Sports Psychology

Topic:

Team Communication

Communication could be of two types verbal or non-verbal. Communication is very

necessary during sports. Communication is between players in team sports and in
single sports communication is a key between coach and the player. But
communication can’t possibly be verbal during the game that is why it’s necessary to
strengthen their non-verbal communication and to create a deeper understanding
between players. Many sports are characterized by constantly changing locations
and time constraints. In sports such as basketball soccer and field hockey, players
change location and the ball moves from one player to another. Under such
circumstances, members of the team often rely on both overt and covert
communication in an attempt to increase team coordination and performance.

Decision making
Decision making (DM) is the cognitive operation of selecting a response from a
range of available responses in circumstances where an action is needed.
Decision-making is a fundamental element of any sport, especially open, fast,
dynamic team sports such as volleyball, football, soccer, rugby, and basketball. In
order to succeed in winning any game and competition at national and international
level in all individual and team sports there is a need to reconsider all success
factors in order to make a better decision to win. At the elite level, coaches and
athletes appear to consistently make good decisions in situations that are highly
temporally constrained. Similarly, athletes should be encouraged to make a decision
by evaluating options and being allowed to make mistakes and purposely inspect
these mistakes so that it does not occur in the future.

Athletes who have the ability to create truly great performances on the field or in a
race have one very important skill in common. They are excellent decision makers –
instead of letting things happen,

In team sports though there is an opportunity for collective decision making it is still
necessary for players to be vigilant and take their individual decisions also.

Activity set up
Requirements for following activity will be –

 At least two teams with approximately five players each

  30 cue cards with different activities written on each card folded and placed in
a bowl.
 A white board or a score board to mark the scores of all the teams.
 A referee to look after the score and the match.
 Stopwatch will be required to time the act of each player for 15 seconds each

Activity Organization
To play this activity every team should hold approximately five players. Every team
should decide a captain and collectively decide a name for their team. The captain
will have to decide an order in which each player performs. The first player will pick a
cue card from the bowl. Each cue card will describe a particular location (for
example: Garden, Swimming pool). First person will be given 15 seconds, he\she
will have to act any activity describing the location without using verbal speech or
drawing, only by the actions of hand (for example: if the cue card has the location
garden the player can show an activity of jogging, running etc). after 15 seconds are
up next member will join the first player but he is not allowed to see the cue card. He
will just have to assume the location and act some activity related to it. This will
continue till the last player. All the players will keep enacting the activity till the end.
After all players have performed the opposition will have to pick any random player
and ask him what activity they are performing and which location it is. If the player
said the right location and an activity is also related to the location, the team get 10
points. But if the player fails to contemplate the right location they receive no points.
You can conduct about 4 rounds in this particular activity.

Activity Debriefing
As we highlighted in the beginning main point of this game was to invoke a better
non-verbal communication amongst the members of the team and also independent
decision making. So as we observe the activity in the beginning the team members
had to select a captain with collective understanding. Understanding is always a key
potential for the better harmony of the team. The important decision has to be taken
by the first player in the order, since only he is aware of the location, he should make
the right decision about which activity he will perform related to the location that
everyone gets the right message about the place. So here we strengthen
Independent decision making. The remaining players also have a key role to
comprehend the right message given by the first player and go with their instincts to
decide the next move they make.

Let’s take an example of a basketball match, in the middle of the game it’s a crucial
point because your team is very close to score a basket . at this point the players
near to the basket should defend and block the right players so they can basket with
a greater ease. Here there is independent decision making
 If they failed to block the right player the other team gets a chance to steal the ball.
Also in a different situation if the ball goes off court by other team our team gets a
throw. So there is a need for understanding between the players so the right player
can receive a pass.

Football players communicate a particular target to a player who executes a corner

kick. It follows that team members in sports communicate with each other to achieve
better solutions to challenges posed by the opposing team players and so they are
better positioned to coordinate and implement team strategies among themselves.

Therefore despite of being a master in technical skills, mental skills like decision
making and communication also serve great importance.

Strategy to Apply:
This game highly focuses on decision making and communication skills. It is trying to
stimulate a better understanding by knowing your teammates better. It is a form of
interaction outside field. In the beginning the team learns to strategize and land on a
mutual decision. To achieve this skill the important part is to know your team
members. If you know them well it’s easy to associate activities to the location. Also
the person who goes first should choose an activity that defines the location best.
You can assign specific signs for a particular location which you feel it’s likely to be
there and pre discuss what will be done in specific location. After a few rounds when
you actually develop an understanding your performance will definitely enhance.
While the first player is performing the other team members can guess the location
and come on a common decision. This will help keep a form of uniformity. You
should also let your intuitive skill guide you.

References
 Decision Making Archives (Christopher Riches) -
https://functionalbasketballcoaching.com/tag/decision-making/
 The Importance of Communication in Sports-
https://degree.astate.edu/articles/sport-administration/communication-in-
sports.aspx
 Psychology- https://psychology.iresearchnet.com/sports-
psychology/perception-in-sport/decision-making/

Name: Dhwani Shah

Class: FYBA (C)
Roll no & UID: 295/ 191282
College: St. Xavier’s