The Effect of Performance Strategic on Team Cohesion and Success in Elite Volleyball Players and Relation with Experience in National Team RJSS RESEARCH JOURNAL OF Vol 4 (4): 96-101 http://www.rjssjournal.com ISSN: 2148-0834 Copyright 2016 SPORT SCIENCES H.Ghezelsefloo 1*, Mohammadreza Niknezhad 2 1 Iran, Golestan, Gonbad kavoos. Gonbad kavoos University 2 Responsible Expert Sports Mazandaran University, Iran * Corresponding Author Email: h_ghezel@yahoo.com ABSTRACT The purpose of this study was to effect of performance strategic on team cohesion and success in elite volleyball players. The population statically consist of all male teams football university students (n=165) that n=86 volleyball players selected for this research random ally. The test of Performance Strategies(TPOS) that consist of 8 sub-scales (Self-talk, Emotional control, Goal setting, Imagery, Negative thinking, Relaxation, Automat city and Activation) to evolution of subjects' psychological Fitness and Group Environment Questionnaire (GEQ) are scored on a 9-point Likert- type scale ranging from "1:strongly agree" to "9:strongly disagree" used to assess the team cohesion. In order to analysis the data, after use of K_S (p>0.05) the descriptive statistic, ANOVA test and Pearson coefficients used (p 0.05). The result showed that there were significant difference in Self-Talk (F= 6.58, sig= 0.001), Emotional control (F= 4.62, sig= 0.016), Imagery (F= 5.37, sig= 0.038), Relaxation (F= 5.60, sig= 0.019) between success and nonsuccess teams. Also there were positive relationship between of psychological fitness and team cohesion (r=0.19). Based upon the findings of the current study, together with former research, coaches should attempt to improvement of psychological fitness with use of tactics such as Self-Talk, Emotional control, Imagery, Relaxation, and Verbal Persuasion. KEYWORDS Psychological Fitness, Team Cohesion, Performance Strategies. INTRODUCTION The existence of optimal athletic performance is dependent to physical fitness, readiness skills (technical preparation), tactical training and mental preparation (Mamassis & Doganis, 2004). There is a vast amount of anecdotal evidence suggesting that poor performance is associated with a failure to get into an appropriate mental readiness (Mohamadzadeh, 2008).Today's lack of training sessions delivered to a sensitive competition has become a major concern for coaches. Because different methods of training and skill posted shortly practices have evolved in the skill levels are close together, it seems that the difference of athlete performance is depended on psychological preparation than ever factors (Jafari, 2007). The results of different studies on Olympic athletes showed that the reason of success of more than 50% of professional athletes is possessing optimum mental preparedness for confronting the anxiety and negative stresses in sensitive competitions (Rebecca et al., 2006; 96
Shinke & Costa, 2001). On the other hand, study of Olympic champions athletes personality confirmed that, low anxiety, high self- confidence and no doubt on technical and tactical fitness is the most successful athletes trait's and it is advantageous factors for athletes to be able to identify Applied strategies to manage their pre-competition moods (Pears, 2007; Susan, 2001). Research conducted in the field of sports psychology implies that use of mental skills to improve mental training can have a significant role in improving athletic performance. Results of research conducted by expert s in sports is an indication that quality training sessions, Physical fitness, and fitness training technique and tactical success along with mental fitness are the important element in Olympic athletes' achievements (Shojai et al., 2009). The investigation down on performance of elite athletes has shown that athletes who use their mental skills to better mental focus, to have high self- esteem and gain success with less excitement and have better sense of their function (Mohamadzadeh, 2008). There for The factors that lead to high performance athletes in the same physical condition in critical events is the possess and using of skills such as visualization, focus, emotional control and quality of the training sessions. In recent decants due to near the athletic performance, especially in sports record and the non-transfer of techniques and tactics used in training sessions to major competition, sport psychologists and coaches have The more attention and emphasis on mental preparation and they could with using of mental skills have greatly improved in function of professional athletes (Mihan doost & Hatami, 2003). Therefore always the coaches and psychologists of sport have been seeking to identify factors affecting their athlete performance and modification of these factors in order to optimize performance level of athletes (Munroe-Chandler & Hall, 2004). Thus, according to the results of previous research and the importance of mental preparation for successful athletes, in the present study evaluated the ability of elite volleyball players strategic performance in major tournament and its impact on team cohesion and success has been studied. Second variable that seems pertinent to investigating performance in group sports is team cohesion. The cohesiveness of the team is likely to influence the team's achievement and the player's self-confidence. Various studies suggest that mental preparation play a significant role indecision making, proper implementation of the performance, increase morale and motivation of athletes and finally team effectiveness can be improved (Shsfizadeh, 2007). Pears research findings (2007) in the impact of negative factors on football players and Referees suggests that athletes who are not in good mental fitness in the critical events have higher competitive anxiety that impact on the focus and confidence, causing performance degradation becomes. James (2002), investigating the relationship between psychological skills and effectiveness in assessing footballers. His study showed that the use of mental skills can improve the effectiveness and performance of football players. He suggests that coaches should with training and teaching of psychological skills in training sessions, to improve the self-effectiveness of athletes, in order to athletes can control their disruptive factor in the performance on race day. One of the ways to increase the effectiveness and performance of athletes and coaches can apply is simulation games in training sessions to improve their skills in this area. Bois (2009) also conducted a study on the Professional Golfers stated that due to the special nature of golf than any other sport, the use of psychological skills like control emotions, concentration, visualization and positive self-talk is the will form an integral part of training programs for athletes. ShafiZadeh (2007) Believes, to have high motivation, target selection, and goal-setting in training sessions nearby focus on understanding the characteristics of successful athletes. He Stated that sports psychology can be applied to effective strategic as a tool to be used in critical competition. It seems to be generally the major psychosocial factors that have significant effect on teams achievement includes of 1. Athlete's characteristics such as self-confidence, anxiety, motivation, depression, Physical, Psychological and technical fitness and etc., 2. Factors that related to teams coaches (Leadership characteristics) such as coaching behavior, personality, precedence, training science, and etc., 3. Team variables such as pervious success, collective efficacy, team cohesion, empathy, and etc. (Ramezaninejhad & Hoseyni, 2009). Based on vast and various amount of research in professional sports. But many psychologists and exercise specialists believe that the contribution of mental preparation because of its direct impact on team cohesion and confidence is greater than other factors (Bray & Whaley, 2001). Therefore second variable that seems pertinent to investigating performance in group sports is team cohesion. The cohesiveness of the team is likely to influence the team's achievement and the player's mood. A successful team is likely to be associated with positive mood and engender feelings of cohesion 97
(Lowther & Lane, 2002). The finding of much research has found cohesion is related to sport performance directly. Murray (2006) also explores the impact of team cohesion on athletic success, high correlation between the percentage increase team cohesion and team victories observed. Munroe-Chandler and Hall (2004) reviewed the research on ways to increase the effectiveness of footballers using mental skills, Such as mental imagery, meditation and positive self- talk affirming the existence a direct relationship between psychological skills and improve athletic performance reported that Professional football players are always using high-performance visualization in the mind, transfer your outcome of the training sessions to race day. MATERIALS AND METHODS The main purposes of this research were effect of performance strategic on team cohesion and success in elite volleyball players and relation with experience in national team. The statistical population consist of all Iranian professional volleyball league (14 volleyball teams), ranging 19 to 33 participated as subjects (M=25.31, SD= 3.19). That finally n=86 athlete (Male) selected random ally. Measures The test of Performance Strategies questionnaire: This questionnaire measures performance strategies used by athletes in various sport situations.the test of Performance Strategies(TPOS) is a 64-item measure of psychological skills with of 8 sub-scales(self-talk, Emotional control, Goal setting, Imagery, Negative thinking, Relaxation, Automat city and Activation) were used in order to compare subjects' psychological level. Items were rated on a 5-point scale anchored by never to always. Each of the items describes a specific situation that athlete may encounter in competition day. Thomas and Murphy (1999) have beenreporteddifferentdomainsofvalidityofthequestionnairewithcronbach's alpha (α=0.74). The internal reliability coefficients of the variables in an experiment by researchers reported between α= 0.68 0.84. Carron team environment scale (1985): This questionnaire with 18 questions about team cohesion, evaluates the two dimensions of group cohesion- task cohesion and social cohesion. This factor based on 9 Likert value scales (strongly agree: 9 to strongly disagree: 1). its justifiability was confirmed by professors and its perpetuity was also measured by Cronbach's alpha that was confirmed by α= 0.86. Achievement: level of teams success in this research assessed by teams Place team in the Championship table (Gaining Gold, silver and bronze medals) in schedule of competition in end of Season competition. In order to analysis the data, after use of K_S (p>0.05) and convinced about data normality (p 0.05 z=0.0984), were use the descriptive statistic (mean, standard error), ANOVA test and Pearson coefficients to investigate relation sheep between variables (p 0.05). RESULTS The result show that success volleyball teams have a better situation in sport imagery (M= 27.44, SD= 1.49) and relaxation (M= 22.16, SD= 1.74) with comparison to non-success teams. But the middle place teams were in better condition in negative thinking (m= 18.67, SD= 1.59) than team top league tables (M= 24.76, SD= 1.59) and bottom team league tables (M=26.38, SD= 2.11) (Table 1). Table 1. Comparison of performance strategic between successes teams with non- success and leessuccess volleyballs teams. Success teams Lees-success teams Non-success teams Sub-scales M SD M SD M SD Positive self-talk Emotional control 20.11 15.12 1.24 1.67 26.51 14.59 1.74 1.29 27.63 12.08 1.83 1.47 98
Goal setting Activation Imagery Negative thinking Relaxation Automat city 19.01 20.86 27.44 24.76 22.16 21.46 1.76 2.09 1.49 1.59 1.47 1.08 20.08 21.65 18.92 18.67 16.71 23.13 1.83 1.19 2.11 1.59 1.64 1.79 21.68 22.03 19.04 26.38 14.97 24.31 1.59 1.35 1.28 2.11 1.28 1.16 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 success teams Lees-success teams Non-success teams Figure 1. Comparison of mean scores of performance strategic between success teams, non- success and lees- success volleyball teams Results of ANOVA test indicated that there were significant difference in Positive self-talk (F= 4.72, Sig= 0.002), sport imagery (F=5.21, sig= 0.001), Emotional control (F= 5.19, sig= 0.021) and relaxation (F=4.27, sig=0.003) between success volleyball teams and non-success volleyball teams (P 0.05).But here were not significant difference in other sub-scales (p< 0.05). Also there were significant and meaningful difference in positive self-talk (F=4.37, sig=0.001) and sport imagery (F=3.86, sig=0.003) between success volleyball teams and lees-success volleyball teams (P 0.05). In comparison of performance strategic subscales between non- success volleyball teams and lees-success volleyball teams, there were significant difference in negative thinking (F=3.84, sig=0.017) and thee weren't significant difference in other subscales (Table 2). Table 2. Results of ANOVA test between success teams, non- success and lees- success teams. Sub-scales successnonsuccess teams F Sig success-lees success teams F Sig Lees success-nonsuccess teams F Sig Positive self-talk Emotional control Goal setting Activation Imagery Negative thinking Relaxation Automat city 4.72 0.002* 5.19 0.021* 3.61 0.084 2.49 0.073 5.21 0.001* 3.61 0.011 4.27 0.003* 2.75 0.083 p 0.05* 4.37 2.19 2.78 3.11 3.86 4.07 2.19 3.16 P-Value 0.001* 0.19 0.037 0.082 0.003* 0.091 0.061 0.073 3.16 0.071 3.49 2.76 2.67 3.84 2.81 2.63 0.061 1.47 0.068 0.23 0.074 0.017* 0.082 0.094 99
To investigate the relationship between strategic performances in volleyball teams with team cohesion and experience Pearson's test was used. The result of Pearson test show that there were significant relationship between performance strategic with team cohesion(r=+ 0.34) and volleyball players experience in national team(r= +0.41) (Table 3). Sub-scales Team cohesion experience Sig. Table 3. Relationship between performance strategic with team cohesion and experience. Positive self-talk 0.21* 0.042 Emotional control 0.11* 0.39* Goal setting 0.13 0.087* Activation 0.06 Imagery 0.084* 0.037 0.43* p 0.05* Negative thinking -0.069* -0.28* Relaxation 0.16 0.167* Automat city 0.067* 0.079* DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION Review background of successful teams and clubs confirms that trainers and fitness experts to improve the performance of athletes and sports psychology to practical seas the basis for athletes in training sessions to increase the level of psychological preparation of athletes and finally improve their performance in creating race day. Results of various research on Olympic sport Champions indicated that athletes who have good psychological preparation have required capabilities to control and adjust negative emotions and stress the importance of events in major tournaments. This group of athlete s bearer and more effort when faced with difficult problems or situations to provide your team to success. Therefore with the issue of important mental fitness in sport success, in this research effect of performance strategic on team cohesion and gaining success in volleyball players studied. The results suggest that successful volleyball teams (The team reached the final of the tournament) have athletes that use of many psychological technical such as imagery, relaxation, positive self-talk to Increased concentration and control the destructive of sport performance. In present research there were significant difference in Positive self-talk, sport imagery, Emotional control, and relaxation between success volleyball teams and non-success volleyball teams (P 0.05). Also there were significant and meaningful difference in positive self- and sport imagery between success volleyball teams and leessuccess volleyball teams (P 0.05) that were consistent with findings of Pears (2007), Mamassis and Doganis (2004), Bois (2009). They reported that athletes have ability to use of benefit from mental skills, focus better, and have high confidence and with less excitement and have a sense of successful performance. Also there were significant relationship between performance strategic with team cohesion(r= + 0.34) and volleyball players experience in national team (r= + 0.41). It seems those successful athletes in order to participating in various and numerous competitions and tournaments with different conditions, gain a lot of experience that cause a better performance in comparison with other athlete. Shinke and Costa (2001), in survey of Causes of failure of the reasons for the poor performance of athletes in competitions sensitive reported that Lack of enough experience and lack of concentration and self-confidence in major matches are the most important factors in reducing the athlete performance and occurrence of unusual mood of behavior in athletes. They believe that factors such as increasing experience of athletes in the tournament, training of persistently high activity and energy economy increase the effectiveness and performance of athletes in different level of competition. Susan (2001) in his paper aimed to investigate the relationship between self-esteem, psychological skills, and performance reported that players who have higher self- esteem and use of techniques psychological skills, have a better performance in critical condition and major competitions. But it seems that In addition athletes group, the coaching teams (use of sport psychologist, skillful trainer) are responsible for a significant role in increasing mental fitness. Jafari (2007) and Susan (2001) in similar research in different group of sport athlete indicated that athletes have always been able to understand their position in the race will benefit from the skills appropriate to the circumstances. Thus, the findings of several studies suggest that the mental skills of athletes as well as effect on psychological fitness have positive impact on mental function and transfer the gains training sessions to race day. Therefore, elite athletes have better focus, more self- confidence and more effective and exhibit less levels of exciting in major tournaments. 100
But Rebecca et al (2006) Believe that In addition to the physical fitness and mental fitness, quality of training sessions, place contestants (host or guest)and also athlete s level of performance in the previous match could have a significant impact athletic performance. Another finding of this research were significant relation between performance strategic and team cohesion which were consistent with the results of many researches(r= + 0.34, p 0.05). Bray (2001) as a research, level of athletes effort in achieving high levels of performance on the increasing of basketball team cohesion is effective and believe goal-setting and alignment of individual goals with the goals of the team is to increase team cohesion. Therefore, coaches and trainer need to have training sessions and use the correct strategies for the athlete to use mental skills to express. For example, the use of imagery, deep breathing, positive self-talk, recall performance in previous competitions athletes and verbal Persuasion to facilitate the performance by the coaches before the start of the competition, can have a large impact effect on athlete performance and reducing level of anxiety That's devastating optimal performance. Conflict of interest The authors declare no conflict of interest REFERENCES Bois E, 2009. Psychological characteristics and their relation to performance. The sport psychologist. 23: 252-270. Bray CD, Whaley DE, 2001. Team cohesion, effort, and objective individual performance of high school basketball players. The Sport Psychologist. 15: 260-275. Jafari A, 2007. Comparison of psychological skills between women elite and non-elite tekvandoka. Journal of Olympic. 1: 113-123. James L, 2002. Self-efficacy and psychological skills during the Amputee Soccer world cup. The journal of sport psychology. 4.(2): 23-34. Lowther J, Lane AM, 2002. Relationships between mood, cohesion and satisfaction with performance among soccer players. Athletic Insight. 4(2):126-142. Mamassis G, Doganis G, 2004. The effects of a mental training program on juniors pre-competitive anxiety, self-confidence, and tennis performance. Journal of Applied Sport Psychology. 16: 118-137. Mihan doost H, Hatami O, 2003. Psychological skills in elite and non-elite volleyball players. Motion and sport science. 2: 70 80. Mohamadzadeh Y, 2008. The comparison in psychological skills of superior and non-superior male karate ka dispatched to Japan word competition. Journal of sport science. 2 (2):121-124. Munroe-Chandler KJ, Hall CR, 2004. Enhancing the collective efficacy of a soccer team through motivational general-mastery imagery. Imagination, Cognition, and Personality. 24: 51-67. Murray NP, 2006, The Differential Effect of Team cohesion and Leadership Behavior in High School Sports, Individual Differences Research. 4 (4): 216-225. Pears D, 2007. Cognitive component of competitive state anxiety in semiprofessional soccer: A case stud. Journal of Sports Science and Medicine. 1: 10. Ramezaninejhad R, Hoseyni M, 2009. The relationship between team cohesion, collective-efficacy and performance on professional volleyball team. Brezilian journal of Biomotrcity. 3: 31-39. Rebecca SK, Wong J, Thung WP, 2006. MOOD AND PERFORMANCE IN YOUNG MALAYSIAN KARATEKA. Journal of Sports Science and Medicine. Pp. 54-59. Shafizadeh M, 2007. The relationship between goal- orientation, Motivational climate and perceived ability with intrinsic motivation and performance in physical education students. The journal of applied science. 7 (19): 2866-2871. Shinke R, Costa Jl, 2001. A plausible relationship between support infrastructure and major games performance. Athletic insight. 13(2). Shojai M, Daneshfar A, Rahmati A, 2009. Impact of aging on psychological skills in Iranian wrestler. Journal of sport Science. 4: 11-27. Susan A, 2001. Relationship between flow, self-concept and performance. Psychological skills and performance. Journal of applied sport Psychology. 13:129-153. Thomas PR, Murphy SM, 1999. Test of performance strategies: development and preliminary validation of a comprehensive of athletes Psychological skills. Journal of sports science. 17: 697-711. 101