Conclusion

Over the past 6 weeks athlete X has taken part in the psychological skills training programme that was designed for them based on their results from the assessment that they undertook. As the athletes psychologist it was my responsibility to oversee that they are improving in their sport by giving them psychological skills that are usefull to them and I think that I was successful in my job role because athlete X's performance has been enhanced and this is noticable from everyone who has seen them perform. I have suggested to athlete X that they continue using the skills that were taught in each session because they will be effective for furure references and the aspects that they have learnt from me can be passed onto others who are in a similar situation.

Here is an overview on how athletre X has progressed through the weeks of the programme:

When the game of volleyball is on the line and the competitive pressure is turned up high playing to your potential is all about how well you can execute mentally. That means how well you are able to stay calm and composed under pressure. I think that athlete X is now in control of doing this because of the skills that were taught helping these actions to be made possible.

Staying relaxed under big game pressure is one of the secrets to being able to play your game and the way you are capable of playing it. Before the 6 weeks psychological training programme was introduced athlete X would go into a game a little too nervous and therefore played tentatively and made a few mistakes which made them feel low however this has now changed and hopefully they will never feel this way again with the use of the skills now put in place.

Athlete X now has the ability to focus on what’s important in a game and can let go of everything else and this is a positive thing because concentration, when controlled is the key to an excellent performance and volleyball is too fast of a game to play well unless your concentration is in the right place when it counts the most so it is vital that athlete X’s levels of concentration stay up.

Athlete X can now quickly let go of their mistakes and get their head back in the game and this is because instead of them or others putting themselves down essentially continuing to make more mistakes they can carry on with the action that is in hand and this is because they have a significant amount of confidence in themselves now which is seen as a positive effect of the programme from my view because their performance is looking much more successful now compared to 6 weeks ago.

As a volleyball player you must make a commitment to work hard on your mental game as well as your physical one and this is said because you’d never leave your serving, digging or other skill execution to chance so don’t leave this critical mental part of your game up in the air.