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Psychology of team sports | Introduction to Sport Psychology

5. Psychology of team sports

Sport psychology basically differentiates between the group and the team, which in many
cases is very difficult to grasp with the many similarities between them. All in all, the group and
the team can be characterized by the set common goals, their members carry out joint and
joint activities, and they both have interactions between their members. The group can also be
defined as a set of individuals in a defined role relationship, where the behaviour of the group
members is characterized by values developed jointly and regulated by norms (Tóth, 2010).
On this basis, we need to determine which areas the team will differ from. While the team is
more innovative, the group is more stagnant because of the normative standards that exist.
The team can be seen as a contributor; the group has autocratic features. The interdependent
(interdependent) relationship between the members is characteristic of the team, while the
presence of independent (independent) individuals in the group is also accepted. Due to its
nature, the team is looking for a challenge, while the group is more risk averse.

We also need to emphasize the process of becoming a team in terms of sports teams,
although teamwork with the teams is typically accompanied by requests for team cohesion and
communication. These are typically defined by the teams (besides the individual problems)
and the problems to be addressed, as there may be players within the team who feel they do
not need professional or sport psychological help. The trend nowadays is to approach “team”
players, who are more focused on individual interests, and who tend to focus on individual
interests, typically with a prominent talent, and tend to avoid collective thinking, at the expense
of interdependent (interdependent) behaviour. too. This can also lead to the fact that the
leaders and coaches of the sports teams are now striving to make it more difficult to match,
but rather to change team thinking, instead of forced talent integration of the talented player
into the team. Thus, it is more about inclusion in the team, which other players in the team
have to work with the coaches, and not just the individual’s efforts to integrate (Baumann,
2002, cited by Tóth, 2010). In order for a group to behave as a team, the following
psychological components must be in line with the group or examined (Baumann, 2002, cited
by Tóth, 2010):

• „Does team membership have an impact on team members’ behaviours,

• The development of relationships between team members,

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• Effect of individual members’ ability on team structure, team spirit and performance,

• The relationship between the coach and the team, as well as the coach and the team
members, and the psychological processes between them. ”(Baumann, 2002, cited by Tóth,
2010)

5.1. Team dynamics

It is worth taking into account the characteristics of team dynamics in joint sport psychological
work with sports teams (Wilke and Knippenberg, 1988, cited by Toth, 2010). According to this,
the performance of teams can be determined by the difference between the maximum
achievable individual achievements and the process losses. In order to do this, we can make
the best possible outcomes from the individual performance potential of the team and the
athletes who make up the team by minimizing the process loss. Process losses should be
seen as internal and interpersonal coordination and motivation problems that arise during
team collaboration. In order to reduce this, we have to take into account the attitude of
individual athletes to the team (eg commitment and engagement in other areas), and the
relationship between players, relationship systems and roles. On the other hand, the quality of
teamwork and leadership styles (club leaders and coaches) should be examined in sport
psychological work with sports teams.

5.2. The relationship between team building and

group development

For sports psychologists in team work with team sports, team building basically has to apply
the model of small group development, which consists of the following four stages (Tuckman,
1965, cited by Tóth, 2010):

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Figure 4. Small group development

Basically, it is worthwhile to keep track of the sections that have formed at least in part, from
the beginning, with sports teams. This is not a simple question in today’s performance-oriented
team sports, where a large proportion of ‘foreign legions’ and large transfer tendencies are
typical of teams, especially in the top sport. However, we must be aware of the psychological
processes that characterize the stages of group development, such as the formation of
interpersonal formal and informal relationships among team members. In their development,
the team coach and the organizational culture of the sports club usually have a significant
influence. In the phase of the storm, a kind of battle between the members of the team begins
in the team.

Since positions in the sports teams, including the tasks and roles within the team, are
determined by the coach, this development phase, which is usually accompanied by severe
tensions and uncertainties, often occurs in the relationship with the coach. Where, however, in
almost every case there may be a conflict, it usually takes place between the players in the
same post for entry to the starting team, so interpersonal tensions are common among them.
In these cases, it is very important for the coach to strive for objective and objective
communication, specifically to clarify positions and roles in the team. In the normalization
phase, team members who are already relatively co-ordinated are able to work together in
order to achieve joint success and goals, and team members are increasingly beginning to
commit and identify with their position, responsibilities and roles in the team, and ideally be

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able to assign their individual interests to team interests. At this stage, team cohesion and
team-building are strengthened, team members’ individual efficiency, recognition and
satisfaction are also increasing. In the performance phase, the team structure required to
achieve a high level of performance is already established, and the formation of the team
structure is completed. Such team members’ positions are solidified and, apart from
interactions between team members, they focus on achieving the highest level of athletic
performance, and the team’s success will be their primary goal.

5.3. Team cohesion and team development

Sport psychological work on team sports developments is an inevitable factor in examining

team cohesion and team development (Tóth, 2010). Among its components, we can mention
the phenomenon of spatial proximity, the effect of which is mostly driven by the experience
gained by the team members in their joint programs, so joint trips and joint programs in the
training camps help team members to better interpersonally interact with each other. The
emergence of the team’s distinguishing signs from other teams also contributes to team
cohesion and the development of a better team circle. Thus, the distinctive character of the
other teams and the feeling of belonging together are used to wear a uniform that uses the
colours of the association and to create the slogans that include the goals of the team. These,
like the visible signs of organizational culture, serve to develop team engagement, so races /
matches before races are part of team cohesion. The technique of highlighting team members
‘similarities and common attributes also serves to strengthen team cohesion, so it is good for
club leaders and coaches to strive to highlight similarities in team members’ attitudes and
emphasize the importance of joint efforts to achieve a common goal.

Creating and promoting social support among team members can also have a positive impact
on the team, so it is worth rewarding and giving an example to ensure that players care for
each other, support and encourage each other beyond collaborative workouts. Equity can play
an important role in team cohesion, so if all the athletes of the club management and coach
judge the performance objectively and fairly, this can improve the team spirit. Finally, individual
and personal intentions also determine motives for team cohesion and co-operation, so if team
members are largely in the same direction, their motivation and intensity are similar, and this is
likely to be the basis for team level cohesion.

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5.4. Sport-psychological responsibilities at teams

Sports teams can also be defined as organizations that work in a coordinated way to achieve a
common goal agreed by each member and have an individual internal dynamic, structure, and
organizational hierarchy for each organization (such as an individual organigram).
Furthermore, they typically have a very strong identity base and self-identity, with which they
can highlight their differences in relation to other sports organizations, thereby separating
them and, on the other hand, strengthening the sense of belonging together and making their
own organization or association and sports clubs uniform (Balogh, 2014). In this context,
expectations, needs, or goals may also emerge on the part of individual, athlete or sports
teams, or on the part of the organizational leadership that can shape (increase or reduce) the
jointly set performance indicators. They are also characterized by the two components of the
success of sports organizations: sports success (eg championship title, cup victory), and the
other is the success of sport economy as a measure of club performance on a material level
(Balogh, 2014).

To sum up, sport psychologists approach the complex subject of sports psychology from a
basically applied psychological side, so we can explore this issue from the point of view of how
a sports psychologist can help a water polo team and its players, for example: • The issue of
motivation: to be examined at the individual and team level, there are continuous problems
from the coaching side and new and new demands can be made to maintain and develop the
motivational base.

• Managing competition anxiety and stress situations: before and during the match-ups, issues
and problems related to lanterns and “training loss” appearing on the team and on an
individual level need to be addressed and explored.

• Developing Mental Stability: developing and managing control, active responsibility, real
range and time factors related to stress situations and competitive anxiety.

• Creating a healthy self-confidence: the lack of self-confidence almost always has a

performance-reducing effect on team-level and individual almost experienced success, an
area of particular concern for sport psychology.

• Targeted research: defining the realistic but challenging goals set at the player and team
level is one of the primary tasks of the sports psychologist with the coach and club leadership,
and is also suitable for motivation development.

• Teambuilding: Team building can improve team and team engagement, greatly affect
performance, both at the individual and team level.

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• Team communication: it is important to explore the level of communication skills, the players
and the coach communication. In addition to verbal communication, the development of non-
verbal communication should also be a priority in sport psychological work.

• Team Spirit (Atmosphere): While developing, important areas such as individual and team
level attitudes, commitment and loyalty to the team may be affected.

These areas, of course, do not cover all the sports-psychological-related areas of assistance,
although they are most often addressed by a specialist in one of the problem areas affecting
the team, and almost all of the areas listed above are touched upon during the problem-
solving process. during work.

5.5. The role of coaching and club leadership style

Generally speaking, sports leaders have the advantage of being at the head of a sports team
or association with an athlete’s past, as it is easy to see that it is good to have experienced the
internal functioning of a sports organization from the very beginning (starting with their own
certification). However, athletes’ experience, even at an international level, does not mean that
after completing their athletic career, they automatically become successful and / or trained
athletes (Balogh, 2014). A sports manager or even a coaching career is another profession.
Becoming a sports leader or coach is also a learning and personality development process
that incorporates professional level knowledge on the one hand, and includes a rise in the
level of mental abilities such as decision-making, communication and other leadership
competences (Balogh, 2014). In addition, we must not forget the social, economic and socio-
cultural embeddedness, because the organization does not develop its organizational culture
in isolation, but in a specific social environment, depending on the national culture in which the
sport organization operates. This can be a good example if a sports manager (coach) who has
previously been successful in a particular country or culture can no longer achieve the same
success by signing up to another country or culture. Another example is the fact that as an
athlete coach or club leader showing outstanding achievements in his / her own sport (whether
an Olympic champion athlete or a multiple-choice player), he cannot show the same results in
his „new job".

It can be assumed that there was no problem with the knowledge of sport or tactical, technical
knowledge, but that in the field of sports manager or coach competencies, there were
deficiencies in the ability to lead others that had already been a problem for the new “work
area” (Balogh, 2014). Furthermore, the sport psychological examination of the leadership of
sports teams is also characterized by the fact that team performance is dependent on
interactions and cooperation between players with different abilities and skills, different
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motivational and objective backgrounds. However, the common factors, the aspirations and
intentions of team players in the same direction should not be ignored. We may also ask who
is capable of leading team players, starting from the characteristics of the driving process.
Leadership must also be considered in the process of a sports team. Thus, the management
process can be defined as the continuous influencing of team and team members to achieve
their common goals (Borrow, 1977, cited by Tóth, 2010). In team sports, this applies to
coaching and club leader decision-making processes, feedback, interpersonal relationships,
and person management. An instructor or team leader at a sports team would be at an
organization-centred level in an organigram, which means that it is present as a leader in the
organizational and decision-making power and in the hierarchy of power, so that it can instruct
the team members and team members around the team (auxiliaries, health care staff).
assistants), but in the hierarchy he is also subordinate, he is also in a higher position (eg. head
of department, club leader, owner).

Furthermore, it is a typical question from the team’s point of view what style the team is led by
the coach and the club management, giving the team the background of organizational culture.
The work of the club leader and, in accordance with this, the coaching work is mainly about
organizational and logistical tasks, the preparation of sports teams and club budgets, and the
staff background work, and the creation of the resources necessary for the smooth operation
of the organization is one of the managerial tasks. In addition, the planning of professional
work and personal exemplary work is a leadership task that can influence the individual and
team-level career of players.

According to Hiddink (2002, cited by Tóth, 2010), the following determine the success of a
successful sportsman:

• “Challenge in times of stressful tasks, • Ability to provide adequate personal and material
conditions • Clear leadership communication and strategy • Overcoming the resistance of
teams to change, • High level of commitment and internal motivation, • High performance -
Demand Level - Objective • Continuous development of expertise and sports expertise •
Leadership features: - Management Skills, - Openness, - Flexibility - Empathy, - Responsibility,
- Risk-taking, - Perseverance for sport, - Creativity: - Creative thinking, - Fantasy - Intuition, -
Innovation and the ability to renew”(Hiddink, 2002, cited by Tóth, 2010).

It should be emphasized that the sport leader is perhaps one of the most important, if not the
most important, features of the relationship with the teams, coaches and industry leaders
under his control. Basically, it determines to what extent it is accepted as a leader, to what
extent it will be credible and competent, and only a truly credible and competent leader will be
able to help players win.

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To sum up, we can also say in terms of sports management that the success of a sports
organization can always be doubtful, which does not have clearly defined organizational goals,
aspirations, “mission”, or unified organizational culture, thus laying down rules, norms, values,
models (heroes) to follow, or no history (Balogh, 2014). The design, maintenance and further
development of all these components should largely be the responsibility of the sports leaders
and coaches, but it would be the responsibility of the sport psychologist to point out any
shortcomings that might arise and the potential for development areas and directions. In
addition, they should be able to select managers in a targeted manner, in accordance with
organizational specificities, in a manner that is conscious of the relevant principles of
organizational psychology. The sports organization will also become a real “team”, that is, an
interdependent collaborative group, that sports management will help the members of the
organization to fulfil their tasks, which is often not so easy, just think about the diverse
organization or for sports leaders, coaches or athletes from national culture. Openness,
flexible adaptability and integration support is also a rational demand from the sports
manager’s side, and if it needs to be developed with the help of a sports psychologist, it is
essential to achieve successful sports leadership and organizational performance (Balogh,
2014).

CHECKING ISSUES

1. What is the special role of psychology in team sports?

2. What is the definition of team dynamics?
3. What is the relationship between team building and group development?
4. What are the key characteristics of team cohesion and team development?
5. What are the main sport-psychological responsibilities at teams?
6. What are the typical roles of coaching and club leadership style?

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