Rio 2014: the participation legacy in England

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By Jessica Pinchbeck

In my attempt to be a good sporting parent I encourage my children to both participate in and spectate as many different sports as possible. However in spite of my attempts at diversity when faced with a range of activities or equipment to choose from, nine out of ten times they’ll opt for kicking a football. There appears to be something about football that possesses an unexplainable attraction for my children and many like them. When you pass any school playground at lunchtime it is easy to see that football dominates; rarely do you witness a game of rugby or volleyball being played. So is this obsession with playing football in the playground reflected in the sports participation of the general public?

What do the facts and figures say?
The number of people over 16 in England who play sport at least once a week is on the rise, therefore one might assume that the number of people participating in football would also be increasing, however this is not the case. The 2013 Sport England Active People Survey actually shows a decrease of around 100,000 in the number of people aged 16 and over that participate in football once a week. Nevertheless let us not under estimate football’s popularity as it still remains the fourth most popular participation sport with only swimming, athletics and cycling preceding it, rendering it the most popular team sport. Figures show that team sports are generally on a decline, perhaps due to people wanting to participate in individual activities that they can schedule around their own timetable, yet football still has 1.8million participants every week compared to its closest team rival rugby union, which has only 159,900. If we delve into these statistics further we note that only 18.5% of participants are members of a football club, although 25% have played competitively, both a slight decrease on previous year’s figures. This suggests that the majority of adult football participation takes place in a more recreational context.

This decrease in participation, alongside other issues, have resulted in public funding cuts to the FA of 1.6million by Sport England, potentially impacting grassroots football and young people in particular. In the 14-25 year old age bracket football is by far the most popular sport with 1.3 million participants, illustrating that this age group make up the majority of footballs demographic. Similarly The Taking Part survey (DCMS, 2013) shows that for 11-15 year olds football was the most popular with 56.1% having played in the last four weeks, seeing significant increases since 2010/11. Schools also had the strongest club links with football clubs. This suggests that football is still the most vibrant sport being played in secondary school, and regular participation appears to continue up until the age of 25.

These trends are also replicated in a survey by the Women’s Sport and Fitness Foundation in 2012 showing football as the most popular team sport for women, with around a quarter of a million participants. Figures from the FA show that 1.38million women and girls in England participate regularly, reinforcing the importance of the younger demographic in these participation figures. As with the Active People’s Survey individual activities are still the preferred choice for women with football only the 9th most popular sport overall and continuing to see decreases in participation rates each year.

The story behind the statistics
The statistics paint the picture of football being the most popular team sport with children aged 11-15 and also into adulthood represented by the 14-25 age group. Yet with a wider range of sports becoming more accessible to the general public through national governing body funding initiatives and the London 2012 legacy there has been, and continues to be, a gradual shift in the types of activities people are engaging in, with individual activities growing each year. So although overall participation numbers in sport are rising those participating in the more traditional team sports such as football appear to be declining at adult level.

In addition various media reports attribute government cutbacks to the steady decline of grassroots football stating the local authority playing fields used by the majority of amateur football clubs are just not up to the standard required (Winter,2013). Furthermore the fees to use these poor facilities continue to rise, making grassroots football more expensive but also less enjoyable and more of a challenge for those involved in its organisation. Lack of coaches qualified to a high level is also cited as a key failing of grassroots football (Winter 2013), with perhaps poorly qualified coaches producing inadequate sessions and discouraging continued participation amongst participants.

Following the success of Team GB in London 2012 and the subsequent increases in swimming, athletics and cycling participation it may be feasible to suggest that the success of the England men’s team in Rio 2014 may be a crucial factor to help give football participation levels a useful boost.

References:
DCMS (2013). Taking Part October 2011 to September 2012 Supplementary Child Report. Statistical Release, April 2013.

Department for Education (2013) ‘Evidence on physical education and sport in schools: key findings’ [online] Available from: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/226506/Evidence_on_physical_education_and_sport_in_schools-summary.pdf (Accessed 9 June 2014)

Sport England (2014) ‘The National Picture’ [online] Available from: http://www.sportengland.org/research/who-plays-sport/national-picture/ (Accessed 9 June 2014)

Women’s Sport and Fitness Foundation (2012) ‘Football Factsheet’ [online] Available from: http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&frm=1&source=web&cd=5&ved=0CEgQFjAE&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thefa.com%2F~%2Fmedia%2Ffiles%2Fthefaportal%2Fgovernance-docs%2Fequality%2Fwomen-and-girls%2Fwomens-football-fact-sheet-oct-2012.ashx&ei=TJiVU8rLD8He7AaQiIEg&usg=AFQjCNHLM40pRUljBuVjWCB7KZraRG1OVw&bvm=bv.68445247,d.ZGU (Accessed 9 June 2014)

Under pressure: anxiety and a nation’s hope at the World Cup

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By Candice Lingam-Willgoss

The expectation placed on Roy Hodgson’s 23-man England squad is immense – each player is representing a country that proudly boasts football as its national sport, and (rightly or wrongly) considers itself the birthplace of the world game. In a recent press conference when asked if he had a winning squad, Hodgson said:

Yes, of course I do. Why take a squad otherwise? But they’re empty words … If they don’t show their talent, all the optimism in the world counts for nothing.

His use of the term optimism is interesting as there has been some discussion on how this could be England’s year to win. However, as football psychologist Geir Jordet has warned, there is a risk that a highly favourable public appraisal of a team could be linked to displays of “escapist self regulation strategy”. What does this mean? From a psychological perspective, self regulation could be to calm yourself down or act in your long-term best interest – but when this is exhibited in an escapist manner, ie avoiding reality, this leads to a breakdown of the usual response and in turn can harm performance. Is this the factor that could stop England players “showing their talent”?

I asked former England U21 player and current Portsmouth Manager Andy Awford what he thought. He said he felt there had been a shift within the country and many have come to accept that England can’t be expected to win every tournament (which is helpful as they haven’t since 1966). “Expectations aren’t as high,” he said.

But football fans do represent a unique subculture of sports supporters. Rarely do you see such passion and emotional connection between fans and the sport they follow. This comes at a price, as players and teams are only seen as being as good as their last performance. There is no better illustration of this than the 1998 David Beckham incident, when England’s star player was vilified nationwide after being sent off for kicking an opponent in a display of extremely poor discipline. It took four years for Beckham to redeem himself, when he scored a match-winning penalty in the 2002 World Cup – again against Argentina. “It took everything that had happened, everything that had been said or written since my red card away,” he wrote in his autobiography, My Side.

This suggestion that public appraisal can influence performance links closely to anxiety and is something Jordet has also investigated. He has looked at the connection between public status and performance in high pressure sport tasks such as penalty shootouts. He found players who had higher public status tended to perform worse and engage more in escapist self-regulatory behaviour. For example, high-status players might perpare faster than usual, due to wanting to get the shot “over with” than players who have yet to win any major awards and are lesser known.

This concept of high public status is particularly relevant to the England squad which contains many players who are akin to Hollywood stars in terms of status and earnings. Could this go some way to explain why a player like Wayne Rooney is yet to score at a World Cup?

Anxiety and stress are terms commonly bandied about within the sporting world, with the competitive environment designed to elevate the arousal levels of not just the players but the fans as well. The need for athletes to control their emotions has led to much work being done on the sources of that anxiety within sport. How important an event is and uncertainty are among the most prevalent – no wonder things get so hard at the World Cup. The England team is a young squad, short on tournament experience – how will the players cope with this pressure?

This is something Awford remembers: “I’ve played for England and there’s a different mentality, its a different set up,“ he said. “The England shirt can be a heavy one to wear.”

But how does anxiety actually influence the performance of professional athletes? Surely they should just be able to interpret their emotions in the optimal way? Sadly the nature of the human mind is not so logical, and while players will endeavor to maintain the best mind set, the importance of the event and the expectations of a nation will result in heightened anxiety levels which can manifest in a number of different ways.

“Anxiety can lead to bad decisions,” Awford told me. It also leads to co-ordination difficulties, and problems with attention to detail, all of which can prove debilitating to performance.

While physical training can largely be controlled, and without doubt the best 11 man team will be on the pitch for England’s opening game, managers cannot determine their players’ reactions to the unique levels of pressure generated by representing your nation at the World Cup.

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

World Cup 2014 – it’s here again but is it coming home?

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By Simon Rea

It’s upon us again – the football circus that is the World Cup.  Flags are appearing on cars, houses and pubs and the talk is of heat, humidity, samba football and penalty shoot outs.  If you have no interest in football now is the time to book that once in a lifetime trip to Albania or Kazakhstan, or other countries who have not qualified, for the next month.

Brazil has a special significance in the hearts of football fans.  They are the most successful team in World Cup history with five titles and have been represented by outstanding footballers such as Pele, Garrincha, Zico, Romario and Ronaldo.  They boast iconic stadia, such as the Maracana, placed in breath-taking settings. Certainly my interest in football was cemented by watching Brazil beat Scotland 4-1 in the 1982 World Cup. I could not believe that football could be played like that.  The sport of football may have developed in England but somewhere along the line Brazil became its spiritual home.

In this article I will consider some of the important factors that may contribute to one team rising above the others and claiming the title on 12th July.

Who will be in the quarter finals?

FIFA rankings show Spain, Germany, Portugal and Brazil as the top ranked teams with England rated as 11th.  The Elo ratings, developed by Arpad Elo which take into account skill levels of players and teams, the performances of teams in recent competitions and home advantage are almost in agreement.  They say that the semi-finalists are likely to be Brazil, Spain, Germany and Argentina with Brazil and Argentina making it to the final.  These statistical predictions look fairly sound but do not take into account what may happen during the tournament – injuries, lower ranked teams over performing or the role of luck.  Also, Brazil, Argentina and Germany are three of the four most successful teams in World Cup (based on matches won) with Italy being the fourth.  In a bid to raise optimism it is worth noting that England are the fifth most successful team, just ahead of Spain. Brazil are the clear favourites to win a sixth title but what are the key factors for success?

The effect of home advantage

This will be the 20th World Cup and of the previous 19 tournaments 6 have been won by the host nation.  Even more relevant is that 17 tournaments have been won by a team from the Continent that has hosted the event.  Spain’s 2010 victory in South Africa was something of an anomaly as was European teams gaining the first three places.  Pollard (2006) identified that factors such as crowd support, less travel, familiarity with grounds and conditions, referee bias and psychological factors (the expectations of success) can all play a part.  Home advantage is often reframed as away disadvantage as the tiring effects of travel, living away from home, changes in diet and lack of familiarity with weather conditions can all play a negative role.

Team dynamics

While performance on the pitch is the only thing that counts this can be effected by what happens off the pitch.  Players are forced to live, eat and breathe with each other for periods of up to six weeks.  There may be clashes of personality, battles of egos, loyalties divided along club lines and all manners of barriers to team cohesion.  In 2010 the French team, who had been victorious in 2002 and runners up in 2006, boycotted their final training session in protest at the sending home of Nicolas Anelka.  Anelka was involved in an argument with the coach and this caused a rift between players and coach.  The outcome was that France went home after the group stage.  Dutch teams have also often been characterised by infighting and group conflict.

Tactics

Teams need to be aware of the heat when working on tactics.  The high tempo, pressing game favoured by European teams, England included, is not suited to the heat of the Brazil and particularly the jungle in Manaus.  Many South American teams favour a passing team where the ball does the work and saves the energy of the players.

My choice of quarter finalists

I think Brazil and Argentina will be there and joined by two of Chile, France and The Ivory Coast.  I think that the Spanish team are one major tournament past their peak and their age may work against them; Germany will be hard to beat but their reliance on Miroslav Klose to score goals is risky.  Chile have two world stars in Arturo Vidal and Alexis Sanchez and they play very attacking football.  France are developing as a team and in Rafael Varane and Paul Pogba have two outstanding young players.  If the Ivory Coast can develop a team ethic then players such as Yaya Toure, Chiek Tiote and Didier Drogba could make them a major force.

What about England’s chances?

I think that England are developing into a very effective team and that they will have the chance to grow throughout the tournament.  In 1990 the England team was introducing players such as Paul Gascoigne and David Platt to their first tournament and they excelled on the big stage. England’s Daniel Sturridge has to be scoring goals for England to progress but it is the players who supply the chances that are the central to success. The English players to watch are Adam Lallana and Raheem Sterling.  Lallana has neither pace nor power but he has fast feet and can find space in tight areas; on the other hand Sterling has searing pace that can scare defenders.  If England are to progress they must beat Italy as it will be difficult for them when they face Uruguay.

Who wins then?

The World Cup favours the host nation, those with the best players and the most fanatical supporters.  I have to tip Brazil to win and Neymar to be top scorer.

Reference

Pollard, R. (2006). Home advantage in soccer: Variations in its magnitude and a literature review on interrelated factors associated with its existence. Journal of Sports Behaviour, 29, 169-189.

Penalty Shoot Out Game

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By Caroline Heaney

As the World Cup approaches the possibility of the dreaded penalty shoot out looms, but as the England U17 squad showed recently when winning the European Championships on penalties, teams do not need to fear the penalty shoot out.

So what does it take to make the ‘perfect penalty’ in a penalty shoot-out situation? Try our penalty shoot-out game for a fun way to examine the science behind the drama of the penalty shoot-out.

Click here to play our penalty shoot-out game

Look out for a future post examining the penalty shoot out in a little more detail!

Staff Profile: Nigel Wright

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Nigel has been an Associate Lecturer at the Open University since 2009 and has tutored a range of modules within the sport and fitness programme. He has also authored several of the study topics including:

 

 

 

 

 

E112 – Introduction to Sport, Fitness and Management
• Study Topic 4: Training for Sport and Fitness
E217 – Sport and Conditioning Science into Practice
• Study Topic 4: Exploring Core Stability
• Study Topic 5: Strength and conditioning
E313 – Exploring Psychological Aspects of Athletic Development
• Study Topic 3: The Coach-Athlete Relationship
E314 – Exploring Contemporary Issues in Sport and Exercise
• EMA topic Overview: How does ethnicity influence participation and performance in sport
E117 – Introduction to Sport and Fitness
• Study Topic 6: Eating to Win

In addition to his work at the Open University he has worked as a personal trainer and fitness manager. Nigel has also worked as lecturer in sport and exercise in further and higher education and as a manager of a sport and outdoor education department. Currently, he undertakes a range of consultancy roles such as the authoring, development and external verification of sport and fitness qualifications.

The Relationship Between Athlete and Guide

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By Caroline Heaney

As I have been watching Open University student Jade Etherington and her fellow visually impaired alpine skiers in the Winter Paralympics I have been struck by the amazing relationship that exists between skier and guide.

There seem to be two key features present in a successful coach-guide relationship: trust and understanding. The athlete needs to place an extreme level of trust in the guide to lead her appropriately and the guide needs to have a high level of understanding of the athlete in order to guide her appropriately. Failure to have this trust and understanding could have a significant impact on performance.

Jade Etherington and her guide Caroline Powell, having won 3 medals in Sochi, clearly have a very strong athlete-guide relationship that appears to demonstrate these qualities of trust and understanding. The two demonstrate high levels of task and social cohesion, with both appearing to be very focused on working together to achieve Paralympic success (task cohesion), and appearing to get on well (social cohesion). This is quite remarkable considering that they have only been together for less than a year. Guide Powell describes their relationship below:

“It’s basically a friendship so you have to build a friendship and that can take years. In our case we had to build it within a short space of time, but we were really honest with each other from the beginning. She taught me so much about guiding, I just went with what she said and it’s worked. It’s come together now and we’re so happy.”

Kelly Gallagher, who made history in Sochi by becoming Great Britain’s first ever Winter Paralympics Gold medallist, also seems to have an exceptional relationship with her guide Charlotte Evans. She speaks about the strong connection and understanding they have:

“…she’s so in tune with me that she can tell how I’m skiing just by the noises I make”

I have been unable to identify any research that examines the relationship between the visually impaired athlete and guide, but the dyadic relationship may be similar in nature to the relationship between team-mates in a sports team (e.g. a rowing pair) or the coach-athlete relationship. Jowett has researched the coach-athlete relationship extensively and in her 3+1 Cs model she identifies four components of a successful coach-athlete relationship: closeness, commitment, complementarity and co-orientation. Intuitively these qualities seem applicable to the athlete-guide relationship.

The achievements of Great Britain’s visually impaired alpine skiers in the Winter Paralympics highlight the importance of the coach-guide relationship and perhaps there is a need for research to examine this unique and very important relationship.

British Prospects at the Winter Paralympics

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By Caroline Heaney

Today sees the start of the Winter Paralympics which provides us with the opportunity to witness yet more extraordinary feats of athletic ability in Sochi. The London 2012 Summer Paralympics helped raise the profile of Paralympic sport like never before and hopefully the Sochi games will do the same, despite the danger of the event being overshadowed by recent events in Ukraine.

So what do the Winter Paralympics have in store for us, and who are Paralympics GBs medal prospects? The sports included in the Winter Paralympics programme are:  Alpine skiing, Wheelchair Curling, Ice Sledge Hockey, Nordic Skiing and Biathlon. Great Britain have a squad of 15 athletes in Sochi and whilst Paralympics GB are a dominant force in the summer games, they have yet to win a gold medal at the Winter Paralympics. Paralympics GBs best performance to date came in the 1984 Winter Paralympics where they won 4 silver and 6 bronze medals. The medal target for Sochi is 2 to 6 medals.

Alpine Skiing

Alpine skiing comprises the downhill, super-G, giant slalom, slalom and super combined disciplines across three categories of disability that will see standing, sit-ski and visually impaired events. Snowboard cross will also be making its Paralympic debut.

British interest: Mike Brennan, Jade Etherington and guide Caroline Powell, Kelly Gallagher and guide Charlotte Evans, 15 year old Mille Knight (opening ceremony flag bearer) and guide Rachael Ferrier, Ben Sneesby, Anna Turney, and James Whitley. Kelly Gallagher represents one of Paralympic GBs strongest medal hopes.

Wheelchair Curling

Wheelchair curling is essentially the same game as we saw at the Winter Olympics with one key difference – there is no sweeping. Also, unlike the Olympic event, Paralympic curling is contested by mixed gender teams. Following a silver medal in 2006 and the medal winning achievements of their Olympic counterparts the Paralympic GB curling team are under pressure to gain a place on the podium and they are in a strong position to achieve this.

British interest: Skip Angie Malone, competing in her 3rd Paralympics, will be joined by Gregor Ewan, Jim Gault, Bob McPherson, and Aileen Neilson. Angie made history in 2010 by becoming the first female skip in international competition.

Ice Sledge Hockey

Ice sledge hockey, as its name suggests, is played on sledges. Otherwise it is similar to the Winter Olympics version of the game. Paralympics GB does not have a team in the event, but Canada and the USA are big medal contenders.

Nordic Skiing and Biathlon

Peter Young was the last British cross-country skiing medallist when he won a bronze in 1994. Sadly there are no British competitors in the cross-country skiing or biathlon events in Sochi, which will see sitting, standing and visually impaired races. This sport looks set to be a favourite of the home crowd with Russian athletes expected to dominate.

The Winter Paralympics will no doubt provide another amazing spectacle of sport and with many in the British team making their Paralympics debut and potential British medal prospects we could see some new sporting role models emerging from these games.

Bibliography

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/disability-sport/25580284

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/disability-sport/25605833

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/disability-sport/26422128

http://paralympics.channel4.com/competitions/sochi-2014-winter-paralympics/sports/index.html

http://paralympics.channel4.com/competitions/sochi-2014-winter-paralympics/athletes/index.html

http://sochi.paralympics.org.uk/athletes

Peak Performance in Sochi 2014: Can it continue?

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By Jessica Pinchbeck

The snowy peaks of Sochi have provided a dramatic backdrop to the remarkable achievements of many athletes striving to achieve their finest performances at the games. With Team GB equalling their best performance at the Winter Olympics and the Paralympic Games about to begin we take a look at peak performance and how it can be achieved.

What is peak performance?
Peak performance is defined as ‘the performance at the top of the individual’s range of possible performances’ (Kauss, 1980) and the Olympics and Paralympics is certainly the time when athletes want to be at the top of their game. Studies investigating peak performance show there are a range of common physical and mental factors that relate to peak performance. These include physical and mental relaxation, confidence, a present-centred focus, being highly energised, extraordinary awareness, and feeling in control. These factors are closely linked to a concept known as ‘flow’, often referred to in sport as ‘being in the zone’.

The concept of flow
Flow is a positive psychological state and arises from wider research on human happiness by a psychologist called Csikszentmihalyi. This optimal psychological state is conducive to attaining peak performances and is therefore a desirable experience for athletes. Common dimensions of the flow experience emerged from original studies and have since been further supported by research in sport.

Challenge-skill balance is possibly the most important factor enabling flow to occur. For example, if an athlete considers a task to be too challenging they may experience anxiety, or conversely if a task is seen as too easy the athlete may become bored, both of which can hinder performance. When challenge and skill are positioned at the correct levels for the athlete flow is more likely to occur. Interestingly it is the athlete’s perceptions of their capabilities relative to the challenge and not necessarily their true abilities that are important. Jenny Jones, GB Olympic bronze medallist, discusses how she relished the challenge of Sochi 2014:

‘When they announced that slopestyle was going to be in the Olympics I was amazed that it was going to be brought in and quite excited that I had a new challenge.’

To accomplish a challenge an athlete will set clear goals and receive feedback, which forms a crucial process within the flow experience. Athletes also report a merging of action and awareness which is often described as ‘feeling at one with the activity’, experiencing automaticity and unity with the environment and where performing the action feels effortless. GB Olympic gold medallist Lizzy Yarnold explains:

‘It’s more about having a real good connection with the sled and the mental game …There are so many other aspects apart from the physical side in skeleton.’

Total concentration is linked to optimal performance, with athletes often reporting a sense of control during flow. Athletes also describe feeling completely confident with no fear of failure. During flow an individual’s self-consciousness diminishes and they have little concern or anxiety regarding the perceptions of others (Jackson and Kimiecik, 2008). Transformation of time is the one factor which lacks consistency across studies as for some athletes time speeds up during flow and for others time slows down. In addition if an activity is autotelic and performed for its own sake, its own rewards and enjoyment then flow is more likely to occur. This intrinsic enjoyment of the activity is shown by GB slopestyle skier James Woods who when asked what would improve his enjoyment of skiing replied:

‘I don’t think anything could. I appreciate so much the incredible opportunities that I get, every second of riding is something special.’

In elite sport the impact of external rewards as well as the competitive nature and the lack of control athletes have over the sporting environment may lead to elite athletes experiencing more difficulty in achieving flow than non-elite athletes. However this is a relatively unexplored area of research to date.

Facilitating Flow
As you can see there are similarities between flow and peak performance although they are not identical. Peak performance is a high level of functioning whereas flow is a type of experience. An athlete can be in flow without producing peak performance, although many athletes (up to 75% in one study) do experience flow when in peak performance. Therefore flow is a valued experience for sports performers as it can, and often does, result in peak performance. But how can this be achieved?

Research suggests that the body and mind can be trained to reach the flow state using psychological skills training such as imagery, goal-setting, thought control strategies, and arousal management techniques, many of which we are sure to see put into practice in the Winter Paralympics. So with 15 athletes representing Paralympic GB in Sochi and some serious medal contenders, such as alpine skiers Jade Etherington and Kelly Gallagher, it will be fantastic to see the flow of peak performances continue, particularly from our home grown athletes.

References:

BBC (2014) ‘Winter Olympics 2014: Jenny Jones excited by slopestyle debut’ [online] Available from: http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/winter-olympics/25586746

Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1975) ‘Beyond boredom and anxiety’. San Francisco. Jossey-Bass.

GB Ski Club (2009) ‘The Questionnaire: James Woods’ [online] Available from: http://www.skiclub.co.uk/skiclub/news/story.aspx?storyID=6447#.UxWlWuVFDIU (Accessed 2 March 2014)

Gibson, O. (2014) ‘Lizzy Yarnold already making plans to defend skeleton title in 2018’ [online] Available from: http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2014/feb/15/lizzy-yarnold-skeleton-winter-olympics-defence (Accessed 2 March 2014)

Jackson, S. and Kimiecik, J. (2008) ‘The Flow Perspective of Optimal Experience in Sport and Physical Activity’ in T. Horn (ed) ‘Advances in Sport Psychology’ (3rd Edition). Leeds, Human Kinetics.

Jackson, S. (2000) Joy, Fun, and Flow State in Sport. In: Hanin, Y. (ed). Emotions in Sport. Leeds. Human Kinetics.

Jackson, S. and Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1999) ‘Flow in Sports: The keys to optimal experiences and performances.’ Leeds. Human Kinetics.