Social psychology

Case Study- Adam and Coach Bullard

Take on a role as a sport psychology professional as you review the following case study on Adam and coach Bullard.  Once finished, answer the questions and post your responses as your initial post to the discussion board thread, by Friday of the week.  By Monday of the week, respond to at least one peer.  You are required to utilize at least one research article to support your case study.  Adam is a high school baseball athlete and has always dreamed of being a Division I collegiate athlete.  He has put in years of practice, training camps, being on traveling teams, etc.  His current coach, Coach Bullard, knows that he has the raw talent and will be successful in college if he is able to work on a few mental skill principles.

Currently, Adam is becoming his own worst enemy.  His desire to be perfect has been causing numerous issues with his own performance, as well as his team.  When Adam makes a mistake, his focus immediately shifts, and he puts himself down to the point that his performance becomes debilitated.  It is to the point that his confidence has diminished, and he is unable to concentrate in practice or in games.  Coach Bullard has also started to notice that Adam is becoming controlling of practice time and demanding when with his peers.  He once witnessed Adam yelling at his teammate for striking out when he should have “clearly hit the ball”.

Further description

When Coach Bullard tried to address this issue with Adam, he blew it off and said it was no big deal and that he was just helping his friend.  Coach has tried to sit down with Adam outside of practice to help him, but Adam keeps missing the meetings.  Also, his teammates are starting to avoid socializing with him outside of practice, which is becoming very noticeable during practices and games.  One of the captains told Coach that the team just doesn’t enjoy being around Adam since he is negative, demanding, and talks down to them.  Adam’s parents have reached out to Coach Bullard with their concern regarding his grades and performance in school, as well as his attitude in the house.

They have shared that Adam has started picking fights with his younger brother and that his grades have been slipping.  Also, Adam has been talking back to them as well as sleeping in and being late to school. Coach Bullard would like to request a meeting with you, the sport psychologist, to discuss how he can best help Adam. Answer the following questions and explain your rationale for each in detail.  What is your initial assessment of this situation regarding the motivational climate between Adam and his coach, Adam, and his parents, and Adam and his peers?.

Adam and Coach Bullard key points

Is Adam aligning with being more task-involved or ego-involved with his behaviors?  Explain. What suggestions would you provide to Coach Bullard to assist him with incorporating a task-involved climate with his team, amidst this current situation? Select at least two of the following components that you would assist Coach Bullard with to help educate Adam.  Elaborate on their importance regarding this situation. Self-Awareness Mindfulness Self-Talk Communication

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