Leslee A. Fisher

Praxis and community‐level sport programming strategies in a Canadian aboriginal reserve

Abstract From national statistics, it has been indicated that Canadian Aboriginal youth are overrepresented in lower health demographics than the rest of the national population, suffering from higher rates of obesity, diabetes, and heart problems. When Schinke, Michel, and colleagues (2006) engaged in preliminary research with elite Aboriginal athletes, the participants expressed a cultural struggle related to retaining Aboriginal youth in sport programming. The athletes proposed modifying programming strategies to account for attrition. Herein, mainstream academics partnered with Aboriginal community members to address this concern. Talking circles and a decision‐making consensus were employed. Emergent themes included integrating elders, promoting Aboriginal role models, and developing a broader volunteer base. This manuscript is authored to elucidate, from the words of the Wikwemikong, how culturally relevant sport programming will be reconsidered in their Reserve

Cultural sport psychology research: conceptions, evolutions, and forecasts.

Cultural sport psychology (CSP) is a relatively new research genre that challenges mainstream sport psychologys assumptions to facilitate contextualized understandings of marginalized topics and cultural identities. Conceptual writings on CSP have grown in the past 10 years, and with that, empirical literature explicitly positioned within CSP. In this article, the landscape of CSP is outlined to more clearly explicate and contextualize the goals and tenets of this mode of inquiry, with the overarching intent of making further recommendations for CSP research. As CSP is broad, a small body of sport research conducted on race and ethnicity (two facets of cultural identity) is reviewed. Suggestions are made to extend the limited body of research on marginalized cultural identities via a CSP approach, focusing on reflexive processes and participant engagement. Through these strategies, CSP research is put forward as a way to further open the possibility of advancing social change and social justice.

Decreasing Putting Yips in Accomplished Golfers via Solution-Focused Guided Imagery: A Single-Subject Research Design

An across-subjects multiple-baseline design was used to evaluate the effects of solution-focused guided imagery (SFGI) on putting yips (e.g., jerk in the putting stroke) in three experienced (24 years or more), accomplished (handicap less than 7), male golfers located in the Southeastern United States. Each golfer participated in at least five SFGI sessions designed to guide him to create vivid images of thinking, feeling, and behaving in ways devoid of the problem (i.e., putting with a smooth continuous stroke). Data collected during participants’ regularly scheduled weekly golf rounds showed an immediate and sustained decrease in yips after SFGI sessions. Maintenance data collected three weeks after the last sessions showed that these decreases were maintained. Discussion focuses on future research and practice related to treatment of the yips and similar focal hand dystonia.

‘Naadmaadmi’: reflections of Aboriginal community members engaged in sport psychology co‐researching activities with mainstream academics

When attempting to work with people from Indigenous cultures, mainstream researchers often encounter cultural differences, mistrust and a general resistance to community research. These challenges have emerged within the sport psychology domain as a consequence of mono‐cultural, Eurocentric research paradigms, which have marginalised Indigenous populations and disconnected community members from their traditional teachings and values. The current project was developed out of a partnership among mainstream academics and Aboriginal community members in northern Ontario, Canada, who have been engaged in sport psychology co‐researching activities for six years. The purpose of the current study was to elicit Aboriginal community members’ reflections of engaging in research with mainstream academics, based on past experiences as well as more recent efforts among the current bicultural team. The overarching intent was to encourage mainstream researchers interested in working within the Aboriginal community to adopt culturally reflexive practices that are meaningful from the local standpoint and to resist traditional mono‐cultural approaches. Conversational interviews were employed with nine Aboriginal community members who were also engaged as co‐researchers throughout the project. The community co‐researchers delineated negative and positive research experiences and outlined the specific strategies that contributed to each. A community composite vignette was developed as a narrative supplement to the data and reflects a unique and culturally relevant process within the study.

Athletes' and Coaches' Perceptions of Sport Psychology Services Offered by Graduate Students at One NCAA Division I University

In recent years, there have been increasing calls for graduate programs in sport psychology to include supervised practicum experiences. While supervision and applied experience is vital to the professional growth of graduate students, periodic evaluations are also needed to determine students effectiveness in providing sport psychology services. This study represented an initial attempt to assess athletes and coaches perceptions of services provided by graduate students at one NCAA Division I university. Analyses showed 118 participants ratings of consultants effectiveness were comparable to those provided by U.S. Olympic athletes for professional consultants in earlier research by Gould, Murphy, Tammen, and May.