so much suggest 'self-conviction' or a faith in
one's capacity to succeed.
20
Imagery: Imagery is an experience similar to a sensory experience (seeing, feeling,
hearing) but arising in the absence of the usual external stimuli. It is more than just
visualizing an experience in mind’s eye, involving any or all senses, (Orlick.T, 1996).

Goal Setting: It is determining the target to be achieved and a powerful strategy to

stay focused for reaching dreams and ambitions (Singh. A, 2007).

Self-talk: Self-talks are internal dialogues we use to communicate with ourselves,

they can influence our inner voices and perceptions. Inner voices can be both good
and bad. (Scott,E and M.S, 2008).

SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

The results of the study shall be extremely useful in the following ways:

1. Findings of the present study are useful to prepare the PST program, which will
enable us to strengthen the psychological skills among the gymnasts.
2. Result will help the coaches to use the PST program to enable their gymnasts to
give their best performance.
3. This program may help the gymnasts to learn to handle adversity in practice,
confidence can be developed to use similar techniques to manage the stress of
situation.
4. Findings may help the coaches to use PST Program for the improvement of
other positive psychological characteristics.
5. Findings may help the sport psychologist to understand that how many number
of sessions are required to bring out desirous changes.
6. Results will also help to develop individualized PST program for gymnasts.
7. Results will also help us to understand whether single session has positive effect
on psychological skills.

8. Psychological skills training will also help the gymnasts to develop skills which
will help them to sharpen their life skills also.

21
 CHAPTER2

REVIEW OF LITERATURE

Psychological intervention and its effect on mental toughness was tested by Bhambri, P.K.,
(2005), aimed to test the effect of psychological interventions namely relaxation, Imagery
and combination of both the skills on the mental toughness of Table-Tennis players. For
the purpose of the study there were 32 national level table tennis players, aged between 12-
17 years. And administered Loehr psychological performance inventory to assess their self-
confidence, negative–energy, motivational level, Attention control, Imagery control,
positive energy and attitude control.

Hannah et al., (2005), tested the Effectiveness of Pre-Performance Routines in Elite

Artistic Gymnasts, to explore both content and variation of pre-performance routines (PPR)
between the all Women’s Artistic Gymnastics apparatus. Gymnastics demands consistency
and precision in various environments and at different situations for higher performance,
Singer, (2002). PPR are series of motor, emotional and cognitive behaviors executed just
before the execution of task in reality, Cohn, (1990). A purposive subject selection of nine
former Great Britain’s female international artistic gymnasts was done and used a mixed-
method, phased design.

Greenleaf, Gould, and Dieffenbach (2001), conducted an interview study with eight
successful athletes and seven athletes who failed at the Olympic Games. The participants
from both groups reported psychological skills positively affected performance outcomes
(i.e., mental skills, attitude and preparation of game) facilities, technical and physical
preparation, coaching, multifaceted preparation, performance and training routines,
housing, excitement, and team unity. Comparing both the groups, differences in attitudes
towards the game was noticed, both the groups reported departure from normal routine,
media distractions, coach issues, overtraining, injury, housing, training, money, and family
and friends

Michael J. Mahoney et al, (1997) conducted a study on psychology of the elite athletes.
Thirteen male gymnasts completed a standard questionnaire and were interviewed during
22
the selection trials for the U.S. Olympic team. Psychological factors and cognitive
strategies were considered in their training and competition. Using their final competitive
grouping as the primary dependent variable, correlations were performed to assess the
relationship between these factors and superior athletic performance. The results reveals
that different patterns of cognition may be strongly correlated with successful and better
gymnastic performance. Specifically, dream frequency, self-verbalizations, and certain
forms of mental imagery seemed to differentiate the best gymnasts from those who failed
to make the Olympic team. And also presented different anxiety patterns and different
methods of coping with competitive stress. Further, some more researches have shown
differences in psychological response of elite and non elite athletes (Morgan, 1985)
.
Harris, D.V., & Harris, B. L.(1984) proposed an exercise named attention grid to enhance
concentration and visual scanning speed. In a study 28 male collegiate soccer players were
divided into experimental group who were provided with a nine weeks attention grid
training and control group by Iain Greenleesa, Richard Thelwell, (2006). The collected
data was analysed by computing a series of MANOVA’s and ANOVA’s indicating no
significant effects revealing that the attention training group did not improve to a greater
extent than the control group in any measure of attention. This leaves a room for further
research examining the efficacy of the attention grid exercise.

Nideffer (1993), on the basis of model of Attentional Control Training (ACT), athletes who
maintains an appropriate attentional focus typically presents relatively a low levels of
anxiety in performance. In reactive sports an ability to narrow focus attention, avoid
external distractions, and discriminate between relevant and irrelevant internal information,
results in successful outcomes (Nideffer, 1990). There is an association between ability to
control attention and with low to moderate arousal levels, decreased worry and concern,
and increased self-confidence, (Nideffer, 1993).

23
 CHAPTER 3
METHODOLOGY
SELECTION OF VARIABLES
On the premise of accessible writing and different looks into it is said that mental abilities
assume a critical part in upgrading the performance of the Gymnast (Bennett and Pravitz,
1982). In the present study Psychological Skill are the independent variables whereas, the
performance is the dependent variable. In order, to assess the significant contribution of
PST towards the Gymnast’s performance, by the means of various mental skills
preparation methods providing training in Relaxation, Imagery, Concentration and Goal-
setting are used as the important factors. (Bennett and Pravitz,1982), (Gauron,1984) and
(Unestahl,1983). In the present study the following psychological skills - Relaxation,
Imagery, Attention, self-Confidence, Self-talk and Goal Setting were used for the purpose
of the study. Program includes the considerations, such as Educational Session, Skill
development, Application and Evaluation. Performance, skill acquisition and
Psychological well-being are important variables of the study as on these parameters the
scores of the gymnast’s before PST and after PST have been evaluated to assess the effect
of PST program on the gymnast’s performance.

CRITERION MEASURES

Psychological skills assessment scale was developed and standardized by Sharma and
Sharma (2012) to test psychological skills among gymnasts. The detailed procedure for the
development of the scale and exploratory analysis has been separately presented in chapter
IV. Psychological Skills Assessment Scale for Gymnasts (PSAS - G), test the goal-setting,
imagery, self-confidence, attention, motivation, arousal regulation and self-awareness of
the gymnasts. (Appendix- B).

For the purpose of the training, a psychological skills training was prepared and
administered for six weeks (Appendix- D). Subjects log book was also prepared by the
research scholar, for the purpose of recording, assessing analyzing daily relaxation, goal-
setting, self talk, imagery, attention and self-confidence. (Appendix- A).

24
STATISTICAL TECHNIQUES

For the purpose of the present study since the data was collected from the different sources
and require different treatment , therefore, different statistics was computed step wise in
different sections.

Section I - Effect of PST on Psychological skills

1.To analyze the effect of PST on the Psychological skills of the Gymnasts, descriptive
statistics was employed with two way ANOVA.
2.Further, in significant cases, test of simple effects in syntax of SPSS was further
computed to test the interaction effect of trials with groups of training.

Section II - Effect Of PST program on the Performance of various Gymnastics apparatuses

1.To evaluate the effect of PST on the Gymnastics performance of the gymnasts,
descriptive statistics was employed with One way ANCOVA.
2.Effect size was also computed to check the actual mean difference in the pre and post
performance of the Gymnasts.

Section III- Correlation Between Gymnast’s Performance and Psychological Skills

The Pearson product-moment correlation was run to determine the relationship between the
Gymnast’s performance and their psychological skills.

Section IV- Effect of Relaxation Training

To analyze the effect of relaxation training on the pulse, respiratory rate and tension level
of the gymnasts, Repeated measure two way ANOVA was calculated, Further, the repeated
measure within subjects was analyzed to check the linear trend by computing the data.

Section V- Effect of Imagery Training

To assess the effect of imagery training on the imagery ability of the gymnasts, Repeated
measure ANOVA was calculated, Further, the repeated measure within subjects was
analyzed to check the linear trend by computing the data.

25
Section VI Attention Training

To analyze the effect of attention training, Repeated measure ANOVA was calculated,
Further, the repeated measure within subjects was analyzed to check the linear trend by
computing the data.

Section VII Self-Talk and Goal-setting

Content analysis was employed in the assessment of self-talk and Goal-setting.

Section VIII Questionnaire Development

For the development of PSAS questionnaire, exploratory factor analysis was employed
separately on each sub scale.
The level of significance to test the hypothesis was set at 0.05 as in most of the
psychological studies the preferred level of significance has set at 0.05.

26
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