The introduction of the Elite Player Performance Plan (EPPP) by the Premier League in 2012, and the subsequent formalization of sports psychology support, has resulted in increased opportunities for sports psychology practitioners to deliver their work within football academies (Nesti, 2012). The recognition of psychological support by the EPPP adds a new importance for us to better understand the impact of the lived experiences of applied practitioners within professional football clubs on their professional development and identity formation (Mitchell et al., 2016). The data on which this thesis is based has been drawn from research collected during a 3-year period from 2014 to 2017, where I (the researcher) occupied a dual role as a practitioner-researcher within the organisation of study. More specifically, I was responsible for the delivery of a psychological development program to academy players, support staff, and parents, and for the collection of data using ethnographic research methods. The first empirical chapter explored the use of practitioner-researcher ethnography as a research approach in sports psychology. Critical reflections highlighted some of the challenges that I faced whilst engaging in this dual role. Findings from this chapter highlighted the value of ethnography in encouraging the development of critical thinking skills, and self-awareness. However, a number of moral and ethical dilemmas arose because of the research demands. Therefore, it is suggested that a variety of support mechanisms (peer support, ethnography club) may help ethnographer’s better deal with challenging research situations that they may face. Following on from this, chapter 3 of the thesis used creative narratives to illuminate the impact of my experiences of delivering psychological support within one professional football club on my professional development, and identity as a sports psychology practitioner. My development journey aligned to the ICM (Côté, 2016), and was not smooth, or without challenge. In contrast, it was a rocky road (Collins & MacNamara, 2012), signified by a number of critical moments (Littlewood & Nesti, 2011). The challenges that I faced within the professional football club occurred as a function of the organisational culture (Roper, 2008), and ran parallel with the experiences of the youth players within this particular social context. The findings from this chapter suggest that identity is not a distinct end-point that sports psychology practitioners reach at the conclusion of their professional training. In contrast, identity is argued to be a fluid concept, continually evolving based upon the experiences that we have. Chapter 4 of the thesis followed the same structure as chapter 3, and presented the lived experiences of academy footballers over a longitudinal time frame. The findings that emerged within the chapter suggest that despite considerable changes in professional football over recent years the traditional masculine culture of this particular social context has remained reluctant to change (Nesti, 2012), and may be detrimental to the healthy psychological development of players who exist within it. Finally, chapter 5 of the thesis used action research principles to document the design, delivery, and evaluation of the psychological development program that was implemented within the professional football club. More specifically, interviews, focus groups, and evaluation sheets were used to attain the perspectives of key stakeholders (players, support staff, parents). The findings from this chapter demonstrated the complexities of psychological development, especially within the professional football culture. A level of confusion was present between stakeholders regarding the efficacy of the program. Although all individuals agreed that the program was beneficial in facilitating communication, and creating a supportive environment, there were discrepancies regarding its impact, and the nature of delivery.

The present thesis explores psychological well-being (PWB), practice and context within a professional football academy. The thesis also focuses on the processes of action research as a catalyst for practice-change in the academy environment, towards a culture of well-being. During the initial stages, pre-reconnaissance discussions took place with key academy practitioners to explore practitioner perceptions of well-being and coaching practice within context. The thesis is divided into two distinct phases; the reconnaissance phase, and the action phase. The reconnaissance phase encouraged the researcher to 'live the experience' alongside the research participants. Therefore emersion into the field of an academy football environment was required on a daily basis. The action research from reconnaissance-to-practice provided a detailed account of day-to-day events and on-going lived experiences of players and practitioners within the academy football environment. Consequently, qualitative data collection took place regularly in order to monitor and capture the personal experiences of academy players and practitioners, to follow individual threads of inquiry. Also field notes, player focus groups, informal interviews and formal taped interviews provided sufficient data for triangulation to occur. This multi-method approach enabled the researcher to take advantage of the rich variety of sources upon which were available (Tomlinson, 1983). The data collection protocol investigated how practitioners engaged in culturally specific practice within the academy. The action phase introduced collaborative practitioner meetings as part of the action research process to address practice that could later be linked specifically to psychological well-being (PWB) dimensions. The overall aim of the collaborative practitioner meetings was to drive debate and change, based on the notion that well-being can be related to everyday practice. Although there was similarity in how the meetings were described, the primary analysis differed, in particular the first two collaborative practitioner meetings underwent thorough content analysis from both an inductive (cultural and situational) and deductive (concept-oriented) stance. The reality of the research reflected the unpredictable process and dilemmas that may occur within the processes of action research and practice-change. The research provided detailed insight into the culture of football and the perceptions and experiences of full-time academy players, practitioners and the researcher's own reflections on the research journey, with regards to psychological well-being (PWB). Within the processes of action research, the practical utility of theory and the personal- contextual dynamic of a practice-change process within a youth football setting were considered and discussed. The research encouraged notions of emancipation within a participatory and collaborative process. Key Words: Psychological well-being (PWB), subjective well-being (SWB), action research, context and practice.

The role of the sport psychologist is multifaceted. One element of this role is in using relating skills. This aspect has received little detailed attention in the sport psychology literature. In study I of the thesis, the roles of researcher and consultant were combined in an applied project with junior dlite archers. Findings from study I included using both task and ego-oriented (Duda, 1996) forms of elicitation in baseline assessment, adapting a performance profile (Butler, 1989) to be archery-specific and emphasising transfer of skills to help in other life domains. Reflections of the consultant's role included questioning the training involved in the relating skills of applied sport psychologists in the UK. A key consideration was dealing with 'issues not directly related to sport/performance' that were raised in consultations. The perceived prevalence and impact of these issues were examined further in study 2 by assessing the perceptions of athletes and other practitioners. The findings confirmed that these issues are raised in consultations and have a perceived impact on athletes' training and competition performances. Various relating skills (including counselling skills) were highlighted as important to the role of the sport psychologist. The terminology used by respondents required clarification on practitioners' understanding of these terms in order to address further the role of relating skills for sport psychologists. Study 3 explored practitioners' use of relating skills, their understanding of various relating terms, perceptions of the importance of counselling skills and implications for the training of sport psychologists via focus group methodology. A definition of 'interaction' was developed to complement the unique qualitative analysis of data from the focus groups. Many themes emerged which included the importance of listening and interpersonal skills to the role of applied sport psychologists. Perceptions of different types of counselling existed and most of the practitioners possessed relating skills based on their ‘craft' knowledge (McFee, 1993), this was contrasted with a notion of sport psychologists being 'formal' helpers (Egan, 1998) with 'professional' knowledge (Sch6n, 1983). There was a lack of clarity and diverging perceptions from the groups on various aspects of relating skills that sometimes caused underlying tensions to emerge. In conclusion, an integrated model of 'helping' for applied sport psychologists was presented which included the notion of adapting approaches and giving 'appropriate responses' based on a foundation of core relating skills developed from professional and craft knowledge. At the end of this thesis the researcher reflects on her conceptual and methodological journey, a route that encompassed different writing styles and legitimisation criteria. This journey includes a notion of development both as a researcher and consultant and in using different methodological and philosophical perspectives that were appropriate to the research questions.

The analysis of competitive state anxiety and its effect on sports performance has been undertaken by many researchers (Karteroliotis & Gill, 1987; Martens, Vealey, Burton, 1990; Jones, Swain & Hardy, 1993). This thesis focused on multidimensional competitive state anxiety and performance within the context of British Horse Society (BHS) one day horse trials. Initially, subjects (n=105) completed the Riders' Perceptions Questionnaire which was devised by the author to assess the nature of the interaction between the rider and horse during performance from the rider's perspective. Initial support for the rider and horse interaction was obtained and it was suggested that the rider's perceptions of the horse's performance must be taken into account when examining the anxiety experienced by the rider. Analysis of anxiety incorporated the Competitive State Anxiety Inventory - 2 (CSAT-2; Martens et al., 1990). Relationships between multidimensional anxiety, skill level, actual performance and perceived success were assessed. The results supported the view of multidimensional anxiety with psychological, physiological and behavioural components that change differently throughout the competition (Karteroliotis & Gill, 1987; Jones & Cale, 1989; Martens et al., 1990). Skill level was found to affect the level of anxiety experienced. Novice riders exhibited higher levels of cognitive and somatic anxiety and lower levels of self-confidence than Intermediate or Advanced riders. The effect of skill level in subsequent studies was similar in trend but the results were not significant. Within group variability was high, thus future assessment should assess anxiety levels utilising a more sensitive measure of skill level. Advanced riders were also found to perceive cognitive and somatic anxiety and self-confidence as more facilitative to performance than Intermediate or Novice riders. The assessment of the direction dimension of anxiety was particularly useful for the development of stress management programmes (Maynard, Hemmings & Warwick- Evans, 1995) and hence for the three collective case studies incorporated in the final stage of this thesis. The results provided evidence to support the current multidimensional anxiety theory within the sport of horse trials. Antecedents and causal attributions related to anxiety were measured. Perceived readiness, self-confidence and personal control were key factors affecting the performance and combating the negative effects of anxiety. Perceived readiness predicted performance. Further analysis of antecedents more specific to horse trials may help identify predictors of CSAI-2 components. Perceived success was associated with increases in self-confidence and was a significant predictor of performance in the next phase of the horse trial. Future research is encouraged into anxiety between phases of a competition to assess the effect of perceived success on future anxiety levels and performance more thoroughly. The final aim in this thesis was to assess the effectiveness of stress management intervention programmes via three collective case studies. The application of a stress management intervention programme (SMIP) was undertaken for each case study. Case study one is reported in detail whereas case studies two and three are summarised. Inter-case study comparisons were undertaken to assess the effectiveness of the SMIP. The SMIP's were effective in developing the rider's awareness of their psychological state, increasing self-confidence and enabling riders to employ coping skills successfully during a performance. Performance improvements occurred for each subject which also corresponded with an increased level of perceived success for each subject. The three collective case studies provided initial support for the usage of SMIP's for horse trials riders and hence supported the final aim in this thesis. The research has identified competitive state anxiety within horse trials in accordance with other sports (Martens et al., 1990). It is anticipated that the information will be used to aid riding instructors understand and predict the detrimental effects of anxiety for riders. The successful usage of SMIP techniques will provide valuable assistance for riders, coaches and BHS horse trials team selectors wishing to use stress management techniques for horse trials competition.

The competitive sporting environment provides an ideal opportunity to examine the concept of psychological momentum. The aim of this thesis is to further develop the issues raised by the momentum literature through the application of an eclectic range of research approaches. Study One examined positive and negative experiences for successful and unsuccessful performances within a population of elite middle and long distance runners. A qualitative design revealed that there were differences between the number of positive and negative experiences exhibited for the two performances. More specifically, more positive experiences were found for the successful performance and negative experiences for the unsuccessful performance. Personal and situational variables, such as confidence, goals, anxiety and attributions, were examined and it was concluded that the athletes' interpretations of experiences may be related to positive and negative momentum states. The second study examined in more detail the relationship between positive and negative experiences. It also attempted to gain a greater understanding of perceived momentum by tracking momentum shifts over time between competing tennis players. A diverse approach to data collection and analysis allowed for comparisons between competing players to be made. Descriptive statistical analysis revealed that winning the first point in a game resulted in more games being won, compared to losing the first point. Content and frequency analysis was also carried out based on interview data. Results indicated that differences existed between the winners and losers. In particular, more positive experiences were exhibited by the winners and more negative experiences by the losers. More in-depth case studies were used to gain a more detailed insight into momentum shifts. Each match examined told a unique story, however similarities were found. There were two main findings, firstly losers identified more key momentum moments than winners. Secondly, questionnaire data revealed divergent patterns for perceived status over a range of parameters (e.g. fatigue) between each winner and loser. In combination these findings offered further support for the differentiated existence of momentum within sports competition. The final study considered the notion of momentum from a more holistic perspective and utilised a longitudinal methodology to examine both on and off court activities of a female tennis player on the professional circuit. A departure from the previous post-positivistic paradigm lead to a case study being produced which identified fluctuation of momentum both during and between performances. Results adapt well to recent models of momentum and are discussed in terms of each construct. The findings from the thesis support the existence of psychological momentum and contribute towards a reformulated model of momentum. The model draws upon findings from the present thesis and also incorporates findings from previous momentum research. Finally, the unique approach of combining traditional quantitative methods with more recent qualitative techniques highlighted concerns over the rigidity of past research and suggests how new lines of enquiry might be used in future research.

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The aims in the current programme of research were to examine the processes underpinning superior anticipation and decision making in soccer and how these are acquired through practice. The expert performance approach (Ericsson & Smith, 1991) was adopted as a guiding framework. In Chapter 2, an attempt was made to develop and validate a representative task simulation to capture reproducible superior performance in soccer under standardised laboratory conditions. In Chapters 3 and 4, skill-based differences in anticipation and decision making were examined using eye-movement recording and verbal reports of thinking. Skilled soccer players were more accurate at anticipation and decision making compared with less skilled players. When compared with their less skilled counterparts, skilled soccer players revealed more efficient and effective visual search strategies and cognitive thought strategies that varied based on the unique situation and task constraints imposed by the game context. Additionally, in Chapter 4, a continuous and dynamic interaction was identified between the different key perceptual-cognitive skills (i.e., postural cues, pattern recognition, and situational probabilities), with their relative importance varying considerably across game situations. In Chapter 5, the acquisition and development of superior anticipation and decision making in soccer players was examined. Skilled players who were high-performing anticipators/decision makers accumulated significantly more hours per year in soccer-specific deliberate play activities during childhood compared to skilled players who were low-performing and novice players. Findings have implications for theory and practice, extending research in the area of perceptual-cognitive expertise and overcoming some of the limitations with previous research.