Reinforcement (positive and negative) in the field of sports.

Psychological reinforcement and punishment, key concepts in sports psychology.

Nowadays, in most matches of any sporting discipline we usually hear a large number of indications that may have a positive or negative tinge, from coaches, family members and even from the public.

These are those external variables that, although they may seem innocuous, can influence the performance of athletes.

The concept of reinforcement and punishment

The reinforcement is that which increases the probability that a given action or behavior will be carried out more frequently or strengthened.. These are forms of reward that may consist of prizes, such as winning a trophy, receiving a salary at the end of the month or any certification; there are also other kinds of rewards that are not tangible, such as congratulations from the coach or applause from the public (social reinforcement).

On the other hand, we have verbal punishments, which are probably the ones that cause the most negative consequences, and knowing how to deal with them will be fundamental to have a good mental health in any professional sports environment. A good example would be criticism from the press or any reproach made by the public for your performance.

Taking into account the above, some examples would be: "Very good!", "You did perfect" when a player scores a goal or performs a good attacking action. Or "that mistake could cost us the game" when a player makes a mistake.

It is necessary to manage reinforcers correctly

All those people who surround any sporting discipline tend to react in this common way. The role of a coach, sports psychologist or even the athlete himself is to know how to manage these reinforcements or punishments in a positive way, to get the most out of them. Praise and criticism are two types of reinforcement in sport, and they have different consequences for the athlete..

One of the fundamental objectives of the coach is to ensure that his interaction with the players is dynamic and fluid, so that they manage to consolidate certain patterns of conduct or desirable behaviors and eliminate others that are not. Teach a set of skills to get the most out of the capabilities of each of his players individually, and as a whole of the whole team.

So. In order to get the desired performance out of each athlete, it is essential to have as many tools as possible. One of them is the management of reinforcement, both positive and negative.

Analyzing reinforcement

The concept of reinforcement in the sports field is extremely important, since it influences certain intrinsic variables such as self-confidence, which is essential to be able to deploy all the resources available to any athlete.

A positive reinforcement by the coach, at a key moment of the match, can make the difference between getting a good result or not.. Therefore, every coach is aware that one of his most important objectives is to effectively teach a set of skills necessary to succeed both individually and collectively using several strategies among them: reinforcements.

Positive reinforcement improves performance

It has been shown in numerous research studies that positive reinforcement, is any consequence that increases the likelihood of subsequent response occurrence.. Therefore, a reward applied after an action implies that the individual has acted correctly and therefore contributes to consolidate the action or response and, consequently, to achieve an improvement in performance and performances.

This is the main objective of positive reinforcement or rewards.

Two important considerations must be taken into account with regard to positive reinforcement

• The degree to which they are interpreted as rewards by those to whom they are given.

• The degree to which the occurrence of reinforcement is contingent on the desired action.

That said, it is important to know that in sport practice it is important to know that in sports practice the most commonly used reinforcers are social reinforcers.. However, it is far from conclusive, since some players find it reinforcing to receive praise in the presence of others, while others would find this situation uncomfortable. This is why it is essential to know the preferences of each athlete in order to manage reinforcement productively.

Concluding

To sum up, the management of reinforcements has a major influence on the development and performance of a professional athlete.. 

One of the great virtues that high-performance athletes possess is to manage both the reinforcements and the criticisms that may affect them. That is to say, to achieve an ideal balance between these external variables; taking advantage of those reinforcements that contribute something to their game and discarding those that do not. With this strategy they manage to get the maximum performance in any circumstance.