Carsten Hvid Larsen

Psychosocial Skills in a Youth Soccer Academy: A Holistic Ecological Perspective

Psychosocial Skills in a Youth Soccer Academy: A Holistic Ecological Perspective Objectives: The latest research in talent development show that more varied psychological and especially social and cultural circumstances play an important role in talent development. This study assumes an ecological approach to explore which psychosocial skills are important in a youth soccer academy and how psychosocial skills are practiced in this particular environment. Method: The research takes the form of a case study. Data were collected from multiple perspectives (in-depth interviews with managers, coaches and players), from multiple situations (observation of training, competitions and meetings) and from the analysis of documents. Results: The findings reveal explicit (being practiced and talked about) and implicit (indirectly practiced and talked about) psychosocial skills in the youth soccer academy and a differentiation between internal and interpersonal psychosocial skills. Conclusions: Important explicit psychosocial skills are motivation, self awareness and the ability to work hard. However, even more important for the young soccer players dealing with the transition to professional soccer seem to be implicit psychosocial skills such as managing performance and process outcomes (internal) and the ability to utilize team skills and general social skills (interpersonal). Despite the fact that the environment expects the young players to display these skills, they are only indirectly practiced. This study demonstrates the interweaving of psychosocial skills and practice in the talent development environment, and thus underlines the social construction of psychosocial skills in elite sport.

Looking at success from its opposite pole: The case of a talent development golf environment in Denmark

The holistic ecological approach highlights the central role of the environment in talent development in sport and acknowledges that some sporting environments are more successful than others in nurturing athlete development. Case studies of successful athletic talent development environments (ATDEs) in Scandinavia have suggested that successful environments are unique but also share a number of features that determine their success. The present study tests this suggestion by applying the holistic ecological approach to the study of a struggling ATDE, which is a golf team in a sport academy in Denmark with limited success in producing senior elite athletes from among its juniors. Adopting a case study design, we collected data from multiple perspectives (in-depth interviews with administrators, coaches and athletes), from multiple situations (observation of training, competitions and daily life) and from the analysis of documents. We found that the struggling environment was characterised by features that are in opposition to those of successful environments; e.g.: a lack of supportive training groups and role models; little understanding from non-sport environment; no integration of efforts among different parts of the environment; and an incoherent organisational culture. This finding provides support to the idea that the previously suggested features of successful environments do indeed capture qualities that successful environments possess and less successful ones lack (at least within a fairly similar cultural setting such as Scandinavia). The investigation of struggling ATDEs from a holistic ecological perspective provides the sport psychology practitioner with a strategy to strengthen the environment.

The Art of Goal Setting: A Tale of Doing Sport Psychology in Professional Football

The presence of sport psychologists in football is still a recent occurrence and has come about thanks to the improved education received by the coaching staff. However, sport psychology in football is still viewed upon with skepticism, as problem solving. One of the most common psychological strategies is goal setting. Nowadays it is hard to imagine clubs or players who do not use such strategies. In general, the correct application of goal setting principles provides a strong foundation for designing a goalsetting program. Nevertheless, there is a difference between the “science” of setting goals, and the ability of the sport psychologist practicing the “art” and process of setting goals. This case study involved four professional football players, from a team in the highest league in Denmark. We collected data through questionnaires, interviews and observations during a year. The results shows, that the “art” of goal setting is a dynamic, ever changing, complex phenomenon, the method itself has to be flexible, in order to search for new knowledge in a goal setting process in sport psychology consulting underlining that the individual sessions and success is socially constructed and created between sport psychologist and player.

Bringing a knife to a gunfight: A coherent consulting philosophy might not be enough to be effective in professional soccer

ABSTRACT Professional soccer is big business and high politics. The primary concern of professional clubs is achieving good results and winning the next game. Integrating sport psychology is a lengthy process, and in order to succeed in professional sports, there is a need for a stable environment. For practitioners to be effective in professional sports organizations, they need to understand various levels of organizational culture. This article provides an overview of a sport psychology program in a Danish professional soccer club and personal experiences, as well as professional reflections on integrating self-reflexivity and cultural sensitivity into the practitioners philosophy.

Psychological Momentum in Team Sport: An Intervention Program in Professional Soccer

Abstract This article presents an intervention program with an under-17 soccer team, in which a coach and a sport psychology consultant integrated training of psychological momentum (PM) into daily practice sessions. Starting out with basic description of PM, we proceed to describe how the intervention program was applied in a professional soccer team. The paper provides a detailed description of an 18 months intervention program that progressed from initiation of the program, group discussions, action plans, to on-pitch training of PM. The article finishes with reviewing under-17 coach and player reflections on the application of the intervention program.

Preparing for the European Championships: A Six-step Mental Skills Training Program in Disability Sports

This article presents a case example and six-step mental-skills training program for high-performance athletes in disability sports. Starting out with a basic description about applied sport psychology in disability sports, the author proceeds to describe the mental skills training program with the womans national goalball team in Denmark (high-performance athletes with visual impairment). The author provides a detailed description of six steps from initiation of the program, group sessions, and action plans, to on-court training and evaluation of the program across six months, and finishes with reviewing coach and player reflections on the application of the mental-skills training program.

Working in Danish ice hockey: Psychological services derived from the context

ABSTRACT This article describes my experiences of working in Danish national junior ice hockey. I will describe the professional philosophy underpinning my services in ice hockey and I will outline the psychological services provided for the Danish junior national team that are derived from the context. In terms of identifying psychological areas of development, I used information from multiple sources, including the coaches, staff, players, and also observations of practice and competition. Three different but connected areas were targeted with the junior national team. First, creating an understanding and acceptance of roles within the team. Second, developing effective team communication under pressure. Third, learning the ability to register thoughts, release thoughts, and refocus under pressure. I then make conclusions by reflecting upon the effectiveness of services for the junior national team and the lessons learned from them.