M.A. / This study was conducted to ascertain whether there is a significant relationship between an internal locus of control orientation and elite sport performance. The question can be asked if Springbok athletes have a more internal locus of control orientation than provincial athletes and athletes in training and whether provincial athletes have a more internal locus of control than athletes in training. The term locus of control refers to the amount of control a person believes he has over the things that happen to him. A person that regards himself as someone with control over his environment and circumstances is termed a person with a internal locus of control. What happens to him and the reward he gets is dependent on his own behaviour. There are persons, on the other hand, that believe that what happens to them in their sport careers is the result of external circumstances: luck, chance or what others do to them. These persons believe that they do not have any control over what happens to them and therefore are called persons with an external locus of control. It is believed that locus of control can influence performance positively or negatively. This study tries to give answers on whether or not elite athletes have an internal locus of control. Sixty athlete's of age 16 and older were selected and divided into three groups. The first group are athletes that compete on international level, while the second group consists of athletes that compete on provincial level. The third group consists of athletes that are in training and represent athletes that perform well on school-level as well as members of sport clubs. The instrument used to test the athletes was the Internal-External Locus of Control Scale of J.B. Rotter (1966). The results confirms that elite athletes operate within an internal locus of control framework. Although not statistically significant, it seems as if athletes that compete on international level function more in an internal locus of control framework. It appears as if there is a certain interaction between top level performers and an internal locus of control.

M.Phil. / Sports vision has been a part of sport for a long time, probably since an athlete was first told to: ‘keep his eye on the ball’. It is only recently that athletes are beginning to realize the advantages of using their eyes to their full potential, and the difference it can make in an athlete’s performance. This is more prevalent today, where athletes can become instant hero’s and earn huge salaries. For a number of years specific instruments were used to test specific visual skills and norms were calculated for these skills. A few questions arises though when the norms for these visual skills are carefully studied. The purpose of this study was to evaluate previous norms and to develop norms and protocols for sports vision evaluations. Various visual skills were examined and previously used results evaluated. Key performance indicators in the evaluation of an athletes, as well as the cornerstones of sport vision were also discussed. Only elite athletes were used in this study. / Prof. J.T. Ferreira

The present study sought to determine the influence of environmental conditions and protective clothing on physiological, perceptual and performance responses during batting activity. The investigation examined mean skin temperature, average heart rate, estimated sweat rate, rating of perceived exertion, thermal sensation rating, average sprint time and pre-post choice reaction time. Twenty-five cricketers (18-22 yr, 73.1 ± 9.6 kg, 1768 ± 75 mm, 12.6 ± 3.1% body fat, 1.89 ± 0.16 m2) performed a work-bout consisting of a seven-Over batting period, during which time they faced deliveries from a bowling machine and performed two shuttle runs every third ball to total four sprints per Over. Trials were carried out under High-stress (23.8 ± 2.2 °C) and Low-stress (13.3 ± 1.9 °C) environmental conditions (WBGT). Within each environmental condition subjects performed the test wearing full protective batting gear and no protective gear. Thus, four specific conditions were examined; high full-gear (HFG), high no-gear (HNG), low full-gear (LFG) and low no-gear (LNG). Two-way ANOVAs were calculated to determine whether there were differences between environmental conditions and whether differences existed between the clothing conditions. One-way ANOVAs were utilised to compute differences between the four specific conditions combining clothing and environment. High environmental stress and wearing protective clothing caused batsmen to experience significant physiological strain. The environment was the greatest stressor, with the protective gear exacerbating these effects. However, when padding covered skin areas directly, this was the primary skin temperature stressor, particularly later in the activity. For skin temperature and heart rate, the strain was the most pronounced at the end of the trials. Perceptual responses indicated that the protective gear had no influence on effort sense, thermal sensation or thermal comfort. However, environmental conditions had an effect, and High-stress conditions resulted in significantly higher perceptions of effort, elevated sensations of heat and greater thermal discomfort. Effort was perceived to be greatest towards the end of the trial. There were mixed findings for performance factors. In general sprint performance was not hindered by environmental stress, but protective clothing caused a reduction in several sprint times. Choice reaction times were for the most part unaffected by either environment or clothing and few differences were observed between pre and post times. It is contended that intense short duration batting activity, likely encountered during one-day participation, imposes a stress on batsmen. The stress is greater when conditions are warmer and protective padding is worn, although it is not sufficient to impede choice reaction time. However, protective gear did have a deleterious effect on sprint performance.

This thesis attempts to assess the impact of a psychological skills training (PST) programme on the athletic performance of sprinters at Technikon Pretoria, South Africa. The structure of the PST programme was based on the structure outlined by Wann (1997), and Winter and Martin’s (1993) Sport Psychology Basic Training Programme constitutes the content of the programme. The programme consisted of five stages: education, pretests of psychological skills, the PST programme per se, an implementation phase, and posttests. The specific psychological skills that the programme attempted to enhance were self-confidence, stress management, attention, intrinsic motivation and mental imagery. Athletic performance was measured by the sprinters’ personal best times on the one hundred meter event at the beginning and end of the PST programme. Firstly, the data was analysed to determine if there was an improvement in psychological skills and athletic performance. Thereafter the difference in athletic performance between the beginning and end of the programme was correlated with the difference between the pretest and posttest scores of the psychological skills measured. The research findings indicated that there was a significant improvement in the reduction of stress levels, mental imagery skills, and a greater number of athletes had an internal focus of attention. No significant differences were found in self-confidence, intrinsic motivation and the number of athletes with a narrow focus of attention. The only significant correlation was between intrinsic motivation and athletic performance. / Dissertation (MA (Psychology))--University of Pretoria, 2006. / Psychology / unrestricted

Running has become the sport of the 1980s. Men and women of all ages are regularly seen running throughout the community. The recent Canada Fitness Survey (1983) indicated that jogging is the first choice of activities which people wish to begin. Most adults who begin running programs take responsibility for the selection, planning, and implementing of personalized exercise programs which represent an important change in their lives. Instead of participating in formal running programs under the supervision of a running or fitness instructor, these individuals engage in self-directed learning experiences to attain knowledge and skills relevant to running. The purpose of the study was to investigate the reasons why adults, at a particular time in their lives, decided to begin to run. Tough's (1982) concept of intentional change and a lifespan developmental perspective provided a theoretical framework. Rather than regarding adulthood as a period of stability or decline, this perspective emphasizes the potential for growth and self-improvement. Inherent in this approach, is the view that adult lives are characterized by transitions defined by life events. In addition to a consideration of life events and environmental influences, relationships between sex and age and reasons for beginning to run were also investigated. Three instruments were developed. The Initial Reasons For Running Scale identified a wide range of reasons for beginning to run and the relative importance of each to the individual. The Life Event Scale identified events experienced by adults and the relative effect of each. The External Influence Scale identified seventeen environmental factors which may have influenced a man or woman to begin running. The 205 subjects were selected while running in various locations throughout the Greater Vancouver area. All data was collected on a self-administered questionnaire. Data from the IRFRS was factor analyzed. Orthogonal rotation yielded six factors--SOLITUDE, PERSONAL CHALLENGE, SOCIALIZATION, PREVENTION, REMEDIAL, and HEALTH. Orthogonal rotation of data from the EIS yielded four factors--MODEL, MEDIA, MOVIE, and PARTICIPACTION. An analysis of variance was performed to help explain the variance between the interaction of sex and age with IRFRS scores. This two-way analysis indicated interesting differences in IRFRS factor scores among men and women of different age groups. In several instances, important distinctions appeared between total populations of males and females and specific sex-cohort groups. Results of bivariate and multivariate analyses indicated that sex and age were not as useful in predicting motives for beginning to run as were variables concerned with life events and external influences. However, men were more likely than women to be motivated by PERSONAL CHALLENGE, PREVENTION, and REMEDIAL. In terms of age, younger adults were more likely than older adults to begin running for PERSONAL CHALLENGE and less likely to begin running for PREVENTION. A series of regression equations were performed to help explain variance in IRFRS factor scores. The most significant variables, the only ones which met the criterion for entry in all regression equations, were those concerned with specific life events. The experience of Health events was especially important. Although statistical significance was found between certain variables and IRFRS factors, most variance in motives for running was unexplained. But of the variance that was explained it was clear that life events were more influential predictors of reasons for beginning running than age or sex, considered separately or together. This study represents a beginning step in the explanation and prediction of reasons why adults begin exercise programs. / Education, Faculty of / Educational Studies (EDST), Department of / Graduate

The Contact Hypothesis (Amir, 1969) suggests that attitudes toward a minority group can be modified. However, attitudinal change depends upon the nature of the contact. The main purpose of this study was to examine the effect of the B.C. Wheelchair Sports Demonstration Team Presentation on attitudes of junior high school students toward physically disabled persons This was measured by the Attitudes Towards Disabled Persons Scale (ATDP) (Yuker et al., 1960) and the Modified Issues in Disability Scale (MIDS) (Makas, 1985). The treatment consisted of a one hour structured program that included contact with physically disabled persons and information about their disabilities. One hundred and thirty-one able-bodied students (ages 13-15) from four junior high schools in two British Columbia school districts participated in this study. Students from one school in each district attended the British Columbia Wheelchair Sports Demonstration Team Presentation. Students from the other school did not attend and were assigned to the control group. This research used a one-group pretest-posttest design with a posttest-only control group as a follow-up . four weeks after the treatment. Subjects in the experimental group completed the ATDP prior to and immediately after the treatment. As a result of the high correlation (r=.91) between the MIDS and ATDP with a prior sample of 15 year old students, both experimental and control groups completed only the MIDS four weeks after the treatment. All subjects completed the Social History Questionnaire (SHQ) (Makas, 1989) on each occasion. The SHQ gathered information on gender, birth date, place of residence and prior contact with physically disabled persons. A t-test for dependent samples comparing differences between pre- and posttest MIDS scores of the experimental group was not significant (p=.112 for a 2-tailed test). However, in the follow-up portion of the study, an analysis of variance of the ATDP found a significant difference between the experimental and control groups (p=.007). There were no significant interactions of gender, age or previous contact with treatment. The findings of this study show that able-bodied students' attitudes can be positively modified with an information plus contact program. Although the modification was not immediate, a delayed effect occurred. Three focuses of further investigations might include the following: a need for attitude modification research related to disabled persons particularly in the junior high school age group; continued reliability and validity testing of the MIDS, and a refinement of the SHQ to more accurately assess prior contact with disabled persons. / Education, Faculty of / Curriculum and Pedagogy (EDCP), Department of / Graduate

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