a deliberate intent to harm or injure another person, which can be physical or mental

aggressive act which involves physical contact with others, e.g. a punch

aggression which does not involve physical contact but is taken out on an object to gain advantage, e.g. hitting a tennis ball hard during a rally

Aggression

Physical education

This unit develops understanding of how to best prepare our mind for competition and explores strategies like mental rehearsal, visualisation and imagery to support peak performance.

Sports psychology: mental preparation for performance

Which type(s) of aggression involves physical contact between those involved?

Indirect aggression involves the aggression being take out on what?

In which of these sports might direct aggression be a useful advantage to performance and allowed within the rules?

shaking hands with an opponent after the game

throwing your opponent hard, but fairly, in judo

fighting with the opponents in ice hockey

aggressively dunking the ball in basketball

Match the example from sport to type of aggression.

a hockey player who is under aroused and feeling sleepy

a tennis player who is at optimal arousal and playing very well

a handball player who keeps getting fouled and is over aroused

Who is more likely to use direct aggression?

making the batter fearful of more bouncers

giving the batter chance to play the hook shot

put pressure on the batter to cause a mistake

Which of these might be intention of a bowler in cricket using indirect aggression by bowling a 'bouncer' that the batter has to duck out of the way of?

picturing yourself performing the skill perfectly

imagining yourself in a calm, relaxing place

cognitive positive thoughts about your own performance

Match these mental rehearsal techniques to the definitions.

The shaded section in the image of the inverted U curve represents {{}} arousal.

Which of the following are benefits of positive self-talk?

to gain an advantage and intimidate their opponents

to improve their relationship with the referee

Why might athletes sometimes display aggressive behaviour during a game?

a higher level of arousal to reach optimal performance than a fine skill

the same level of arousal  to reach optimal performance as a fine skill

a lower level of arousal to reach optimal performance than a fine skill

In which level of arousal are you more likely to make unsporting decisions such as being aggressive?

Starter Quiz