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.

When I grow up I wanna be famous….. Role Models in Winter Sports

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By Candice Lingam-Willgoss

“I have dreamed my whole life about being a British Olympian”
(Lizzy Yarnold, 2014)

Introduction

With the Sochi Games almost at a close as with London 2012 we enter a period of reflection, both in terms of markers of success but also in relation to the legacy that will been left. Without doubt this has been one of the most highly viewed Winter Games to date and with an estimated £30billion being spent by the Russian hosts this is not surprising. I have commented in previous postings on how many of the new events introduced at this games have without doubt added another dimension to the demographic who are tuning in to watch Winter sports and my observations of this games have led to me pondering a variety of different areas, from whether the participants at these games are more athletes or performers, my own sporting retirement, the causes of anxiety at altitude and more recently Heaney’s (2014) comments on the area of sporting role models.

London 2012

Two years ago when Olympics fever was on our back door step much was made of the legacy that would be left to the next generation, in fact one of the 5 key legacy promises that were made was ‘to inspire a generation of young people’ (UK parliament, 2012). The likes of Jessica Ennis-Hill and Chris Hoy were spearheading the enthusiasm of a nation and providing excellent role models to a raft of young people. Their success has directly seen an increase in investment into a range of different sports and predictions are that Rio 2016 will see the British team solidify their dominance on the medals table even more. So what will be the legacy left by the Sochi Winter Games?

Winter Sports

Rea’s opening blog post considered the fact that as a nation we are not a typical big player when it comes to Winter Sports as he said ‘history is not on our side’. As a nation we are without a strong winter sports heritage and role models are not so obvious to spot (2014). In a recent interview with the women’s sport trust Shelley Rudman discussed who her sporting role models were and cites Jane Tomlinson and Clare Lomas, thus illustrating that as a sporting female sometimes you have to step outside of your sport to find those who inspire you. Women have always have been playing catch up in the sports world, from the opportunities available, the media coverage and financial rewards, so it is interesting that three of our four medals to date have been won by women.

The Role of the Family

The concept of a role model within sport having to come from someone in the public eye is put to bed by Pinchbeck (2014) in her article looking at Olympic Parents. Her discussion on the instrumental role that the family plays in the development of a young person’s engagement in sport considers that it is parents who may be the primary role models for their children. So often it’s the case that a young boys memories of sport as a youngster is being taken to his first football match by his dad, and it is dad’s passion for watching the game that sparks the sons desire to play. This influence of family is echoed by Chemmy Alcott’s path into Skiing, she was introduced to the sport by her family from a very young age.

The Future’s Bright

The next generation should have a different experience, with the British women in particular leading the medals charge in Sochi. Jenny Jones secured Britain’s first Olympic medal at the games and for the men James Woods put in an impressive 5th place finish in the same event. Alcott at her 4th Olympics and 6 months after a possible career ending leg break did herself proud with a 19th place finish in the downhill. These athletes are demonstrating that even as a nation without a strong heritage and limited facilities anything is possible. Even more notable was Lizzy Yarnold’s performance – her dream of becoming an Olympian has come true in the most Hollywood fashion, from her integration in the Skeleton set up 5 years ago to her Gold Medal at this year’s Olympic Games. Just as Amy Williams was her role model she is now providing another very positive female role model for young people in winter sports. The Telegraph’s Judith Woods wrote in 2010 about Amy Williams, the 2010 Skeleton Gold Medal winner and how she was everything a female role model should be ‘personable, pretty, a PhD student and an Olympic Gold Medallist’. Williams, like Rudman and Yarnold, is still a very positive role model for young woman today, and in an age when female identity is becoming even more multifaceted they show you can have it all.

The legacy being left by these games isn’t just instilling a desire to become an Olympic athlete, I think they are illustrating, as I have previously mentioned, the positive gains that are to be made when you take up sport of any sort. Seeing the ‘cool’ persona of Slopestyler Woods, the supportive family of Jones, the enthusiastic supporters of Yarnold and the camaraderie of the Curlers is projecting the right image of sport to the next generation. A sentiment perfectly summed up by Rudman ‘I think it is really important that women understand from a young age that taking part in sport is really beneficial from both a health and general well-being perspective’ (2014). Without doubt the Sochi Winter Olympics have raised the profile of a number of minority sports and hopefully will lead to more young people strapping on skis, skating or even learning how to slide stones.

Team GB’s equal best medal haul – but it’s all about the Curling!

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By Simon Rea

On Friday 21st February Team GB will win their fourth medal, either a silver or gold, in the men’s curling final. It will equal the team’s best performance from the first Winter Olympics in 1924 held in Chamonix. Four medals may look a modest haul in contrast to Norway’s 21 and counting but it represents a significant improvement on the single medal achieved in 2010 and means that the team’s medal target has been achieved with a couple more medal chances to come over the weekend.

Sliding onto the podium
There was a major breakthrough on the first Sunday of the Games as Jenny Jones won a bronze medal in Snowboarding. According to the record books this is the first British medal on snow (all the others have been won in ice events), although Alain Baxter’s performance in the skiing slalom in 2002 needs to be acknowledged. He won the bronze medal but was disqualified for failing a drugs test due to the presence of a stimulant in an American Vicks inhaler he was using. He was later cleared of any wrong doing but the IOC declined to give him back his medal. Team GB’s first gold came courtesy of a brilliant performance over four runs of the skeleton course by Lizzy Yarnold. She followed in the footsteps of Amy Williams and celebrated by changing her name to ‘YarGold’ for one day.

Curling – the nation’s new favourite sport!
Team GB’s success in 2014 has centred on the Ice Cube Curling Centre. Social media has been buzzing with posts and tweets about how people have become obsessed with the curling events. Interest in Curling has overcome the jibes about it being ‘competitive housework’ as viewers are treated to the excitement and the drama of the matches that can change with every stone released. The use of language, such as stones, hammer, sweeps and skips is becoming commonplace and curling works on many levels. Unlike many Winter Olympic events the competitors compete head to head rather than one after another so the drama is constantly unfolding and the battle between the teams is visible to see. It is a perfect television sport as the sheet that it is played on can be viewed from overhead, the stones, the house and the team’s kit are colourful and appealing. The camera can look straight into the eyes of the curlers and examine every change of emotion as they release the stones and watch their trajectory. Commentators refer to the wide, blue eyes of Anna Sloan or the steely glare of Eve Muirhead. The sport is highly skilled and the curlers have to control their emotions under extreme pressure and keep their concentration. Curling has earned the nickname ‘chess on ice’ because success is reliant on the strategy of each team. Each team has eight stones per end and the first stones are as influential as the last as the team seek to put up guards for their later stones or keep the route to the house clear. Maybe Curling is better compared to snooker as not only do you have to keep thinking ahead to the next shots but you also have to work out angles to hit your opponent’s stones to your advantage. The movement of the stones can be controlled by the sweepers whose work decreases the friction between the stone and ice and can influence the speed and direction of the stone.

Can it get even better?
Four Scottish women with an average age of 23 have won the bronze medal and Dave Murdoch’s men’s team will win either gold or silver. A gold medal would improve on the medal haul from 1924 and would be the first time Britain has won two golds at a Games. They are also putting together a strong case against Scottish devolution from the UK! There are other medal chances as well as the seriously unlucky Elise Christie (a former OU student) and the men’s 4-man bobsleigh provide the possibility of medals. Team GB has also had several athletes placed well in finals but outside the medal positions.

Up to this point the Sochi Games have proved to be a positive experience with spectacular venues and performances to match. The new events, such as slope style have been popular and well received. And maybe, just maybe, the best Winter Olympic performance for Team GB.