Good Learning Co.
SavannahYear 8
← PE
PESports science: how the body performs22 min★★ difficulty

The mind of a performer: goals, arousal and feedback

Two athletes with identical fitness rarely perform identically. The difference is usually how they set targets, manage pressure and use what they are told.

Part of your national curriculum
  • Technique and performance: Use and develop a variety of tactics and strategies to overcome opponents in invasion, net and striking and fielding games
  • Competitive sport and tactics: Analyse their performances compared to previous ones and demonstrate improvement to achieve their personal best

Lesson overview

What you'll learn in this lesson

Analyse their performances compared to previous ones and demonstrate improvement to achieve their personal best

Key learning points

  • • Goals that actually change behaviour
  • • Arousal, anxiety and getting into the zone
  • • Feedback and motivation
  • • Comparing performances honestly

This lesson at a glance

  • 22 minutes
  • 16 parts to scroll through
  • 4 quick checks
  • Marked quiz at the end
  • Gentle pace: short sittings with pauses

Words to know

performancescomparedpreviousdemonstrateimprovement

Scroll down — the lesson carries on below

Part 1 of 16 · Discover6%
1

Watch & discover

Part 1 of 16

Watch first

The mind of a performer: goals, arousal and feedback

An English teaching video on this topic from TED-Ed. Watch it, then scroll down for the lesson.

In a nutshell

Analyse their performances compared to previous ones and demonstrate improvement to achieve their personal best

2

Learning cycle

Part 2 of 16

Learning cycle 1 of 2

Part 1 · Goals that actually change behaviour

A short piece of teaching, then a check to make sure it has landed.

3

Explore the idea

Part 3 of 16

Learn

Goals that actually change behaviour

SMART goals are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time-bound. "Get better at basketball" changes nothing; "raise free-throw success from 4/10 to 7/10 by half term, practising 20 shots three times a week" does. Outcome goals concern results you do not fully control (winning the league); performance goals concern your own measurable standard (a faster personal best); process goals concern technique (keeping the elbow under the ball). Process and performance goals are the ones you can act on this week.

4

Explore the idea

Part 4 of 16

Learn

Arousal, anxiety and getting into the zone

Arousal is the level of physical and mental activation. The inverted-U theory says performance rises with arousal up to an optimal point and then falls away. That optimum differs by task: a powerlifter performs best at high arousal, an archer or snooker player at low arousal. Over-arousal shows as rushed decisions, tight muscles and a racing heart; strategies include controlled breathing, mental rehearsal, positive self-talk and a fixed pre-performance routine.

5

Quick check

Part 5 of 16

Quick check

Which is a process goal?

6

Quick check

Part 6 of 16

Quick check

According to the inverted-U theory, performance is best at:

7

Reset break

Part 7 of 16

Pause

That's sitting 1 of 2 done

Stretch, get a drink, look out of the window. There is no timer and nothing is counting down — your place is saved, so you can come back in five minutes or tomorrow.

Stop here for now
8

Learning cycle

Part 8 of 16

Learning cycle 2 of 2

Part 2 · Feedback and motivation

A short piece of teaching, then a check to make sure it has landed.

9

Explore the idea

Part 9 of 16

Learn

Feedback and motivation

Intrinsic feedback comes from your own body — how a shot felt. Extrinsic feedback comes from a coach, teammate or video. Knowledge of results tells you the outcome (the shot missed left); knowledge of performance tells you why (the shoulder opened early). Beginners need frequent, specific extrinsic feedback; experienced performers rely more on intrinsic feedback. Intrinsic motivation — enjoyment, pride, mastery — sustains activity far longer than trophies and praise alone.

10

Explore the idea

Part 10 of 16

Learn

Comparing performances honestly

Improvement is measured against your own previous performance, not against the best person in the group. Keep a simple log: date, session, one measurement, one thing that went well, one target for next time. Over a term this turns vague effort into visible evidence of a personal best — and shows which parts of the training programme are actually working.

11

Quick check

Part 11 of 16

Quick check

A coach says 'your shoulder opened too early'. This is:

12

Quick check

Part 12 of 16

Quick check

The fairest way to judge improvement is to compare a performance with:

13

Challenge round

Part 13 of 16

Game · Sort it

Which of these are true?

Drag each card into the right column. Tap a card first if dragging is fiddly.

True

Not true

14

Challenge round

Part 14 of 16

Game · Fill the gaps

Finish the sentences

Choose the word that belongs in each gap.

Improvement is measured against your own ____ performance, not against the best person in the group.

15

Mastery quiz

Part 15 of 16

Marked quiz

End of lesson quiz: The mind of a performer: goals, arousal and feedback

4 questions, marked with the reasoning shown. No timer.

  1. 1. Which is a process goal?

  2. 2. According to the inverted-U theory, performance is best at:

  3. 3. A coach says 'your shoulder opened too early'. This is:

  4. 4. The fairest way to judge improvement is to compare a performance with:

16

Lesson round-up

Part 16 of 16

Lesson round-up

Ready when you are

Quiz score

Not sat

Games

Not played

Points this lesson

0

Best run

0 in a row

Luna: 0 out of 4 on the practice checks. Only if you feel up to it — one more?

Ask Luna

Do the work

Your written work for this lesson

This is the part you'd do in your book at school. Pick the pieces below, write here or on paper, and photograph anything you draw or work out.

Article

What a warm-up is actually for

A warm-up raises the heart rate, sends more blood to the working muscles and raises muscle temperature by a couple of degrees. Warm muscle stretches further before it tears, and messages between brain and muscle travel faster, so movement is more accurate.

A good warm-up has three parts: a few minutes of easy movement, mobility that takes joints through the range the sport needs, and short bursts at close to game speed.

Long, still stretching before explosive sport can slow the muscle down. Save that kind of stretching for the cool-down.

Written for Good Learning Co.

Reading questions

  1. Explain in your own words two things a warm-up does to the body.
  2. Design a ten-minute warm-up for one sport, with times for each part.
  3. Keep a training log for three sessions: what you did, how long, and how you felt after.

  • Training log

    Writing

    Write what you did, for how long, and how your body felt afterwards.

    Half a page

Saved as you type.

Part 1 of 16 · Watch & discover

How this is going

  • Not looked at yet

    Use and develop a variety of tactics and strategies to overcome opponents in invasion, net and striking and fielding games

  • Not looked at yet

    Analyse their performances compared to previous ones and demonstrate improvement to achieve their personal best

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