Self-Modeling in Sports
What is self-modeling? I am sure that you could guess the answer to this question if you do not already know the answer. Self-modeling is a technique that encourages athlete development of new and current skills to improve performance by observing themselves in action. This type of technique is grounded in social cognitive theory, which aims to explain how people learn and develop different behaviors via interactions with other people and their environment, emphasizing interactions between personal factors, environmental influences, and behavior. So then, what counts as a self-modeling technique? Here are a few examples:
Feedforward: Athletes watch a video or see images of someone performing a skill that is viewed at the moment as too challenging and helps people learn a new skill.
Positive Self-Review: Athletes watch a video or see images of themselves performing a skill when they do it well so they can see what they are doing to encourage consistency.
Participatory Modeling: The athletes or a coach performs a skill then the athletes are helped to perform it successfully.
Self-Observation: A technique that allows athletes to watch a video of their own performance.
Self-modeling is an interesting topic to bring up in the context of sport psychology. More often than not, self-modeling is brought up in the context of coaches working with athletes. So while research can be dry and boring, it does have its place. Therefore, below there will be a bit of a research focus to help make a point. Apologies in advance!
Clark and Ste-Marie (2007) conducted a thoughtful study and did a good job acknowledging their study limitations when they studied three groups of swimmers, a self-as-model group, a self-observation group, and a control group. In the article, the self-as-model group performed the best out of all three groups. Why might that be the case?
The self-as-model group may have performed better because the self-as-model intervention takes advantage of Zimmerman, Bandura, and Dowrick’s theories (aka. Social cognitive theory) and work in combination and plays into an understanding of motor learning. Being able to understand theoretical research is important, but it is how it is synthesized and applied that becomes essential. This type of intervention may have also been effective because it allowed the swimmers to create a representation of the stroke that they needed to perform that was relatable to them. While this is a good starting point, more current research helps build an even better understanding.
In a study conducted by Hiromitsu and Ishikura (2021), they considered the role of choice where the learners were able to choose the material. With inconsistencies in self-modeling still showing up in the research, as both research articles cited, it was an interesting perspective to bring in the element of choice to see what influence there was in the learner having that control. From the two studies discussed above, there are three ideas that we can look at in this discussion. First, that there is value in self-as-model if there is ability to use it. Second, athletes and coaches should have some say in the process so that there is ownership, buyin, and engagement with the process. Third, that this technique is helpful, but potentially not essential.
Now where does sport psychology come back into the picture? Sport and performance consultants need to be well rounded and versed in numerous techniques with the ability to know how to apply a technique in real life. Just reading about a technique and understanding it is different from real life application. Case in point… Saksono et al. (2021) wrote an article sharing about a study where they use social and self-modeling with implementing a fitness tracking tool to enhance attitudes towards physical activity, attitudes in self-efficacy and outcome expectations. There is strategy and creativity involved as well as opportunity when it comes to sport psychology, and that is where sport and performance consultants have the opportunity to really have the opportunity to help athletes. Besides, sport and performance consulting and even daily practice can be fun, even while working hard!
A person looking in the mirror and seeing their reflection.
take action today moment:
Take a moment to think about what you read about self-modeling? What do you think about it? Form your own opinion. Is it something that you think would be helpful to you as an athlete, coach, or sport and performance consultant? Whether your answer is no or yes, what is your “why” behind the answer? Is there something that you can learn from this process about how you see yourself, whether you are willing to see yourself, or what it might mean to see your in action that triggers something in you? Sometimes thinking about seeing ourselves in action can be triggers and even put us in vulnerable space.
Learn More About Finding a Good Coach:
Feedforward Self-Modeling Enhances Skill Acquisition in Children Learning Trampoline Skills
(Yes, it is an article, but it does a great job of breaking down different concepts.)
References
Clark, S., & Ste-Marie, D. (2007, March). The impact of self-as-a-model interventions on children's self-regulation of learning and swimming performance. Journal of Sports Sciences, 25(5), 577-586. (EBSCOhost Accession Number: AN 24175605).
Hiromitsu, Y., & Ishikura, T. (2021). Effects of learners' choice of video self-modeling on performance accuracy and perceived cognitive consistency. Journal of Physical Education and Sport, 21(3), 1284-1293.
Saksono, H., Castaneda-Sceppa, C., Hoffman, J. A., Seif El-Nasr, M., & Parker, A. (2021, May). StoryMap: Using Social Modeling and Self-Modeling to Support Physical Activity Among Families of Low-SES Backgrounds. In Proceedings of the 2021 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (pp. 1-14).