Sport Psychology Movie Analysis Paper – Description
Choose a sport psychology topic from the following list:
Motivation
Communication
Cohesion/Group dynamics
Anxiety
Imagery
Goal setting
Self-confidence
Watch a movie that addresses the mental skills topic of your choice. In an 8-page paper (not including title page or references) address the following:
Brief summary of movie.
Explanation of the use of the mental skills in the movie.
Overview of the theoretical development of the mental skill (e.g., from book and other research articles).
Critique, based on the theoretical development, of how the movie portrayed both appropriate and inappropriate strategies in developing mental skills.
Identification of what you would do differently in working with the team/athlete/individual portrayed in the movie.
Address implications for your own field. For example, how would you apply what you have learned from the movie and through theory to develop this same mental skill (e.g., goal setting) as a coach, physical educator, athletic trainer or fitness leader?
Each of the 6 sections should be a separate, level 1 heading in the paper (Centered, bold, upper and lower case).
Follow the Title page format attached below.
Include a table of contents, but not an abstract.
Include an introduction and conclusion.
Include appropriate references at the end of the paper.
Must follow current APA writing and formatting
Below is a list of movies you can choose from along with their psychology aspect.
2. Title: The Replacements
Sport: American football
Psychology Aspect: Coach working with failed quarterback. Main psych scene occurs when the coach holds a discussion with the team about their fears, and the quarterback shares an experience of freezing up on the field.
3. Title: Caddy Shack
Sport: Golf
Psychology Aspect: Ty tries to help Danny with his golf game at one scene in the movie. Though it has to do with the mental part of the game, Ty is definitely unorthodox.
4. Title: The Blind Side
Sport: Football
Psychology Aspect: At one point in the movie the coach is trying to get Michael to protect his teammates on the field. Michael is hesitant and a bit standoffish when defending his teammates. Leigh Anne is watching his practice and steps in and talks to Michael about what the coach has been trying to tell him, but knowing more about him and his protective instincts than his coach, she is able to help him to understand and be successful at the task.
5. Title: Remember the Titans (2000)
Sport: Football
Psychology Aspect: A newly hired coach motivates and develops team cohesion on a racially integrated team.
8. Title: Bad News Bears
Sport: Baseball
Psychology Aspect: A delinquent filled little league team and a disgruntled washed up coach have to help each other. The kids find motivation, acceptance, and belonging while the coach ends up feeling good about something he did not want to be part of.
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11. Title: Friday Night Lights
Sport: Football
Psychology Aspect: “Perfection is being able to look your friends in the eye and know you did everything you could not to let them down”. Texas is known for its tradition in football, and after an athlete suffers a career ending injury, his team lost the hope for a good season. Coach Gary Gaines is able to help the team to shine and be successful, helping them to overcome their psychologic state of sadness and hopeless after watching their teammate suffering such disaster.
12. Title: Coach Carter
Sport: Basketball
Psychology Aspect: Coach Carter accepts the job as a basketball coach for his old high school, and soon faces athletes performing poorly, plus their uncontrolled behavior and attitude. The story is about how Carter developed strict rules in order to create an elite team. Great movie.
13. Title: The Gridiron Gang
Sport: Football
Psychology Aspect: Cohesion, Self Confidence, Leadership, Goal Setting
In this movie gang members are forced to play on the same team and learn to forget about their differences and work together. This movie also observes a new coach who is learning how to be a leader and shows young men gaining confidence in them so they do not have to turn to crime and it demonstrates goal setting as a way to help motivate.
14. Title: Rudy
Sport: Football
Psychology Aspect: A Young man has a dream of playing football at Notre Dame and there are many obstacles that stand his way such as, an unsupportive father, grades, and his best friend dying. He also loses his girl friend to his brother, however works extra hard to get into Notre Dame, and becomes part of the football team and proves every one wrong.
15. Title: Hoosiers
Sport: Basketball
Psychology Aspect: The new coach is battling alcoholism, and has a chance to turn a high school basketball team around. The team is undisciplined and the new coach has no support from the administrative staff or the parents in the community.
16. Title: Vision Quest
Sport: Wrestling
Psychology Aspect: This movie is about a young high school student whose dream is to beat the best wrestler is Washington state. In order to do so he has to drop down two weight classes, and improve his wrestling skills. While making this his number one goal, he is not receiving any support from his father, coach or teammates. He then meets a girl and she helps him see the bigger picture and helps him think positive and lose the weight that is needed in order to beat his opponent.
17. Title: Peaceful Warrior
Sport: Gymnastics
Psychology Aspect: This movie profiles a gymnast who is struggling to figure out his life and sport. He finds a wise mentor who helps him to understand his purpose and gain focus in his training and life outside of training. He suffers a major setback when a major injury occurs, but is able to find peace with help from his mentor and hard work to regain his ability in sport.
18. Title: A League of Their Own
Sport: Baseball
Psychology Aspect: The psychology aspect in this movie is very obvious; this movie is about a female baseball league arising while men are off at war. Female baseball becomes very popular, and the times are getting harder on the women. The “peaches”, the main baseball team, is coached by a drunk, played by Tom Hanks. He doesn’t take it serious because they are females, however his view turns around when he finds out they have talent, and women’s baseball becomes popular.
19. Title: Hard Ball
Sport: Baseball
Description: Coach struggles on teaching inner-city kids how to play baseball and stay out of trouble, while he is trying to stay clean of gambling.
Psychology Aspect: The players have to go through a cohesion stage, for they start out fighting amongst each other. Also, the coach goes through the stages of leadership himself.
20. Title: White Man Cant Jump
Sport: Basketball
Psychology Aspect: It’s a 2 on 2 team, and the players are exact opposites, so they have to learn how to play together, so they go through cohesion.
21. Title: Taladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby
Sport: Nascar
Psychology Aspect: Overcoming anxiety, redirection of motivation.
23. Title: Little Giants
Sport: Football
Psychology Aspect: This movie incorporates motivation, group (team) cohesion and self- confidence.
24. Title: The Hurricane
Sport: Boxing
Psychology Aspect: This movie describes the life of a legendary boxer who is wrongfully arrested for a murder and placed into prison. While in jail he writes a book about his life and the struggles that he has overcame. Through adversity he touches a young man’s heart with his words. He encourages this young man to become a boxer himself. There is also a motivational factor along with an overcoming of the odds. There is also a sense of self-efficacy of the young man following in the Hurricane’s footsteps. Finally, there is a strong sense of self-discipline and dedication from both men.
25. Title: For Love of the Game
Sport: Baseball
Description: This is a movie about a major league pitcher who is a living legend on the Detroit Tigers. The main character named Billy Chapel is at the end of his career and must chose between his love of baseball or the girl. He uses many psychological techniques to overcome barriers during the movie like returning to the game with a serious hand injury.
Psychology Aspect: Psychology aspects would be goal setting, intrinsic motivation, Imagery, leadership, and self-confidence.
26. Title: Chariots of Fire
Sport: Track and Field
Psychology Aspect: Runner Eric Liddell’s motivation is God and his Christian faith. He believes God put him on the Earth to run and he does so in his name. On the contrary Harold is Jewish and runs to prove anti-Semitic people wrong. Both are motivated by different things, one intrinsic and one extrinsic.
27. Title: The Longest Yard
Sport: Football
An ex-professional quarterback commits a crime sentencing him to the state penitentiary where he leads a team of convicts in a football game against the guards.
Psychology Aspect: Group cohesion is a major aspect since Paul Crew, the quarterback, is supposed to put a group of convicts who do not get along very well in the game of football where team cohesion is of the utmost importance. They go through forming, storming, norming, and performing as the movie progresses. Motivation is also a big factor since the convicts hate the guards who constantly heckle and hassle them, getting the opportunity to hit them legally in the game of football is a big motivating factor in getting them to join the team. Crew emphasizes leadership since he is basically the coach and quarterback, two centerpieces in the leadership of any football team.
28. Title: Glory Road
Sport: Basketball
Psychology Aspect: Group cohesion–Don Haskins comes in as a new coach for Texas Western, he does not have money to persuade high-level talented white players to his school. He then recruits 7 black players to add to his team, which consists of 5 white players. He first has to motivate them to work together and then to overcome the trials they face for their color of skin.
29. Title: Kung Fu Panda
Sport: Chinese Martial Arts (Kung Fu)
Psychology Aspect: An overweight panda perseveres in the face of failure to accomplish his dreams of being a Kung Fu Master. Many aspects of sports psychology are modeled such as believing in yourself/confidence, leadership, cooperation and cohesion, competition, concentration, motivation, and imagery.
Contributor: Angela Bragato
30. Title: Facing the Giants
Sport: Football
Psychology Aspect: A loosing coach has to face the possibility of not having children and being fired. He calls out to God for help and He responds with a new wave of hope for both on and off the field. The team feels defeated, overwhelmed with stress, loss, anger, defeat, and depression. Facing incredible odds, this football team comes together as a team and learns the real meaning of a “team”.
31. Title: The Sandlot
Sport: Baseball
Psychology Aspect: Facing the fear of rejection, Smalls tries to join a group of boys playing baseball. He gets made fun of my most, but one boy shows him compassion. After joining the group they face countless hurdles throughout their summer. They have to work together to make it through.
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