Mini-Lesson

Sports Psychology

This mini-lesson covers OCR GCSE PE — Sports Psychology: classification of skills, goal setting with SMART targets, information processing, guidance and feedback, and how mental preparation and arousal affect performance.

It's all about the mind of the performer — learning skills and staying in control under pressure. Work through each screen, answer the questions as you go and collect ⭐ stars. Press Start when you're ready.

Skill classification

Classifying skills

OCR classifies skills on continua. Key ones:

Open ↔ closed — how much the environment affects the skill. Open skills change with the situation (a pass in a game); closed skills are stable and predictable (a free throw).
Basic (simple) ↔ complex — how much thought and decision-making is needed.

Quick check

Open or closed?

?A rugby player must adjust each pass to teammates and opponents who keep moving. Where does this skill sit?

SMART goals

Goal setting — SMART

Motivating targets are SMART: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, Time-bound. Good goals raise motivation and focus training.

"Improve fitness" is vague; "run 5 km in under 28 minutes within 6 weeks" is specific, measurable and time-bound.

Quick check

SMART targets

?What does the 'S' stand for in SMART goal setting?

Information processing

To carry out a skill the brain processes information in stages: input (take in information from the senses) → decision-making (choose the response) → output (perform the movement) → feedback (use the result to improve). Practice makes this faster and more accurate.

Arousal

Arousal & mental preparation

Arousal is readiness to perform. Performance is best at an optimal (moderate) level — the inverted-U idea. Too little arousal and you are flat; too much and technique breaks down.

Performers use mental preparation to reach the right level: deep breathing, mental rehearsal/visualisation and positive self-talk.

Quick check

Optimal arousal

?According to the inverted-U idea, a performer plays best when their arousal is:

Guidance

Types of guidance

Visual — a demonstration or video to copy.
Verbal — spoken instructions and cues.
Manual — physically supporting the body.
Mechanical — using equipment (a harness, armbands).

Quick check

Type of guidance

?A swimming coach gives a beginner armbands to help them stay afloat while learning. Which type of guidance is this?

Feedback

Types of feedback

Intrinsic — from within (how the movement felt).
Extrinsic — from outside (coach, crowd, scoreboard).
Knowledge of results (the outcome) vs knowledge of performance (the quality of technique).

Beginners rely more on extrinsic, positive feedback; experts use more intrinsic feedback.

Sort it

Put each one in the right group

Tap each example, then tap whether it is intrinsic feedback, extrinsic feedback, or a type of guidance.

🙋 Intrinsic

🗣️ Extrinsic

🎓 Type of guidance

Match it

Match each statement to its answer

Tap a term on the left, then its correct meaning on the right.

Statement

Answer

Recap

The big ideas to know

Skills: open (changing) vs closed (stable); basic vs complex

SMART: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, Time-bound

Processing: input → decision-making → output → feedback

Arousal: best at an optimal, moderate level (inverted-U)

Guidance: visual, verbal, manual, mechanical

Feedback: intrinsic vs extrinsic; knowledge of results vs performance

You've covered the key ideas in the Sports Psychology topic for OCR. Press Finish to see your score.

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Mini-lesson complete!

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