Category Archives: Helen Owton

In the “Isle of Man TT” Zone

By Helen Owton

The Isle of man Tourist Trophy (TT) races have been running since 1907 and is notoriously known as one of the most dangerous in motorsports. The riders must navigate around a 37mile track around the Isle of Man with over 200 twists and corners, many of them blind, with ‘No Room for Error’ and top speeds of 200 mph on narrow country roads littered with street furniture – lampposts, concrete walls, houses, pubs, pavements, cliff edges, and no runoffs . The event has claimed over 150 lives which makes those competing in the event a death-defying act; riders as well as spectators all too aware of the risks.

What’s interesting about the TT is the wide range of personalities and ages; one of the highest achievers is 51yr old John McGuinness with 23 TT wins and is still one to beat. Racers participating in the IOM TT are living their lives on the edge and many wonder why they put their lives at such risk but maybe they’re not as ‘crazy’ as we think they are.

Race Face

Successful athletes develop effective pre-performance routines or ‘rituals’ which can be used to help individuals perform under pressure and concentrate on factors that are in their control  (Openlearn).

You might see the riders turning on their “Race Face” which is a term referring to the mental posture that prepares and readies a motorcyclist for their race (Code, 2009: Rider’s Race Face | Motorcyclist (motorcyclistonline.com), (LONDON 2012 VIDEO).

“You may say a race face is a protective mask to prevent outside influences from entering into a rider’s world. Or you may say the mask serves to bridle a rider’s own force, keeping it ready to be unleashed and do his bidding at the appointed time. Either way, it is a valuable tool-another piece of protective apparel we don before heading on-track” (Code, 2009).

Attuning the senses

Extreme sports are often associated with thrill seekers with a ‘death wish’ or adrenaline junkies searching for their next thrill (Brymer and Schweitzer, 2013). However, these individuals can be highly trained with a deep knowledge of themselves, the activity, and the environment, who seek an experience that is life-enhancing and life-changing (Brymer and Schweitzer, 2013). Motorcycling, like other high-risk sports, requires a sharpening of senses, meticulous preparation, high work rates, swift recovery following setbacks and thriving in challenging situations (Crust et al., 2019).  As Cole (2017) notes, it is important to set ourselves appropriate challenges and be attuned to one’s senses by anticipating, listening to engine sounds, being cool under pressure, being attuned to a constantly moving environment at speed, and positioning the body-motorcycle effectively round the corner; all run by one’s sub-conscious relying heavily on a deep knowledge of the TT circuit.

Muscle memory

Building that deep knowledge of the course takes time and practice; riders don’t immediately ride the course at that speed, and they have a whole practice week before every TT before the racing starts. This can help build up their ‘muscle memory’ which can also be referred to as motor memory, referring to one’s body’s memory to perform certain actions. There are two parts of the brain that help to learn sequences of actions and help to adjust errors in learning to improve one’s ability to perform those movements correctly. Also, a concept known as proprioception can be described as our sense of balance, position, and muscular tension, provided by receptors in muscles, joints, tendons, and the inner ear. These bodily (somatic) senses inform our perception of “inside” and “outside,” of inner and outer space meaning that senses act together to help give us our embodied perceptions of space (Paterson, 2009). Riders who participate in the TT have highly trained and attuned their bodies to that environment – the TT course – through practice, breathing, focus and visualisation. To enable them to optimise their potential and perform at their personal best, they engage in an optimal psychological state known as flow.

Risk and Reward

To induce flow, it is about balancing the level of skill with the challenge we are faced with (Nakamura et al., 2009); balancing risk versus reward and assessing whether a risk is worth taking as James Hiller discusses:

@ttracesofficial

How do you calculate risk VS reward when you’re traveling at over 200mph? James Hillier is no stranger to pushing himself to get into the winners enclosure, and emotions run high when you aren’t in there. No Room for Error, showing Monday 22nd May: 🇬🇧 9pm ITV4 and ITVX 🌎 9pm TT+ #TTPlus #LoveTT #NRFE #NoRoomForError #Motorbike #motorbikesoftiktok #isleofman #motorsport

♬ original sound – Isle of Man TT Races

A TT rider faces intense fears, accepts that control of the future is not always possible and moves through these fears to participate fully in the action and make choices to reduce risk and enhance personal control (Brymer and Schweitzer, 2013; Crust et al., 2019).

Clutch States

Indeed, switching to what’s known as a ‘Clutch state’ which occurs under particular high-pressure conditions; it is similar to being “in the zone” but where there’s an important outcome. Clutch performances are comprised of focus, heightened awareness, and intense effort whereas flow states are viewed as effortless attention and automatic experiences (Swann and Goddard, 2020). Flow states are more aligned with “letting it happen” whereby confidence develops naturally whereas clutch states are associated with “making it happen” where there is a sudden increase in concentration and effort (Swann et al., 2015). To activate flow states or clutch states, there has been an association with certain goal types. For example, open goals such as “do your best” goals are more associated with inducing flow states, whereas specific goals with a fixed outcome such as “winning a race” and setting a task specific goal to “ride at 120mph round the next corner to overtake the next rider” to achieve that outcome is associated with ‘clutch’ performances. It is likely that there is a shifting or slippage in and out of the states and a blurring between and within the states and may link to how TT riders weigh up risk and reward.

Riding the TT where all the hard work has been done before the race, can induce a quietness of mind while you just breath and focus. While there is a thrill of speed and desire for a win, “One of the things that make motorcycling so great is because it never fails to give you a feeling of freedom and adventure” (Steve McQueen, 1930-1980).

Surviving the “Startle Effect” in Motorcycling

“The road south is awful. Choppy, narrow, bumpy concrete with a bad head wind, going into the sun and big semis going the other way. These roller-coaster hills speed them up on the downside and slow them up on the upside and prevent our seeing very far ahead, making passing nerve-wracking. The first one gave me a scare because I wasn’t ready for it. Now I hold tight and brace for them. No danger. Just a shock wave that hits you” (Pirsig, 1974)

Sport participants who engage in extreme activities (e.g., motorcycling, rock climbing, sky diving) often face intense fears where there can be high risks involved which could be experienced as stressful*. Whether an individual perceives an experience as negative stress is assessed by our bodies based on sensory input and stored memories (Vaughn et al., 2021). According to Herman et al. (2016), numerous factors can determine an individual’s response to acute or chronic stress, for example, genetics, early life experience, environmental conditions, sex, and age. Indeed, stress may not necessarily be negative, and the term eustress represents the positive side of stress (Quick et al., 2004). The feeling of eustress is akin to ‘runner’s high’ or being ‘in the zone’ whereby time feels suspended, and an individual is fully absorbed in the task (Quick et al., 2004).  Motorcyclists are often faced with moments of acute stress which requires the rider to “anticipate be cool under pressure be attuned to a constantly moving environment at speed, and position the body-motorcycle” (Owton, 2021, p.160). Motorcycling, like other extreme activities, enhances sensory processing, increases focus and visual attention which can increase epinephrine levels, increase heart rate, and decrease cortisol levels. This demonstrates that extreme activities can replicate the results associated with exercise and the reduction of stress levels (Vaughn et al., 2021). Nonetheless, there may be times when an individual is faced with something sudden, intense, and unexpected where the body-self has to respond to a threat to life.

Startle Effect

The concept of startle effect has been drawn upon in aviation to describe a stress response to a sudden, intense, and unexpected stimulus; an intense event violates an individual’s expectations where they are thrown towards a threat to survival. The startle reflex is an uncontrollable and automatic response to a sudden, intense stimulus (Field et al., 2015). In order to respond to the threat, there is an emotional component (Lang et al., 1990) and an involuntary physiological reflex (e.g., muscular tension, increased heart rate (Field et al., 2015; Koch, 1999).

“I lean in slightly as I swing round the next corner and am suddenly faced with a van speeding straight towards me on the same side of the road. “Oh s***!” I yell. For a split second, I stare at the van and stop breathing trying to judge the situation as quickly as possible. Instinct makes me release my grip on the throttle which starts slowing me down, then I grab the hand brake and step on the foot brake. I scan the road as swiftly as I can, judging whether the van will pass the car in time for me as I continue to slow down. The van swerves back across the road passing the car and passing me safely on the other side. As the van passes me, I breathe again “f***ing hell!” I mutter cursing under my breath and gently squeeze the throttle to speed up again. I feel my eyes have widened with the suddenness of hot fear that’s trickled through me and the immediacy of surprise and startle that I’ve just been faced with. By the time I’ve arrived home, I’ve recovered from the event, but the embodied memory remains in my sweaty body” (Owton, in press).

Feeling startled evokes an immediacy of attentional focus (cognitive) and actions (physiological) needed towards the task of surviving. Signals sent to the amygdala may induce a startle reflex, while these same signals will be sent to the sensory cortex for cognitive processing (Martin et al., 2016). During a threatening situation, part of the stimuli goes directly to the amygdala “emotional/irrational brain” while simultaneously the other parts are sent to the neocortex “thinking/rational brain” (Goleman, 1996). This can lead to a potential battle between the “rational” part of the brain and the “irrational” part of the brain which could freeze the body into inaction (LeDoux, 1994; 1995). The amygdala, however, can process the information milliseconds quicker than the neocortex which could be why someone might act irrationally and destructively before processing the threat appropriately (LeDoux, 1994; 1995).

“Amygdala Hijack”

The amygdala is central to the startle response; a structure in the limbic system that is related to survival and our emotions (Goleman, 1996). Also, it is responsible for processing emotions such as fear, pleasure, and anger. An amygdala hijack, exhibits three signs:

  1. Strong emotional reaction
  2. Sudden onset
  3. Post-episode realisation if the reaction was inappropriate (Goleman, 1996).

The thalamus can bypass the cortex which means that emotional reactions and responses can be formed without any conscious or cognitive participation with the amygdala acting completely independently of the neocortex (Goleman, 1996). Something like ‘corner rush’ that motorcyclists experience can elicit a startle response. In the following example, I know the corner is coming, but the speed at which I reach the corner startles me:

“On about lap 5, I’m speeding down the straight and lose focus for a second, I experience ‘corner rush’ and quickly brake as I feel the motorcycle wobble erratically before turning into the bend; I stare at the grass ahead but force myself to release the brake and throw it in, saving it – just a few breathless moments” (Owton, 2021, p.159).

The startle reflex can be accompanied with feelings of surprise, however, the startle reflex can be triggered without the notion of surprise (Ekman et al., 1985). A runner, for example, may know the bang of a gun is going to sound, but the runner will usually still have a ‘startle reflex’ resulting from the gun sound. Muscular activity can be inhibited by startle and a person may stop what they were doing, e.g., freeze (Koch, 1999). This disruption can last from 100ms to 3 second for basic tasks and up to 10 seconds for more complex motor tasks (Rivera et al., 2014). Cognitive processing, decision making and problem solving can be impaired between 30-60 seconds and increases as tasks become more complex (Rivera, et al, 2014). There are a multitude of additional cognitive responses, such as, confusion, loss of situational awareness, disorientation, impairment of working memory, impairment of problem solving & decision making (Field et al., 2015). Pilots are exposed to surprise and startle during training so they can cognitively develop ways to adapt and respond effectively and calmly under pressure. As LaConte (2017) suggests, this means that ‘facing’ a problem directly draws upon an assertive response, the most effective way of mitigating fear. These responses are commonly referred to as ‘fight or ‘flight’ coined by Canon in the early 1920s. Developments include consider ‘freeze’ responses to threatening situations and ‘facing’ the problem directly (Barlow, 2002; Schmidt, et al., 2007; Lang, 1994; LaConte, 2017).

Given the nature of extreme activities and sports and that understanding that motorcyclists are often “driven to conquer new challenges and soak up every experience life has to offer” (Carter, 2019), not all unexpected stimuli may lead to a negative stress response or produce an overtly physiological and emotional reaction. Whilst Owton (2021) demonstrated that intense feelings of pleasure and ‘flow’ (Csíkszentmihályi, 1997, 2002) means that one may not be able to attend to other things apart from the bodily ‘here and now’, this may also be true when experience intense feelings of fear; the mind-body-self is, in a sense, startled and thrown into the unknown (Heidegger, 1962; Mearleau-Ponty,1962). Exposure to intense moments during training might act as a buffer against future moments as well as against stresses of life (Psychology Today, 2021). It is essential for those involved in extreme activities and sports to be exposed to different scenarios during training (in a more controlled environment) in order to make choices that reduce risk and enhance personal control (Crust et al., 2019).

*Stress is a biological, psychological, and emotionally embodied response experienced when we perceive a threat under pressure (APA, 2018).

Details from this article were originally published: Owton, H. “Oh Shit!” moments: Motorcycling, ‘thrownness’ and the Startle Effect, Cultural Studies: Critical Methodologies, in press. Available: (17) (PDF) “Oh Shit!” moments: Motorcycling, ‘thrownness’ and the Startle Effect (researchgate.net)

References

Barlow DH. (2002) Anxiety and its disorders. New York: Guilford Press.

Carter, K. (2019). Buzz!: Inside the Minds of Thrill-seekers, Daredevils, and Adrenaline Junkies. Cambridge University Press.

Crust, L., Swann, C. & Allen-Collinson, J. (2019). Mentally tough behaviour in extreme environments:Perceptions of elite high-altitude mountaineers. Qualitative Research in Sport, Exercise and Health,11(3), 334–347

Csíkszentmihályi, M. (1997). Finding Flow: The Psychology of Engagement with Everyday Life. New York: HarperCollins.

Ekman, P., Friesen, W. & Simons, R. (1985). Is the startle reaction an emotion? Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 49(5), 1416-1426

Field, J.N., Boland, E.J., van Rooij, J.M., Mohrmann, J.F.W. & Smeltink, J.W. (2015) EASA Research Startle Effect Managements Final Report. EASA Europe.

Goleman, D. (1996). Emotional intelligence: Why it can matter more than IQ. UK: Bloomsbury Publishing.

Herman, J.P., McKlveen, J.M., Ghosal, S., Kopp, B., Wulsin, A., Makinson, R., Scheimann, J. & Koch,M., 1999. The neurobiology of startle. Progress in neurobiology, 59(2), 107-128

Koch, M., (1999). The neurobiology of startle. Progress in neurobiology, 59(2), 107-128

LaConte, G. (2017). Definitions. LaConte Consulting. Available: Definitions – LaConte Consulting (Accessed 3/3/22)

Lang, P.J., Bradley, M.M. & Cuthbert, B.N. (1990). Emotion, attention, and the startle reflex. Psychological review, 97(3), 377-395

LeDoux, J.E. (1994) Emotion, memory and the brain. Scientific American, 270(6), 50-57.LeDoux, J.E. (1995). Emotion: Clues from the brain. Annual review of psychology, 46(1), 209-235

Martin, W.L., Murray, P.S., Bates, P.R. & Lee, P.S. (2016). A flight simulator study of the impairment effects of startle on pilots during unexpected critical events. Aviation Psychology and Applied Human Factors, 6(1), 24-32

Merleau-Ponty, M. (1962). Phenomenology of perception. London and New York: Routledge

Owton, H. (2021). Quest for Freedom: Intense Embodied Experiences of Motorcycling. Cultural Studies: Critical Methodologies, 22(2), 154-162. Available: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/354786229_Quest_for_Freedom_Intense_Embodied_Experiences_of_Motorcycling 

Owton, H. “Oh Shit!” moments: Motorcycling, ‘thrownness’ and the Startle Effect, Cultural Studies: Critical Methodologies, in press. Available: (17) (PDF) “Oh Shit!” moments: Motorcycling, ‘thrownness’ and the Startle Effect (researchgate.net)

Pirsig, R.M. (1974). Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry into Values: Robert M. Pirsig: Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance (1), Terebess Asia Online (TAO)

Rivera, J., Talone, A.B., Boesser, C.T., Jentsch, F. & Yeh, M. (2014). September. Startle and surprise on the flight deck: Similarities, differences, and prevalence. In Proceedings of the human factors and ergonomics society annual meeting, 58(1), 1047-1051). Sage CA: Los Angeles, CA: SAGE Publications.

Schmidt, N.B., Richey, J.A., Zvolensky, M.J. & Maner, J.K. (2008). Exploring human freeze responses to a threat stressor. Journal of behavior therapy and experimental psychiatry, 39(3), 292-304

Quick, J.C., Macik-Frey, M. & Nelson, D.L. (2004). Job stress. Encyclopedia of Applied Psychology, 467-474

Vaughn, D.A., Maggiora, M.B., Vaughn, K.J., Maggiora, C.J., Tavakoli, A.V., Liang, W., Zava, D., Cohen, M.S. & Lenartowicz, A. (2021) Modulation of attention and stress with arousal: The mental and physical effects of riding a motorcycle. Brain research, 1752, 147203

Be Ready for the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2019!

By Helen Owton

On Friday 7th June 2019, France will host the 8th edition of the FIFA Women’s World Cup. Lyon is recognised as a city where sport is hugely popular putting football on the very highest pedestal which is an ideal location because the convenient time zone to attract large audiences means that women’s football could hit even greater global heights of popularity. The hosts kick off the tournament against South Korea at the Parc de Princes (Paris) at 20:00 UK time. A total of 24 teams qualified for the tournament with the hosts being sorted into a group they are expected to win.

If you thought the FIFA WWC in Canada in 2015 and EURO 2017 was exciting Joey Peters says that this year, “…a new level of tactical sophistication is expected to evolve this tournament – not so much the tempo of the game but more how each team connects, adapts and thrives in such a pressure pot atmosphere.” (Joey Peters, 2019).

The Groups

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Locations

Since the FIFA World Cup in 2015 which was hosted in Canada, women’s football has grown in popularity, visibility with the recognition of the ever-increasing reputation on women’s football. Parc des Princes, home of Paris Saint-Germain, is the fifth largest stadium in France with the capacity of 48,583 but one its oldest and hosted matches in the 1998 men’s World Cup. It is one of nine venues where 52 matches will be held:  the Stade du Hainaut in Valenciennes, the Stade Auguste-Delaune in Reims, the Stade des Alpes in Grenoble, Roazhon Park in Rennes, the Stade de la Mosson in Montpellier, the Allianz Riviera in Nice, the Stade Oceane in Le Havre. The final of the women’s world cup will be played at the Parc Olympique Lyonnais in Lyon on 7th July which seats 59,186.

Image

Dare to Shine

The motto behind the FIFA Women’s World Cup is “Dare to Shine” which is a message spread by the official mascot Ettie and embodied by the official emblem. Ettie’s name comes from the French word for star, étoile and links the passing on of the bright star from Footix, the brother mascot from the 1998 FIFA Men’s World Cup. The message is that:

Her enthusiasm for women’s football is contagious and she hopes to radiate her sense of fair play and passion for the game around the world and to inspire national pride in France as the host country for the competition.”

Media coverage

With the increasing popularity of women’s football in the UK, there is exciting anticipation that the women’s world cup is set to break new viewing records with the hope that a billion people will tune in.  BBC have exclusive broadcasting rights for this year’s WWC and will be showing the games on BBC One, BBC Two, BBC Four, and the BBC Red Button and website. All the of the England games will be shown on BBC One and the schedule is available here.

Scotland

This year the FIFA WWC welcomes four newcomers to the tournament: Scotland, South Africa, Jamaica, and Chile. Scotland are ranked 20th in the world and their opening game is set to be an exciting one as they will be playing England in Nice on 9th June. This is the second major tournament that Scotland have qualified for after qualifying for Euro 2017. However, their new manager, Shelley Kerr, has a squad filled with Women’s Super League players and if they can avoid injuries “Scotland could be a surprise package in France” (Suzanne Wrack, 2019). Whilst Kim Little is Scotland’s star player, look out for the duo “Lime” and “Soda” on the team as well! Given this and their 1-0 defeat over Brazil (ranked 10th), England should not underestimate them.

Favourites

France (ranked 4th) are the favourites to win their group and progress to the knockout rounds and are among the favourites to win the whole tournament. They have a home advantage which we saw benefit Netherlands in EURO 2017 and their performances at previous world cups has seen them through to the quarter finals each time. This year, they enter the tournament having lost only 2 games so with the home advantage, a relatively easy group stage, and their winning performances so far Les Bleues are one of the favourites to win. Germany (ranked 2nd in the world) also enter the tournament with a strong winning streak of 13 along with twice Champions in 2003 and 2007. Germany have dominated the UEFA tournament wince winning in 1989 with an impressive 8 times Champions and only lost to USA 2-0 in the FIFA WWC semi-finals in 2015 so they are always ones to watch! Indeed, previous Champions include Japan (2011), Norway (1995), and the United States (1991, 1999, 2015) and as current holders, USA are another favourite to win again given that they have managed to finish at least third at a World Cup. As current European Champions, Netherlands are also among the favourites. Being a previous champion does not always make you a favourite, however, as Norway demonstrate this year entering the competition.

England

Many of us still remember England (ranked 3rd) making history in 2015, by beating Germany for an extremely well-deserved bronze medal at the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2015. Many of the players demonstrate resilience as a team and have become a team of female role models and an inspiration to a younger generation. Since 2015, the team has not been without controversy but has been building on their success with their new manager. The country is ready to get behind the team again and you will see many familiar names and faces with Steph Houghton as Captain and Jill Scott and Karen Carney making their 4th World Cup. Also, we welcome rising stars to the field including Georgia Stanway (20yr old) who is “England’s youngest player has the potential to be an X-factor.”

Be ready to back England again!

Players to watch

There are a wide range of ages playing at this year’s FIFA WWC so I am going to be watching both the youngest and the oldest players in the tournament. Mary Fowler, Australia, is just 16yrs old and is labelled as Australia’s ‘secret weapon’ but many have questioned whether she will be able to step up to an international field and cope with the pressure. Paired with their Captain and top goalscorer Sam Kerr could prove an exciting and unknown development on the field which could surprise opponents. 25yrs older is Marta Formiga at 41yrs of age who plays for Brazil and will become the first footballer to participate in seven world cups, surpassing Onome Ebi’s five world cups at the age of 36yrs old. It will be interesting to watch how age and experience play out on the field.

A Platform for change

The Women’s World Cup is a phenomenal global event that everyone can enjoy but it is also deemed as a platform for change like many other sports. Germany’s WWC advert has used the opportunity to create a video focusing on a “strong message of female empowerment and push for equality”.

Additionally, Lucy Bronze (Lyon) who will be on familiar ground in France has used the opportunity to discuss how more could be done for women’s football by addressing the pay gaps that still exist.  The existing gender pay in football is a stark and unexplanable gap and is the widest compared to other industries (e.g. politics, space, medicine) so it is really about time that FIFA addressed this inequality.

The more opportunities that are created for discussion the more that can be done to create change and indeed many of the women at the FIFA WWC are the change but now they just need that paid recognition.

Key Dates

  • First game starts: 7th June 2019 – France vs South Korea 8pm
  • England vs Scotland Sunday 9th June at 17:00 in Nice
  • How well do you know England & Scotland players: QUIZ
  • Fixtures: https://www.fifa.com/womensworldcup/
  • Final is on 7 July 2019

Sir Roger Bannister Dies

By Helen Owton

At the age of 88 years old, “Sir Roger Bannister, died peacefully in Oxford on 3 March 2018” his family said he was “surrounded by his family who were as loved by him, as he was loved by them”. He was best known in sport for breaking the four minute mile barrier (3mins, 59.4s) on 6 May 1954, nearly 60 years ago.

Something that he worked relentlessly to achieve remembering that, “I felt suddenly and gloriously free of the burden of athletic ambition that I had been carrying for years” (The First Four Minutes). He held the record for 46 days when John Landy, Bannister’s rival, ran a mile in 3mins, 57.9s in Finland on 21 June 1954. Indeed, breaking the four minute mile barrier was a giant sporting achievement particularly in light of the lack of training techniques, research and technology that currently exists today.

Life After Sport

Nonetheless, Sir Roger said, “None of my athletics was the greatest achievement, my medical work has been my greatest achievement and my family with 14 grandchildren. Those are my real achievements”.

For many, however, “Life after sport can be a challenging time, but it needn’t be. It’s a wonderful opportunity for reinvention.” (Richard Branson). Ending a career in sport can be a particularly challenging transition which can have cognitive, emotional and behavioural effects on individuals (Taylor and Ogilvie, 1994).  Many athletes struggle with life after sport particularly those who are ‘performance’ focused with a strong athletic identity whereas athletes more focused on ‘discovery’ tend to discuss life after sport more positively (Douglas and Carless, 2015). The transition from sport to life after sport can be even more disruptive if it was not planned (e.g. a career ending injury) (Allen-Collinson and Hockey, 2007). Regardless, if not supported, the dramatic transition can elicit stressful reactions and difficulty adjusting emotionally (Lavallee, Gordon & Grove, 1997).

Athletic careers have a short shelf life with athletes ordinarily retiring before their mid-late thirties, but Sir Roger was able to put his great sporting achievements in perspective and set his sights on other meaningful purposes enabling him to live a full life enriched by family and medical breakthroughs.

End of life

The irony of Sir Roger Bannister being diagnosed with Parkinson’s, a medical field he had worked a lifetime in, is not lost on me. My Grandfather was diagnosed with bowel cancer after his wife, Joan Bebbington, had dedicated so much of her life working for Mr Douglas Macmillan (now known as Macmillan cancer). Similarly, another sporting legend, Muhammad Ali, also developed the degenerative brain disease Parkinson’s and died in 2016 at the age of 74 years.

Sir Roger may have argued, as a neuroscientist, that the brain is the most critical organ but the loss of a loved one will be felt most critically in all our hearts.

Sport and Fitness Student Induction: Student Hub Live

On Tuesday 26th September 2017, as part of our induction for sport and fitness students studying at the Open University, we held a live induction event through our Student Hub Live platform. If you missed the session you can watch the full video here on the link below or you can watch the individual videos of each session below.

Session 1: Sport and Fitness Qualification Overview (Caroline Heaney and Ben Oakley)

Session 2: Sport and Fitness Blog and Social Media (Helen Owton and Karen Howells)

Session 3: The Role of the Tutor (Helen Owton and Ola Fadoju)

Session 4: E117 App Demonstration (Ben Langdown and Caroline Heaney)

Session 5: The Student Journey (Jess Pinchbeck and Caroline Heaney)

Women’s Sport 2017 is On Fire!

By Helen Owton

The summer of 2017 has been an outstanding season for women’s team sports.

Team success!

In the Netball Quad series earlier this year, the England Roses missed out on the title by just one point to the Australia Diamonds at Wembley. England beat India by just nine runs in a dramatic world cup final at Lords thanks to Anya Shrubsole’s remarkable bowling.

The England football team reached the semi-finals losing to the home nation, Netherlands at EURO 2017 but becoming national heroes. The Red Roses steamed into the Rugby World Cup final with an intense game against the very strong side of New Zealand, the Black Ferns. It wasn’t the happy ending they were looking for but the nation got behind the event to watch two of the best women’s rugby teams in the world.

Record High Viewings!

Not only has the Nation been so successfully in so many different sports, but the public have demonstrated a huge hunger for more! The women’s EURO 2017 viewing statistics hit record highs of 4 million, beating Celebrity Big Brother and the British Bake Off marking the highest audience figures for Channel 4 this year (Kennel, 2017).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L09K1qg1i9c

Earlier in the year, the England v Australia Netball game drew in half a million viewers on BBC2. Women’s cricket is also in high demand selling out Lords with 26,500 people and 1.1 million tuning in to watch the World Cup on Sky (Whaling, 2017). Recently, the Women’s Rugby World Cup, held in Ireland reported a record total attendance of 45,412, a peak of 2.65 million tuning in to ITV in the UK to watch the final between England and New Zealand and a vast increase in social media engagement.

Looking ahead, this trend is likely to build rather than fizzle with 80,000 tickets having already been sold for the Women’s Hockey World Cup 2018. Household names are cashing in on women’s sport with Vitality, Investec, and SSE sponsoring various sports and television companies are battling to secure broadcasting rights for women’s sport. Now, Kia have continued their investment with the Ladies’ PGA deal. It seems that the opportunity to watch women’s sport has never been better and it is an ideal time for other brands to invest.

Indeed, as Sally Munday highlights: “Even more encouragingly, terrestrial TV broadcasters have played a big part in this incredible summer of women’s sport. The UEFA Women’s EURO’s were shown live on Channel 4, the Women’s Rugby World Cup Final was broadcast live in a primetime slot on ITV, and Channel 5 has just announced that it will show women’s cricket domestic highlights in 2018.

Now, when I read about sport or listen to the news, I’m wondering why there isn’t more of a distinction so I know whether they are talking about men’s sport or not. We can’t just say ‘Football’ and assume that it is men’s football.

*Gender and Sport is a topic covered in the E314 module on Contemporary Issues in Sport

UEFA Women’s EURO 2017: The power of ‘Home Advantage’

By Helen Owton

On Sunday 6th August 2017, the Netherlands stormed the final after a stunning 4-2 win against Denmark having knocked out the Lionesses in a surprising win. At the start of the tournament, however, they were ranked 9th with favourites Germany being knocked out by Denmark in the quarter finals. When the hosts win it adds weight to the argument that ‘home advantage’ is a powerful weapon, but surely, home advantage can’t be that powerful?

Home advantage
Firstly, the idea of home for an individual performer may be very different, however, and the concept of ‘home’ is thus one that differs for each sport and its performers. Nonetheless, home advantage is a phenomena which has been a hotly debated contentious issue but appears to be very real. Research on home advantage found that home teams are more likely to win 53-69% of the time (Courneya and Carron, 1992). Indeed, research shows that nations hosting international sporting events can improve their medal count by around 25% (UK Sport, 2011). For example, in London 2012, ‘Team GB’ achieved a 27.8% increase in medal count (47 in 2008; 65 in 2012).

Various reasons have been sought to explain this home advantage phenomena. The presence of a supportive audience appears to be the most critical factor (Cox, 2012) and the size, density and proximity are important aspects to consider when evaluating the influence a crowd has which can activate the autonomic nervous system producing physiological and psychological arousal. This of course could have positive or negative effects on both teams. For example, a home team might feel ‘overwhelmed’ by the pressure of such a momentous occasion but an away team may experience the pressure in a different way.

Other factors include the issue of travelling to distant venues for visiting athletes; the unfamiliarity of stadiums and changing rooms for away teams, for example (Pollard, 2006). Nonetheless, the home advantage is dependent on a number of factors, including the familiarity of surroundings, the effect of travel on the opposition, an evolved response to defend home territory and the impact of the belief that we are more likely to be successful at home. Additionally, some of these factors are interrelated because the home crowd’s support might indirectly influence the thoughts and actions of the referee as well as the opposing team.

Indeed, Lucy Bronze mentions that the game against Netherlands was ‘a different game’ and needed to ‘silence the crowd’ and that referee decisions didn’t go their way.

Referee bias
In the Lionesses versus Netherlands game there were some hotly debated referee decisions. Indeed, referee bias is one of the many factors that contribute to home advantage. The idea that there is an unconscious impact that the home crowd have on refereeing decisions is a contentious one and is obviously hotly disputed by most sporting officials. Nonetheless, it could be that the power and strength of the home crowd subconsciously encourages a referee to go along with a crowd particularly if the decision is open to interpretation.

I think what makes home advantage so impressive is that unexpected teams win and it’s always surprising to watch a low ranked team work their way to victory! There were indeed some other unexpected stories in this year’s women’s EURO 2017.

Unexpected stories
Out of the teams making their debuts in the final this year Austria (ranked 13) quickly became the team to watch as they built on their successes and got strong and stronger after each game until they lost against Denmark (ranked 12th) on penalties (3-0). A great experience for Austria! France were strong contenders but were knocked out by England. Whilst Germany (ranked 1st) dominated the tournament since winning in 1989 making it an impressive total of champions 8 times, they got knocked out by Denmark in the quarter finals opening up the way for a new champion team! The hope was on the England to win the tournament, possibly adding pressure to their game as they played Netherlands. With the large supportive home crowd, it wasn’t to be for England.

Media success of Women’s Football
The fact that there has been a possibility of ‘home advantage’ during this WEURO2017 indicates the large crowd sizes which have been approx. 30,000. Additionally, Channel 4 have shown all the matches and peaked 4 million audience sizes, beating Celebrity Big Brother and Panorama (Sweeney, 2017). A huge leap for women’s football and the misogynistic comments on twitter are becoming an old fashioned dying breed.

I’m sure the nation will be excited about the Women’s World Cup in 2019 which is to take place in France! It will be interesting to watch whether the ‘home advantage’ will have the same results for France.

*Home advantage is a topic covered in E313 Exploring Psychological aspects of athletic development. If you are interested in studying sport and fitness at the OU please visit the ‘study with us’ tab at the top of the page.

References
Corneya, K.S. and Carron, A.V. (1992) ‘The home advantage in sport competitions: a literature review’, Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, vol. 14, pp. 28–39.

Cox, R. (2012) Sport Psychology: Concepts and Applications, New York, McGraw-Hill.

Pollard, R. (2006) ‘Home advantage in soccer: variations in its magnitude and a literature review of the interrelated factors associated with its existence’, Journal of Sport Behavior, vol. 29, pp. 169–189.

Sweeney, M. (2017). England’s Lionesses smash TV audience record in Euro 2017 semi-final, The Guardian, [online, 4 August]. Available: https://www.theguardian.com/media/2017/aug/04/englands-lionesses-smash-tv-audience-record-euro-2017-semi-final-women-football

UK Sport (2011) ‘Home Advantage – The performance Benefits of Hosting Major Sporting Events’ [online]. Available at www.uksport.gov.uk/docLib/what-we-do/…/Home-Advantage.pdf

Women’s Euro 2017 football preview – all you need to know

Helen Owton, The Open University

As the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup draws towards its conclusion, the summer of women’s sport takes to the football pitch with the UEFA Women’s Euro 2017 competition getting underway on July 16.

It will be the 12th women’s Euro tournament and is hosted by the Netherlands for the first time, who will launch proceedings with a match against Norway in Utrecht. A total of 47 UEFA nations took part in the qualifications for the tournament and this will be the first time the finals will involve 16 teams rather than 12.

In 2015, the FIFA Women’s World Cup also upped its number of teams from 16 to 24, highlighting how women’s football is growing in size and popularity. According to a recent report by UEFA, there are 1.27m registered female players in Europe in 2016-17.

Media coverage of the sport in the UK is improving with Channel 4 announcing that it will be showing all of the games featuring England and Scotland. Other games will be shown on British Eurosport 2.

During the tournament, there will be a focus on increasing the number of women who play football through a campaign called Together #WePlayStrong. It focuses on three key aspects that embody the game: skill, togetherness and positive attitude.

The favourites

Germany, the holders and ranked first in 2017, have dominated the tournament since winning in 1989, lifting the trophy an impressive eight times. They also put an end to Brazil’s winning streak on July 4 2017 in the lead-up to the Euros. They will meet one of their biggest rivals, Sweden, on their opening game on July 17 – a team who are yet to beat them.

Dzsenifer Marozsán, who had a long football career as a junior, has appeared more than 60 times for Germany’s senior team. She is a highly skilled technician with the football who, after being instrumental in winning the Olympic Gold medal in Rio 2016, is one to watch.

France are also strong contenders and have had a successful year so far. They face Iceland first who beat Scotland 4-0 in the qualifying round in June 2016.

The Lionesses

England – known as The Lionesses – made history by finishing third for the first time in 2015, by beating Germany for an extremely well-deserved bronze medal at the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2015. They are a resilient team and have become female role models to a younger generation.

Since 2015, the team have been building on their success and on July 1 beat Denmark 2-0, with both goals scored by the captain for the game, Ellen White. She is known for scoring one of the best goals in the history of the FIFA World Cup in 2011, and is definitely another player to keep an eye on in this tournament.

The England squad has been announced – and there has been a bit of a shake up. There are some familiar stars from the 2015 world cup, including Fara Williams, Steph Houghton, Lucy Bronze, Laura Bassett and Fran Kirby – but also some new names. Demi Stokes (defender), Isobel Christiansen (midfielder), Nikita Parris (striker), and Millie Bright (midfielder) all make their debut for England.

The Lionnesses’s first game, versus Scotland, takes place on July 19 in Utrecht at 19.45 UK time. England are favourite to win their group.

Debutantes to watch

Scotland make their debut in the Women’s Euros this year. The team is ranked 11th but has made strong progress on financial, commercial and equality issues for women’s football in Scotland in the lead up to the Euros. Despite a few injuries, the team demonstrated their form on July 7 beating Ireland 1-0. After they play England they’re lined up to play Portugal, ranked 23rd, and then Spain who are ranked 6th.

Other teams making their debuts in the final this year include Belgium, Austria, Portugal, and Switzerland. Switzerland, in particular, shouldn’t be underestimated.

Key things you need to know

• First game starts: July 16. A full fixture list is available on the UEFA website.

• The top two teams in each of the four groups will progress to the knockout phase.

• The final is on August 6 in Enschede.

Helen Owton, Lecturer in Sport & Fitness, The Open University

This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.

Referencing In Sport: Getting your head round it!

By Helen Owton and Gavin Williams

Many students find referencing confusing and it seems that confusion comes from not fully understanding what is meant by voicing your own opinion in the context of an academic essay. Indeed, you are asked to write about what others have found and argued yet at the same time, you are told that you need to think for yourselves and come up with your own ideas and interpretations. According to Norton et al. (2009), those who are skilled essay writers respond to the essay by:

  • Reading the relevant sources
  • Formulating an argument that represents their personal stance
  • Ensuring that all the points they make in their essays are supported with evidence from the literature

Knowing when to reference and the specific conventions required can prove difficult, however, particularly for students new to studying at university level. The flowchart below “Is a reference needed?” provides some useful guidance for you:

Adapted from Cardiff University, 2006

As the diagram points out, you cannot make claims about knowledge in your essays without backing up with reference to the appropriate sources. It is the same with concepts and ideas. It might help to think about your own experiences; for example, think about how annoying you might find someone passing off one of your ideas in a meeting as their own without mentioning that the original idea came from you. As Jill, a student (cited in Norton et al., 2009, p. 79) points out “You can’t just make a point and leave it at that, you need to show the evidence is out there. This has been said and it is in this journal or this book” At undergraduate level, most points and ideas should be referenced, therefore, search through relevant journals and find previous research in order to support your points. First and foremost, you should use the module materials in order to show your understanding of what you have studied. As you increase through the levels (e.g. level 3), you might start to use other different sources of information as listed below:

  • Journals: the quantity and quality of your evidence will increase greatly and so will your topic of the area
  • Textbooks e.g. the Study Guide or Reader for your module(s).
  • Other credible documents

In E217 Sport and Conditioning Science into Practice, for example, you are encouraged to explore sources outside the module material to produce a “Personal Investigation”. Not only must you cite where you found ideas or knowledge, you must do this accurately as referencing is essential in higher education. You must do this in 2 ways:

  • In the text, by putting in brackets the author’s surname (not their initials) and the date when the study/book was published
  • And in the referencing section at the end of your essay, by alphabetically listing, by author, all journals, books, websites and other sources you referred to in the main text of your essay

Additionally, in sport, the general rule of thumb is to avoid using too many quotes because summarising information helps you understand something better as well as demonstrate your understanding to the person reading your work. Including too many quotes can result in a very superficial response to a question and when you are being marked you are not demonstrating your understanding to the reader/tutor. You should therefore keep direct quotes to a minimum and look to summarise (paraphrase) the information you have read whenever possible. Despite the need for referencing and citing appropriately, you must write about it in your own words. This can help demonstrate your understanding of what you have read and that you can apply this understanding to the question you are attempting to answer. Remember to reference it in the text AND in the reference list at the end of the essay. By doing this you are meeting academic criteria.

Getting penalised

It is important to get your head round referencing because a lack of referencing can directly affect the overall quality of your response to a question and consequently affect how tutors mark the essays. Many tutors take the view that when students have been told how to do something in their writing and then do not do it, it is valid to penalise them by lowering their mark (Norton et al., 2009). This happens particularly when a student’s turnitin scores are high (e.g. over 25%) which shows a high level of copying directly from another source or putting things in your own words. plagiarism

In order to gain further information about referencing on your module take a look at the Assessment Guide, available from the module website. The Open University library provides a range of resources to assist with academic writing and referencing. The Referencing and Plagiarism section here contains further information along with a very useful video about plagiarism. In addition, the Study Skills section on your StudentHome page also contains some very useful resources to help you plan and write assignments. Remember too that your tutor is there to provide support so do get in contact with them if you would like some specific advice about referencing.

In essence, “Every single name that appears in anything you write must be followed by a date in brackets, and the full reference must be presented at the end of your assignment” (Norton et al., 2009, p. 83). These cited references should then be listed at then end of your assignment in a reference list.

Reference List

Norton, L., and Pitt, E. with Harrington, K., Elander, J. and Reddy, P. (2009). Writing Essays at University: A Guide for Students by Students. London: London Metropolitan University, Write now Centre for Excellence in Teaching and Learning.

We must challenge the culture of silence about child sexual abuse in football

By Helen Owton

Professional footballers, including the former Crewe Alexandra player Andy Woodward, have been speaking out recently about their experiences of sexual abuse as children. They include alleged victims of football coach Barry Bennell, who was sentenced to nine years in prison in 1998, and are waiving their right to anonymity.

The NSPCC said a special hotline, set up after four professional footballers spoke out about their abuse, received more than 50 calls in its first two hours.

These developments follow the conviction in March 2016 of former Sunderland footballer Adam Johnson, found guilty of grooming and sexual activity with a 15-year-old girl.

Sports, such as football, can be an ideal environment for trusting relationships between coaches and athletes to be developed – and exploited. Research has highlighted the “grooming process” in sport, in which a coach could abuse their position of authority to gradually erode the personal boundaries between athletes to subject them to sexual abuse.

Some coaches abuse their power

A large amount of power is invested in a sports coach. They can impose their version of reality on athletes. In this context, perpetrators of abuse can isolate victims from potential sources of support within that reality by controlling the psychological environment. This can be through direct emotional manipulation, psychological abuse, and the creation of a highly volatile, psychologically abusive training environment.

A recent study I worked on with Andrew Sparkes at Leeds Beckett University, focused on the story of “Bella” – not her real name – a female athlete, who was groomed and then sexually abused by her male coach. We drew on previous research to explore three main types of harrassing coaches:

  1. The flirting-charming coach: someone always flirting, joking, or trying to touch the athlete.
  2. The seductive coach: someone who went further, trying to “hit on everyone”.
  3. The authoritarian coach: someone who used his power over the athlete. He was also characterised as having psychological problems and often had a degrading and negative view of women in general.

Bella’s coach was able to shift between the personae and tactics of the different coaches in order to groom her and have “power over” and own her for many years.

Jock culture hides abuse

While sexual abuse exists in many different sports, football embraces masculine characteristics which act like a cult – a subculture adhering to its own list of commandments situated in a type of “jock culture”. In the past, the commonly accepted ethos of “suffer in silence” and the traditional belief that children’s voices should not be heard, could too easily be used to disguise sexually abusive behaviours.

Often athletes believe that the “jock culture” of which they are a part takes precedence over any other authoritative structures outside their sporting world – a bubble which can cut them off from external support.

Men’s football, in particular, provides a platform to global celebrity, bloated salaries, corporate sponsorship and fan adulation that can catapult male footballers to fame and fortune. Football coaches, similar to other positions of power, are the gatekeepers to this dream and this status comes with power that has the potential to be abused.

Breaking the silence

This power is reinforced when they are found to have committed serious violent or sexual offences – but not punished. Evidence from the NFL in the US regarding violence against women suggests that sportspeople are less likely to be “punished by the leagues, teams, or criminal justice system as harshly or consistently as their general public counterparts”.

The overwhelmingly high value placed on men’s sport, specifically men’s football, might mean that abusers think they can get away with abusive behaviours which might include sexual or child abuse. Many victims are made to believe by the perpetrator that they were the only one who was abused – that they were “special” and would not be believed if they came forward. It can also be extremely difficult for men to admit to being a victim. Speaking out about abuse means breaking codes of masculinity and camaraderie that are closely tied to sporting identity.

While it is important for people to tell their stories, we need to be careful that the news does not create moral panic which leads to a culture of fear around coaches as “dangerous individuals”. While the footballers who have spoken out are very courageous, it’s important not to cast suspicion on all coaches.

Many of the effects of abuse on victims – such as drink and drug abuse, depression, suicidal feelings and sexual disturbance – are misunderstood. The culture of silence surrounding sexual abuse in sport can perpetuate feelings of isolation for victims of abuse. Speaking out about their abuse enables victims, bystanders and other sportspeople to become whistleblowers who challenge the culture of silence that seems to exist in football and other sports about this kind of abuse. After all, the shame lies completely with the abuser, not with the abused.

The Conversation

Helen Owton, Lecturer in Sport & Fitness, The Open University

This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.