Adventure Based Training and Its Impact on the Team Cohesion and Psychological Skills Development of Elite Netball Playe

1. Adventure Based Training and Its Impact on the Team Cohesion and Psychological Skills Development of Elite Netball Players

2. Where are we headed with this presentation? • A report on my doctoral thesis 2002! • Rationale • A pictorial of “The Journey To The Nationals” • Methodology: Strong Isomorphism • Findings of Mixed Mode Investigation • Implications for practice & our Industry • Questions

3. What Can This Presentation Offer Our Industry? • Feedback from our clients. We must ensure we are taking them in the direction they need and want to go? • The need for strong Isomorphism in our programs. (Ensuring the program is tailored for the clients needs and mirrors their reality) • A learning tool for new facilitators

4. The Connection Between Sport Psychology and Adventure My own journey!

5. The Connection Between Sport Psychology and Adventure Blocking out distractions and focussing on task Overcoming self doubt and fears

6. The question I often pondered was could I take others into the outdoors and teach them mental skills to help their sporting endeavours? Mental skills learnt during during my outdoor adventures transferred to my sport and life!

7. Motivation for the Study • Initial concerns for psychology skills training • “It was boring, it put us to sleep” • “We just sat there and listened it was just like school” • Sport psychology’s lack of support for my ideas • “Why take athletes away from their normal training venue?” • Dissatisfaction with previous adventure based training interventions from sport coaches.

8. Research Questions?Quantitative Hypotheses • Athletes who received an adventure-based training program intervention, would show increased team cohesion when compared to a control group. • The duration of the intervention will see longitudinal improvements in all four sub-scales of team cohesion, when compared to a control group.

9. Qualitative Outcome Questions • From an athletes’ or coaches’ perspective, what were the major outcomes of the adventure-based training program; and how did they impact most upon the team in the following areas: • What new skills or knowledge about themselves or other teammates did individuals take away with them from the adventure-based training camp? • How did the team or individuals within the team change as a result of their adventure experience? What new skills were developed that helped the team? • Was there any direct evidence that psychological skills learnt during the adventure training camp were directly transferable to netball training or competition?

10. Qualitative Process Questions • From an athletes’ or coaches’ perspective, what processes during the adventure-based training weekend had the most impact on the team? • What elements of the training intervention had the most impact on athletes? Why was this significant for these athletes? • How did this camp differ (if at all), from previous adventure-based training camps, which the athletes had been on in the past? • How did the outdoor bush environment impact on the program? Was it an advantage or a disadvantage traveling away from their usual training venues?

11. NSW Netball: Needs Analysis • A bunch of individually talented athletes with the ability to win the nationals but failed the previous year. • Cliques and negative behaviour toward each other on and off the court, was impacting on the team. • No mental toughness during the pressure of competition. • Lack of mental skills to handle this pressure In order to address these issues the intervention was structured to ensure……

12. STRONG ISOMORPHISM (Priest & Gass, 1997) The adventure experience had to mirror the clients needs!

13. STEPS THAT GUIDED THE INTERVENTION ISOMORPHISM (Priest & Gass, 1997) • Assessed, identified & ranked client goals [coach meetings] • Created a metaphoric experience that possessed a strong isomorphic relationship to playing as team at the national championships. • Provided opportunities to explore how resolution during the adventure would correspond to life at netball. • Strengthened the isomorphic framework by using client language that mirrored their reality as netball players. • Constant review of activity selection to ensure clients were motivated. (If it does not move group towards your program goals then don’t do it). • Conduct the experience with revisions. Look out for that teachable moment; the program is not static. • Debrief focussed on how behaviours learnt would help or hinder netball training or performance.

14. The Intervention Journey to the Nationals From Storming to Performing • Sequencing of activities: sequencing of activities can improve team cohesion of groups! (Bisson, 1997) • Group formation activities (Forming) • Ice breakers. Categories, Have you ever (Ronke, 1984) • Group challenge activities (Storming) • Games requiring the team to function together • Group support activities (Norming) • Climbing, abseiling, giant swing • Group achievement activities (Performing) • Bush walking, team campout, group swim, caving

15. Goal setting Friday Night Psychological skills development Awareness of ideal state Self-Monitoring Self-Regulation

16. Hi! I am the leg of one of the under 17 NSW netball players. Let me share with you part of the journey that I had to endure through the bush, cliffs, rivers and caves of Kangaroo Valley! It taught me a lot. AN ATHLETE’S PERSPECTIVE OF THE INTERVENTION

17. We were getting wet in the first 5 minutes, but it seemed easy. Everyone was saying it would be a piece of cake First up was the mother of all bush walks that lasted over 12 hours

18. We began to have to think as a team Things soon changed! All us legs had to begin to work together!

19. What is wrong with this picture? Are we working like a team of netballers? Or, are we individuals who are in the same netball team that don’t care about anyone else? I am glad we are all helping each other through the difficult sections! NOT!

20. Over a break we talked about how we could overcome the challenges the river posed! The ideas were similar to what we needed to do on the netball court

21. All us legs were beginning to step in time!

22. A Focus On Personal Mental Skills Centre, focus on yourself, don’t think about the things out of your control.

23. Bush Walk Setting up a double bind! • Metaphor of a journey to nationals. • “Through the physical & psychological challenges of a netball nationals campaign a team must stick together. During this section of the walk today you must work together all the way to the top. Don’t leave the slower people behind”. Debrief: We had two choices today. To work as a team or to carry on our path of self destruction where we play one out and forget about our team-mates. What kind of behaviour do you want your team to have at the national championships? They’re too slow, lets just go off ahead!

24. Just stay focused on the task. Don’t waste energies on distractions that will take us away from our goals Remember team rule #1, No Complaining! Oh no, not more scratches! This hurts. We legs were really complaining now.

25. Once at the top it gave us an opportunity however to sit and reflect on who we were and where we were headed After hiking to the top of this mountain, how would you utilise this location & situation to address some of the negative team issues that were distracting this team from their goals? By the time we got to the top of the mountain we were aching and tired! The power of the wilderness to heal problems! We began the walk like a team of individuals, but we started to pull together near the top Used in this session were: Mini SoloReflection Time Questions were given to ponder; Strengths & weaknesses of team? Sharing circle used to share ideas Facilitated problem solving session “Why did we have to come all the way up here to sort this out?” A group in conflict with clique behaviour damaging performance! A question for the audience to see if you are still awake!

26. This session was the beginning of us coming together as a team Here I am, you can see the big cut on my leg!

27. After a big day out we still were not off the mountain, instead of complaining we finally worked together

28. Upon Return To Camp The Pressure Continued • No cabins, no tents • Only a big tarp to sleep under. We thought we would be sleeping in cabins! • Showers from a billy. “We stank so bad!” • Then we had to cook & clean. • By the time we got to bed it was midnight. • This was all about learning to deal with the unexpected situations that may occur in sport and being ready to deal with them!

29. 5.30 AM The Next Morning As Twilight Filtered Through The Morning Mist

30. The bagpipe alarm clock sounded I don’t work at this time of the day 5.30am! Well that is the best alarm clock I’ve ever had.. NOT!

31. Okay team lets swim across, we can do this together This is crazy Block out the negatives. If you’re tired at Nationals you still have to play no matter how you are feeling.

32. Learning to prepare mind and body for competition Meditation Visualisation After the swim we had to sit for an hour preparing our minds for competition!

33. We then headed out for a day of caving!

34. For me, I have come to the realisation that I will not be able to get out of this hole [cave] on my own, we will have to do it as a team Its dark like when we play at night I feel so nervous like before a big game Can anyone please tell me what the hell going caving has to do with playing netball? I feel like I do when I have to sink a goal under pressure. My heart is racing It reminds of the night before a big game, I feel really anxious

35. I’m not sure but I think it goes somewhere “You are kidding me aren’t you, there is no way we can fit through that space”

36. Don’t worry I will support you You let go and I will kill you

37. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh! Its okay we have got you! The coaching staff were in position to catch & support each player through the laundry shute!

38. I can’t believe I am doing this

39. So in our earlier exploration to find our way down here you all felt it was impossible to get through the squeeze. This was with lights on…… Rather than exhausting our energies on what is not possible, what would it look like if we all concentrated our energies on how we can work as a team to get out of here? What you just described to me then, sounds exactly like the skills a team would need to win a national netball championship. How about we give it a try? No way, it is impossible to get out of here with out lights on! What? We have to hand our headlamps in????

40. The whole weekend built a bond that was the foundation from which we won the national championships. After this weekend nothing in our lives seemed impossible!

41. We are behind and we’re in a hole. Remember how we worked together to get out of that cave. We can do the same here. “1, 2, 3, out of this hole”.

42. The Isomorphic Metaphor! The connection between netball & adventure The goal goes in to tie the match Centre, breathe, relax, visualise We are a goal behind I can hear the crowd screaming Focus on the things I can control My heart is racing My body has frozen 10 Seconds to go I feel like when I was caving We have to either tie or win to go into the grand final

43. Controlling the stress of caving transferred to netball These same skills are exactly what you need to do to maintain control and concentration during a netball game Breathe deep, exhale, feel your body relax, focus on you!

44. It does not matter if we are on the bench we are still part of the team

45. NSW NETBALL: AUSTRALIAN CHAMPIONS 1999 Teamwork I hope you like the guided tour I gave you! “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed people can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has”Margaret Mead.

46. Any Questions Related To What We Have Just Seen?

47. Methodology Recommendations & processes that guided this research project

48. Recommendations From Existing Research • Neill (1988) lack of description from past studies • More info on instruction and facilitation. [Will be available from Amazon.com in a paper back book by the end of the yearJ] • Ewert (1982) what’s happening inside the black box? It is no longer a mystery! Why & how did change occur? • Martens (1987) positivists stifling sport psychology research through the removal of the person from the process of knowing. • Dale (1996) existential phenomenology and sport psychology. Emphasizing the experience of the athletes.

49. Methodology • Overview of quasi-experimental mixed mode research design • Treatment Group n= 23 • Control Group n= 11 Intervention

50. Instrumentation • The Group Environment Questionnaire Was Administered At 4 Time Measures (Carron, Brawley, Widmeyer, 1985) • Measures Group Cohesion on 4 sub scales • Individual attraction to group on task • Individual attraction to group Social • Group integration on task • Group integration social