Sports Psychology - Group Cohesion for Success

Performers do not exist in isolation; they form groups that have common features. Groups can vary in size, from a few individuals to large teams of players, coaches and a variety of support staff E.G. The British and Irish Lions is a prime example of a large team with a range of individuals with different roles. As Jeremy Guscott (British & Irish Lion) said "Lions tours are about bonding together...Success depends on whether you come together or split into factions...There were times with this Lions squad when we felt invincible - that we could take on the whole world and beat them."

According to Carron (1980), these groups all exhibit the following characteristics:
- A collective identity
- A sense of shared purposes
- Structured patterns of communication

A racket player can move from singles to doubles and interact with a trainer or coach. Team games are based on units of players combining to function as a whole team (forwards and back in rugby, this can be sub divided into the front row, back row, half backs, back three etc). Players and coaches often attribute a team’s success or failure to how well the personnel of the team worked as a cohesive unit.

Building group identity, providing an environment where performers feel comfortable and willing to work with and for each other, and creating a spirit of unity is all fundamental to sport success. The dynamic of the group, the energy and functioning of the members as one, is a clear aim for a successfully performing group – cohesion acts as glue that binds and bonds individuals to a group identity and cause. Cohesion is defined as “the total field of forces that cause members to remain in a group)

Cohesion comprises both task cohesion and social cohesion:

- Task Cohesion: refers to the degree to which members of a group work together to achieve common goals, for example, to win a specific game.

- Social Cohesion: reflects the degree to which members of a team like each other and interact accordingly.

A school team made up of players who have played rugby since Primary 5 have very strong social bonds than a team of relative strangers. This is what the lions have to overcome and so far they seem to be doing that. Most of these players have played with each other or against for their clubs and country. Some have played with each other from young age and have their coaches on the tour as well. Also it isn’t just the lions that have to worry about group cohesion the Barbarians are another
example.

Building Group Cohesion – A Conceptual Model

There is clear evidence that the more united a group becomes with its cause, and the more interactive group members are socially within the group the greater the probability of success. Leaders in the sports environment should aim to develop cohesiveness within the group. The development of a group normally goes through 4 stages:

- Forming: the group meets or is assembled
- Storming: heightened tension may develop as roles are defined and tasks established
- Norming: rules and standards of behaviour are agreed as cohesion is built
- Performing: the group matures and works together.

Group Dynamics

The dynamic within the group is also an important consideration in building group cohesion. Group cohesion is defined as “a measure of the extent to which a group works together socially or to complete a task”. Group dynamics describes the processes within a group and between the members of the group. This can also be described as the energy the group exhibits. Successful groups with a dynamic have“chemistry”. This is difficult to guarantee – it depends on individual personalities, but can be the product of leadership and cohesion within a group. A clear goal and the nurturing of personalities all contribute to the dynamic within a group. Leaders will seek out individuals to join the group who have similar social and task characteristics and a shared ethos – groups are often fashioned in the image of the leader.

Carron identifies 4 factors that affect the development of cohesion:
- Environmental factors: that binds players together are age, club membership, location etc
- Personal factors: belief in the group, a desire to win, the social relationships within a community etc
- Leadership factors: the influence of the coach or manager in building identity and affiliation through task and social cohesion factors
- Team factors: in relation to the group as a whole, its identity, targets set, the ability and role of each member of the group.

Strategies and Methods for Enhancing Group Cohesion

Building on Carron’s 4D model there are strategies and methods for developing cohesion in a group.

Environmental Factors can be enhanced through:
- Holding training camps to build unity through external changes in social circumstances. The lions held their training camp in Carton House in Dublin this year to start the process of building the team.
- Ensuring all members of the group have equal importance and value by avoiding star billings
- Rewarding all players equally with praise or constructive criticism.

Personal factors can be enhanced through:
- Ensuring all member of the group feel ownership of the group
- Mixing young and old players together in groups, especially when staying away from home
- Developing a shared responsibility for success and a belief that all members are essential to successes of the group
- Creating a belief in the group and its task and social development
- Avoiding the formation of cliques voicing disenchantment with the group task or the social mix
- Identifying the reasons to why members individually want to be part of the group, and building on their motives
- Identifying those members who exhibits social loafing (makes less effort than they would alone), and introducing methods to incorporate them into the group.

Leadership factors can be enhanced through:
- Unite players in their belief in you as a leader through your leadership style and behaviour, mix autocratic and democratic style.
- Treat players as individuals, offer praise and criticism
- Avoid criticising players in front of the group.
- Get to know your members of the team: be aware of each person’s needs and their preferred way of interacting and style of motivation.

Teams can be enhanced through:
- The appropriate use of short, medium and long term goals.
- Clearly identifying member roles within the group as integral to the team ethic: avoid the Ringelmann effect (increased social loafing and loss of coordination as more members are added to the group)
- Devise and identify a clear system of rewards and punishments that the group that the group members have helped devise and have agreed to.
- Encourage social bonding through winter training camps or group social events.

Andrew Richardson, Founder of Strength is Never a Weakness Blog

I have a BSc (Hons) in Applied Sport Science and a Merit in my MSc in Sport and Exercise Science and I passed my PGCE at Teesside University. 

Now I will be commencing my PhD into "Investigating Sedentary Lifestyles of the Tees Valley" this October 2019. 

I am employed by Teesside University Sport and WellBeing Department as a PT/Fitness Instructor.  

My long term goal is to become a Sport Science and/or Sport and Exercise Lecturer. I am also keen to contribute to academia via continued research in a quest for new knowledge.

My most recent publications: 

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1752928X19300216

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1752928X19301076 

My passion is for Sport Science which has led to additional interests incorporating Sports Psychology, Body Dysmorphia, AAS, Doping and Strength and Conditioning. 

Within these respective fields, I have a passion for Strength Training, Fitness Testing, Periodisation and Tapering. 

I write for numerous websites across the UK and Ireland including my own blog Strength is Never a Weakness. 

I had my own business for providing training plans for teams and athletes. 

I was one of the Irish National Coaches for Powerlifting, and have attained two 3rd places at the first World University Championships, 

in Belarus in July 2016.Feel free to email me or call me as I am always looking for the next challenge. 

Contact details below; 

Facebook: Andrew Richardson (search for)

Facebook Page: @StrengthisNeveraWeakness

Twitter: @arichie17 

Instagram: @arichiepowerlifting

Snapchat: @andypowerlifter 

Email: a.s.richardson@tees.ac.uk

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrew-richardson-b0039278 

Research Gate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Andrew_Richardson7 

S.M.A.R.T.E.R Training

We all want to be smarter but I don’t mean getting a higher grade in an exam I am talking about the S.M.A.R.T.E.R principle for sportsmen and women. This principle is used by athletes to reach their goals and is used in the short and long term physical and mental preparation.

Let’s break the acronym down;

S: Specific. The training, preparation, diet all must be aimed towards one sport. It has to be specific there is no point of you are training to be a swimmer and you are doing marathon road races. There is no specific sporting benefit, there is a physical benefit especially in the cardiovascular system but that will not correlate into the swimming environment. You need to be working specifically for your goal you want to achieve e.g. you want to pass maths do more maths not play rugby. 

M: Measureable. Its concerned with the performer must be prepared to evaluate their process critically and adjust their goals as necessary. After doing fitness testing or an event an athlete who is already achieving a set goal may need to reassess their goals. 

A: Agreed. These goals you have set yourself, you must agree in trying to complete them as if you don’t want to do them or you are half interested you will never achieve them. There must be no doubt in your mind when setting yourself these goals. These goals will be agreed with a coach or training partner that they can help guide you towards them. 

R: Realistic. When you are setting goals they need to be realistic there is no point in setting unreachable goals as this will demotivate you and you will end up trying to complete the set task. When setting goals they need to be broken down into short term and long term goals. The short term goals are described as stepping stones towards reaching the long term objective. E.g. within my own sport of powerlifting I have set my targets for the squat, bench press and deadlift to hit by the end of year. So far I am on target to reach them. 

T: Time Bound. The goals you have set yourself must be within a time frame e.g. being a competition in 3 months, the next Tour de France or the Rio 2016 Olympics. Athletes need their goals to fit within their competition schedule. When the competition comes around as an athlete you want to be in your best shape, performing well, confidence is high, no worries and happy with all the preparation leading up to it. When the goal is set (going back to the realistic point) it has to be completed within the set the time frame and not after and the goal is achievable to the athlete.

E: Exciting. When you are setting goals make sure you find excitement when you are doing them as it will make the whole process more enjoyable. Set a goal that makes you want to push through the pain barrier, makes you stay up all night working at it. There is no point doing something you hate you must want to do it and doing it for a goal will make it worthwhile. 

R: Recorded. What you do during your long term plan of achieving set goal/goals you must record every detail such as training what sets, reps, weight, rest periods, tempo, how you where feeling that day, your diet, sleep how many drinks did you have. This creates an image of your daily habits and you will be able to see a pattern of yourself e.g. after Monday and Tuesdays training on Wednesday I find the training hard. Then you ask yourself why? I’m not doing the same muscle groups then you work out it’s because you are getting little sleep on Tuesday nights due to you going out. These small things if you change can make huge differences in the long term in you achieving your goals. 

When I am talking about goals they are divided into the following:- Outcome Goals: are concerned with the end result e.g. making your national team- Process Goals: are centred on the technical elements that underpin performance as a focus for development. E.g. a weak grip caused a foul in the deadlift, this needs to be addressed and fixed so it does not occur again. - Performance Goals: relate to the achievement of a performance e.g. getting a personal best lift in the bench press- Short Term Goals: are the stepping stones/building blocks that need to be achieved consistently leading to the successful realisation of long term goals.- Long Term Goals: have a larger objective and can only happen once short term goals have all been completed. By using the SMARTER principle we can all improve our sporting performance.

Andrew Richardson, Founder of Strength is Never a Weakness Blog

I have a BSc (Hons) in Applied Sport Science and a Merit in my MSc in Sport and Exercise Science and I passed my PGCE at Teesside University. 

Now I will be commencing my PhD into "Investigating Sedentary Lifestyles of the Tees Valley" this October 2019. 

I am employed by Teesside University Sport and WellBeing Department as a PT/Fitness Instructor.  

My long term goal is to become a Sport Science and/or Sport and Exercise Lecturer. I am also keen to contribute to academia via continued research in a quest for new knowledge.

My most recent publications: 

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1752928X19300216

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1752928X19301076 

My passion is for Sport Science which has led to additional interests incorporating Sports Psychology, Body Dysmorphia, AAS, Doping and Strength and Conditioning. 

Within these respective fields, I have a passion for Strength Training, Fitness Testing, Periodisation and Tapering. 

I write for numerous websites across the UK and Ireland including my own blog Strength is Never a Weakness. 

I had my own business for providing training plans for teams and athletes. 

I was one of the Irish National Coaches for Powerlifting, and have attained two 3rd places at the first World University Championships, 

in Belarus in July 2016.Feel free to email me or call me as I am always looking for the next challenge. 

Contact details below; 

Facebook: Andrew Richardson (search for)

Facebook Page: @StrengthisNeveraWeakness

Twitter: @arichie17 

Instagram: @arichiepowerlifting

Snapchat: @andypowerlifter 

Email: a.s.richardson@tees.ac.uk

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrew-richardson-b0039278 

Research Gate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Andrew_Richardson7 

Weight Training on Teenagers; Should we be Worried?

Hello everyone!!

Apologies for the lack of posts been very busy but I am back now :)

Youth Training: Why weights are your friend!

There has always been the common question posed to coaches and parents when should a child start weight training?

This has been debated quite a bit as some people believe a child shouldn't weight train until their 18 when they are finished puberty (for the majority of kids puberty would of stopped). Some people say due to their sport they are introduced to weight training (at whatever age) so they can compete at a higher level/improve their performance. Others when they hit a certain age such as 14 or 16 I have heard before.

Early information on Resistance Training from the American Academy of Paediatrics (1990) quoted saying "Children and adolescents should avoid the practice of weightlifting, powerlifting, and body building, as well as the repetitive use of maximal amounts of weight in strength training". One of the early strength studies by Falk and Tenenbaum, 1996 performed the following;

- Meta Analysis of 9 studies of pre or early pubescence's.
- Majority showed a gain of between 13% and 30%
- Demonstrates that twice per week sufficient to induce strength gains in children
- Improvements in strength for children are similar but are rarely accompanied with muscular hypertrophy and therefore attributed to neurological adaptations.
- However there are lots of limitations though; boys mostly where used in the study, too little information on the type, volume and intensity of training/ lack of control group.

Just because a child or individual becomes a certain age they can just automatically be able to lift weights is just silly. This is part article/part rant as I can't understand why more people take part in exercise to further increase their lives and live a better/easier life!!!!

Our bodies are excellent machines and are designed to become even better machines through physical activity. If a child does no weight training or physical activity then their "machine" (body) will not move or produce forces effectively/efficiently.

The reason why we use weight training as it is an outside resistance to our bodies to work against. We use this resistance to increase our muscle mass and our strength, endurance or power. No matter what you are training for by doing some form of resistance training will reduce the chance of getting injured as it helps to improve our biomechanics.

Research for injury prevention

- Strength Training programme been shown to reduce injury rate in male college soccer team (Lehnard, Lehnard & Young, 1996)

- Weight training programme incorporated into preseason American Football reported a reduction in Knee injuries over the course of 4 seasons (Cahill & Griffith 1978)

More recent strength training studies found the following;

In 2010 a study conducted by Eiholzer, Meinhardt, Petro, Witassek, Gutzwiller & Gasser.

- Resistance training may increase unplanned physical activity in children.
- Investigation use of resistance training to combat obesity
- 12 weeks of 2 sessions per week (7 exercises)
- Demonstrated that resistance training group performed more unplanned exercise and physical activity than control group

Another study done in 2010 by Lubans, Sheaman & Callister;

- Study investigating exercise adherence and intervention effects of two school based resistance training programmes for adolescents
- It had a control group
- 2 sets of 10 reps on 10 exercises for 8 weeks using free weights or resistance bands
- Body composition improved/significantly improved upper and lower body strength
- 76% completed free weights programme and 78% completed resistance band programme.

1st Point:

Weight training doesn't stunt growth period!

In fact it does the opposite:
- strengthens ligaments and tendons
- increases bone density
- reduces the chance of osteoporosis in later life
- increase muscle mass
- improved muscle tone/definition
- improved balance
- improved coordination
- improved functional movements/biomechanics
- reduce chance of injury
- increased strength of posterior chain
- increased muscular strength and power
- decreased bodyfat percentage
- Improved motor patterns


I have done weight training since 13 and swam since I was 7. I grew taller than my Dad and the majority of my family. I have gone on to do well in a range of sports and in each sport what was present some form of resistance training being water, body weight or barbells. Bering in mind the weight training I did at 13 was nothing like what I am doing now. At 13 I was doing some bodybuilding style training for my throwing events (shot putt/Javelin) such as bench press, shoulder press, pull-ups, press ups and biceps. Hahah the classic 3 sets of 12 reps. I was 13 don't hate me I didn't no any better at the time.

Then as time went on I was introduced to barbell squats and deadlifts at rugby/rowing training. This was when I had a sports specific weight training programme. At this moment my training has evolved to increasing hip drive and increasing maximal force production. It isnt just weight training that promotes physiological/psychological benefits but regular physical activity does the following:

- improved sleep patterns
- increase self confidence
- increased life expectancy
- reduced chance of CHD (coronary heart disease)
- increase metabolism
- reduce body fat percentage and increase in lean muscle mass

This is just to name a few of the health benefits of exercising so why wouldn't we allow our children to exercise and to use the weights room?

Reasons why people are against kids using the weights room?

- Fear of injury well anyone who does sport or training there is always the risk of injury. The likelihood that you will injure yourself in the gym is smaller than playing any contact sport. You are more likely to injure yourself in a competition scenario as you are pushing yourself to your own physical limits. Whereas in the gym you are unlikely to reach that.

Limitations to Resistance Training with Children

- Physical Maturity levels and size may limit use of certain machines and equipment
- Mental maturity levels; if are able to follow protocols and direction, then maybe ready to follow some type of strength programme.
- More injuries in gym linked to accidents rather than strains, sprains or fractures with 10-12 year olds (Myer & Wall, 2006).

- Weight Training Stunts Growth as I have mentioned above in my case it does not. Take a look at the Chinese and Russians. Serious training being done at a young age  (think at primary school p6 and above) such as the Chinese and Russian weight lifters. Here is the successful Dimitri Klokov weight training in the sport of Olympic Weight Lifting. Here is a video of him training when he was a kid

http://youtu.be/2N1jvOQXoeo

Then their are extreme examples:

Which I have mentioned such as the Russian and Chinese lifters. Take this one of a Chinese lifter aged 8 doing a 75kg clean and jerk. Excellent technique!
http://youtu.be/8A-m9W-3_9M

Another form of weight training is body weight training and this is done at a young age through the sport of gymnastics. Gymnastics is generally a younger age group of athletes especially for girls. This sport requires the athlete to have incredible balance, flexibility, mobility and strength to do such holds like the crucifix position or to swing from bars whilst somersaulting.

Swimming is body weight training but you are pulling against the water to move yourself. If you where to do one of the three (weights, gymnastics and swimming) pick swimming as it has great cardiovascular benefits, increases flexibility, increases strength and endurance. Can be tailored to a sprinter or a endurance athlete.

How to Combat this fear of Weight Training?

- Children should be educated on the fundamental movements such as squatting, dead lifting , pulling, pushing, jumping and running. All through primary school and continued/advanced upon in secondary school. This will set themselves up to have a good range of motion, good flexibility, reduced chance of injury,  decent levels of muscular strength and endurance. To sum up makes the long term of living easier and more enjoyable. By exercising young they know the benefits of it and are more likely to continue to exercise throughout their life.

- Parents should also be told why their child needs to have good range of motion so their son/daughter can live until their old without having poor flexibility and not being able to move.

- More children should be doing physical activity. We live in a soft society we have fast foods, instantly stream films, cars to take us places. Little manual labour anymore. The less physical activity a child does through their childhood/puberty sets their bodies up for a difficult future as they haven't been stressed to adapt and function they way they where meant to.

- Government needs to take action and primary schools/secondary schools/ fast food. Encourage healthier meals which aren't boring and are good value for money. Tax fast foods and reduce the cost of sports supplements to encourage more people to get involved in to fitness.


I hope you have enjoyed reading this article.

I would like to Thank Ally Cooper for allowing me to reference his work in this article a lot of the references where taken from Ally's MSC looking at weight training on adolescent youths.

Andrew Richardson, Founder of Strength is Never a Weakness Blog

I have a BSc (Hons) in Applied Sport Science and a Merit in my MSc in Sport and Exercise Science and I passed my PGCE at Teesside University. 

Now I will be commencing my PhD into "Investigating Sedentary Lifestyles of the Tees Valley" this October 2019. 

I am employed by Teesside University Sport and WellBeing Department as a PT/Fitness Instructor.  

My long term goal is to become a Sport Science and/or Sport and Exercise Lecturer. I am also keen to contribute to academia via continued research in a quest for new knowledge.

My most recent publications: 

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1752928X19300216

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1752928X19301076 

My passion is for Sport Science which has led to additional interests incorporating Sports Psychology, Body Dysmorphia, AAS, Doping and Strength and Conditioning. 

Within these respective fields, I have a passion for Strength Training, Fitness Testing, Periodisation and Tapering. 

I write for numerous websites across the UK and Ireland including my own blog Strength is Never a Weakness. 

I had my own business for providing training plans for teams and athletes. 

I was one of the Irish National Coaches for Powerlifting, and have attained two 3rd places at the first World University Championships, 

in Belarus in July 2016.Feel free to email me or call me as I am always looking for the next challenge. 

Contact details below; 

Facebook: Andrew Richardson (search for)

Facebook Page: @StrengthisNeveraWeakness

Twitter: @arichie17 

Instagram: @arichiepowerlifting

Snapchat: @andypowerlifter 

Email: a.s.richardson@tees.ac.uk

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrew-richardson-b0039278 

Research Gate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Andrew_Richardson7